Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 1.djvu/161

ADAM signed to an official document dated 11 June, 1069. Shortly after his arrival at Bremen he made a journey to the Danish King Svend Estridson (1047–76), who enjoyed a great reputation for his knowledge of the history and geography of the Northern lands. Possibly this meeting took place in Seeland; we have no evidence that Adam ever visited the North in person. He was well received by the King, and obtained from him much valuable information for the historical work which he intended to write, and which he began after the death of Archbishop Adalbert. The preface is dedicated to Adalbert's successor, Liemar (1072–1101). The work itself, at least in part, was finished before the death of King Svend, in 1076, for in the second book he refers to this king as still living. We do not know how long Adam retained his office. The Church record gives 12 October as the day of his death, but does not mention the year. According to tradition, he lies buried in the convent of Ramesloh, in a grove which he himself had donated to the cloister.

His work is divided into four books, the first three being mainly historical, while the last is purely geographical. The first book gives an account of the Bremen Church, of its first bishops, and of the propagation of Christianity in the North. The second book continues this narrative, and also deals largely with German affairs between 940 and 1045. It relates the wars carried on by the Germans against the Slavs and Scandinavians. The third book is devoted to the deeds of Archbishop Adalbert. The fourth book is a geographical appendix entitled "Descriptio insularum Aquilonis", and describes the Northern lands and the islands in the Northern seas, many of which had but recently been explored. It contains the earliest mention of America found in any geographical work. The passage is as follows (IV, 38): "Furthermore he [King Svend] mentioned still another island found by many in that ocean. This island is called Winland, because grapevines grow there wild, yielding the finest wine. And that crops grow there in plenty without having been sown, I know, not from fabulous report, but through the definite information of the Danes."

Adam bases his knowledge partly on written sources, partly on oral communication. He made diligent use of the records and manuscripts in the archives of his church, as well as of the official documents of popes and kings. He also knew the work of preceding chroniclers, such as Einhard and Gregory of Tours. Besides this, he was well versed in the writings of ancient Roman authors. He cites from Virgil, Horace, Lucan, Juvenal, Persius, Cicero, Sallust, Orosius, Solinus, and Martianus Capella. He also quotes from the Venerable Bede and the Latin Fathers, Ambrose, Jerome, Gregory the Great. But his most valuable information was obtained orally from persons who had actually visited the lands which he describes. The most notable of these witnesses is the Danish King Svend Estridson, "who remembered all the deeds of the barbarians as if they had been written down" (II, 41). Adam's journey to this king, undertaken for the express purpose of obtaining information, has been mentioned. He also learned much from Archbishop Adalbert himself, who took great interest in the Northern missions and was well informed about the lands where they were located. Much information was imparted to him also by the traders and missionaries who were continually passing through Bremen, the great centre for all travel to and from the North. Adam assures us repeatedly that he has taken great pains to make his account both truthful and accurate. "If I have not been able to write well", so he says in his epilogue, "I have at any rate written truthfully, using as authorities those who are best informed about the subject."

As for the style in which the work is written, it cannot receive unqualified praise. It is closely modelled on Sallust, whole phrases and sentences from that author being often incorporated in Adam's work. Besides being obscure and difficult, his Latin shows a number of Germanisms, and is not free from positive grammatical errors. Of the manuscripts of the "Gesta" none are older than the thirteenth century, excepting one at Leyden, which, however, is very fragmentary. The best manuscript is at Vienna. The first edition was brought out by Andreas Severinus Velleius (Vedel), at Copenhagen, in 1579. Two subsequent editions were published at Hamburg, in 1595 and 1609 respectively, by Erpold Lindenbruch, a canon of the Hamburg Church; a fourth edition by Joachim Johannes Maderus appeared at Helmstadt in 1670; it is based on the preceding one. The best edition is that of Lappenberg in Pertz "Monum. Germ. Hist. Scriptores" (1846) VII, 267–293, reprinted in P.L., CXLVI, and re-edited by Waitz in "Script. rer. Germ." (Hanover, 1876). The best translation is the German one by J. C. M. Laurent in "Geschichtschreiber der deutschen Vorzeit" (Berlin, 1850, ed. by Wattenbach; 2d edition, revised by Wattenbach Berlin, 1893). (See .)

2em

Adam of Ebrach. See.

Adam of Fulda, b. about 1450, d. after 1537, one of the most learned musicians of his age. He was a monk of Franconia, deriving his name from the capital city of that country. At that time the contrapuntal music, of which Josquin was such a brilliant star, flourished above all in the Netherlands. Adam of Fulda, himself a disciple of the Dutch teachers, ultimately became their rival. He is best known for a famous treatise on music, written in 1490, and printed by Gerbert von Homan, in his "Scriptores eccles. de Mus. Sacra", III. This treatise is divided into forty-five chapters, some of which treat of the invention and the praise of music, of the voice, of sound, of tone, of keys, of measured and figured music, of tone relations, intervals, consonances, etc. A list of his compositions may be found in the "Quellen-Lexikon". As he called himself musicus ducalis, he was probably in the service of some prince, possibly of the Bishop of Würzburg.

2em

Adam of Marisco. See.

Adam of Murimuth, an English chronicler of about the middle of the fourteenth century. He was a canon of St. Paul's, London, and took an active part in the affairs of Church and State during the reigns of Edward II and Edward III. His history of his own times is entitled "Chronicon, sive res gestæ sui temporis quibus ipse interfuit, res Romanas et Gallicas Anglicanis intertexens, 1302–1343" (Cottonian Library MSS.). "Adam of Murimuth continues to be a principal witness for events up to the year 1346, after which the narrative is carried on by his unknown continuator to the year 1380. His statements are for the most part made on good authority, or as the result of personal observation, and the impression we derive is that of one who was an honest and veracious chronicler, although possessed of no descriptive literary power" [Gardiner and Mullinger, "English History for Students" (New York, 1881), 284].

