The Sources and Contributors of the Northern Memorandum and its Heirs

Abstract From the moment the first scholars tried to understand the events of Britain during the fifth and early sixth centuries, two British historical documents have been central to their efforts, the Historia Brittonum and the Annales Cambriae, both of which contained entries from a non-extant but generally accepted common source — the Northern Memorandum. Logically, learning as much as possible about the exact nature of that source would be of great use in better understanding post-Roman Britain. To begin rectifying the situation this article will review what is known about the background of the Northern Memorandum, Historia Brittonum, and Annales Cambriae. It will then explore the Historia Brittonum’s chapters and revisions and do the same with the Annales Cambriae entries up until the last northern British note. In each case the individual source(s), motivations, and date-range will be discussed. This exercise will be followed by a short discussion of the findings and one hopes a better understanding of both the Northern Memorandum and its derivatives.