Home > Adam of Bremen

He is believed to have come from Meissen ( Latin Misnia) in Saxony. The dates of his birth and death are uncertain, but he was probably born before 1050 and died on October 12 of on unknown year (Possibly 1081, latest 1085).

Gathering from his chronicles, he was well familiar with a number of authors. The honorary name of Magister Adam shows that he has passed through all the stages of a higher education. It is probable that he was taught at the Magdeburger Domschule.

In 1068, he was invited by archbishop Adalbert of Bremen to come and write the history of Bremen/ Hamburg and of the northern lands. Upon his arrival, he was accepted among the capitular s of Bremen and appears as director of the cathedral's school in 1069.

Adam of Bremen benefitted from his position and the missionary activity of the church of Bremen to gather all kind of information on the history and the geography of northern Germany. He benefitted from a stay at the court of Svend Estridson to find informations about the history and geography of Denmark, and the scandinavian countries.

Bremen was a major trading town, and ships, traders and missionaries went from there to many different locations. The earlier archbishopric seat in Hamburg had been attacked and destroyed several times, and thereafter the sees of Hamburg and Bremen were combined for protection. For three hundred years Hamburg, beginning with bishop Ansgar, the Hamburg-Bremen archbishopric had been designated as the "Mission of the North" and had jurisdiction over all missions in ScandinaviaScandinavia is the cultural and historic region of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The Scandinavian countries are Norway, Sweden and Denmark, which mutually recognize each other as parts of Scandinavia. The collective label "Scandinavia" reflects the cultural, North-Western RussiaThe Russian Federation ( Russian: , transliteration: Rossiyskaya Federatsiya or Rossijskaja Federacija , or Russia (Russian: , transliteration: Rossiya or Rossija , is a country that stretches over a vast expanse of eastern Europe and northern Asia. With, IcelandThe Republic of Iceland is an island nation in the northern Atlantic Ocean, located between Greenland and Scotland, northwest of the Faroe Islands. Lydveldid Island ( In Detail) (Full size) National motto: none Official languageNone. Icelandic de facto''. and GreenlandThis article is about Greenland, the island dependency of Denmark. For information about the town of Greenland, see Greenland, New Hampshire. Greenland ( Greenlandic: Kalaallit Nunaat "The Land of the Greenlanders (Kalaallit)"; Danish: Gronland , an Arcti. Then the archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen had a falling-out with the popePaschal II ne Ranierius (d. January 21, 1118), pope from August 13, 1099 until his death, was a native of Bieda, near Viterbo, and a monk of the Cluniac order. He was created cardinal priest of San Clemente by Pope Gregory VII. about 1076, and was consecr and in 1105Events Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor deposed Tamna kingdom annexed by Korean Goryeo Dynasty. Births 1104/ 1105 Alfonso VII, king of Castile (d. 1157) Deaths 1105. a separate archbishopric for the North was established in Lund.

Adam of Bremen's most well known work is the Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum (Deeds of Bishops of the Hamburg Church), which he begun only after the death of the arch-bishop Adalbert. It consists of four volumes about the history of the archbishopry of Hamburg-Bremen, and the isles of the north. The first three mainly consist of historyHistory is often used as a generic term for information about the past, such as in "geologic history of the Earth". When used as the name of a field of study, history refers to the study and interpretation of the record of human societies. The term histor and the last one is mainly on geography. Adam based his works in part on Einhard, Cassiodorus and other earlier historians' accounts, as he had the whole library of the church of Bremen at his hands.

The first book gives a history from 788 onwards of the Church in Hamburg-Bremen, and the Christian mission in the North. This is the chief source of knowledge of the north until the 13th century. The second book continues the history, and further deals with German history between 940 and 1045. The third book is about the deeds of archbishop Adalbert.

The fourth book, Descriptio insularum Aquilonis, completed approximately in 1075, is mainly about geography and discusses the northern lands and islands, many of which had been explored only recently. This book is the first known European record that mentions Vinland, a land centuries later known as North America.