ABSTRACT
This chapter considers how Matthew’s expanded geographical purview contributes to the Chronica majora’s world view and, further, how Cambridge, Corpus Christi College (CCCC) 16 as a holistic object is itself reflective of Matthew’s cosmopolitan chronicle. It shows that, when combining a study of the text of the chronicle with the manuscript’s prefatory material, emendations, and marginal illustrations, a neglected but striking image of England appears. Unlike the Flores historiarum or other more objective chronicles, the Chronica is strongly opinionated and Matthew’s personal annotations and emendations in CCCC 16 provide a glimpse into his developing thought process and widened focus. Certain images in CCCC 16 can remind the modern reader of Europe as a multilingual zone of cultural exchange, even if that interplay was mediated through Latin. The chapter shows that Matthew sought neither to wall England off from the continent nor to claim it as the next empire through a typical translatio imperii narrative.
