	This README file was generated on 2026-04-10 by Emily Quigley

GENERAL INFORMATION

1. Title of Dataset: 
GENCHRON Chronicles Dataset

2. Dataset Description:
The GENCHRON Chronicles Dataset contains structured character data collected from fourteen late antique and early medieval Latin world chronicles, from Eusebius to Bede. The GENCHRON Chronicles Dataset records every individual and group appearing in each chronicle and captures attributes including gender, status, life stage, and relationships between characters. A standard data model is applied across the spreadsheets.

This dataset was created as part of the GENCHRON project (‘Time for Women? Gender, Chronology and Historiography before AD 900’: IRCLA/2022/2234, PI Máirín MacCarron), which aims to integrate gender into a re-evaluation of time and chronology in medieval sources.

3. Author Information
A. Principal Investigator Contact Information
Name: Máirín MacCarron
Institution: University College Cork
Email: mairin.maccarron@ucc.ie

B. Postdoctoral Researcher Contact Information
Name: Emily Quigley	
Institution: University College Cork
Email: emilyquigley@ucc.ie

4. Date of data collection: 
2023-06-01 – 2025-04-30

5. Geographic location of data collection: 
Cork, Co. Cork, Ireland

6. Information about funding sources that supported the collection of the data:
This data was collected as a research output of the Research Ireland Consolidator Laureate 'Time for Women? Gender, Chronology and Historiography before AD 900' GENCHRON (IRCLA/2022/2234): PI Máirín MacCarron.

SHARING/ACCESS INFORMATION

1. Licenses/restrictions placed on the data: 
CC BY 4.0

2. Was data derived from another source?
Data was derived from the most up-to-date critical editions of the Latin sources analysed. Full bibliographic details are provided in the file list below.

DATA & FILE OVERVIEW

1.  Abbreviations used:
AAb = years from the birth of Abraham
AD = annus Domini (year of the Lord, counting time from the beginning of Jesus’ life)
AM = annus mundi (years from the creation of the world)
AP = annus passionis (year of the Passion)
CCSL = Corpus Christianorum Series Latina (Turnhout, 1953–)
MGH = Monumenta Germaniae Historica (Leipzig; Hannover; Berlin, 1826–)
          Auct. Ant. = Auctores antiquissimi
          SS rer. Merov. = Scriptores rerum Merovingicarum
SC = Sources Chrétiennes (Paris, 1942–)

2. File List: 
Each file contains structured character data extracted from a specific late antique or early medieval chronicle. Files are listed chronologically by date of composition. Each file has been uploaded in both Excel and CSV format.

GENCHRON_Eusebius-Jerome
Character data from the chronicle originally written by Eusebius (c. 260–339), bishop of Caesarea. Jerome (c. 347–420) later translated the chronicle into Latin and continued it to AD 378. Multiple dating systems appear in the chronicle, but years from the birth of Abraham run throughout and therefore serve as the primary chronological unit in this spreadsheet. Data was derived from: R. Helm (ed.), Chronicon (Berlin 1956).

GENCHRON_SulpiciusSeverus
Character data from the chronicle of Sulpicius Severus (c. 363–420), a writer and ascetic based in Aquitaine. His chronicle extended from Creation to AD 400. No consistent dating system is used throughout the text, so chapters have been used as the units of division in this spreadsheet. Data was derived from: G. de Senneville–Grave (ed.), SC 441 (Paris 1999).

GENCHRON_Anon_452GallicChronicle
Character data from the anonymous Gallic chronicle of AD 452. The chronicle covers AD 379–452 and uses Roman imperial years as its primary dating system. Data was derived from: R. Burgess (ed.), ‘The Gallic Chronicle of 452: A New Critical Edition with a Brief Introduction’, in R. Mathisen and D. Shanzer (eds), Society and Culture in Late Antique Gaul: Revisiting the Sources (London 2017), 52–84.

GENCHRON_Prosper
Character data from the chronicle of Prosper of Aquitaine (c. 390–455). This work consists of an epitome of Jerome’s chronicle extending back to Creation, followed by Prosper’s continuation down to AD 455. Prosper used a range of dating systems (regnal years, consular years, AP), but because no single system was used consistently throughout, chapters serve as units of division in this spreadsheet. Data was derived from: T. Mommsen (ed.), MGH Auct. Ant. IX (Munich 1981), 385–485.

GENCHRON_Hydatius
Character data from the chronicle of Hydatius (c. 400 – 469), a bishop in Gallaecia. His chronicle covers AD 379–468 and uses Roman imperial years as the primary dating system. Data was derived from: R.W. Burgess (ed. and transl.), The Chronicle of Hydatius and the Consularia Constantinopolitana: Two Contemporary Accounts of the Final Years of the Roman Empire (Oxford 1993), 70–123.

GENCHRON_Anon_ConsulariaConstantinopolitana
Character data from the Consularia Constantinopolita, an anonymous chronicle consisting primarily of a consular list with occasional supplementary historical entries. The chronicle covers 509 BC–AD 468 and uses Roman consular years as the primary dating system. Data was derived from: R. W. Burgess (ed.), The Chronicle of Hydatius and the Consularia Constantinopolitana: Two Contemporary Accounts of the Final Years of the Roman Empire (Oxford 1993), 215–45.

GENCHRON_Anon_511GallicChronicle
Character data from the anonymous Gallic chronicle of AD 511. The chronicle covers AD 379–511 and uses Roman imperial years as its primary dating system. Data was derived from: R. Burgess (ed.), ‘The Gallic Chronicle of 511: A New Critical Edition with a Brief Introduction’, in R. Mathisen and D. Shanzer (eds), Society and Culture in Late Antique Gaul: Revisiting the Sources (London 2017), 85–100.

GENCHRON_Cassiodorus
Character data from the chronicle of Cassiodorus (c. 490–585), a Roman statesman who served in the administration of Theodoric the Great in Italy. The chronicle is largely a consular list with limited supplementary world history. It covers Creation to AD 519 and Roman consular years are the primary dating system, but, because consular years are not consistent throughout, chapters have been used as the unit of division in this spreadsheet. Data was derived from: T. Mommsen (ed.), MGH Auct. Ant. XI (Berlin 1894), 120–61.

GENCHRON_Marcellinus
Character data from the chronicle of Marcellinus, a count based in Constantinople in the early sixth century. His chronicle is structured around Roman consular years and indictions. It covers AD 379–534, with extensive supplementary information focused on the Eastern empire. Data was derived from: B. Croke (ed. and transl.), The Chronicle of Marcellinus (Sydney 1995).

GENCHRON_Isidore_ChronicaMaiora
Character data from the Chronica Maiora of Isidore (c. 560–636), bishop of Seville. The chronicle uses AM dating and extends from Creation to Isidore's present day. There were two redactions of the chronicle, the first written under King Sisebut in AD 615/616 and the second version under Swinthila in 626. The second redaction is longer than the first and includes additions as well as some suppressions or corrections. The second redaction was privileged in the data entry in order to avoid creating a false composite chronicle. However, when individuals appear only in the first redaction (for example the empress Sophia), they have also been recorded. Where Isidore adjusted the length of a ruler’s reign or placed an individual in a different year in the second redaction, the second redaction has been privileged and variations are noted in Column O. Data was derived from: J.C. Martín (ed.), CCSL 112 (Turnhout 2003).

GENCHRON_Isidore_ChronicaMinora
Character data from the Chronica Minora, an epitome of the second redaction of Isidore’s Chronica Maiora. It is contained within Isidore’s Etymologiae (5.38–39). The chronicle uses AM dating and extends from Creation to AD 626. Data was derived from: W.M. Lindsay (ed.), Etymologiae (Oxford 1911).

GENCHRON_Fredegar (GENCHRON_Fredegar_Book2; GENCHRON_Fredegar_Book3; GENCHRON_Fredegar_Book4)
Character data from the chronicle of Fredegar, an anonymous chronicle written in Merovingian Gaul, probably around c. 660. The chronicle extends from Creation to AD 642 across four books: 1) the Liber Generationis; 2) abbreviated versions of the chronicles of Eusebius-Jerome and Hydatius, with interpolations; 3) an epitome of the first six books of Gregory of Tours’ Decem libri historiarum; 4) an original section, covering AD 584 to 642. Each book has received its own spreadsheet. Book 1 has not been included in the dataset because textual complexities made it unsuitable for our approach. The chronicle does not employ a consistent chronological apparatus, so chapters have been used as units of division in these spreadsheets. Data was derived from: B. Krusch (ed.) MGH SS rer. Merov. 2 (Hanover 1888), 10–193; J. M. Wallace–Hadrill (ed. and transl.), The Fourth Book of the Chronicle of Fredegar: With Its Continuations (Oxford 1960).

GENCHRON_Bede_DeTemporibusChronicle
Character data from the shorter chronicle of Bede (673–735), a monk of Wearmouth and Jarrow in Northumbria. This chronicle is found in the final seven chapters (cc. 16–22) of Bede’s De temporibus (‘On Times’). It covers from Creation to AD 703 and uses AM dating. Bede used Vulgate rather than Septuagint chronology to date the age of world, meaning his world chronology for the period from Creation to the Incarnation was 1,247 years less than the accepted chronology of his time, and as represented in Isidore's chronicles. Data was derived from: T. Mommsen in C.W. Jones (ed.), CCSL 123C (Turnhout 1980), 585–611.

GENCHRON_Bede_DeTemporumRationeChronicle
Character data from Bede’s longer chronicle, found in chapter 66 of his De temporum ratione (‘The Reckoning of Time’). It covers from Creation to AD 725 and uses AM dating derived from Vulgate chronology. Data was derived from: T. Mommsen in C.W. Jones (ed.), CCSL 123B (Turnhout 1977).

2. Relationship between files, if important: 
N/A

3. Additional related data collected that was not included in the current data package: 
N/A

METHODOLOGICAL INFORMATION

1. Data collection: 
Data was collected and stored in Microsoft Excel. A standard data template was used for all the sources analysed. Every character appearing in the text was recorded. Each character was included once per internal unit in the text (i.e. chapter or year count in a chronicle).

2. Data template structure:
Column A – Name
Name of the individual or group. 

Column B – Book
Used when the text is divided into books.

Column C – Chapter
Used when the text is divided into chapters.

Column D – Year count
Used when year counts are the primary units of a text. 

Column E – Gender
The following categorisation was used to denote the character’s (or characters’) gender:
M = male 
F = female
X = unknown gender (e.g. angels)
V = various (for groups of mixed gender)

Column F – Named/Unnamed
A character is recorded as named or unnamed in that unit of the text, as follows: 
N = named
U = unnamed
If they are unnamed, but it is clear who they are, the character’s name is recorded in Column A, but they are marked U in Column F to accurately represent that unit of the text. If the same character is named and unnamed in the same unit, N is used to indicate that their name is preserved. 

Column G – Group
It is recorded if the entry in Column A is an individual or a group, as follows: 
I = individual
G = group

Column H – Ethnicity
The ethnicity is recorded for the entry in Column A if that information is in the source.

Column I – Status
The status in society of the individual/group in Column A is recorded, e.g. king, queen, bishop, monk, etc., if such information is available.

Column J – Life cycle
Where an individual is in their life cycle when they appear in a source is recorded following a three-part division based on medieval life cycles: 
P = pueritia: 0-14 
I = iuuentus: 14-49
S = senectus: 49+ 

Column K – When
When the recorded action or event occurred, if that information is available. This differs from Column D (Year Count), which records the structural chronological unit of the text itself.

Column L – Where
Location of the action or event if specified. 

Column M – Why
Brief details of why the individual or group is recorded here.

Column N – Latin text
The Latin text used for the entry in Column A is recorded here: e.g. in cases where a woman is unnamed, the designation used for her is important. This column is not always applicable. 

Column O – Notes
Any notes that aid understanding of the entry in Column A are recorded here.

Column P onwards – Connections
The number of columns for each heading from P onwards vary and depend on the number of connections held by the most connected person under each heading on each spreadsheet. Four categories of relationships are used:
	Positive: e.g. friendships, family ties, marriages (unless explicitly presented as hostile relationships).
	Negative: e.g. hostility between characters. 
	Neutral: connections that exist but cannot be categorised as positive or negative.
	Post mortem/supernatural: connections between angels/demons etc. with other characters whether living or not, and interactions that deceased saints have with the living, e.g. post mortem healing miracles.

In each category, information was only recorded when it is explicit in the text itself. As such, there are gaps in the dataset, but this reflects the integrity of the text.

3. Quality Assurance:
Data entry was checked by members of the GENCHRON project team to ensure accuracy.

4. Methods for processing the data: 
Data entry was conducted manually in Microsoft Excel through close reading of texts in their original language. GenAI was not used in the creation or analysis of this dataset.

