Albert of Stade

A chronicler of the thirteenth century. He was born before the close of the twelfth century. It is known that he became abbot of the Benedictine monastery of Stade (near Hamburg ) in 1232. Failing to change (1236) the rule of St. Benedict in his abbey to that of the Cistercians, he resigned his office and in 1240 joined the Franciscans. In the same year he commenced to compile his chronicle, which begins with the creation of the world and comes down to 1256; he may also be the author of the continuations to 1265. The earlier portions appear to have been taken from Bede's "Libellus de sex aetatibus mundi," and Ekkehard's "Chronicle." As he approaches his own times, Albert becomes, after the manner of medieval chroniclers, both fuller and more reliable. The first and only complete edition is that printed at Helmstadt in 1587; (Wittenberg, 1608). He is also credited with the authorship of a work called "Troilus," a Latin epic on the Trojan War, in 5,320 lines, a manuscript copy of which is in the Wolfenbuttel library.