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Abstract:

The first book of the Chronicle of Matthew of Edessa (covering the years 952-1052) is notorious for its jumbled chronology. This creates a problem for the historian who would use Matthew as a source—his is the only record for many events that took place in the late tenth century and early eleventh, but his chronology is so tangled that it is difficult to know how to use his information. This paper explores the patterns of Matthew's chronological error, and proposes solutions to the most notorious of his dating puzzles.