HIGDEN, RANULF

born c. 1280, , western England died March 12, 1364, Chester, Cheshire Higden also spelled Higdon English monk and chronicler remembered for his Polychronicon, a compilation of much of the knowledge of his age. After taking monastic vows in 1299, Higden entered the Abbey of St. Werburgh, a Benedictine community in Chester. His Polychronicon was a universal history from the Creation to his own times. Modeling his seven books on the seven days of Creation, he gave an account of world geography and a universal history of the world, based on a compilation from about 40 sources. Higden himself carried the work down to the 1340s; continuators worked on the Polychronicon during the reign of Richard II (1377-99). Although marred by recordings of miracles and supernatural events, the work provides a significant indication of 14th-century historical, geographic, and scientific knowledge. Higden wrote many other works, all theological.