One of the first laps in its progress came during the reign of Alfred the Great (849 - 899) of England. Alfred was a promoter of education and literacy, and wanted important works translated into Anglo-Saxon/Old English for his own (and others) pleasure.
We have two Old English manuscripts of the History, from the 10th and the 11th centuries, as well as some fragments. This version differs from the Latin original in that it was expanded with descriptions of Germania, Scandinavia, and the Baltic region, with a very detailed verbal map, for example:
To the west of the Old Saxons is the mouth of the river Elbe and Frisia. To the north-west is the region called Anglia and Silland and part of the land of the Danes. To the north of them are the Abodriti, and to the north-east the Wilti who are called Havolans. To the east is the territory of the Wends who are called the Siusli. To the south-east, some distance away, is Moravia. The Moravians have to their west the Thuringians ...
It makes sense that a king with more ties to Northern Europe than a Mediterranean author would have would want an expanded version that covers areas significant to his kingdom. Two travelers familiar to this time period, Ohthere and Wulfstan of Hedeby (sent by Alfred to Prussia to open up trade), have their travel narratives added to Orosius as well.
One modern take on Orosius comes from a report on a three-day conference at the University of London in May 2022 with a score of scholarly presentations on Orosius' effect on the centuries that followed:
The exceptionality of the Historiae is indicated by its incredibly rich and diverse reception over the subsequent centuries. The work became the standard point of reference on antiquity for the medieval and early modern world. It had an enormous impact of the historiography of later centuries, from Bede and Otto of Freising, to Petrarch and Dante, to Edward Gibbon.
At least two hundred and seventy-five manuscripts survive, the oldest dating to the sixth century, and the work was translated into Old English, Arabic, Aragonese, and Castilian prior to the modern period. [source]
(The illustration is of a carpet page from a 7th century manuscript of the History. It is the earliest known carpet page of an English manuscript.)
Speaking of Alfred, he also received an account of travels from Ohthere which he wanted to be included in his copy of Orosius. Let's lean more about Ohthere tomorrow.
