{"id":28585,"date":"2022-05-24T12:19:54","date_gmt":"2022-05-24T11:19:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sal.org.uk\/?p=28585"},"modified":"2023-02-22T14:42:10","modified_gmt":"2023-02-22T14:42:10","slug":"fakes-and-forgeries-part-2-richard-of-cirencester","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sal.org.uk\/2022\/05\/fakes-and-forgeries-part-2-richard-of-cirencester\/","title":{"rendered":"Fakes, forgeries, and the Society of Antiquaries: Part 2, Richard of Cirencester"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Portrait of William Stukeley, the Society\u2019s first Secretary, which hangs on the staircase at Burlington House<\/p><\/div>\n

During the late 1740s, Charles Julius Bertram (b.1723), an English expatriate living in Copenhagen, began a flattering correspondence with leading antiquary William Stukeley FSA<\/a>. Bertram told Stukeley of a manuscript in a friend\u2019s possession by \u2018Richard, monk of Westminster\u2019. It purported to be a late-medieval copy of a contemporary account of Britain by a Roman general, which included an ancient map.<\/p>\n

Intrigued by this potentially revelatory new discovery, Stukeley \u201cpress\u2019d Mr Bertram to get the manuscript into his hands, if possible, which at length, and with some difficulty he accomplished\u201d. Stukeley gradually received a transcript of De Situ Britanniae<\/em> (The Description of Britain) over a series of letters from Bertram, beginning with a facsimile \u2018copy\u2019 of the first page, and lastly a drawing of the map. The copy of the script was shown to the keeper of the Cotton Library and swiftly verified to be around 400 years old. Such circumstantial evidence led Stukeley to conflate Bertram\u2019s ‘<\/em>Richard‘<\/em> with a recognised historical one: Richard of Cirencester, a Benedictine monk and historical chronicler at Westminster Abbey during the 14th<\/sup> century. Despite Bertram\u2019s repeated excuses to prevent the original manuscript from being seen, Stukeley\u2019s faith in its authenticity was cemented.<\/p>\n

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Facsimile of the beginning of De Situ Britanniae (from Stukeley\u2019s 1757 printed edition of \u2018An account of Richard of Cirencester\u2019)<\/p><\/div>\n

The excuses, of course, were because there was no De Situ Britanniae \u2013 it was all a clever deception by Charles Bertram! Bertram was only too happy to accept his fake manuscript was written by Richard of Cirencester at Stukeley\u2019s suggestion, as this bolstered its credibility as a legitimate historical work.<\/p>\n

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Bertram\u2019s \u2018Britannicarum gentium historiae antiquae scriptores tres\u2019 (Copenhagen, 1757). A note by Charles Lyttleton FSA in this copy reads: “This book was never sold publicly in England, but a few copies sent from Denmark to Dr. Stukeley were sold by him. It is a most valuable treasure to British Antiquarys\u2026\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n

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Our Minute Books for the Society\u2019s meetings record Stukeley\u2019s intentions to publish the manuscript and map (28 November 1754<\/a>; 6 November 1755<\/a>). At the meetings of 18 March<\/a> and 8 April 1756<\/a>, Stukeley presented the Society with his account of Richard of Cirencester, \u201cparticularly of his MSS. History of Roman Britain, which was lately retrieved from obscurity, and in Danger of being totally Lost; but which the Dr. as a common Friend to the Republick of Letters has promoted the Publication of\u201d.<\/p>\n

With Stukeley\u2019s backing, Bertram was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Society on 29 April 1756<\/a>. Stukeley\u2019s account was published the following year, and, at his urging, Bertram published the manuscript in Copenhagen. Bertram\u2019s edition of De Situ Britanniae was cunningly included in a volume alongside two well-known historical accounts of Britain: Gildas\u2019 Ruin of Britain, and the History of the Britons traditionally ascribed to Nennius.<\/p>\n

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Minutes of the meeting 29 April 1756: Charles Bertram is elected an Honorary Fellow of the Society<\/p><\/div>\n

The \u201cdiscovery\u201d of the manuscript caused immense excitement amongst British antiquaries and historians, and its authenticity was widely accepted. As well as drawing on known Roman authors such as Tacitus and Caesar, Richard of Cirencester appeared to have access to numerous lost original sources. The text included new information about Roman roads in the style of the Antonine Itinerary<\/a>, adding some 60 stations to the (legitimate) register. The \u2018antient map\u2019, alleged by Bertram to be older than \u201cRichard\u2019s\u201d work, filled out the least-known region of Roman Britain \u2013 Scotland \u2013 with a wealth of new cities, provinces and peoples. Bertram\u2019s skilful amalgamation of details missing from the historical record with genuine classical sources was key to his incredible success as a forger.<\/p>\n\n\t\t