Was the most mysterious chronicler of the European Middle Ages, Gallus Anonymous, a Croat?

Abstract

In his research on the Polish Chronicle by Gallus Anonymous, the author used several versions of a computer programme for the analysis of Latin rhythms. These programs proved beyond any doubt that Gall Anonymous’ Polish Chronicle and the History of the Translation of St. Nicholas, by the anonymous Monk of the Lido, are the work of one and the same person. The prose of both works has proved to be unique; some elements of it have been detected by the programme in the constitutions of Constantine the Great, in Donatist works and in papal bulls from the sixth to the eleventh century inclusive. The description of Slavdom in the Polish Chronicle and many phrases from this chronicle, as well as from the History of the Translation of St Nicholas, prove that Gallus Anonymous/Monk of the Lido sympathised with the pro-Hungarian political party, centred around the Croatian Queen Helena the Beautiful. Some indications suggest that Gallus Anonymous/Monk of Lido was a monk at the Benedictine monastery of St Bartholomew in the Croatian capital, Knin.