[ 175 J 
VII. An Account of the Shooting Stars of 1095 and 1243. By Sir Francis Palgrave, 
K.II. F.R.S. 8$c. 
Received February 19, — Read March 5, 1840. 
THE Chronicles of the Middle Ages frequently contain important notices of natural 
phenomena worthy of more attention than they have hitherto received. The 
narratives of these signs and wonders are, of course, frequently given with the in- 
voluntary exaggerations of ignorance and of fear : but at the same time they are 
usually characterized by sincerity. And in the description of the very remarkable ap- 
pearance of the shooting stars of the 4th of April 1095, we have the testimony of a 
great number of independent witnesses in France and England, whose attention was 
particularly drawn to the phenomenon, from the circumstance of its being concurrent 
with the Crusade. 
I will begin with the account in the Saxon Chronicle, which, as far as we can 
collect, was compiled at Peterborough ; and, from their style and narrative, we can 
scarcely doubt that these venerable annals were the result of notes taken down con- 
temporaneously with the events which they describe. 
“ 1095. In this year Easter fell on the eighth day before the kalends of April ; and 
on the night of the feast of St. Ambrose (that is to say the 2nd before the nones of 
April) there was seen nearly throughout all the land, and during all the night, mani- 
fold stars falling from the heavens : not by one or by two at a time, but so thickly 
that no man could reckon them.” 
Florence of Worcester describes the same appearance more shortly, by stating 
that on the 2nd of the nones of April, in the night, “ stars were seen, as if falling from 
heaven.” 
The Chronicle of the Abbey of Anjou states, that “ on Wednesday, the 2nd of the 
nones of April, the moon being twenty-five days old, stars were seen falling like a 
shower of rain from heaven upon the earth an expression of some importance when 
compared with the remarkable fact which we shall find given by the next authority. 
This is Sigebert of Gemblours, who states, that “ on the 2nd of the nones of April, 
about daybreak, very many stars were seen to fall at once from the heavens to the 
ground.” One very large star thus fell in France ; and a bystander, having noted the 
spot, “ cast water upon it, which was raised in steam, with a great noise of boiling:” 
a description leaving no doubt that in this case the star was an aerolite. 
The Chronicle of Verdun, by Hugh de Flavigny, states that “ on Wednesday, the 
day before the nones of April, from the middle of the night until dawning, stars were 
seen falling.” 
