Ordericus Vitalis Group

Studying the medieval Latin documents describing Shropshire's history.

We meet each week in Shrewsbury to transcribe and translate documents about the early history of Shropshire. Most of the documents are stored in Shropshire Archives and we deposit our work alongside the original documents so that the information is available to all.

Please click here for further information about our activities. New members are always welcome.

The group was named after the historian Ordericus Vitalis (1075-1143), whose father came to England with Roger of Montgomery and settled in Shrewsbury. Ordericus was baptised in Atcham but became a monk at St Evroult in Normandy, where (apart from short visits) he spent the rest of his life and wrote his "Historia Ecclesia". He always retained his interest in the history of his native land, especially Shropshire, and so seems a suitable "patron" for our group.