Writings
His two chief works, the Abbreviationes Chronicorum and the Ymagines Historiarum, cover the history of the world from the birth of Christ to the year 1202. The former, which ends in 1147, is a work of learning and industry, but almost entirely based upon extant sources. The latter, beginning as a compilation from Robert de Monte and the letters of Foliot, becomes an original authority about 1172, and a contemporary record about 1181. In precision and fullness of detail the Ymagines are inferior to the chronicles of the so-called Benedict and of Hoveden.
Though an annalist, Diceto is careless in his chronology. The documents which he incorporates, while often important, are selected on no principle. He has little sense of style, but displays considerable insight when he ventures to discuss a political situation. For this reason, and on account of the details with which they supplement the more important chronicles of the period, the Ymagines are a valuable though a secondary source.
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