Geoffrey of Coldingham was a late 12th and early 13th century monk and chronicler.

Geoffrey is noted as the sacrist of Coldingham Priory

Coldingham Priory

Coldingham Priory was a house of Benedictine monks. It lies on the south-east coast of Scotland, in the village of Coldingham, Berwickshire. Coldingham Priory was founded in the reign of David I of Scotland, although his older brother and predecessor King Edgar of Scotland had granted the land of...

 in Berwickshire

Berwickshire

Berwickshire or the County of Berwick is a registration county, a committee area of the Scottish Borders Council, and a lieutenancy area of Scotland, on the border with England. The town after which it is named—Berwick-upon-Tweed—was lost by Scotland to England in 1482...

 on three 14th century manuscripts of his chronicle. This work, which began with the death of William of St. Barbara

William of St. Barbara

William of St. Barbara or William of Ste Barbe was a medieval Bishop of Durham.-Life:From William's name, it is presumed that he was a native of Sainte-Barbe-en-Auge in Calvados in Normandy. He was a canon of York Minster in 1128. He was Dean of York by December of 1138.William was elected to the...

 in 1152, covered the history of Durham Cathedral

Durham Cathedral

The Cathedral Church of Christ, Blessed Mary the Virgin and St Cuthbert of Durham is a cathedral in the city of Durham, England, the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Durham. The Bishopric dates from 995, with the present cathedral being founded in AD 1093...

 until 1215, when Morgan

Morgan (bishop)

Morgan was a medieval Bishop of Durham elect.Morgan was an illegitimate son of King Henry II of England and Nesta, daughter of Iorwerth ab Owain, Lord of Caerleon. Nesta was married to Sir Ralph Bloet, who raised Morgan as his son...

's election to Durham was quashed. The work was a continuation of Symeon of Durham

Symeon of Durham

Symeon of Durham was an English chronicler and a monk of Durham Priory. When William of Saint-Calais returned from his Norman exile in 1091, Symeon was probably in his company...

's Historiae Dunelmensis

Libellus de exordio

The Libellus de exordio atque procursu istius, hoc est Dunhelmensis, ecclesie , in short Libellus de exordio, is a historical work of marked literary character composed and compiled in the early 12th-century and traditionally attributed to Symeon of Durham...

, and Geoffrey's continuation in turn was continued down to 1336 by Robert of Greystanes

Robert de Graystanes

Robert de Graystanes was a fourteenth-century English Benedictine monk, an unsuccessful candidate to become bishop of Durham around 1333, and supposed chronicler of the church of Durham.-Life:...

. Greystanes work was later continued by William de Chambre through the year 1539.

There were four different Geoffrey's who became members of the Durham cathedral chapter

Cathedral chapter

In accordance with canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese in his stead. These councils are made up of canons and dignitaries; in the Roman Catholic church their...

 in the correct time frame, and one of these was the chronicler, as Coldingham was a dependent priory

Priory

A priory is a house of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or religious sisters , or monasteries of monks or nuns .The Benedictines and their offshoots , the Premonstratensians, and the...

 of Durham. Besides the chronicle, it is possible that Geoffrey was the author of two hagiographies

Hagiography

Hagiography is the study of saints.From the Greek and , it refers literally to writings on the subject of such holy people, and specifically to the biographies of saints and ecclesiastical leaders. The term hagiology, the study of hagiography, is also current in English, though less common...

 about Bartholomew of Farne

Bartholomew of Farne

Bartholomew of Farne was a Benedictine hermit. Born Tostig, to parents of Scandanvian origin, in Whitby, Northumbria, England. He changed his name while still a child to William. He then travelled through Europe, possibly to escape marriage. He returned to England to enter a Benedictine monastery,...

 and Godric of Finchale

Godric of Finchale

Saint Godric of Finchale was an English hermit, merchant and popular medieval saint, although he was never formally canonized. He was born in Walpole in Norfolk and died in Finchale in County Durham, England....

, which were composed in the late 12th century.

The chronicle and its various continuations has been published by James Raine and the Surtees Society

Surtees Society

The Surtees Society is a learned society based at Durham in northern England. The society was established on 27 May 1834 by James Raine, following the death of renowned County Durham antiquarian Robert Surtees...

as Historiae Dunelmensis Scriptores Tres, Gaufridus de Coldingham, Robertus de Graystanes et Willielmus de Chambre in 1839.

Geoffrey died probably around 1215, as his chronicle ends abruptly about that time.