It was begun in the late twelfth and early thirteenth century by an anonymous monk of Fossanova Abbey, near Ceccano.
Both are transcriptions of the original from Santa Maria a Fiume made at Fossanova on 7 July 1600 by a certain Benedetto Conti di Sora.
[2] In the 19th century, the editor Georg Heinrich Pertz proposed that the Annales was the work of Count John's notary, the priest Benedetto da Ceccano, who is attested in documents from 24 July 1196, 22 August 1201, 8 March 1209, 4 August 1209 and 3 September 1209.
His main argument was the character of the chronicle, which incorporates Papal bulls and documents issued by the counts of Ceccano and has a keen interest in ceremonial and procession.
Less informative, but more interesting are some hexameters directed against the Emperor Henry VI and his Germans incorporated into the chronicle.