[1][2] Beginning in the 18th century, the material in the manuscripts was mistakenly perceived as fragments of a single large chronicle of the abbey of Saint-Martial.
[2] The three manuscripts from which the Great Chronicle is derived are all now in the Bibliothèque nationale de France: All three manuscripts contain many texts in common, including the chronicle of Saint-Martin by its abbot, Pierre Coral.
The focus of the text is Limoges and Saint-Martial and it begins with the arrival in the city of Franciscans and Dominicans.
The first of these relies on the universal chronicle of Gerald Frachet, but the focus of both remains local.
There is also a rough attempt at a chronicle covering the years 1235–1299, entitled Brevissimum chronicon in modern editions.