Ranulf Higden or Higdon (c. 1280–1363 or 1364) was an English chronicler and a Benedictine monk who wrote the Polychronicon, a Late Medieval magnum opus.

Higden wrote many works, including the Polychronicon, Ars componendi sermones, and Speculum curatorum.

Higden began compiling the Polychronicon, a seven-book series about world history written in Latin, during the reign of Edward III.

[1] Higden authored a chronicle commonly called Polychronicon, which name comes from the longer title Ranulphi Castrensis, cognomine Higden, Polychronicon (sive Historia Polycratica) ab initio mundi usque ad mortem regis Edwardi III in septem libros dispositum.

The first letters of each chapter create the acrostic presentem cronicam conpilavit Frater Ranulphus Cestrensis monachis.

Francis J. Haverfield also acknowledged the possibility, but also thought that 'Higden was a great plagiarist' ; he wrote that plagiarising was not unusual for histories produced in Higden's time.

There are over 100 copies of the Latin or English versions held by libraries in the UK, Belgium, Ireland, the USA, France, Spain, and the Vatican City.

One of the name variations, Randal Higgenet, may not be the same person as Ranulf Higden, according to A. W. Pollard and Thomas Warton.

[6] In Ars componendi sermones Higden outlines the qualities a preacher should have and describes Christ using several metaphors.

[7] In Speculum curatorum Higden writes about a variety of topics, including Christ’s teachings in the New Testament and divination.