Bartholomaeus de Cotton, the Cellarer of Norwich Cathedral Priory, died in 1321/2. His most important work is the Historia Anglicana, written in 1292, with a few later additions. Book I, the history of Britain, taken from Geoffrey of Monmouth, was omitted by H. R. Luard from this 1859 edition. Book II, the history of England, is divided into two sections, from 455 to 1066, and from 1066 to the end of the thirteenth century. The work is most valuable for the period after 1264, as one of Cotton's sources, an anonymous Norwich chronicle, contains material not found elsewhere, and he also quotes...

Published as part of the Rolls Series in 1861, these collected letters date mainly from 1235 53, when, as bishop of Lincoln, their author presided over the largest diocese in England. Both a scientist and a theologian, Robert Grosseteste (c.1170 1253) boasts what the medieval historian R. W. Southern describes as 'a rarely paralleled breadth of intellectual interests'. His letters are invaluably illustrative of the social conditions of the time. He writes heatedly and earnestly on such topics as the laws concerning illegitimacy, the condition of the Jews and the liberties of the Church, with...

This volume in the Rolls Series, published in 1858, includes three of the most important sources for the life of Edward the Confessor. The Vita AEdwardi was written c.1067 and was used as a source by notable chroniclers such as William of Malmesbury and Ailred of Rievaulx. The author declares his purpose in honouring Queen Edith, and the Godwin family are given prominence alongside Edward. Ailred completed a life of Edward for the translation of his relics in 1163, and the Vita Beati is 'a sort of abridged versification', produced for Henry VI c.1440. The Anglo-Norman poem, La Estoire de...

Originally published in 1864 9, and still a standard reference work, this five-volume collection contains editions of key source texts for medieval English history, focusing mainly on the thirteenth century. Compiled in monasteries over many years, they record local, national and international events in chronological order, sometimes surprisingly briefly and at other times in great detail. The coverage includes aristocratic marriages and deaths, royal visits, conflicts and power struggles, appointments and acquisitions, astronomical observations, natural disasters, crimes and punishments. The...

A Church of England clergyman and fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, Henry Richards Luard (1825 91) edited a number of works in the Rolls Series, for which he was noted for the quality of his indexing and the depth of his commentary. This seven-volume work, first published between 1872 and 1883, has been hailed as one of the best editions in the series. It is a rich source for English history from the Creation to 1259, written by England's greatest medieval historian. Matthew Paris (c.1200 59) became a monk at St Albans in 1217 and had access to a wide variety of documents as an...

Originally published in 1864 9, and still a standard reference work, this five-volume collection contains editions of key source texts for medieval English history, focusing mainly on the thirteenth century. Compiled in monasteries over many years, they record local, national and international events in chronological order, sometimes surprisingly briefly and at other times in great detail. The coverage includes aristocratic marriages and deaths, royal visits, conflicts and power struggles, appointments and acquisitions, astronomical observations, natural disasters, crimes and punishments. The...

Originally published in 1864 9, and still a standard reference work, this five-volume collection contains editions of key source texts for medieval English history, focusing mainly on the thirteenth century. Compiled in monasteries over many years, they record local, national and international events in chronological order, sometimes surprisingly briefly and at other times in great detail. The coverage includes aristocratic marriages and deaths, royal visits, conflicts and power struggles, appointments and acquisitions, astronomical observations, natural disasters, crimes and punishments. The...

A Church of England clergyman and fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, Henry Richards Luard (1825 91) edited a number of works in the Rolls Series, for which he was noted for the quality of his indexing and the depth of his commentary. This seven-volume work, first published between 1872 and 1883, has been hailed as one of the best editions in the series. It is a rich source for English history from the Creation to 1259, written by England's greatest medieval historian. Matthew Paris (c.1200 59) became a monk at St Albans in 1217 and had access to a wide variety of documents as an...

A Church of England clergyman and fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, Henry Richards Luard (1825 91) edited a number of works in the Rolls Series, for which he was noted for the quality of his indexing and the depth of his commentary. This seven-volume work, first published between 1872 and 1883, has been hailed as one of the best editions in the series. It is a rich source for English history from the Creation to 1259, written by England's greatest medieval historian. Matthew Paris (c.1200 59) became a monk at St Albans in 1217 and had access to a wide variety of documents as an...

A Church of England clergyman and fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, Henry Richards Luard (1825 91) edited a number of works in the Rolls Series, for which he was noted for the quality of his indexing and the depth of his commentary. This seven-volume work, first published between 1872 and 1883, has been hailed as one of the best editions in the series. It is a rich source for English history from the Creation to 1259, written by England's greatest medieval historian. Matthew Paris (c.1200 59) became a monk at St Albans in 1217 and had access to a wide variety of documents as an...