Published in two volumes for the Rolls Series between 1888 and 1889, this is the oldest surviving metrical chronicle in vernacular French. It was written by the Anglo-Norman poet and historian Geoffrei Gaimar (fl. 1136 7), who lived in England at a time when French was still used among the aristocracy. The text is largely based on the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and also draws on various French, English and Latin sources. Gaimar's unique perspective breaks with the tradition of religious chronicles by offering the first secular account of the history of England. Edited by archivist and antiquary...

Malmesbury abbey was a seventh-century foundation, re-established in the late tenth century and supported by royal patronage for several centuries. It was famous for its enormous library, and especially the work of the twelfth-century historian William of Malmesbury. This register of charters was compiled in the late thirteenth century and, although some are later forgeries, it is an important collection of Anglo-Saxon documents. It provides vital information about Wessex from the seventh century on, as well as material about the later difficulties between the monks and the bishop of...