Benedict of Peteiborough (1177-1193)

The chronicle which goes under the name of this writer extends from the Christmas of 1169 to Easter, 1 192. According to Dr. Stubbs' theory it is a strictly-Speaking contemporaneous document for the years 1172 to 1177 - the period at which the first issue of the original work seems to have ended - and also, in all probability, more or less contemporaneous from 1180 to the end. It is assigned to Benedict, abbot of Peterborough, on the insufficient authority of a MS. which is headed " Gesta Henrici II. Benedicti Abbatis" (Cotton MS. Julius A. xi). This superscription is however probably more than half a century later than the MS. itself, and is to be explained by the words of a thirteenth century writer, Robert of Swaflham, who tells us that Benedict of Peteiborough or abbot of Peteiborough (1177-1193) " caused many books to be copied out ' ' for the monastic library. Amongst these was the " Gesta Regis Henrici Secimdi."

Thus Benedict seems merely to have had a copy made of a MS. that already existed and of which there is no reason to suppose that he was the author. On the whole Dr. Stubbs is inclined to see in the first section of this work an adaptation of the Tri-Columnis " a treatise in which Richard Fitz-Neal, the king's treasurer from 1159-1198, drew up an annual account of the most important occurrences in English ecclesiastical, regal, and legal affairs. The passages relating to the first Crusade, more especially the journal of Richard's progress from Lyons to Messina, probably embody the information contained in some Crusader's journal, or news brought home to England before the return of the expedition.

Of the principal MSS. one ending in 1177 seems to represent the earliest form of the work; while others represent it as continued down to 1 192. The latter MS. has been seriously damaged by fire, though fortunately not before it had been most carefully copied out by Wanley. It was of course on a copy of the later edition of the Gesta Henrici that Roger of Howden based that part of his chronicle which extends from 1170-1192. Dr. Stubbs' edition of Benedict has superseded all others.


Bibliography:

GILES, Life and Miracles of St. Thomas of Canterbury, by Benedict, etc. (Caxton Society, 1850).

Mullinger, Introduction to the Study of English History, London, 1894.

Thomas Rymer (1641-1713)

Thomas Rymer (I641-I713), born in Yorkshire, and educated at Cambridge and Gray’s Inn, was appointed Historiographer Royal in 1692. It was almost immediately after this that, under the patronage of Lord Somers and Lord Halifax, he began to publish the state papers from the original documents preserved in the royal archives. The documents printed are nominally limited to the negotiations with foreign powers, though some latitude must be allowed to this description The early edition of this work extends to twenty volumes folio and embraces the period between 1101 and I654.


Bibliography:

Gerard (R.), "Rymer and history". Clio. 7 (3), 1978.

Curt (Z.), The Critical Works of Thomas Rymer. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1955.

Pipe Rolls

The Rolls, or Pipe Rolls, which contain the accounts of the Royal Exchequer date, as a continued series, from the early years of Henry II., though there is one roll belonging to 31, Henry I. Of these accounts three copies were made -one for the treasurer, one for the chancellor, and one (the Pipe Roll) for the king. The Pipe Rolls, so called from their being rolled up in the form of a pipe, are preserved almost complete from the year 1155. They are now being published (down to the year 1200) by the Pipe Roll Society.

Bibleography:

Archer (T. A.), The Crusade of Richard I: 1189-1192, London, 1912.

Britnell (R. H.), The Winchester Pipe Rolls and Medieval English Society, Woodbridge, 2003.

Pipe Rolls of the Exchequer of Normandy for the Reign of Richard I: 1194-5 Et 1197-8 ; Printed from the Originals in the National Archives, Pipe Roll Society, 2016.

Epistolae Cantuarienses

This, Epistolae Cantuarienses, series of letters passing between Canterbury, Rome, and elsewhere in the latter part of the 1 2th century, extends from 1185-1199. The collection seems to have been made in the early days of the next century, possibly by that sub-prior Reginald whom the monks elected as successor to Hubert Walter in 1205. Tne MS. belongs to the ' earliest part, of the same century.

Bibleography:

Gervase of Canterbury, The Historical Works of Gervase of Canterbury, Cambridge University Press, 2012.

Stubbs (W.), Chronicles and Memorials of the Reign of Richard I, Cambridge University Press, 2012.