English Chronicle

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. The Early English manuscript Chronicle, from which the following pages are printed, is a version of the English Chronicle called the Brute. Attention was first invited to it through the medium of Notes and Queries, and by the courtesy of William J. Thoms, esq. the editor of that publication, an opinion was obtained from sir Frederick Madden, which resulted in the issue of the present volume by the Camden Society. The manuscript itself is still deposited in a private library, as it has been for more than two hundred years, and therefore cannot be generally accessible.<br><br>Sir Frederick Madden found that the writer of the Chronicle had followed the prose English Chronicle called the Brute, as far as the end of Edward III. without introducing any important variation from the received text, with the exception of a new story relative to bishop Grostete's difference with pope Innocent IV. But from the beginning of the reign of Richard II. the matter was found more valuable; large and curious additions occur, though the text of the Brute remains as before the thread of the narrative. It is this portion of the history which is now for the first time printed.<br><br>Sir Frederick Madden discovered in the margins of the manuscript, particularly towards the close, several notes in the hand-writing of Stowe, who has freely used this history in his Annals, though without specifying it.