СНАР. The Em mae En For the years from Swegen's invasion of England (1012) to the accession of Hardicanute (1040), we have the Emmae Encomium,' a narrative in the tone of a panegyrist addressed by an unknown writer, probably a comium. Norman, to Emma of Normandy, the wife of Ethelred II. The writer shows but an imperfect knowledge of contemporary events, and the account is defective in other respects, but it contains many curious particulars, and the style, though inflated, is good for the period. uuardi. For the life of Edward the Confessor, there is a com- Vita Aedpilation entitled Vita Aeduuardi Regis qui apud Westmonasterium requiescit. It is by an unknown author, but one who was unquestionably a contemporary, and wrote, it is conjectured, between the years 1066 and 1074, when the sufferings inflicted by the Norman conquerors were at their height. The treatise is of considerable value, as it contains facts not found elsewhere; it also frequently differs materially from other accounts. Lives of St. Cuth bert. The biographical literature of this period compensates, Wilfrid and indeed, to some extent for the scantiness of the historical. Among its most favourable specimens are the Life of St. CUTHBERT, by Bede, and another entitled, Historia de S. Cuthberto, printed in Twysden (Decem Scriptt. pp. 67-76) and also included in the edition of the works of Simeon of Durham, published by the Surtees Society. Bede, however, was indebted for the materials of his Life, to earlier writers, and it is to the Life of WILFRID, bishop of York, by Eddius, that Sir T. D. Hardy accordingly assigns the distinction of being 'the first independent piece of genuine biography in our literature.' 'The style,' he says, 'is somewhat diffuse, and the facts are com Emmae Anglorum Reginae, Ricardi I. Ducis Normannorum Fi'iae, Encomium; incerto Auctore, sed coaetaneo. Migne, P. L. cxli. 2 See Lives of Edward the Confessor. Luard, M A., R. S. 1858. Edited by Henry Richards .CHAP. II. Aldhelm. b. 656. d. 709. Alcuin. b. 725. d. 804. The Church of paratively few, yet his narrative furnishes a valuable commentary upon the corresponding passages in Bede's history, and throws considerable light upon what would otherwise have remained in obscurity' (D. C. i. 396-8). The Life of ALDHELM of Sherborne, by Faricius,' together with the Letters and Poems of Aldhelm himself, are of considerable value. His position, as the earliest English scholar, and his labours in promoting the work of education in Wessex, impart an exceptional interest to his history. The biography by Faricius was compiled about the beginning of the eleventh century. Faricius was a Tuscan by birth, and a monk of the monastery of Malmesbury, from whence he was promoted to be abbat of Abingdon. The reputation that he there acquired by the austerity of his discipline made him unpopular with the secular clergy, and prevented his election to the archbishopric of Canterbury. His account of Aldhelm is to some extent superseded by that given by William of Malmesbury in the fifth book of his Gesta Pontificum. William made the life by Faricius the basis of his own account, but added extracts from Aldhelm's writings, and also availed himself of materials afforded by local tradition. The Life of ALCUIN, by an anonymous writer,2 is of much inferior merit when compared with the foregoing biographies, but Alcuin's Letters3 are of great importance from the illustration they afford of the relations between England and Frankland in the eighth and ninth centuries. His poetical history of the bishops and archbishops of York is also of considerable value as a record of events Vita Aldhelmi, auctore Faricio Monacho Malmesburiensi. Edited by J. A. Giles. Caxt, S. 1854. Printed also in Migne, P. L. lxxxix., along with Aldhelm's works. 2 Migne, ibid. c. 90-105. 3 rd., ibid. c. 135-514. Migne, ibid. ci. 814-46. II. in connexion with the chief centre of English learning СНАР. at this period; other material relating to the same subject will be found in the collection by canon Raine.' stan. Two Lives of St. DUNSTAN,2 the one by Adelard, the st. Dunother probably by Ebrachar, are of importance as sources of information respecting English history in the latter d. 993. half of the tenth century, for which indeed, if we except the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, they constitute almost the only contemporary materials. Scotus. (B.) Non-contemporary Writers. The Chronicle of Marianus MARIANUS SCOTUS, who wrote in the eleventh century, b. 1028. is a work of no authority, being, as regards English d. 1086. history, nothing more than a compilation from Bede and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, extending to the year 1083. The manuscripts to which he had recourse were however so good, that his text has occasionally served to correct that of the sources from which he borrowed. With thirteenth and fourteenth century writers he appears to have passed for an original authority. Durham The History of the Kings of England, (616-1130) by Simeon of SIMEON OF DURHAM, written in the twelfth century, d. 1130. is especially valuable in connexion with events in Northumbria, for which, in the tenth century, he is indeed the highest authority. He gives an account of the rise of Christianity in the North which, though largely derived from Bede's History, and Life of St. Cuthbert, contains evidence, particularly towards the close of the third book, of being derived also from other sources, and furnishes many important illustrations of the secular as The Historians of the Church of York, and its Archbishops. Vol. i. Edited by James Raine, M.A., R. S. 1879. 2 Memorials of Saint Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury. Edited by William Stubbs, M.A., R. S. 1874. Migne, P. L. cxlvii. 1844. Symeonis Dunelmensis Opera et Collectanea. Edited by J. H. Hinde. S. S. 1868. CHAP. Henry of Huntingdon. d. after 1154. Ralph of Peter well as of the ecclesiastical affairs of northern Eng. land. HENRY, archdeacon of HUNTINGDON, who was connected with the monastic community at Ramsey in that shire, completed in the twelfth century, a history of England up to the end of the reign of Stephen.' Here again, Bede and the Chronicle form the staple of the work; but though little more than a compilation, it possesses some value as preserving to us many ballads and carly traditions which would otherwise have been lost. It is also noticeable as the production of a secular clergyman at a time when monks were almost the only writers. As an independent authority, Henry of Huntingdon has less claim upon our notice, and Mr. Freeman observes (Norman Conquest, iv. 3, note) that he diminishes in importance as he gets nearer to his own time. This may in some measure be accounted for by the inferiority of his means of observation in a provincial diocese when compared with those of a resident at one of the great monasteries. The Abbreviationes Chronicorum, by RALPH OF DICETO,3 a canon of the Church in the twelfth century, and archdeacon of Middlesex, is also noticeable as written by a secular, but is of small value. The Chronicle of PETER LANGTOFT,' composed in French verse, and ex 1 Henrici Archidiaconi Huntindunensis Historia Anglorum: A.C. 551154. In eight Books. ed. Thomas Arnold R. S. 1879. 2 Mr. Earle observes: 'He was an amateur and an antiquarian. To him we owe the earliest mention of Stonehenge. He had a great fondness for the old Saxon Chronicles, which in his day were already something curious and out of date, although his Annals close at the same date as E. viz. 1154.' Pref. to Parallel Chronicles, p. Ixi. Radulfi de Diceto Decani Lundoniensis Opera Historica. Edited by 2 The Chronicle of Pierre Langtoft, in French Verse, from the earliest vols. tending from the time of Cadwallader to the reign of Edward II., is of even less merit. CHAP. Malmesbury. d. 1148. In WILLIAM OF MALMESBURY we are presented, for William of the first time after a lapse of four centuries, with a historian who may compare with Bede, and who aspires to b 1095. higher functions than those of the mere annalist. The offspring of a Norman father and an English mother, he represents the fusion of the two races, though his sympathies are manifestly on the side of the conquerors. William is an eminently favourable example of the Benedictine scholar, interpenetrated with the learning of his order, but with sympathies and an intelligence that lift him far above the ordinary level of monastic writers. By the general consent of scholars, from Leland to Mr. Freeman, he takes a foremost place among the authorities for the Anglo-Norman period of our history. 'Considering the age in which this author lived,' says Sir T. D. Hardy, the sources whence he has drawn his materials are surprisingly numerous. In many instances, it is difficult to name his authorities. Little secms to have escaped him, and his skill and judgment in arranging his materials keep such even pace with his industry, that more information is perhaps to be gathered from him than from all the writers who preceded him.' His most important work is his Gesta Regum Anglorum, extending from A.D. 449 to the 28th year of Henry I. The text of this, as given in Savile's Scriptores, ' abounds,' according to the same critic, 'with gross errors;' the best edition is that which Sir T. D. Hardy himself edited for the English Historical Society, 1840, along with another work by William, known as the Historia Novella. A third work from the same pen is the de Gestis Pontificum, a history of English bishops and of the principal 1 Hardy, D. C. ii. xlvii. ? See infra, p. 260, • Willelmi Malmesbiriensis Monachi de Gestis Pontificum Anglorum Libri Quinque. Edited from William of Malmesbury's autograph MS., by |
