The Chronica maiora of Thomas Walsingham, 1376-1422

Abstract

Winner of a CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title Award. Translated by David Preest with introduction and notes by James G. Clark. Thomas Walsingham's 'Chronica maiora' is one of the most comprehensive and colourful chronicles to survive from medieval England. Walsingham was a monk at St Albans Abbey, a royal monastery and the premier repository of public records, and therefore well placed to observe the political machinations of this period at close hand. Moreover, he knew the monarchs and many of the nobles personally and is able to offer insights into their actions unmatched by any other authority. It is this narrative, transmitted through the popular Tudor histories of Hall, Stow and Holinshed, which provides the principle source for Shakespeare's sequence of history plays. Covering almost fifty years, the narrative provides the most authoritative account of one of the most turbulent periods in English history, from the last years of Edward III [1376-77] to the premature death of Henry V [1422]. Walsingham describes the many dramas of this period in vivid detail, including the Peasants' Revolt [1381], the deposition and murder of Richard II [1399-1400], The Welsh revolt of Owain Glyn Dwr [1403] and Henry V's victory at Agincourt [1415]; they are brought to life here in this new translation.

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