The Historians of Angevin England

Abstract

The end of the twelfth century and the beginning of the thirteenth saw an explosion of creativity in English historical writing. In the space of a few decades, Roger of Howden, Ralph of Diceto, William of Newburgh, Gerald of Wales, Gervase of Canterbury, Ralph of Coggeshall, Richard of Devizes, Walter Map, and Richard de Templo, among others, produced works that have been praised for their variety, their historical value, and their originality. All these writers chose to focus on recent events, and some of them explained that they did so because their own times were simply so interesting. They pointed to the Great Revolt of 1173–4, the crusade and captivity of Richard the Lionheart, wars abroad and political upheaval at home. The fact that so many people, writing in England around the same time, chose to write about the events they had lived through, allows us to evaluate the evidence of one writer against another. But it also affords us a rare insight into the attitudes, mentalities, and frames of reference with which they approached these events. This book presents, first, an introduction to the writers in question, and an analysis of their approach to historical writing. Secondly, it shows how these writers addressed certain themes prominent in their works, from kingship to religious difference. In this way we can gain a greater understanding not only of the historians themselves and the subjects they wrote about, but of contemporary historiography, intellectual life, and political thought.

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