Explore the fascinating history of England through the eyes of 14th-century scholar Ranulfus Higden. This edition features the Polychronicon, a renowned medieval chronicle, as well as English translations of John Trevisa's work and an unknown writer from the 15th century. Discover a treasure trove of knowledge and insight into medieval England, with powerful storytelling guiding you through the country's rich history.
This historical work chronicles the history of the world from the Creation to the year 1366, providing a fascinating insight into mediaeval thought and life. Included are the English translations of John Trevisa and of an unknown writer of the 15th century.
This volume is the first step in the publication of a new edition of John Trevisa's English translation of Higden's universal history, Polychronicon, to replace the Rolls Series edition of 1865-86. It is based on British Library MS Cotton Tiberius D. vii, a copy made about 1400 in the local South-Western dialect of Middle English at Berkeley, Gloucestershire, where Trevisa was vicar and chaplain to Thomas IV, Baron Berkeley, and the text is fully collated with the thirteen other extant manuscripts and Caxton's print. Book VI is of special interest not only for its subject-matter (principally the history of England from Alfred's reign to the Norman Conquest) but also because it contains in six manuscripts a section of about twelve chapters in a more literal style of translation than that of Trevisa's undoubted work. A critical edition of both translations of this section on facing pages makes possible for the first time a full comparison in order to establish their relationship, if any. The volume includes Higden's original Latin text printed below the English texts, and a comprehensive introduction, notes and glossary. Bisherige Forschungsschwerpunkte des Autors: Sense and Sense Development (London, 1967) Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (London, 1970, 2nd revised edn., 1979) The Poem of the Pearl Manuscript (London, 1978, 4th edn, Exeter, 2002, with Malcolm Andrew)