Public-domain ebook
by Anonymous
Language: en5,236 downloads on Project Gutenberg
Subjects
In: History - British·History - Medieval/Middle Ages
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #27027.
This work is a fifteenth‑century chronicle that records the history of London from the reign of Richard I in 1189 through the death of Edward IV in 1483, despite its misleading title. Compiled from two British Library manuscripts, the anonymous scribe (and a later continuator) documents civic affairs, elections of mayors and sheriffs, alongside broader events such as battles, coronations, plagues, and natural disasters across England, the British Isles, and France. The 1827 limited edition, edited by Sir Nicholas Harris Nicolas and Edward Tyrrell, added extensive notes and reproduced contemporary illustrations, royal letters, poems, and ballads that illuminate the metropolis’s customs. The e‑book preserves the original spelling, punctuation, and page‑header conventions, presenting the text exactly as it appeared in the 1827 print.
Written in the vernacular of the fifteenth century, the chronicle’s voice is that of a diligent recorder who intersperses factual entries with marginal commentary and occasional literary excerpts, chiefly by Lydgate. Its dense, documentary style will appeal to readers who relish primary sources, scholars of medieval urban history, and anyone interested in the social fabric and political life of pre‑modern London. Those seeking a vivid, unfiltered glimpse into the city’s medieval past will find its detailed yearly entries and authentic illustrations especially rewarding.
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About this book. Although the title indicates that the Chronicle begins in 1089, it actually begins in 1189 with the reign of Richard I, and ends in 1483 with the death of Edward IV. It is based on two manuscripts, now in the British Library, written by anonymous scribes in the 15th Century. It recounts events not only in the City of London--such as the elections of Mayors and Sheriffs--but also in the British Isles and France, covering battles, coronations, births and deaths of prominent people, tempests, earthquakes, plagues, and other noteworthy occurrences.
The Chronicle was first published in 1827, in a limited edition of 250 copies, with copious notes and an extensive section of illustrative documents. Although the editors of the 1827 edition are not named, the British Library catalogue identifies them as Sir Nicholas Harris Nicolas, G.C.M.G., and Edward Tyrrell (whose signature appears at the end of the dedication).
This e-book was prepared from a 1995 reprint of the 1827 edition, published by Llanerch Publishers, and from images of the 1827 edition at the Internet Archive, www.archive.org.
Orthography. The Chronicle section is written in 15th-Century English. The original spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and hyphenation have been preserved in this e-book.
Numbers and dates in lowercase Roman numerals often end in a "j," signifying "i."
Superscripted letters are represented in curly brackets preceded by a carat, e.g., A^{o}.
A crossed double-L is represented as [-ll-], and a tailed Z as [z/].
Blank spaces in the text are represented by long dashes (----).
Formatting. The Chronicle section of the original utilizes unique page headers indicating the name of the monarch and the years covered on that page, e.g., REX HENRICUS T'CIUS [1238-1242]. These have been retained in this e-book and inserted in the appropriate chronological place.
The original contains numerous sidenotes. In the Chronicle section, sidenotes marked with an asterisk were added by the editors and are here treated as footnotes. Otherwise, sidenotes are marked as such and have been moved above the paragraph to which they refer. Where a paragraph is very long, as in the documents at the end of the Notes section, the sidenotes have been placed above the lines to which they refer.]
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