Rebellion (49 page)

Authors: Livi Michael

BOOK: Rebellion

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Latin was still widely used as the language
of chronicle writing. John Rous, an antiquary from Warwick, wrote his histories in both
English and Latin, and John Blacman wrote his memoir of Henry VI in Latin after the
death of the monarch. The
Annales Rerum Anglicarum
is a Latin compilation
of
short, disconnected narratives, and the
Brief Latin
Chronicle
,
as the title implies, is also written in that language.
However, in this period the English
language finally replaced Norman
French and Latin as the language of literature. This seems to have opened the field to
popular readership and to a number of freelance writers of chronicles in English.
William Gregory, for instance, a London skinner, sheriff and mayor, wrote his
Historical Collections of a Citizen of London
in English, though since the
chronicle finishes three years after his death in 1467 it is assumed that there is an
anonymous continuator. Similarly Robert Fabyan, a prominent London draper and alderman,
wrote the
New
Chronicles of England and France
in English
in the first decade of the
sixteenth century.
Hearne's Fragment
is an anonymous work covering the period
of the 1460s, and was first published by Thomas Hearne in 1719. By his own account,
however, its author was acquainted with Edward IV and claims to have heard part of his
narrative from the king's âown mouth'.

A new group of chronicles came from the
towns. These civic narratives were all written in the vernacular, and most were centred
on London â the
Great Chronicle of London
and
the
Short English
Chronicle
were written at this time.

Official chronicles written in support of
the Yorkist cause include the
Chronicle of the Rebellion in Lincolnshire
and
the
History of the Arrivall of Edward IV in England and the Final Recovery of his
Kingdomes from Henry VI
.
The Arrivall
is an account of King Edward's
campaign to reclaim the throne in 1471. It is written by an anonymous servant of Edward
IV and is strongly sympathetic to his cause.

Polydore Vergil, Italian cleric and
Renaissance humanist historian, came to England in 1502 and was encouraged by Henry VII
to write a comprehensive history of England, an
Anglica Historia
,
which was not finished until 1531. He has sometimes been called the âfather of
English history', and his epic work marks a shift in historical writing towards the
âauthorized version' that could be printed and widely distributed throughout the known
world. Thomas More, also a humanist scholar, wrote the
History of King Richard
III
in English and Latin during the early part of the reign
of Henry VIII, when he was under-sheriff of London. Both these accounts, therefore,
can be said to have been influenced by the Tudor version of events.

Other accounts of the period are written by
foreign emissaries. These include Jean de Waurin, a Burgundian soldier and diplomat who
served both Duke Philip the Good of Burgundy and his successor Charles the Bold, and
Philippe de Commines, who wrote his memoirs at the court of Louis XI of France. Dominic
Mancini, an Italian poet, was sent from the court of Louis XI to report on English
affairs. Georges Chastellain, a Burgundian chronicler and poet, became secretary to
Pierre de BrÃ©zÃ©, and wrote
Chronique des choses de mon temps
(1417â74) and
Le Temple de Boccace
, which was dedicated to Margaret of Anjou.

The
Milanese State Papers
are a
collection of ambassadorial letters sent mainly by Milanese envoys in England, France
and Burgundy, to successive dukes of Milan.

In this period, an increasing number of
records were kept â rolls and files in the Public Records Office, government records
such as the
Rotuli Parliamentorum
in the Chancery archive, and local records
such as the Coventry Leet Book, or the York Civic Records. Also the first collections of
private letters survive â around 250 from the Plumptons of York and more than a thousand
from the Pastons of Norfolk, which provide an invaluable glimpse into the daily lives of
people caught up in the âintestinal conflicts' and political turmoil of the period.

None of the chronicles can be said to be
definitive. They are partisan, contradictory, unreliable in certain respects, but also
vivid and readable accounts of a tumultuous period of English history. Their approach to
writing, and to history, is very different from that of the contemporary historical
novel; they convey the spirit of the age without resorting to interior perspective or
reflection. It seemed to me that the different approaches were complementary, and might
usefully be brought together.

Acknowledgements

With thanks to the Chetham's Library, as
ever, and in particular to Fergus Wilde for help with the translations. And to my sons,
Ben and Paul, for putting up with me.