Early Modern Mythological Texts: Troia Britanica XVII, Notes

Thomas Heywood. Troia Britanica (1609)

Notes to CANTO XVII

Ed. Yves PEYRÉ


1

5028/1067: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle (Apr. 1565), fol. 198v.

Hereford: F, Hertford. Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, fol. 200r: “Roger earl of Hertforde and another named Raulf conspired against king William of England being then in Normandy, which both were by him outlawed and chased out of the realm”. In 1075, Roger de Breteuil, second earl of Hereford, conspired against William with his brother-in-law, Ralph de Gael. Sentenced to life imprisonment, he died in custody in 1087.

Earl Walter: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, fol. 200r: “Earl Walreff, that uttered the conspiracy, beheaded”. Fabyan gives a fuller account of his involvement in the conspiracy and his disclosing of it (cronycle, fol. 145r-v). Waltheof, earl of Northumbria, was executed in1076. Back to text

 

2

Duke Robert: The stanza is based on Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, fol. 200v: “Robert, the eldest son of William Conqueror, by the counsel and aid of Philip king of France [Philip I], invaded his father’s duchy of Normandy. Wherewith William being greatly displeased gave to his son strong battle, in which it fortuned Robert to meet unawares in the field with his father, and bare him to the earth. But perceiving by the voice who it was, forthwith he leapt from his horse and saved his father, for which deed he was reconciled and peace between them was agreed”. The battle took place in January 1079, outside the walls of the castle of Gerberoy (in Oise). Back to text

 

3

Caen: F, Caan, after Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, fol. 201v.

Four sons: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, fol. 201v: “He had 5 children: Robert, to whom he gave Normandy; Richard, which died in the flower of his age; William Rufus, and Henry, which were kings after him, and one daughter named Adela”. They were Robert duke of Normandy (in or after 1050-1134); Richard, who died as a youth in a hunting accident before 1074; William II, known as William Rufus (c. 1060-1100); Henry I (1068/9-1135); Adela (c. 1067-1137), countess of Blois.

Beauclerc: F, Bewclack (for Bewclark). Henry ‘s reputation for literacy owed him the posthumous epithet of Beauclerc, which seems to have originated in the fourteenth century. See stanza 11. Back to text

 

4

1069: F, 10691. At this date, Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle indicates that “Canutus, king of Denmark, being stirred up by certain English outlaws, invaded the North parts of England and entered even to York, from whence he was chased by William and forced to fly to his country” (fol. 199r).

1070: F, 1670. At this date, Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle indicates that “Henry the Emperor invaded the country of Bavaria” (fol. 199r). In 1070, the Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV deposed Otto of Nordheim, duke of Bavaria. Back to text

Malcolm: Malcolm III (1031-1093). Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, fol. 199r: “The Scots with their king Malcolm invaded Northumberland and robbed the country”.

Otho: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, fol. 199r: “Otho duke of Bavaria vanquished the Thurings [Thuringians] and vexed sore Saxony with divers invasions”. Although he had been deposed in 1070, Otto, duke of Bavaria continued his fight against Henry IV in Saxony and Thuringia until 1071.

Thuringians: F, Thuringas. Back to text

 

5

Eudochia: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, fol. 199r, for 5032/1071: “Eudochia and her sons ruled Constantinople vii months. Romanus, surnamed Diogenes, married Eudochia and possessed the empire”. When the Byzantine emperor Constantine X Doukas died in 1067, his wife Eudokia Makrembolitissa became regent until 1068, when she married Romanos IV Diogenes, who became emperor.

Romanus: F, Rhomanus. See preceding note. Back to text

5030/1069: In Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, the events mentioned in stanza 5 are dated 5032/1071, 5035/1074, 5034/1073, and 5029/1068 respectively.

Gregory: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, fol. 199v, “This Gregory decreed also that priests should have no more wives and that they which already had should be divorced; and that no man should thenceforth be admitted to priesthood but they vowed perpetual chastity. Against this decree repugned the bishops and priests of Germany and withstood it a good season”. Back to text

The Russ’ duke: Heywood follows Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, fol. 199v: “Demetrius, king of Russia, expelled his brother out of the kingdom and desired aid of the Emperor Henry”. But, as Robert Estienne’s Dictionarium Historicum, Geographicum, Poeticum testified, Lanquet’s formulation was mistaken: “Demetrius, Russorum rex, a fratre regno pulsus est, anno salutis 1073”. Iziaslav I (Demetrius), prince of Kievan Rus’ (1024-1078) was expelled from Kiev by his brothers Sviatoslav and Vsevolod in 1073. Failing to obtain Henry IV’s support, he turned to Gregory VII for help and eventually recovered his throne in 1076. Back to text

four castles: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, fol. 199r: “King William builded four strong castles, twayne at York, one at Nottingham, another at Lincoln, which garrisons he furnished with Normans”. Back to text

 

6

1076: F, 1079, a mistaken inversion of 6 into 9.

feudal: F, Feudor. As Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle explains, the Pope “assoiled the people of their oath of all allegiance ... by which means divers princes rebelled” (fol. 200r, 5037/1076). Back to text

Oswald: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle for 5040/1079: “Oswold, bishop of Salisbury, was famous in England”. According to Fabyan, in the 13th year of William’s reign (1079), “after the death of Hermann, bishop of Salisbury, succeeded Osmund, the king’s chancellor” (cronycle, fol. 145v). Grafton repeats Fabyan, calling the new bishop “Osmond or Oswald” (A Chronicle at Large, II, p. 14). St Osmund is remembered as the founder of the Salisbury liturgy known as the “use of Sarum” and was regarded as the founder of Salisbury Cathedral. Back to text

Caesar: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5038/1077, fol. 200r, “The emperor, at the instance of his lords, came humbly to the bishop of Rome and desired of him pardon and absolution”; 5043/1082, fol. 200v: “Gregory, bishop of Rome, ... excommunicated Henry the emperor the second time”; 5044/1083, fol. 201r: “The emperor, assembling a council at Brixia, made Robert bishop of Rome, which was before bishop of Ravenna, and named him Clement”. It was in 1080 that the Synod of Brixen deposed Gregory VII and chose instead Guibert (or Wibert)—not Robert—archbishop of Ravenna, who became Antipope Clement III in 1084. Back to text

 

7

1086: F, 1089 (6 misprinted 9).

Vladislaus: F, Vradislaus. Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5047/1086, fol. 201v: “Vradislaus was ordeined the first king of Boheme by the Emperor”. Vradislaus (or Ladislaus) was duke of Bohemia as from 1061 and became first king of Bohemia in 1085. Back to text

Ansell: So F. Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5049/1088, fol. 201v: “Auful [sic] king of Galicia in Spain, which had continual war with the Saracens recovered the city of Tolete [Toledo] to the possession of the Christians”. Cooper and Heywood refer to Alfonso VI who conquered Toledo in 1085 and reclaimed large territories from the Muslims. King of Leon (1065-1072) and of Galicia (1071-1109), he united Castile and Leon under his authority (1O72-1109).

Will. Rufus: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5050/1089, fol. 201v: “William Rufus, the second son of William Conqueror, reigned 13 years”. Back to text

 

8

Robert: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle mentions two attacks on William Rufus by his brother, Robert Curthose, duke of Normandy, in 5050/1089 and 5051/1090, each time followed by reconciliation (fol. 202r).

The Scots: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5052/1091, fol. 202r: “The Scots spoiled and took preys in Northumberland. Wherefore William Rufus provided a navy and sailed thither, where, after divers conflicts and skirmishes, a peace and unity was agreed”. Back to text

1094: F, 1044. Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5055/1094, fol. 202r: “The Welshmen rebelled. They were vanquished and their king or duke, named Rees, slain in battle”. The reference is to Rhys ap Tewdwr (an ancestor of the Tudors), who was killed in a battle with the Normans in 1093.

Jerusalem: The fight for Jerusalem during the First Crusade is covered by Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle as from 5055/1094 (fol. 202r) to 5060/1099 (fol. 103r). In 5061/1100 (fol. 203v), it indicates that “Soliman, the great Soldan of Babylon, was slain”. Back to text

 

9

Robert: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle merely indicates that “Godfrey, sovereign captain of the Christian army was proclaimed the first king of Jerusalem” (1560/1099, fol. 203r). According to Ranulf Higden, Robert, duke of Normandy, had been elected king of Jerusalem, but refused the title when he heard that the throne of England had become vacant when William Rufus died (Polychronicon, 1482, VII, xii, fol. CCCxlii v). The story was repeated in John Hardyng’s Chronicle (1543, fol. Cxlii r) and in John Fox’s Acts and Monuments (1583, p. 184). In his Chronicles, Holinshed reported that when William Rufus died, Henry, his younger brother, spread the rumour that Robert, the elder brother, had been elected king of Jerusalem and was not interested in the throne of England. Robert, meanwhile, chose to refuse Jerusalem (1577, IV, 1.3, pp. 337-38). See stanza 11. Back to text

Bulloin Godfrey: Godfrey of Bouillon, earl of Boulogne.

Malcolm: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5056/1095, fol. 202v: “Malcolm king of Scots, for displeasure taken with the unkindness of William Rufus, invaded the marches of England and in Northumberland was slain with his eldest son Edward by Robert, which was then earl of that province”. Malcolm III was slain near Alnwick in 1093, in an ambush set up by Robert de Mowbray, earl of Northumberland.

Westminster: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5060/1099, fol. 203r: “About this time William Rufus builded Westminster Hall”. The Great Hall at Westminster was started in 1097 and completed in 1099. Back to text

 

10

Duncan: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, fol. 203r, 5058/1097: “Donald was king of Scots after Malcolm, between whom and Duncan was fierce war and great trouble for the crown of Scotland”; 5060/1099: “Duncan by force of arms took on him the crown of Scotland, which he held a year and a half and then was slain in his bed; after whom Donald was restored to the kingdom”. Duncan II usurped the throne from Donald III before the end of 1093 and was killed on 12 november 1094. Back to text

Edgar: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5062/1101, fol. 203v: “Edgar, the 4th son of Malcolm being sent for of the Scots, made claim of the crown, which he obtained after he had discomfited Donald in a strong battle, and reigned in good quiet 9 years”. With English help, Edgar defeated his uncle Donald in 1097. He died at Edinburgh in 1107. Back to text

Rufus: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5062/1101, fol. 203v: “William Rufus, king of England, being at his desport of hunting, by glancing of an arrow that Tirrel, a French knight, did shoot, was wounded to death”. This hunting accident occurred in the New Forest on 2 August 1100; the arrow was shot by one of the king’s company, Walter Tirel, count of Poix (near Amiens). Back to text

 

11

Beauclerk: F, Beauclarke: see note to stanza 3. Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5062/1101, fol. 203v: “Henry, the brother of William Rufus and first of that name, for his learning called Beauclerk, began his dominion over this realm of England, and reigned 35 years”; 5067/1106, fol. 204r: “King Henry ordained strict laws against thieves and others that used unlawful means, in the which was contained the losing of life, of eyes, of stones, and other members of man, as the guilt required”. Back to text

Robert: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5066/1105, fol. 204r: “Robert duke of Normandy, coming into England, by fair entreaty of king Henry and his wife, released to him the tribute of 3000 marks. But it was not long ere that by means of tale bearers and misreports, great malice was kindled between the two brethren and shortly thereupon deadly war areared, in th’end whereof Robert was taken and kept in perpetual prison at Cardiff by his brother, who immediately seized upon the duchy of Normandy and held it in his possession”. Cooper does not say that the duke was blinded after trying to escape. The story is mentioned by Holinshed (1577, IV, 1.3, p. 346) as well as John Stow, Annals (1605), p. 193 and Summary (1607), p. 63. Michael Drayton reports it in The Tragical Legend of Robert, duke of Normandy (1596), stanzas 109-110, sig. D3. Robert died at Cardiff in 1134. Back to text

 

12

Reior: The information was not given by Cooper. It could be found in Holinshed (1577, IV, 1.3, p. 341) as in John Stow’s Annals (1605), p. 191 and Summary (1607), p. 61: “The cathedral church of Norwich was founded by Robert, bishop of Norwich. The priory and hospital of Saint Bartholomew in Smithfield was founded by a minstrell named Reior”. Heywood uses the name “Reior” given in Summary, not “Rahere”, as given in Annals or Rayer as in Fabyan, cronycle, fol. 151v. On Reior (or Rayer), see ODNB, Rahere. Back to text

Belgia: John Stow’s English Chronicle, 1607 ed., p. 63: “A great part of Flanders was drowned by breaking in of the sea, which caused many Flemings to come into England (1108)”; also Annals (1605), p. 194. Not mentioned by Holinshed.

superstition: extravagance. See following note on the taxes levied for the occasion. The dowry was estimated at 10 000 marks in silver (ODNB). Back to text

Empress: John Stow’s Summary (1607), p. 63: “Henry, emperor of Rome required to have Maud, the king’s daughter in marriage, which was granted, and the king took three shillings of every hide of land through England (1109)”; Annals (1605), pp. 194 and 196. Henry I’s daughter Matilda (or Maud) was married to the Holy Roman Emperor Henry V at Worms in 1114.

Adelisia: John Stow’s Summary (1607), p. 66: “King Henry married Adelisia, the duke of Louans daughter (1122)”; Annals (1605), pp. 199-200. In Holinshed (1577, IV, 1.3, p. 358), she appears as Adelicia, daughter to “the Duke of Louayne”. Heywood’s marginal note spells “Louaine”. Henry I’s wife Matilda (Maud) died in 1118. In 1121, the king then married Adeliza (or Alice), daughter of Godfrey, count of Louvain and duke of Lower Lorraine. Back to text

Louvain: F, Louaine.

 

13

Lodwicke: John Stow’s Summary (1607), pp. 64-65: “Many sore battles were foughten in France and Normandy between Henry, king of England and Lodowicke the French king”. Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5071/1110, fol. 205r: “Debate fell between the king of England and Lewys [Louis VI] of France for the castle of Gysours [Gisors] and homage, which Lewys required to be done for the Duchy of Normandy”. Back to text

In their return: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5081/1120, fol. 206r: “William duke of Normandy and Richard, the sons of king Henry of England, and Mary, his daughter, Richard earl of Chester with his wife the king’s niece and other to the number of 160 persons, passing from Normandy into England, by oversight of the shipmaster were drowned, saving one butcher, which escaped the danger”. The wreck of the White Ship occurred as it was leaving Barfleur, on 25 November 1120. Back to text

 

14

Geoffrey: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5089/1128, fol. 207r: “Geoffrey Plantagenet, earl of Angeow [Anjou], married Maud the Empress, daughter of king Henry, of which two, descended Henry II, which reigned after Stephen”. John Stow’s English Chronicle, 1607 ed., p. 68: “Maud the Empress did bear unto Geoffrey Plantagenet earl of Angiou a son, and named him Henry (1132)”; “Maud the Empress brought forth a son named Geoffrey” (1134). Back to text

Beauclerc: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5096/1135, fol. 207v: “King Henry of England, being in Normandy, with a fall of his horse, took his death”; 5097/1136: “Stephen, earl of Boloyne [Boulogne], the son of the earl of Bloyes [Blois] and Adela, William Conqueror’s daughter, and nephew to Henry the First, took on him the governance of this realm of England”.

many buildings: John Stow’s English Chronicle, 1607 ed., pp. 68-69, indicates that Henry I “was buried at Reading, an abbey of his foundation”, and that “He founded a priory at Dunstable and builded the castle of Windsor with a college there”. Back to text

 

15

Bohemond: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5063/1102, fol. 204r: “Many Christian men were slain in Asia of the Turks and Bohemunde of Puell taken prisoner, which was shortly after redeemed by his nephew Tancretus”. Bohemond and his nephew Tancred of Hauteville took part in the First Crusade. Bohemond was taken prisoner by the Turks (1101-1103). Back to text

Puell: Apulia.

Baldwin: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5081/1120, fol. 206r: “Baldwin, king of Jerusalem, took Gazim, king of the Turks, which inhabited the less Asia, and with like success, vanquished and took prisoner the king of Damascus”. Back to text

Alphons’: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5068/1107, fol. 204v: “Alphons, the 7th king of Spain, reigned one and fifty years”. Alfonso VII (Alfonso the Emperor) was king of Galicia from 1112 to 1157 and of Leon and Castile from 1126 to 1157.

Lewes: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5068/1107, fol. 204v: “Lewys surnamed the Gross began his reign over France and continued 30 years”. Louis VI le Gros (Louis the Fat) reigned from 1108 to 1137.

Alexander: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5070/1109, fol. 205r: “Alexander, the 5th son of Malcolm, reigned in Scotland 17 years”. Alexander I, “the Fierce” reigned in Scotland from 1107 to 1124. Back to text

 

16

Alexius: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5045/1084, fol. 201r: “Alexius deprived Nicephorus of the empire of Constantinople.” Alexios I Komnenos overthrew Nikephoros III and reigned as Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. Back to text

Henry: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5045/1084, fol. 201r: “Henry the emperor was crowned with the imperial diadem of Clement, whom he had made bishop of Rome”. Henry V was crowned Holy Roman Emperor on 13 April 1111 under the pontificate of Paschal II. Clement III, who had been chosen by the Synod of Brixen in 1080, had died in 1100.

Paschal: F, Pascall. Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5067/1106, fol. 204r: “Pascale, bishop of Rome”. Paschal II was Pope from 1099 to 1118.

Stephen: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5076/1115, fol. 205v: “Stephen, the 2nd king of Hungary, reigned 18 years”. Stephen II reigned in Hungary from 1116 to 1131. Back to text

A blazing star: Heywood conflates two passages from Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5068/1107, fol. 204v: “In England appeared a blazing star between the south and the west; and against that in the east appeared a great beam of brightness stretching toward the star, and shortly after were seen 2 moons, the t’one in the east, the t’other in the west; and 5075/1114, fol. 205r: “At Shrewsbury, in England, was a great earthquake and the river of Trent was so dried that, the space of one day, men went over dryshod. A blazing star appeared soon after and thereupon followed a hard winter: death of men, scarcity of victuals, murrain of beasts”; fol. 205v, for the same year: “About this time in Aemilia and Flaminia, it rained blood”. Back to text

Michael: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5083/1122, fol. 206r-v: “Dominicus Michael, duke of Venice, with a well furnished navy, sailed into Asia, and at the city of Joppen, vanquished the Saracens, took of them a great number, and conquered the city Tyrus. In his return, for displeasure kindled toward the emperor of Constantinople, which caused him to be sent for home, he spoiled Rhodes, Chios, and subdued Samos, Lesbos, Milenae and divers other places which belonged to the empire of Constantinople”. Domenico Michele was Doge of Venice from 1117-1130.

Mitelene: Not Mytilene, which would be redundant with Lesbos. Lanquet has “Milenae” (see preceding note), which refers to the city of Methoni in the Peloponnese, overcome by Domenico Michele in 1124. Back to text

 

17

Charles: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5085/1124, fol. 206v: “Charles, earl of Flanders, by means of the provost of Bruggis [Bruges], was slain in the church, as he was hearing divine service. After whose death Lewys, king of France, advanced William, the son of Robert Curthoyse to the same earldom of Flanders, on whom immediately Theodorich, earl of Alsacia, made mortal war”. The murder of Charles the Good on Ash Wednesday 1127 and the ensuing wars were narrated by a contemporary witness, Galbert of Bruges, in his De multro, traditione, et occisione gloriosi Karoli comitis Flandriarum (1127-1128). His work has been translated into English by James Bruce Ross, The Murder of Charles the Good (New York: Columbia University Press, 1960; 2005) and by Jeff Rider: The Murder, Betrayal, and Slaughter of the Glorious Charles, Count of Flanders (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2013). Back to text

1124: F, 1125 by misprint.

Balach: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5086/1125, fol. 206v: “Balach, king of the Parthes, took Baldwin, king of Jerusalem and slew many of the Christian captains and soldiers in Asia”. Baldwin II was taken prisoner by Balak (or Belek) Ghazi in 1123. Back to text

 

18

Stephen: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5097/1136, fol. 207v: “Stephen, earl of Boloyne [Boulogne], the son of the earl of Blois and Adela, William Conqueror’s daughter, and nephew to Henry the First, took on him the governance of this realm of England. ... Great trouble and dissension in England, for so much as divers of the nobles favoured Maud the empress against Stephen, which was in possession of the crown”; and 5102/1141, fol. 208v: “Maud the empress came into this land out of Normandy, and by the aid of Robert, earl of Gloucester, and Ranulph of Chester, made strong war upon king Stephen, in the end whereof the king’s party was chased and himself taken prisoner and sent to Bristow, there to be kept in sure hold. But then, the Kentish men and Londoners favouring the king, warred upon the rebels and in open field took Robert, earl of Gloucester. But shortly after both the king and Robert were delivered out of prison by exchange; and Stephen, without delay gathering to him a strong army, in such wise pursued his enemies that he forced Maud with other of her friends to forsake the realm. This war continued a long season, to the great damage of the realm”. King Stephen was crowned in 1135. The war between king Stephen and Matilda lasted from 1138 to the treaty of Winchester in 1153. Back to text

 

19

5097: F, 5107 by misprint.

David: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5097/1136, fol. 207v: “War between king Stephen and David of Scotland because he refused to do to him his homage for Northumberland and Huntington, which he held by his wife. In this war, the Scottish history says, the duke of Gloucester was taken. Back to text

Stephen made peace and agreed with David king of Scots and received of him homage after he had won from him certain towns and castles, and gave to Henry, the son of David, the earldom of Huntington”.

Wilton: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5108/1147, fols. 209v-210r: “Robert, earl of Gloucester, made new war upon the king, and had the better hand of him at Wilton, so that the king was like to have fallen into Robert’s danger. But he escaped with much pain”. Back to text

 

20

Henry: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5114/1153, fol. 210v: “Peace was agreed between Maud, the empress, her son Henry, and king Stephen, on this condition that Stephen, during his life time, should hold the kingdom of England, and Henry in the mean time to be proclaimed heir apparent in the chief cities throughout the realm”.  The treaty of Winchester, by which Matilda’s son Henry was proclaimed heir, was signed on 6 November 1553. King Stephen’s eldest son Eustace had died on about 17 August 1153. Back to text

Eustace: Heywood goes back in time. Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5098/1137, fol. 208r: “Eustace, the son of king Stephen, married the sister of Lewis, king of France, which marriage continued the amitie between England and France”. King Stephen’s eldest son Eustace married Louis VII’s sister, Constance, in 1140. Back to text

Gersa: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5104/1143, fol. 208v: “Gersa, son of Bela, was made king of Hungary and reigned 20 years. He kept fierce wars with the Germans”. Geza II, son of Bela II, reigned from 1141 to 1162.

Lewis: Louis VII the Young reigned from 1137 to 1180. Back to text

Alaph: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5104/1143, fol. 208v: “Alaph, king of the Turks, reconquered the city of Mesopotamia called Edissa [Edessa] and practised most extreme villany and cruelty toward the Christians”. It is under the sultan Mahmud II that Zangi (or Zengi) captured Edessa in 1144. Early modern historians attributed the fall of Edessa to Alaph (or Balach), e. g. Christophe Richer, De Rebus Turcarum ... Libri Quinque (Paris: Robert Estienne, 1541, p. 9): “Alaph rex Turca sub natalis Christi millesimum centesimum et quadragesimum annum, Edessam Syriae urbem cepit et in Christianos immaniter desaeviit”, itself based on Flavius Blondus, Historiarum ab Inclinatione Romanorum Imperii Decades (Venice: Octaviano Scoto, 1483), II, 5. Back to text

 

21

Roger: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5108/1147, fol. 209v: “Roger, earl of Sicily, returning from Constantinople, was spoiled and robbed of the Venetians which met him in his journey”. Lanquet refers to the 1147-1149 wars between Roger II of Sicily and the Byzantine empire. His float was defeated in 1148 by the alliance of Manuel I Comnenus with the Venitians. Back to text

Almany: Former name of Germany (like Almaine). Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5114/1153, fol. 210r: “Friederich surnamed Barbarossa was emperor of Almaine 36 years”.

Conrad: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5099/1138, fol. 208r: “Chunrade, duke of Suave [Swavia], a man of noble and valiant courage, by consent of the Electors was chosen emperor and reigned 15 years”. Heywood’s formulation suggests that Barbarossa and Conrad III reigned at the same time. In reality, Barbarossa succeeded Conrad at the head of the Holy Roman Empire in 1152. Back to text

Adrian: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5114/1153, fol. 210v: “Adrian, an Englishman, bishop of Rome, 8 years”. Adrian IV was Pope from 1154 to 1159; the only English Pope, he was born Nicholas Breakspear.

Malcolm: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5115/1154, fol. 210v: “Malcolm the maiden, being 8 years of age, succeeded her uncle David in the kingdom of Scotland and reigned 12 years”. Lanquet led Heywood to believe that Malcolm IV of Scotland was a woman. Malcolm IV, later called Malcolm Virgo (the Maiden) succeeded his grandfather David I and reigned from 1153 to 1165. He died unmarried at the age of 24. Back to text

The English Jews: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5106/1145, fol. 209v: “About this time in England the Jews crucified a child upon Easter day at Norwich, in derision of Christ and his religion”.

King Henry: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5116/1155, fol. 210v: “Henry, the second of that name, the son of Geoffrey Plantagenet and Maud the empress, daughter of king Henry the first, began his reign over this realm of England and continued 35 years”. Henry II was crowned on 19 December 1154. Back to text

 

22

22: Stanza 22 describes the Angevin empire. It follows Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5116/1155, fol. 211r: “In his time, by his great manhood and policy, the seigniory of England was much augmented, with the addition of Scotland, Ireland, the isles of Orcades, Britain, Poytow [Poitou], Guyan [Guyenne], and other provinces of France”; 5119/1158, fol. 211r: “King Henry went with a strong army into Wales and quieted that country, and after builded the strong castle of Rutland”. Back to text

Scotland: Henry II reclaimed Cumberland, Westmorland and Northumberland, which had been annexed by David I of Scotland. After the treaty of Falaise (1174), he controlled all Southern Scotland.

Britain: Brittany. Back to text

 

23

Two suns: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5118/1157, fol. 211r: “In England were seen in the firmament two suns and in the moon appeared a red cross”.

Margaret: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5121/1160, fol. 211v: “Lewes, king of France gave his daughter Margaret in marriage to Henry, the son of the king of England, by reason whereof was appeased the war and grudge between France and England for the lands of Poytow [Poitou], etc.” Henry II’s son, prince Henry (the Young King), was married to Margaret, Louis VII’s daughter in 1160. He was six years old, and Margaret two. The union gave Henry II control over the Norman Vexin. Back to text

Scotland: Heywood seems to have misinterpreted Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, which was not mentioning warfare between Scotland and England here, but internal insurrections against Malcolm IV: 5119/1158, fol. 211v: “About this time one Angus of Galloway rebelled in Scotland, which was subdued by Gilchrist, earl of Angus. Not long after the Murrais rose against their king and were suppressed with great slaughter”. In his Rerum Scoticarum Historia (Edinburgh: Alexander Arbuthnot, 1582), VII, fol. 67r, George Buchanan reported that “Initium rebellandi factum est, ab Angusio, seu potius Aenea Gallovidiano, homine quidam potente, sed qui spei plus tamen in Regis ignavia, quam suis viribus collocaret. Adversus hunc missus Gilchristius, tribus praeliis victum, in coenobii Candidae casae asylum eum compulit.” In the following paragraphs is related the insurrection of the “Moravienses”, Lanquet’s “Murrais” or men of Moray. On these Scottish broils, see Lachlan Shaw, The History of the Province of Moray (Edinburgh: William Auld, 1775), pp. 213-15. Back to text

Adrian: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5120/1159, fol. 211v: “Adrian, bishop of Rome died, being choked with a fly in his drink, who, a little before his death, affirmed that there was no kind of life more miserable than the papacy”. The English pope, Adrian IV, died at Anagni on 1 September 1159. The story went that he choked on a fly in his wine. It seems generally accepted today that he died of quinsy. Back to text

 

24

Vladislaus: F, Vradislaus. Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5123/1162, fol. 212r: “Vladislaus, for his valiant knighthood which he declared in the siege and expugnation of Myllain [Milan] was by the emperor ordained the 2nd king of Boheme, and had given to him for his arms the ramping lion with the forked tail”. After helping Barbarossa to submit Milan, Vladislaus, before then duke of Bohemia, was elected second king of Bohemia in 1158. See Martin Wihoda, Vladislaus Henry: The Formation of Moravian Identity (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2015), pp. 20-23. Back to text

Amalricus: F, Almericus: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5124/1163, fol. 212r: “Almericus succeeded his brother Baldwin in the kingdom of Jerusalem. He vanquished the Egyptians and took the city Alexandria, which he restored to the Soldan upon promise of a great sum of money for the same. But when promise was not kept for the payment thereof, Almericus besieged him in the town called Cayrum or Cares [Cairo]F”. At his brother Baldwin III’s death, Amalric I ascended the throne in 1163. Amalric’s Egyptian wars are reported in William of Tyre’s Historia Rerum Partibus Transmarinis Gestarum (1170-1184), book XX. Lanquet may have used Flavius Blondus, Historiarum ab Inclinatione Romanorum Imperii Decades (Venice: Octaviano Scoto, 1483), II, 5, or Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini’s abridgement, Pii Pont. Max. Decadum Blondi Epitome (Basel: Johann Bebel, 1533), fol. 43r-v. Back to text

 

25

Beckett: Heywood conflates and sums up two paragraphs of Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, adding a remark on Beckett’s canonization: 5125/1164, fol. 212r-v: “Thomas Beckett, bishop of Canterbury, which seditiously, under the pretence of defending the liberties of the church, as he said, spoke and did many things against the king’s prerogative royal, and contrary to all good order of civil governance, was expelled out of the realm, or more verily fled himself to Rome to complain upon the king to the bishop”; 5132/1171, fol. 213r: “Thomas Becket, by the mediation of Alexander, bishop of Rome and Lewys the French king, was restored to his bishopric and not long after, by certain gentlemen was slain, the fault whereof was unjustly laid to the king”. Back to text

Saladine: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5133/1172, fol. 213r: “Saladine, king of the Turks, annexed to his seignory Aegypt and Sury [Syria]. He was a man of great puissance and a mighty and strong warrior, which brought much scathe to the Christans”.

Syria: F, Sarry. Back to text

 

26

Henry: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5136/1175, fol. 213v: “Henry, the son of king Henry of England, was crowned the second time with his wife Margaret, the French king’s daughter”. To avoid quarrels over his succession, Henry II decided to have his eldest son Henry the Young King crowned king of England in his own lifetime. This occurred in 1170, but in 1172, at his marriage with Margaret, Louis VII’s daughter, Henry was crowned a second time. Back to text

The sons against the father: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5137/1176, fol. 213v: “King Henry the son, by the exciting of the king of France, Alinour [Eleanor] his mother, and certain other nobles, took arms and arreared deadly war against his natural father. Divers strong battles were fought, as well in England, by the deputies and friends of both parts, as also in Normandy, Poytow [Poitou], Guyan [Guyenne], and Britain [Brittany], where they were corporally present. But the victory always inclined to the father. There took part against king Henry the father, Lewys king of France, William king of Scotland, Henry, Geoffrey, John, his own sons, Robert earl of Leicester, Hugh of Chester and other. But in the end, the sons with their allies were constrained to bend to their father’s will and desire peace, which he gently granted and forgave their trespass”. Back to text

Frederick: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5137/1176, fols. 213v-214r: “Friederich the emperor, after the discomfiture taken at Comum [lake Como], made peace with his adversaries and came to Venice to the bishop of Rome where he so humbled himself that he suffered the bishop to tread upon him, at which time was sung this verse of the psalter, “Super aspidem et basilicum ambulabis, conculcabis leonem et draconem”. And when Friederich said that he did not that obeisance to Alexander but to Peter, he answered “Both to me and to Peter”. Of this outrageous pride what is to be judged, every man may esteem”. This apocryphal story was very popular with anti-papal propagandists at the time of the Reformation. See Kurt Stadtwald, “Pope Alexander III’s Humiliation of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa as an Episode in Sixteenth-Century German History”, Sixteenth Century Journal XXIII.4 (1992), pp. 755-68. Back to text

 

27

5144: F, 5143. Back to text

Andronicus: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5144/1183, fol. 214v: “Andronicus, after he had murdered Alexius, took on him the imperial crown and reigned 2 years”. At the death of Manuel I Comnenus, his son Alexius II, was 11. A cousin of Manuel I, Andronicus, rebelled against the regency of Manuel I’s widow, and posed as regent himself after executing her. In September 1183, he titled himself coemperor with Alexius before having him murdered two months later. As Andronicus I Comnenus, he reigned from 1183 to 1185. Sometimes presented as Alexius’ guardian, he is referred to as “Andronicus tutor” in Latin chronicles, hence Heywood’s parenthesis on “tuition”, which he did not find in Lanquet but derived from another source. In his History of the Roman Emperors (1540), for example, Johannes Cuspinianus explained that Alexius became emperor at his father’s death, “Administratio tamen imperii Andronico Comneno, ob aetatem Alexii minorem, est commissa” (But the management of the empire was entrusted with Andronicus Comnenus because of Alexius’ minority), and that  “Andronicus Comnenus sanguine junctus Manueli Imperatori, et ideo Alexii tutor datus” (Andronicus Comnenus was a blood relative of emperor Manuel and for that reason appointed protector of Alexius): Ioannis Cuspiniani ... De Caesaribus atque Impp. Romanis (Francfort: Claudius Marnus and Johann Aubry’s heirs, 1601), fol. 319v. Back to text

Baldwin: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5144/1183, fol. 214v: “Baldwin the 5th, being a child, was proclaimed king of Jerusalem. Saladine, king of Turks, invaded and spoiled the country about Jerusalem and wrought much trouble to the Christians”. In 1183, at the age of six, Baldwin V became co-king of Jerusalem with his uncle Baldwin IV, who died two years later. Baldwin V then reigned alone for just over a year until he died in 1186. Saladin defeated a weakened kingdom at the battle of Hattin in 1187, but contrary to Heywood’s assertion—possibly prompted by Lanquet’s remark that “Here endeth the kingdom of Jerusalem” (fol. 215r), Jerusalem was later reclaimed (albeit briefly) during the sixth crusade. 

child: F, chiln. Back to text

 

28

5188: F, 5186.

Richard: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5149/1188, fol. 215r: “Richard, earl of Poytow [Poitou], made war against king Henry of England his father, and taking part with the French king, won from him divers cities, towns and castles, and namely the city of Cenommanna [Cenomania: Le Mans], for sorrow whereof, shortly king Henry ended his life”. Back to text

Cordelion: F, Cordelyon. Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5150/1189, fol. 215r: “Richard the first of the name, surnamed Cor de Lyon, the second son of Henry, was crowned king of England and reigned 11 years, 9 months; 20 days”. Back to text

 

29

5150: F, 5151.

bayliffs: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5150/1189, fol. 215r: “The Londoners obtained 2 officers to guide their city, which were called bailiffs”. Back to text

Jerusalem: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5150/1189, fol. 215r: “Great preparation was made for the recovery of Jerusalem and to aid the Christians in Asia, by Friederich emperor of Almaine, Richard king of England, Philip of France [Philip II Augustus], Oddo duke of Burgoyne [Odo III (Eudes III)], the Venetians, Pisans, William king of Sicily [William II the Good], and other”. The third crusade, led by Philip Augustus and Richard Cœur de Lion, took place in 1188-1192. Back to text

Almaine: Germany (Latin Alemania).

Burgoine: Burgundy (French Bourgogne). Back to text

Cyprus: F, Cipresse. Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5152/1191, fol. 215v: “King Richard, in his journey toward Jerusalem, subdued the land of Cypres [Cyprus]; and then, joining his puissance with the French king in Asia, conquered Acon [Acre], where was kindled between king Richard and Philip king of France a grievous displeasure, for which cause Philip shortly after departed hence and coming into France, invaded the country of Normandy; and excited also John, the brother of king Richard, to take on him the kingdom of England in his brother’s ansence”. Back to text

Acre: F, Acon, borrowed from Lanquet: see preceding note.

 

30

Frederick: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5150/1189, fol. 215v: “Friederich the emperor, after he had subdued the less Armenia and conquered divers cities of Asia, by misfortune was drowned in the river of Selephus”. According to various sources Frederick Barbarossa was said to have unwisely bathed in, or swum (or ridden) across a river on 10 June 1190. Back to text

sowned: sounded.

Selephius: from Lanquet’s Selephus; see note above. The river in which Frederick Barbarossa was said to have lost his life was given various different names according to multiple sources. Lanquet’s version ultimately derives from the Historia de Expeditione Friderici Imperatoris (end of the 12th century), in which the place where the emperor wanted to bathe or to swim across the river is named “Saleph”: see Quellen zur Geschichte des Kreuzzuges Kaiser Friedrichs I, ed. A. Chroust (Berlin: Weidmann, 1928), pp. 177-78 and G.A. Loud, ed., The Crusade of Frederick Barbarossa: The History of the Expedition of the Emperor Frederick and Related Texts (Farnham: Ashgate, 2010). Back to text

Guy of Lessingham: F, Gui. Guy of Lusignan. Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5153/1192, fols. 215v-216r: “King Richard exchanged Cypres [Cyprus] with Guy of Lesingham for the kingdom of Jerusalem, wherefore the king of England a long time after was called king of Jerusalem”. Guy of Lusignan was king of Jerusalem from 1186 to 1192, then king of Cyprus from 1192 to 1194. The “exchange” between Richard and Guy is not historical. Back to text

 

31

31: The immediate source of the stanza is Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5154/1193, fol. 216r: “King Richard, having knowledge that Philip of France invaded Normandy and that John his brother by his counsel aspired to his kingdom, made peace with the Turks for 3 years and with a small company, returning homeward by Thrace, traitorously was taken prisoner by the duke of Austrige [Austria] and brought to Henry the emperor and there kept in strict prison a year and 5 months, where it is said that he slew a lion and took out his heart”. The legend of Richard’s fight with a lion, which Shakespeare also knew, was made popular by the anonymous middle English romance Richard Cuer de Lion (early 14th century): “The chambre dore they undone / And the lyon to hym is gone / Rycharde sayd helpe lorde Jhesu / The lyon made to hym venu / And wolde hym have all to rente / Kynge Rycharde besyde hym glente / The lyon on the breste hym spurned / That aboute he tourned / The lyon was hongry and megre / And bette his tayle to be egre / He loked aboute as he were madde / Abrode he all his pawes spradde / He cryed lowde and yaned wyde / Kynge Rycharde bethought hym that tyde / What hym was best and to hym sterte / In at the throte his honde he gette / And hente out the herte with his honde / Lounge and all that he there fonde / The lyon fell deedto the grounde / Rycharde felte no wem ne wounde / He fell on his knees in that place / And thanked Jhesu of his grace / That hym kepte frome shame and harme / He toke the herte also warme / And brought it forth in the hall / The kynge at mete sate at the dese / The erles barons proude in prese / The salte on the table stode / Kynge Rycharde thryste out all the blode / And wette the herte in the salte”, Kynge Rycharde cuer du lyon (London: Wynkyn de Worde, 1509). The book was reprinted by Wynkyn de Worde in 1528. Back to text

Austrich: Austrian.

 

32

ransomed: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5154/1193, fol. 216r: “King Richard, paying his ransom of 100 000 pounds, was delivered, and returning to his country, made sharp war upon the French king and John his brother”. Back to text

Saphandinus: F, Saphandenus. Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5152/1191, fol. 215v: “Saphandinus, expelling his kinsmen, was made soldan of Egypt”. The story went that when Saladin died, his sons were barred from the succession by the usurpation of his brother Saphadin. See Matthew Paris’ Chronica Majora (early 13th century): “Mortuo, ut dictum est, Salaadino, qui novem reliquit filios regni sui haeredes, Saphadinus minor natu omnes nepotes suos interfecit, praeter unum qui Noradinus vocabatur. Hic tenet terram Halape” (It is said that after the death of Saladin, who left nine sons as heirs to his throne, his younger brother Saphadin killed all his nephews, except one, called Noradin, who held Alep), Matthaei Paris ... Historia Maior (London: Reginald Wolfe, 1571), p. 233. Back to text

Alphons: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5151/1190, fol. 215v: “Alphons the VIII surnamed the Good recovered his father’s kingdom of Spain and reigned 53 years”. Alfonso VIII the Noble united the Castilian nobility to launch the Reconquista, which gained impetus with the victorious battle of Las Navas on 16 July 1212.

Emericus: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5154/1193, fol. 216r: “Emericus, king of Hungary, reigned 8 years”. Emeric reigned over Hungary and Croatia from 1196 to 1204. Back to text

Innocent: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5159/1198, fol. 216r: “Innocent the third, bishop of Rome, 18 years. He first compelled men to auricular confession and forbad the sacrament to be ministered to the laity under both kinds. And with all endeavour was against the emperor Philip”. Pope Innocent III reigned from 1198 to 1216. In the war between Philip, duke of Swabia and Otto, duke of Brunswick for the succession of Henry VI, he favoured the latter. He called the fourth Lateran Council (1215), which legislated over matters of belief and practice. Back to text

 

33

Richard: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5161/1200, fol. 216v: “King Richard of England, besieging the castle of Gailarde [Gaillard], was wounded with a quarel that was shot from the wall, and thereof died”. Richard was shot by a crossbow bolt (Lanquet’s “quarel”) under the castle of Châlus-Chabrol, and not Château-Gaillard, which remains associated to his name because he built it. Lanquet (and Heywood following him) derive their mistaken information from the romance Kynge Rycharde cuer du lyon (London: Wynkyn de Worde, 1509, reprinted 1528), according to which King Richard “through treason was shotte alas / At castell gaylarde”, by “a quarel that was well longe”. Back to text

John Stow’s Chronicle situates the event at “the castle of Chalne” (a printing mistake for Chalus), 1607 ed., p. 88. Richard died on 6 April 1199, as Stow rightly indicates.

Peter Bazeele: Pierre Basile. Lanquet did not give the name of the archer who killed Richard. Heywood knew it from another source. According to Matthew Paris’ Chronica Majora (early 13th century), Richard “a Petro Basilii, telo (ut dicebatur) veneno percussus est” (was hit by Petrus Basilius [Pierre Basile] with an arrow which some say to have been poisoned), Matthaei Paris ... Historia Maior (London: Reginald Wolfe, 1571), p. 262. Other chronicles ascribed Richard’s death to one Bertrand de Gourdon; so did John Stow, 1607 ed., p. 88. Back to text

 

34

Reigned seventeen years: John reigned from 1199 to 1216. Back to text

Arthur duke of Britain: Arthur, duke of Brittany. Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5162/1201, fol. 216v: “Philip, king of France [Philip Augustus], in the quarrel of Arthur, duke of Britain, whom certain of the lords had named king of England, made war upon king John”; 5164/1203, fol. 217r-v: “Philip of France invaded Normandy and took divers castles and towns, which he gave to Arthur, duke of Britain. But shortly after, the same Arthur, with many other noble men, were taken prisoners by king John and led into England”. Arthur was captured at the battle of Mirebeau in 1202 and imprisoned at Falaise, in Normandy. Back to text

David: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5163/1202, fol. 217r: “David, a Persian, called also Changius or Guyscan, coming out of the mountains of India with an innumerable multitude, invaded the Parthians, Armenians and Medes; he was the first emperor of the Tartarians”.  “Changius or Guyscan” is Genghis Khan, who became emperor in 1206. He was “Changyus Chane” in Wynkyn de Worde’s 1499 edition of Mandeville’s travels. The spelling “Changius” derives from Hayton of Armenia’s Flos Historiarum Terre Orientis (1307), III, vi, where he is called “Changuis Can”. There is no obvious reason why Lanquet should have called Genghis Khan David. Back to text

 

35

Five moons: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5164/1203, fol. 217r: “In Yorkshire were seen 5 moons: one in the East, another in the West, the third in the North, the fourth in the South, and the 5th in the midst of the element. The next year followed a sharp winter and hail fell as big as hens’ eggs, wherewith men, cattle and fruit were greatly hurt”. Back to text

Langton: F, Lanchton. Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5167/1206, fol. 217v: “The bishop of Rome denounced king John, with his whole realm accursed, because he would not admit Stephen Langhton [Langton] to the bishopric of Canterbury. But he little regarded his fulmination and obeyed him nothing the rather”. Disagreement between Pope Innocent III and king John over the election of Stephen Langton as archbishop of Canterbury (1206) was only one incident in a long dispute over ecclesiastical appointments, which led to the excommunication of John in November 1209. Back to text

Suffolk: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5167/1206, fol. 217v: “At this time in Southff. [Suffolk], a fish was taken like to a man and was kept living 6 months after upon the land with raw flesh and fish”. Back to text

 

36

The mayor and sh’riffs: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5170/1209, fol. 218r: “The mayor and sheriffs began first in the city of London”. Back to text

Wales: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5172/1211, fol. 218r: “ The Welshmen, rebelling, were brought in sujection”.

Scluse: F, Sluce. The usual early modern form is Scluse (today’s Sluys). Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5172/1211, fol. 218r: “The Englishmen, which were sent by king John to aid the earl of Flanders, chased the Frenchmen, and in the haven of Scluse, compassed and took their whole navy of shippes, which was in number 1020 sail”. Back to text

Innocent: In the end of stanza 36 and the first line of stanza 37, Heywood conflates elements from several sections in Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle covering Innocent III’s intervention in the war between Otto IV and Frederick II and his contention with king John, with Lanquet’s conclusion: “Here may you see that the bishops of Rome in their so often cursings did not covet to reconcile the souls of men to God, but to subdue princes to their tyranny”, 5174/1213, fol. 218v. Back to text

 

37

Otto: F, Otho. Innocent III supported Otto IV of Brunswick against Philip of Swabia before he turned against him and favoured the election of Frederick II. Back to text

Corcyra: Corfu. Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5170/1209, fol. 218r: “The Venetians subdued Corcyra, Mothonum [Modon], Coronum [Coron], and many other islands”. Corfu was occupied by the Venetians between 1205 and 1214. Lanquet may have read in Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini’s Decadum Blondi Epitome (Basel: Johann Bebel, 1533): “classis Veneta noviter armata Corcyram cepit; Mothonum Coronumque rebelles subegit” (fol. 49v). Modon (today’s Methoni) and Coron (now Koroni) were not islands, but two fortified ports of the Messenian peninsula (in Peloponnese). In 1206, a Venetian fleet took the two fortresses, which were recognized as Venetian possessions by the treaty of Sapienza in 1209. Back to text

Frederick: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5173/1212, fol. 218r: “Friederich the second, king of Sicily, after that Otho [Otto IV] was expelled by the bishop [Innocent III], was ordeined emperor and reigned 23 years”. Back to text

 

38

John: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5174/1213, fol. 218v: “King John of England, being overset in war by Philip of France, submitted him to the bishop of Rome, by whom among other things he was bounden, that as well he as his heirs should ever after be feudaries to the see of Rome and pay for yearly tribute 1000 marks”. The agreement was concluded on 15 May 1213 at Ewell, near Dover. Back to text

Alexander: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5176/1215, fol. 219r: “Alexander succeeded William in the kingdom of Scotland and reigned 34 years”. Alexander II of Scotland, son of William the Lion, reigned from 1214 to 1249.

Lewis: Philip Augustus’ son Louis, the Dauphin of France and future Louis VIII. Although Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5177/1216, fol. 219r, explains the reasons of the barons’ discontent, neither Lanquet nor Heywood allude to the signing of Magna Carta. Back to text

 

39

by poison: John probably died of dysentery; but as early as the thirteenth century, the story went that he was poisoned by a monk during his stay at Swineshead Abbey in Lincolnshire. The legend was reported in The Cronycles of Englond printed by Caxton in 1482, exploited in John Fox’s Acts and Monuments (1583), and dramatised in Shakespeare’s King John. Back to text

1220: Henry III was crowned on 28 October 1216 in St Peter’s Abbey (now Gloucester Cathedral). Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle situates the beginning of Henry III’s reign in 5179/1218 (fol. 219r-v). According to John Stow’s Chronicle, the reign started “the 19 of October in the year 1216” (1607 ed., p. 101) and “King Henry was crowned at Westminster by Stephen Langton, archbishop of Canterbury” (1607 ed., p. 102). Back to text

nineteen: Heywood’s invention. In reality, Henry was nine, as Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle rightly indicates, fol. 219r. Back to text

 

40

Westminster: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5181/1220, fol. 219v: “King Henry of England began to build our Lady church in Westminster”. In 1220, Henry laid the foundation stone of the Lady Chapel at Westminster. The demolition of the 11th century church and the rebuilding of Westminster Abbey started in 1245. Back to text

Hoccota: F, Hocata: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5181/1220, fol. 219v: “Horcota [Hoccota] Can the second emperor of the Tartarians”; 5182/1221, fol 220r: “[The Tartarians] conquered so many countries that their prince, for his large possessions, was called the great Cahan”.  Hayton of Armenia devoted a chapter to him, “De Hoccota Can secundo imperatore Tatatorum” in his Flos Historiarum Terre Orientis (1307), III, ix. Back to text

Khan: F, Caan.

Scotch king: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5182/1221, fol. 220r: “Alexander king of Scots married Johan, the sister of king Henry of England”. Alexander II had allied with the French Dauphin Louis against king John but the defeat of the French and English rebel army at Lincoln in 1217 left him without allies and prompted him to submit to Henry III. His marriage with king John’s eldest daughter Joan in 1221 stabilized peace between Scotland and England. Back to text

Robert: Robert I, Latin emperor of Constantinople from 1221 to 1227. The story of his marriage, developed in stanza 41, is borrowed from Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5183/1222, fol. 220r: “Robert, emperor of Constantinople, married a maid which before was fianced to a noble man of Burgoin [Bourgogne], wherewith the Burgoinan being greatly moved, entered by violence into the emperor’s palace and cut off the maiden’s nose and cast her mother into the sea”. That story could be found in the Old French 13th century continuations of William of Tyre’s Historia. Back to text

 

41

Burgoin: F, Burgoine. Burgundy. Back to text

 

42

Caithness: F, Cathnes. Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5184/1223, fol. 220r: “The men of Caithnes in Scotland burned their bishop because he cursed them for not paying their tithes, for which deed the king did hang 4 hundred of the chief doers, gelded their children and disherited the earl”. Bishop Adam of Caithness was murdered in September 1222. As part of the reprisals, Alexander II confiscated half the territories of John Haraldsson, earl of Caithness. Back to text

Wards: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5186/1225, fol. 220v: “The lords and gentlemen of England first granted to king Henry the ward and marriage of their heirs”. In the new version of Magna Charta issued in 1225.

Frederick: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5190/1229, fols. 220v-221r: “Friederich the emperor took his viage toward Asia, where he behaved him so knightly that he recovered Jerusalem and divers other cities, which he repaired and fortified and then made peace with the Souldan for 10 years”. During the sixth crusade, Frederick II  reclaimed Jerusalem in 1229 and negotiated a ten-year truce with the Sultan of Egypt. Back to text

war: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5191/1230, fol. 221r: “King Henry of England sailed with an army into Britain against Lewys king of France, where after spoiling of the country, a peace was concluded between the two young princes”. Henry III landed at Saint Malo on 3 May 1230. Neither Normandy nor Poitou were recovered. He sailed back home on 28 October the same year. Back to text

Wales: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5193/1232, fol. 221r: “The Welshmen about this time rebelled”, an allusion to the war with Llywelyn ab Iorwerth, which started in 1231. Back to text

 

43

Isabel: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5196/1235, fol. 221v: “Friederich the emperor married Isabel, the sister of king Henry of England”. The marriage of Henry’s sister Isabella and Frederick II was celebrated at Worms on 15 July 1235. Back to text

Eleanor: F, Elanour. Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5197/1236, fol. 221v: “King Henry took to wife Elenour, the daughter of the earl of Province”. The marriage of Henry and Eleanor, daughter of Raymond Berengar, count of Provence, was celebrated at Westminster on 20 January 1236. Back to text

a warlike power: Heywood derived from Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5197/1236, fol. 221v, the impression that this vision in the sky coincided with Henry III’s wedding, the two events being mentioned together: ““King Henry took to wife Elenour, the daughter of the earl of Province. In England appeared as it were hosts of men fighting in the element”. Lanquet’s source, Matthew Paris’s Chronica Majora did not suggest any connection, either spatial or temporal, between the wedding (that occurred in January at Winchester Abbey) and the apparition, which was seen, not in the sky but as emerging from under the earth, near Roche Abbey, in Yorkshire, in the month of May: “mense Maio, non procul ab Abbata quae Rupes dicta est, in partibus Septentrionalibus Angliae sita, apparuerunt acies militum elegantissime armatorum, vecti equis preciosis, vexillis ac clypeis, loricis ac galeis, et aliis monumentis militaribus adornati. Exierunt autem de terra , ut videbatur, et iterum in terram absorpti, evanuerunt” (In the month of May, not far from the Abbey called Roche situated in the Northern parts of England, appeared fine troops of armed soldiers mounted on costly horses, with standards and shields, coats of mail and helmets, and adorned with other military signs. They came out of the earth, as it seemed, and swallowed back into the earth, they disappeared), Matthaei Paris ... Historia Maior (London: Reginald Wolfe, 1571), p. 276 (wrongly numbered 274). In his reconstruction, Lanquet may have vaguely remembered Josephus’ Jewish War, “chariots were seen in the air and armed battalions hurtling through the clouds”, ed. Henry St. John Thackeray (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1928) VI, vol. 3, pp. 264-65. Back to text

Merton statute: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5198/1237, fol. 221v: “The statute of Merton was first enacted”. Elaborated at Merton (Surrey) in january 1236, it legislated on such matters  as the rights of widows and heirs, the use of common pastures, usury. Back to text

 

44

Guelfes and Gibelines: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5201/1240, fol. 222r: “Parts were taken in Italy for the emperor and the bishop of Rome: they who favoured the bishop were called Guelphi, the other Gibelini, of which dissention rose most cruel and deadly wars”. Back to text

Tartarian Khan: F, Caan. Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5202/1241, fol. 222r: “The great Cahan prince of the Tartarians, after he had won from the Turks much of the east lands, with an army of 500 000 men, invaded Hungary, with whom Bela, their king encountering, was vanquished and fled into Dalmatia. ... the inhabitants were constrained for hunger to eat their own children, which cruelty continued three years”. The Mongol invasion of Hungary started in 1235. Bela IV, king of Hungary, was defeated by Batu Khan in 1241. Back to text

aldermen: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5204/1243, fol. 222v: “Aldermen first chosen in the city of London”.

Frederick: Frederick II was excommunicated by Gregory IX in 1227, and again in 1239, and by Innocent IV in 1245. Back to text

 

45

Pope Innocent: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5204/1243, fol. 222v: “Innocent the 4th being ordained bishop of Rome, fled to Lyons in France for fear of Friederich the emperor, where he called a council. This man gave red hats first to the cardinals”. Innocent IV reigned from 1243 to 1254. His mistrust of Frederick II led him to leave Rome and place himself under the protection of Louis IX in Lyon, where he called a council in 1245 in the course of which Frederick was excommunicated. It is also during the same council of Lyon that he gave cardinals the privilege of wearing the red galero. Back to text

A Jew: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5205/1244, fols. 222v-223r: “At Tollet [Toledo] in Spain, a Jew digging in the ground to enlarge his vineyard found a hollow stone wherein was a book of the bigness of a psalter, written in Greek, Latin and Hebrew, the matter whereof was of three worlds to come and declared the coming of Christ to be the beginning of the third, which was expressed in this manner: in the beginning of the third world, the son of God shall be born of a maid. By occasion of this book, the Jew was turned to the faith of Christ”. Deriving from the twelfth century Peterborough Chronicle, this story was relayed in the thirteenth century by Martin of Opava’s Chronicon Pontificum et Imperatorum for 1239 and by Nicholas Trivet’s Annales Sex Regum Angliae; it was related in Henry Knighton’s forteenth century Chronicon: “Apud Tholetum Hispaniae dum quidam Judaeus in horto suo pro vinea amplianda foderet, lapidem reperit ex omni parte integrum, in cujus medio invenit librum ad quantitatem psalterii cum foliis ligneis Hebraice, Graece, Latine conscriptum de triplici mundo ab Adam usque ad Antichristum loquentem, proprietates hominum exprimentem, principiumque tertii mundi in Christo ponentem, in hunc modum: In tertio mundo filius dei nascetur ex virgine Maria, qui pro salute hominum mortem patietur. Haec legens Judaeus statim baptizatus est”, Chronicon Henrici Knighton vel Cnitthon, Monachi Leycestrensis, ed. Joseph Rawson Lumby (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012), p. 218. The story was also reported in Ranulf Higden’s Polychronicon and could be read in Lydgate’s version: “At tholet in spayne a Jewe dygged in his orchard to make him a more vyneyerde; there he found a stone hool and sound in every syde. In the myddel of that stone, he founde a booke as grete as a sauter with treenleves wrytten in grue ebrue and latyn and spake of thre worldes from adam to Antecryst and declared the proprete of men and sette the begynnyng of the thirdde world in Cryst in this maner: In the thyrdde world goddes sone shal be borne of mayde marye and he shal suffre deth for savacion of man kynde. the Jewe radde this and was crysened anone”, Prolicionycion [Polychronicon] (Westminster: William Caxton, 1482), VII, 36. Back to text

 

46

Henry: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5209/1248, fol. 223r-v: “King Henry of England seized the franchises of the city of London for a judgement given ‘gainst a widow named Margaret Vyell. But shortly after they were restored”. According to Robert Fabyan, “Also this year [1247] the king seized the franchise of the city of London upon the eve of Saint Bartholomew for a judgement that was given by the mayor and aldermen against a widow named Margaret Vyell, and committed the rule of the city to William Haverill and Edward of Westminster till our Lady day next following. At which season the mayor and shrives were again to their offices admitted”, Fabyans Cronycle (London: William Rastell, 1533), VII, fol. xxvir. Back to text

Young Alexander: Heywood conflates two events, reported in Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5209/1248, fol. 223v: “Alexander the third, 9 years of age, succeeded his father in the kingdom of Scotland” and 5213/1252, fol. 223v, “King Henry of England married his daughter Mary to Alexander, king of Scots, and received homage of the same Alexander for the realm of Scotland”. Alexander II died on 8 July 1249. On Christmas day 1251 Alexander III was knighted by Henry III. The next day, his marriage with Henry’s daughter Margaret (not Mary) was celebrated at York. An hesitation between the two names appears in Fabyan’s Chronicle, which relates that “in this year [1251] married king Henry his daughter Mary, or after some writers Margaret, unto Alexander king of Scots” (London: William Rastell, 1533), VII, fol. xxviv). Back to text

 

47

In Italy: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5212/1251, fol. 223v: “In Italy blood issued out of bread as out of wounds freshly cut and bloody clouds appeared”. According to one version, the bleeding bread prodigy was said to have happened at Tours in 583 if one is to believe Gregory of Tours’s 6th century Historia Francorum. Aimoin de Fleury’s 10th century De Gestis Francorum related the same event to have occurred at Carnetin, a village in the Parisian Region. In the 13th century, Matthew Paris relayed Gregory’s story, making it clear that the Eucharist was involved: “Anno gratio Dlxxxiii Turonis de pane altaris fracto verus sanguis effluxit”, Flores Historiarum (London: Thomas Marsh, 1570, p. 198). Another version seems to have been started in Julius Obsequens’s Prodigiorum Liber (4th century?), “Arretii frangentibus panes cruor e mediis fluxit”, Julii Obsequentis Prodigiorum Libellus (Lyon: Gryphius, 1532), p. 99; it was repeated word for word in Conrad Lycosthenes’s Prodigiorum ac Ostentorum Chronicon (Basle: Henricus Petrus, 1557), p. 203 and in its translation into English, The Doom Warning all Men to the Judgement (London: Bynneman, 1581), p. 100. But Lanquet’s formulation derives from Paulus Orosius’s elaboration in his Historiae Adversus Paganos: “Anno ab urbe condita .dclix. Julio Caesare et Lucio Marco Philippo consulibus intestinis causis sociale bellum totam commovit Italiam ... moestam urbem prodigia dira terrerent ... Apud Aretinos cum panes per convivia frangerentur, cruor e mediis panibus quasi e vulneribus corporum fluxit”, Pauli Orosii Historiographi clarissimi opus praestantissimum (Paris: Jean Petit, 1506), V, xvii [xviii], fol. 69r. Orosius’s text was repeated by Martin of Opava (Martinus Polonus): Martini Poloni, Archiepiscopi Consentini ... Chronicon, ed. Suffridus Petrus (Antwerp: Plantin, 1574), II, xvi, p. 87. Back to text

French Lewis: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5212/1251, fol. 223v: “Lewys, king of France, intending to besiege Babylone, by sickness and other maladies lost a great part of his army and in the end was himself taken prisoner of the Souldan”. On 6 April 1250, Louis IX (Saint Louis) lost his army at the battle of Al Mansurah in Egypt and was taken prisoner before being released for a ransom. Back to text

Mango Khan: F, Maugo Caan. Möngke Khan. Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5213/1252, fol. 224r: “About this time the Tartarians, under their king Mango or Metho, received the faith of Christ, and after made sharp war upon the Turks and took from them many countries”. Hayton of Armenia’s Flos Historiarum Terre Orientis (1307), III, xviii, treated “De Mango Can qualiter baptizatus in Christo”. Back to text

Alphons: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5216/1255, fol. 224r: “Alphons king of Castile gave Elenour his daughter in marriage to prince Edward, the son of king Henry of England”. Henry III’s son Edward and Alfonso X’s daughter Eleanor of Castile were married near Burgos on 1 November 1254. Back to text

 

48

Richard of Cornwall: Heywood conflates Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5217/1256, fol. 224r: “Variance between the Electors of Germany for the emperor. Part named Alphons, king of Castile, part Richard, the brother of king Henry of England. But because neither of them was received by the whole empire, the imperial authority was counted void the space of 17 years” and 5128/1257, fol. 224v: “Divers lords of Almaine [Germany] came into England and did homage to Sir Richard, earl of Cornwall and the king’s brother, who, upon Ascension day after (17 May), was crowned king of Romans at Aquisgrane by the bishop of Coloine [Cologne] and other of his friends”. Back to text

Aquisgrane: F, Aquisgrave, a misprint for Lanquet’s Aquisgrane, i.e. Aquis granni, the Latin name of Aachen, where Richard was crowned as king of Germany. 

Albertus Magnus: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5219/1258, fol. 224v: “Albertus Magnus, Thomas Aquine [Aquinas], Bonaventure and Peter Hispanus [Peter of Spain] were famous”. Back to text

Michael Paleologus: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5221/1260, fol. 225r: “Michael Paleologus, a noble man in Greece, deprived William of his principate of Achaia and by the help of the Genoese navy took Constantinople, slew Baldwin the emperor, put to death the son of Theodorus Vattaris [i. e. Lascaris] and usurped the imperial authority 35 years”. Lanquet follows Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini’s Pii Pont. Max. Decadum Blondi Epitome (Basel: Johann Bebel, 1533), fol. 56v. When the emperor Thodorus II Lascaris died n 1258, Michael Palaeologus became regent for Theodorus’s young son, from whom he finally usurped the throne. He defeated William of Villehardouin, prince of Achaia and in 1261 reclaimed Constantinople from Baldwin II of Courtenay, who, however, was not killed, but managed to escape into Italy, where he died in 1273. Back to text

 

49

Oxford: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5223/1262, fol. 225v: “King Henry of England published at Paul’s Cross the bishop of Rome’s absolution for him and all his that were sworn to maintain the articles made in the parliament holden at Oxenford, for which cause the barons of England began to utter their malice, which they had long before conceived against the king, and caused an insurrection that continued 3 years”. In the Oxford parliament of 1258, Henry III had to accept the transfer of his power to a royal council, but in May 1262 he had it proclaimed that he was absolved from observing the Oxford provisions. Back to text

Lewes: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5225/1264, fols. 225v-226r: “Near to Lewys, king Henry and his barons fought a cruel battle, in the which he himself, with Richard his brother, king of Romans, Sir Edward his son, and other noble men to the number of 25 were taken and of the commons were slain above 20 000”. The battle of Lewes (in Sussex) took place on 14 May 1264. The civil war lasted until 1267. Back to text

 

50

Prince Edward: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5233/1272, fol. 227r: “Prince Edward of England sailing into Asia against the infidels, by his policy and manly acts so demeaned himself that oftentimes he put the Turks to great shame and disworship, for despite whereof they suborned a false Saracen by whose treason he was put in great danger of his life, for he was wounded with a venomous dart and thereof was sick long after”. Henry III’s eldest son Edward joined the ninth crusade in 1270. In June 1272 he was attacked by a murderer armed with a poisoned dagger; in the ensuing fight, he killed his aggressor but was wounded in the arm. Back to text

5233/1272: corrects Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5234/1273, fol. 227v: “Richard, king Henry’s brother and king of Romans, finished his life and was buried at Hailes. ... King Henry of England departed out of this life”. Richard was king of Germany: see note to stanza 48. He died on 2 April 1272 and was buried at Hailes Abbey (Gloucestershire), which he has founded in 1246. Henry III died at Westminster on 16 November 1272. To make him die in spring was convenient for Heywood’s rhyme. Back to text

 

51

prince Edward: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5235/1274, fols. 227v-228r: “Edward the first of that name, after the conquest surnamed Longshank, began his reign over this realm, and reigned 34 years. ... He hated extremely the insolent presumption of priests”. When Henry III died in 1272, his son Edward had gone to the crusade and did not come back to England before 2 August 1274. He was crowned on 19 August 1274. Back to text

Nicholas: Heywood conflates Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5236/1275, fol. 228r: “Nicholas the third was made bishop. He wrested from the emperor of Almaine all the country of Bononie and Flaminia and in the emperor’s name took from Charles, duke of Sicily, the governance of Hetruria” and 5238/1277, fol. 228r: “Nicholas, bishop of Rome, endeavoured to erect 2 new kingdoms in Italy for his two nephews”. In his Lives of the Popes (1479), Bartolomeo Platina wrote: “Nicolaus autem inito pontificatu, anno Domini millesimo ducentesimo septuagesimo octavo, Caroli potentiam comminuturus, Etruriae vicariatum abstulit ... .  Hoc consecutus pontifex, nihilominus Flaminiam ipsamque Bononiam cum Exarchatu Ravennatum, quae tum imperatori suberant, in potestatem suam redegit. Eoque misit Bertoldum nepotem, Romandiolae comitem declaratum. Misit et alterum nepotem Latinum cardinalem legatum in Etruriam” (At the beginning of his pontificate, in 1278, to weaken the power of Charles [of Anjou], Nicholas removed from him his position as imperial vicar in Etruria [Tuscany] ... . The pope did so well that he recovered power over no less than Flaminia [Romagna] and Bologna, together with the Exarchate of Ravenna, which were under the Emperor’s [Rudolf I] authority. There, he sent his nephew Berthold with the title of Count of the Romandiola [Romagna]. He also sent another nephew, cardinal Latinus [Latino Malabranca Orsini] as legate to Etruria), De Vitis Pontificum Romanorum (Louvain: Johannes Bogardus, 1572), p. 182. Back to text

Jews: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5240/1279, fol. 228v: “Reformation was made in England for clipping of the king’s coin, for which offence 284 Jews were put in execution”. Under Edward I’s reign, a reform of the currency that led to recoinage was decided in 1279. The Jews were accused of coin-clipping. About 300 of them were executed. An edict of expulsion was promulgated in 1290. (London: William Rastell, 1533), VII, fol. xxvi v). Back to text

 

52

Llywelyn: F, Lewellen. Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5245/1284, fol. 229r: “Lewline, prince of Wales, was slain by Sir Roger Mortimer and his head set upon the tower of London”. The conquest of Wales took place between 1274 and 1284. Prince Llywelyn ap Gruffudd died on 11 December 1282, in a battle led against him by Edmund and Roger Mortimer. Back to text

David: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5246/1285, fol. 229r: “David, the brother of Lewline, prince of Wales, was taken and beheaded and divers holds and castles of the Welshmen given to English lords”. Dafydd ap Gruffyd was taken prisoner in June  1283 and executed on 3 October.

Caernarfon: F, Carnarvan, after Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5246/1285, fol. 229r: “Prince Edward of Carnavan was born in Wales”. The future Edward II was born at Caernarfon Castle in north Wales on 25 April 1284. Back to text

 

53

Alexander: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5246/1285, fol. 229v: “King Alexander of Scotland broke his neck by falling off a horse, leaving no heir male after him. The realm continued without king 6 years, 9 months. Alexander III of Scotland died on 19 March 1286. Back to text

Carmelites: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5247/1286, fol. 229v: “The order of the Carmelites began of Albert, Patriarch of Jerusalem”. Albert of Jerusalem’s “vita formulae” organised the hermits of Mount Carmel before his death in 1214, much before the date Lanquet proposes. In 1286, however, the Carmelite Rule was confirmed by Honorius IV, which may account for Lanquet’s remark.

Philip the Fair: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5247/1286, fol. 229v: “Philip, for his beauty surnamed the Fair, reigned in France 28 years”. Philip IV the Fair (Philippe le Bel) was crowned on 5 October 1285. Back to text

monsters: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5248/1287, fol. 229v: “In the country of Helvetia, a woman was delivered of a child that had two perfect bodies from the navel upward; and another woman bore a child the face whereof was like to a man and the body to a lion”. According to Robert Fabyan, in 1585, “in the country called in English the Swetezers [Switzerland], a woman was delivered of a child that from the navel upward had 2 complete bodies, as 4 arms, and two heads, with two bodies to the waist, and downward but two legs ... and another woman bore a child or a monster whereof the head and the face was like unto a man and all the body like unto a lion, with tail and feet and all other features according to the same”, Fabyans Cronycle (London: William Rastell, 1533), VII, fol. lixr. Back to text

 

54

contention: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5252/1291, fol. 230r: “Alexander, king of Scotland, as is before said, died without issue male, whereof issued great discord among the Scots, which took parts with John Bailol [Balliol] and Robert Bruce, making claim to the crown; and shortly after, deadly war followed between the two realms of England and Scotland” and 5253/1292, fol. 230r-v : “The election of the king of Scots was committed to the judgement of king Edward of England, who, after sufficient proof made to the Scots that he was chief head and sovereign of the realm of Scotland, by all their consents took full possession of the same; and then caused John Bailol to be ordained king because he descended of the elder daughter of earl David, king William’s brother”. As feudal overlord of Scotland, Edward I settled the dispute between John Balliol, Robert Bruce, and other claimants. In November 1292, he judged in favour of John de Balliol, whose mother was the second daughter of Margaret, eldest daughter of David, earl of Huntingdon, the younger brother of William the Lion, king of Scotland. Back to text

Balliol: F, Balioll.

Madog and Morgan: F, Madock. Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5254/1293, fol. 230v: “The Welshmen, by the fleering of Modocke and Morgain, rebelled against the king, who sped him toward them in all hasty wise and shortly brought that unsteadfast and unruly people to a new reclaim, and then commanded their woods to be cut to the ground, after which time he held them in more rest and quiet”. Madog and Morgan’s rebellion, 1294-1295: Morgan ap Maredudd finally submitted and became Edward I’s agent in south Wales. Madog ap Llywelyn, Llywelyn ap Maredudd’s son (see note to stanza 52) was imprisoned in the tower of London, where he probably died. Back to text

 

55

Scotland: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5255/1294, fol. 231r: “John Balliol, king of Scots, contrary to his allegiance, by the exciting of the Frenchmen, rebelled against king Edward”. War between Scotland and England started in March 1296. After the battle at Dunbar (27 April 1296), John de Balliol submitted and abdicated. Back to text

Margaret: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5258/1297, fol. 231v: “King Edward, for a small peace to be had between England and France, took to wife Margaret, the sister of Philip, the French king”. Edward I and Margaret, Philip IV’s sister, were married at Canterbury on 10 September 1299.

Prince of Wales: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5260/1299, fol. 232r: “The king of England gave to Edward his son the principate of Wales and joined thereto the earldom of Cornwall”. Edward was created prince of Wales and earl of Chester at the Lincoln parliament on 7 February 1301.Back to text

Ottoman: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5261/1300, fol. 232r: “Othomannus, a man of unknown birth, steered with desire to bear a rule, took on him the kingdom of the Turks and subdued to his signory a great part of Bithynia and other countries”. Osman I was at the origin of the Ottoman empire; his campaign started in the first years of the fourteenth century.

Boniface: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5261/1300, fol. 232r: “Boniface the eighth ordained first a Jubilee in Rome”. Bartolomeo Platina reported the occasion in his Lives of the Popes (1479): De Vitis Pontificum Romanorum (Louvain: Johannes Bogardus, 1572), p. 189. Back to text

 

56

Timur Khan: F, Tamor Can, from Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5262/1301, fol. 232v: “Tamor Can the sixth emperor of the Tartarians in Cathay, a prince exceeding rich”. He reigned from 1294 to 1307. Back to text

Albert: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5259/1298, fol. 231v: “Adoulphus and Albert, contending for the imperial authority on the mountain Hansenbul [Hasenbühl], fought a cruel battle wherein Adoulphus was slain and Albert succeeded in th’empire”. Adolf of Nassau-Weilburg was defeated by Albert of Habsburg at the battle on the Hasenbühl, near Göllheim in 1298. Albert was king of Germany from 1298 to 1308.

Philip: Philip IV, the Fair (Philippe le Bel) reigned from 1285 to 1314. Back to text

Ladislaus: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5263/1302, fol. 232v: “Wenceslaus, which of the Hungarians is called Ladislaus, the son of the king of Bohemia, reigned in Hungary 3 years”.  Wenceslaus (Ladislaus) reigned from August 1301 to October 1305.

Clement: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5267/1306, fol. 233r: “Clement the fifth was bishop of Rome 8 years. He transferred the bishop’s see of Rome from Italy into France, where it continued the space of 74 years”. Elected in 1305, Clement V installed himself at Avignon in 1309. The last Avignon pope recognised by the Catholic church, Gregory XI, left Avignon in 1376. There were two Avignon antipopes, Clement VII, who reigned from 1378 to 1394, and Benedict XIII, who was expelled from Avignon in 1403. Back to text

Seraph: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5266/1305, fol. 233r: “Seraph or Melecnasser, souldan of Egypt; he was sore overset by the Tartarians”. Lanquet is alluding to two successive Egyptian sultans, Ashraf Khalil and Nasir Muhammad, whom Sabellicus, in his Enneades sive Rhapsodia historiarum (1498), called “Melecastraphus” and “Melecnaser”, Posterior pars eiusdem Rapsodiae Historiarum M. Antonii Coccii Sabellici (Paris: Johannes Parvus and Jodocus Badius Ascensius, 1528), fol. 234v. They became “Melechseraph” and “Melechnaser” in Caspar Peucer’s continuation of Melanchthon’s Chronicon Carionis: Tertia Pars Chronici Carionis, A Carolo Magno, ubi Philippus Melanthon desiit usque ad Fridericum Secundum (Wittenberg: Georg Rhaw’s heirs, 1562), fol. 220v. Back to text 

Edward I: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5268/1307, fol. 233v: “Continuing the war in Scotland, the noble king Edward ended his life, who, at his death, charged his lords to boil his body till the flesh severed from the bones and then to bury the flesh in England and keep still the bones, and as often as the Scots rebelled, to assemble the people and carry with them his bones, trusting that if they were present, that froward people should the sooner be vanquished”. Edward I was on his way to Scotland when he died from dysentery at Burgh by Sands (Cumbria) on 7 July 1307. Back to text 

 

57

The second Edward: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5269/1308, fol. 233v: “Edward the second, son of the first Edward and prince of Wales began his reign over England and reigned 18 years”. Lanquet goes on to describe what he considers an unsavoury character in a paragraph echoing Fabyans Cronycle (London: William Rastell, 1533), VII, fol. lxxiv r-v and Ranulf Higden’s Polychronicon (Westminster: Caxton, 1482), VII, 41, fol. CCClxxxiiir. Back to text

Henry: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5270/1309, fol. 234r: “Henry VII was ordained emperor of Germany and reigned 5 years, 8 months. ... At Myllaine [Milan] he was crowned with a crown of iron”.

the crutched friars: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5271/1310, fol. 234r: “The crouch friars came first into England”. The “Fratres Cruciferi”, who carried a staff surmounted by a crucifix, were usually called Crutched, Crossed, or Crouched friars. They seem to have first settled in England around 1240, but Robert Fabyan noted that “This year [1310] also, after some writers, the crouched friars came first into England”, Fabyans Cronycle (London: William Rastell, 1533), VII, fol. lxxvr. Back to text 

 

58

Gaveston: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5273/1312, fol. 234v: “The pride and tyranny of Piers of Gaveston caused grudge and malice between king Edward of England and his nobles, so that for this cause the said Piers by suit of the nobles was twice or thrice banished the realm and still called again by the king. Wherefore, in this year, the lords being confederate slew him beside Warwick, to the great discontenting of the king’s mind”. Back to text

John Tanner: F, Tamer. Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5276/1315, fol. 235r: “A villain, called John Tanner, in divers places of England named himself the son of Edward the first and said that by a false nurse he was stolen out of his cradle, and Edward that was now king put in his place. But shortly after, he was convict of his untruth and confessed that he did it by the motion of a familiar spirit”. Robert Fabyan tells the story in detail and explains that before being executed, John Tanner “confessed that he had a fiend in his house in the similitude of a cat, the which among other promises to him made, had assured him that he should be king of England”, Fabyans Cronycle (London: William Rastell, 1533), VII, fol. lxxvi v. John Powderham (also called Exeter, Poydras, or Tanner) started his claim in June 1318 and was executed about 24 July next. Back to text

Philip: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5277/1316, fol. 235v: “Philip V, for his height surnamed the Long, was made king of France and reigned 6 years”. Philip V, the Tall (Philippe le Long) reigned from 1316 to 1322.

Spencers: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5280/1319, fol. 235v: “The lords and nobles of England, detesting the outrageous pride of the Spencers, whereby they wrought dayly both great dishonour to the king and hindrance to the commonweal, in such wise conspired against them that they caused the king, half against his mind, to remove from him the Spencers and banish them the realm”. Hugh Despenser the elder and his son Hugh Despenser the younger were exiled in 1321, but the younger Despenser was back the following year, after Edward’s victory over the barons. When Edward was finally  defeated, the younger Despenser was executed on 24 November 1326. Back to text

 

59

Twenty-two barons: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5281/1320, fol. 236r: “King Edward, contrary to the mind of his lords, revoked the Spencers from banishment and set them in like authority as they before had been, to the great disturbance of the realm; and not long after pursued the barons and chased them so egrely from place to place that in short space he put to death about the number of 22 of the greatest men of his realm”. After his victory over the barons in 1322, Edward had more than 26 insurgents executed. Back to text

The sun: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5283/1322, fol. 236r: “In England the sun appeared as blood and so continued 6 hours”. Also reported in Fabyans Cronycle (London: William Rastell, 1533), VII, fol. lxxxr.

Scotland: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5284/1323, fol. 236v: “King Edward with a mighty army entered Scotland, but with sickness and other misfortunes that chanced among his soldiers, he within short space was forced to return into England, whereof Sir James Douglas and the Scots having knowledge, pursued him in such wise that they slew many Englishmen and had well near taken the king”. Edward II’s disastrous campaign in Scotland led to a thirteen year truce signed on 30 May 1323. Back to text 

The Queen and Prince: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5285/1324, fol. 236v: “King Edward sent his wife Isabel to entreat with her brother Charles for peace, or, as Frosard [Froissart] saith, the queen herself, fearing the tyranny and mischief of the Spencers, fled with her young son Edward into France and was gentilly received of her brother, which made great promise to aid her against the injury and tyranny of the Spencers”. According to Froissart’s chronicle, which John Bourchier, lord Berners, had translated into English, Queen Isabella, pretending to go on pilgrimage to Canterbury, reached Winchelsea, from where she sailed to Boulogne on her way to Paris, where she took refuge with her brother Charles IV: Cronycles (London: Richard Pynson, 1523), I, vi. In reality, in March 1325, Edward II sent her to Paris as mediator to settle a dispute over Gascony. Back to text 

 

60

60: stanza 60 follows Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5287/1326, fols. 236v-237r: “Queen Isabell, by the aid and help of Sir John of Heinalde [William, count of Hainaut], with a small company of Henoways [Hainuyer], returned into England, to whom the nobles and commons gathered in great number and pursued the king, the Spencers and other enemies so narrowly that shortly after they took them and kept the king in prison at Barklei [Berkley], where not long after, he was murdered by Sir Roger Mortimer. Sir Hugh the Spencers, John earl of Arundel, Robert Baldoke [Baldock] and other tyrants, which of long time had grieved the realm, they put to worthy punishment”. Back to text

Berkley: F, Barkley.

 

61

Edward: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5288/1327, fol. 237r: “Edward the third, after the deposing of his father, was crowned king of England and reigned 50 years”.

Charles: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5288/1327, fol. 237r: “Charles, the French king, died without issue, after whom the kingdom of France by right of inheritage was due to king Edward of England, for so much as he was the son of Isabel, the sister of Charles. But they defeated him of his right, saying that the crown of France was never wont to come by succession to the woman, but to the issue male”.

Douze-peers: F, Doncipeers; OED, douzepers; Spenser, Faerie Queene, III, x, 31, Doucepere. Here, the French “douze pairs”. Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5289/1328, fol. 238r: “Philip of Valois, by the counsel of the 12 peers, and specially of Robert of Artois, was made king of France and reigned 15 years”. According to John Bourchier’s translation of Froissart’s chronicle, Philippe de Valois “was crowned by the assent of the xii dowsepiers of Fraunce”, Cronycles (London: Richard Pynson, 1523), I, xxi, fol. xii r.

Mortimer: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5291/1330, fol. 238r: “Sir Roger Mortimer was accused for divers points of treason, and namely that he was over familiar with the old queen Isabel, the king’s mother, for which accusations he was shortly after beheaded”.

 

62

Edward: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5290/1329, fol. 238r: “Prince Edward was born at Woodstock, which in process of time grew to a noble and famous man and was in his days counted the flower of chivalry throughout all the world”. Edward of Woodsock, known as the Black Prince, was born on 15 June 1330.

Halidon: F, Haldonne. Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5293/1332, fol. 238v: “King Edward went into Scotland with a great power and, as witnesseth the English histories, at a place called Haldeone Hill, gave to the Scots battle, wherein he obtained a triumphant victory”. The battle of Halidon Hill, near Berwick-upon-Tweed, was fought on 19 July 1333.

his claim to France: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5300/1339, fol. 239v: “[Edward III] made claim to the whole realm of France as his rightful inheritance and for more authority, named himself king of France and intermeddled the arms of England with the arms of France, as it remaineth to this day”.

Petrarch: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5300/1339, fol. 239v: “Franciscus Petrarcha was famous in Italy and made Poet Laureate in Rome”.

Sluys: F, Sluce. Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5301/1340, fol. 239v: “King Edward sailing toward Flanders, nigh to the haven of Scluse [Sluys], met with the French king’s navy, where was fought a cruel battle, whereof the king of England had the victory and the French fleet, that was in number 400 sail, was well near all destroyed and the soldiers taken, slain, and drowned, so that of 23 000 there escaped not one”.

souned: sounded.

 

63

Garter: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5305/1344, fol. 240v: “The order of the Garter first invented and ordained by king Edward”.

Crecy: F, Cressie. Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5307/1346, fol. 241r: “[Edward III] encountered the French king nigh the forest of Cresse, where he had not in his host the eighth man in comparison of the French army and obtained of them a noble, triumphant victory by the manhood of his archers”. The battle, fought on 26 August 1346, showed the superiority of the longbow over the crossbow.

Don Petro: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5309/1348, fol. 241v, indicated that “Peter the First was ordained king of Spain. He passed all his predecessors in cruelty; manslaughter and other mischief; he put to death all the nobility and the chief of his affinity and kinred”. Heywood chose to ignore this unfavourable presentation of Peter I of Castile, surnamed the Cruel. He preferred to present him as a victim, anticipating stanza 64, which alludes to the usurpation of his brother Henry in 1366 and Prince Edward’s restoration of Peter in 1367. Froissart reported these events in detail, Cronycles (London: Richard Pynson, 1523), I, ccxxix-ccxlii. See Troia Britanica, XI, stanza 6 and below, XVII, 64.

Calais: F, Callis. Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5308/1347, fol. 241v: “Caleis was yielded up to king Edward of England”. The siege of Calais started on 3 September 1346 and the town surrendered on 3 August 1347. Neither Lanquet nor Heywood mention the story of the six burghers.

John: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5311/1350, fol. 242r: “Philip, king of France, ended his life, whose body was buried at St. Denis, his bowels at [Couvent des] Jacobins in Paris, and his heart at Bourefountayne in Valoys [Bourgfontaine, at Villers-Cotterêts]. John, the eldest son of Philip and duke of Normandy, was ordained king of France”. Philip VI died on 22 August 1350. His son John II (Jean le Bon) was crowned at Reims on 26 September the same year.

Poitiers: F, Poytieres. Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5317/1356, fol. 243r: “Prince Edward of Wales, nigh to the city of Poyters [Poitiers], joined battle with king John of France, of whom the prince, by his martial policy, won a noble victory. Notwithstanding that he had in his army but only 8 thousand soldiers one and other, and on the French part were 60 000 fighting men. In this conflict, king John was taken, with his young son Philip and many of his nobles. The Englishmen had twice so many prisoners of the Frenchmen as they were in number themselves, which is almost incredible”. On 19 September 1356 at the battle of Poitiers, the English deplored 1000 dead out of 12 000 soldiers; out of 40 000 French soldiers, 2500 were killed and 2600 captured.

 

64

Melchella: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5323/1362, fol. 244r: “Melchella, souldan of Egypt”. “Melchella Aegyptii sultanus” was mentioned for 1362 in Achilles Pirmin Gasser’s Historiarum et Chronicorum Mundi Epitome (Venice: Johannes Antonius for Melchior Sessa, 1533).

Amurath: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5324/1363, fol. 244r: “Amurates, king of the Turkes, using the ships of the Genoways [Genoese], passed Helesponte and arrived in Europe, where he conquered the towns of Hadrianopolis [Adrianopolis] and Calliopolis [Callipolis], with other cities, and with a great puissance overthrew them which encountered him at his coming”. Amurath (Murad I) reigned from 1362 to 1389. See Antoine Geuffroy’s Estat de la Court du Grant Turc, translated into English, translated into English as The Order of the Greate Turckes Courte  (London: Richard Grafton, 1542).

John: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5324/1363, fol. 244r: “King John of France came in England and shortly after died at the Savoy in London”; 5225/1264: “Charles the sixth or, after some, fifth, was ordained king of France”. The treaty of Brétigny (1360) allowed king John to leave his son Louis of Anjou in England as a hostage while he returned to France to collect his ransom. When Louis escaped in 1363, John decided to return to England as a willing prisoner. He died at the Savoy palace in April 1364. Charles V the Wise, was crowned on 19 May 1264 and reigned until 1380.

Don Peter: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5324/1363, fol. 244r: “Prince Edward entered Spain with a great puissance, where he overcame the Spaniards and Frenchmen in a strong and fierce battle and expelled Henry the Bastard, setting Peter in his former estate as king of Spain. But not long after, the princes returning home, Henry repaired his army and warred upon his brother so fiercely that in the end he utterly vanquished him and put him to death, and then, without resistance, possessed the kingdom of Spain”. See stanza 63 above.

 

65

The duke of Lancaster: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5329/1368, fol. 245r: “The duke of Lancaster arrived at Caleis [Calais] and entered France with a company of soldiers, where, not far from Arde, the duke of Burgoyne [Burgundy] lodged within a mile of his army, with a great power, the space of 18 days, and never proffered battle, but lastly stole away privily in the night; and then entered the duke further into France”. The fourth son of Edward III, John of Gaunt was appointed the king’s lieutenant in France in June 1369. On 23 August the same year, he met the army of the duke of Burgundy at Tournhem. For about a fortnight, neither party launched an offensive. Burgundy finally withdrew and John of Gaunt returned to Calais at the end of October without any major achievement.

Sir Robert Knowles: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5329/1368, fol. 245v: “Sir Robert Knoles entered the realm of France with a strong army and passed even by Paris ranged in battle and throughout the countries of France, robbing and spoiling as he went, without any notable battle”. Sir Robert Knolles’s 1370 French campaign made him infamous for his shameless looting and his defeat at the battle of Pontvallain on 4 December.

Bajazeth: Appears as “Pazaytes” in Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5334/1373, fol. 246r. Heywood restores the more usual name.

Black Prince: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5337/1376, fol. 246v: “Prince Edward of England departed out of this life, who was in his time the flower of chivalry”. The Black Prince died of an illness on 8 June 1376.

the king: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5338/1377, fol. 246v: “King Edward III ended his life in Richemonte the 22nd day of June”. Edward III died on 21 June 1377 at Sheen Manor (which was later rebuilt and renamed Richmond palace by Henry VII).

 

66

Richard: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5338/1377, fol. 246v: “Richard the second, the son of prince Edward of Wales, was ordained king of England, being as yet but eleven years of age. In bounty and liberality, he far passed all his progenitors, but he was overmuch given to rest and quietness and loved little deeds of arms and martial prowess; and for that he was young, he was most ruled by young counsel, and regarded nothing the advertisements of the sage and wise men of his realm, for the chief about him were of no wisdom nor estimation, which thing turned his land to great trouble and of himself in fine to extreme misery”. Richard II succeeded to the throne on 22 June 1377—he was born on 6 January 1367.

Guns: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5341/1380, fol. 247v: “About this time, guns were first in use, which were invented by one of Germany”. Lanquet had found this information in Polydore Vergil’s De Rerum Inventoribus Libri octo (Basel: Froben, 1521), fols. 19v-20r: “Et haec omnia in hominum perniciem adinventa sunt, sed illud novitium inventum in primis, quod bombardam vocant, cuius inventorem fuisse ferunt hominem Germanici sanguinis ignobilem alioqui, de eius usum Venetis in illo bello primum ostendisse, quod circa Fossam Clodiam est cum Genuensibus gestum. Qui teste Platina fuit annus à natali Salvatoris, octogesimus supra millesimum et trecentesimum. Is itaque tam letiferae machinae repertor pro mercede (opinor) accepit, ut nomen suum perpetuo occultaretur, ne omni tempore a cunctis mortalibus male audiret” (And all these [weapons] were invented for the ruin of men, but above all that new invention called the gun, whose inventor, one says, was an obscure German, who had first shown its use to the Venitians in the war they waged against the Genoese near Fossa Clodia [Chioggia], which, as Platina reports, took place in the year of our Saviour 1380. And the recompense he received for inventing such a deadly machine was, as I think, that his name was for ever buried, lest it would be infamous to all men in all times). That the inventor was a friar seems to be Heywood’s invention, flattering anti-monastic prejudice while affording a useful rhyme. On the battle of Chioggia, see note to stanza 67 below.

Navar’: Navarre. Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5339/1378, fol. 247r: “War renewed again between the kings of France and of Navarre ... All that the king of Navarre had in Normandy became French saving one castle”. See Froissart, “

How the war began again between the French king and the king of Navarre; and how the king of Navarre lost the county of Devreux [Evreux] except Chierbourge”, Cronycles (London: Richard Pynson, 1523), I, cccxvi, fol. Cxvii. Charles II, king of Navarre and Count of Evreux, lost all his possessions in Normandy to the French in April-June 1378. He still kept Cherbourg, but not for long.

 

67

Queen Joan:  Queen Joanna I of Naples is mentioned in Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5343/1382, fol. 248r, at the end of her reign, when she was imprisoned in 1381 before being murdered in 1382.

Wenceslaus: F, Vinceslaus: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5340/1379, fol. 247v: “Vinceslaus, king of Boheme, by the purchasing and labouring of his father, was ordained emperor of Almain”. Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia became king of Germany in 1378, but was never crowned as Holy Roman Emperor. He was deposed in 1400.

discords: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5341/1380, fol. 248r: “War between the king of Castile and of Portugal”.  In 1383-1385, king Juan I of Castile disputed the Portuguese throne to João I of Portugal. The crisis ended with the victory of the Portuguese at the battle of Aljubarotta on 14 August 1385.

Two popes: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5339/1378, fol. 247r: “After Gregory the XIth, a great schism rose in the church of Rome for the election of the bishop, for the cardinals of Italy chose an Italian bishop and named him Urban the sixth. The cardinals of France, in the city of Fondes [Fondi], elected Robert, cardinal of Basile [Basel?] and named him Clement the 7th. These two blessed bishops disallowed one the other’s election and cursed each other with most cruel censures so that mortal war between them was arreared, to the utter disturbance of all Christendom. Germany, Hungary, England, Pannony [Pannonia] and Italy favoured Urban; France, Spain, Cateloin [Catalonia], held with Clement, and thus began the schism, which continued 39 years, for never one of these holy bishops would give over, lest the t’one should seem more meek and lowly than the other”. The Western Schism lasted between 1378 and 1417. Urban VI was elected on 8 April 1378, while Robert, count of Geneva, was elected at Fondi on 20 September 1378 and took the name of Clement VII.

Genoese: F, Genoways. Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5340/1379, fol. 247v: “Fierce and deadly war between the Genoways and Venetians, whereby all the east part of Europe was sore disquieted and the seas grievously vexed and troubled. The Genoways vanquished the float of the Venetians in the haven of Pole”. A war opposed the Republics of Venice and of Genoa between 1377 and 1381. The Genoese fleet was victorious at the battle of Pola on 7 May 1379 and the Venetians won the battle of Chioggia on 24 June 1381(see note to stanza 66 above). Peace was concluded at Turin in 1381.

Walworth: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5342/1381, fol. 248r: “By means of a payment that was set upon the people of England, the commons of the land, and especially of Kent and Essex, suddenly rebelled and assembled together upon Blackheath to the number of 60 000 and above, which had to their captains Wat Tyler, Jack Straw, Jack Shepheard, Tomme Millar, Hob Karter and other such noble personages. They caused much trouble and business in the realm, and chiefly about the city of London, where they practised much villainy in destroying of many goodly places as the Savoy and other, and being assembled in Smithfield, used themselves very proudly and unreverently toward the king, but by the manhood and wisdom of William Waulworth, Mayor of London, that rude company was dissevered and fled as sheep to their own houses. Some write that these rebels pretended cause of liberty for that they were oppressed and used as slaves by the nobles of the realm”. The unrest was caused by the 1381 poll tax. The main leader, Walter (or Wat) Tyler was wounded, possibly by William Walworth, and finally executed—it has been suggested but not established that Jack Straw and Wat Tyler may have been the same person.

 

68

earthquake: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5343/1382, fol. 248v: “A wonderful great earthquake in the realm of England, the like whereof was never seen before that day nor since”, repeats Fabyans Cronycle (London: William Rastell, 1533), VII, fol. cxliii r.

Richard: Heywood follows Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5345/1384, fol. 248v: “King Richard married the daughter of Wenceslaus, emperor of Almayne”; in reality, Richard married Anne of Bohemia, daughter of the late emperor Charles IV and sister of the emperor-elect and king of Bohemia, Wenceslas IV. The marriage was celebrated on 20 January 1382. Robert Fabyan is more accurate, both on the date of the marriage and the identity of the bribe: “[In April 1382], landed in Kent dame Anne, the daughter of Charles the IVth, late emperor of Almayne, and sister unto Wensyslaus at that day emperor, the which of the Mayor and citizens of London was honourably met upon Blackheath and conveyed with great triumph unto Westminster the 8th day of the month of May, and shortly after there solemnly married unto king Richard”, Fabyans Cronycle (London: William Rastell, 1533), VII, fols. cxlii v-cxliii r.

Turks: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5345/1384, fol. 248v: “About this time the Turks wasted and burnt Bossina [Bosnia], Croatia, and the farther parts of Illyria”. Ottoman attacks on Bosnia and Croatia started in 1384.

Galeazzo: F, Galeazo. Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5346/1385, fol. 249r: “John, surnamed Galeatius, earl of Verona, took Bernabas [Bernabò], lord of Milan, his uncle, and kept him in prison all the days of his life, seizing to his own use the whole lordship and signory of Lumbardy”. The career of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, first duke of Milan, is sketched with more details in John Stow’s English Chronicle (1607 edition, pp. 186-88).

John of Gaunt: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5347/1386, fol. 249r-v: “The duke of Lancaster, uncle to king Richard of England, sailed with a company of soldiers into Spain to make claim to the realm of Castile for so much as he had taken to wife the eldest daughter of king Peter that was expelled his kingdom by Henry, the bastard brother. He conquered the country of Galice and made alliance with the king of Portugal. But by great mortality which fell among his people, he was fain to demiss his army and shortly after, left all that he had won”.

barons: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5348/1387, fol. 249v: “Marvellous dissension and trouble in England between the king and his Counsel and other nobles and prelates of the realm. The commons, by the aid and comfort of the king’s uncles and other lords of the realm—that is the duke of Gloucester, the duke of York, the earl of Derby, of Arundel and of Nottingham—put to death divers of the king’s Counsel and chief officers and chased the duke of Ireland and other out of the realm for that they caused the king to burden his people with exactions and could make no just accompt of the same when they were required”.

 

69

1388: F, 1389. Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5349/1388, fol. 250r: “A marriage entreated and finished between Katharine, the duke of Lancaster’s daughter, and Henry, the king of Castile’s son; his other daughter Philip was married to the king of Portugal, whereby the war in Spain was finished”. Katherine of Lancaster married don Enrique, heir to Juan I of Castile. Philippa of Lancaster married João I of Portugal.

The Turk: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5346/1385, fol. 249r: “The Saracens about this time vexed the emperor of Constantinople and the countries of Greece. The Turks warred in Hungary, where many of them were slain”; 5350/1389, fol. 250r: “Pazaites, king of Turks, besieged Constantinople 8 years”. The first siege of Constantinople started in 1394 and ended with the Ottoman defeat at Ankara in 1402.

Cologne: F, Colleine. Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5350/1389, fol. 250r: “The Universities of Coleyne and Erphurd about this time were first founded”. The University of Cologne was founded in 1388 and the University of Erfurt in 1379.

 

70

John: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5351/1390, fol. 250v: “After the death of king Robert of Scotland, John earl of Carreke, his eldest son, succeeded and reigned 16 years, whom the Scots called Robert after his father, because they thought John an unlucky name in a king. He was maimed with the stroke of a horse in his youth, and therefore unable for the governance of the realm. Wherefore duke Robert of Albany continued as governor all the time of his reign”. Robert II died on 19 April 1390. He was succeeded by his son John, earl of Carrick, who became king as Robert III. The third son of Robert Ii, Robert Stewart, first duke of Albany, earl of Fife was maintained as Guardian of the kingdom.

Richard: Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5354/1393, fol. 251r: “This year died queen Anne, wife to king Richard”; 5356/1395: “King Richard took to wife Isabel, the daughter of Charles, the French king”. Anne of Bohemia died in 1394. He married Isabella, the eight year old daughter of Charles VI, on 7 January 1397.

Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5355/1394, fol. 251r: “King Richard made a voyage into Ireland, which was more to his charge than honour”. Richard II’s Irish expedition tool place between autumn 1394 and May 1395.

Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5358/1397, fol. 251v: “The duke of Gloucester, king Richard’s uncle, with the earl of Arundel and other, was put to cruel death for so much as they rebuked the king in certain matters over liberally”.

Lanquet and Cooper’s Chronicle, 5359/1398, fol. 251v: “Henry Bolingbroke, duke of Herford, and the duke of Northfolk were banished out of the realm”.

 

 

On to Notes 2 (stanzas 71-end)


How to cite

Yves Peyré, ed., 2019.  Troia Britanica Canto XVII (1609).  In A Dictionary of Shakespeare's Classical Mythology: A Textual Companion, ed. Yves Peyré (2009-).

http://www.shakmyth.org/page/Early+Modern+Mythological+Texts%3A+Troia+Britanica+XVII%2C+Notes

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