Gerald of Wales

This chapter looks at Gerald of Wales as a historian. Gerald was a prolific writer, and a polymath, and he has seldom been studied as a historian alone. Here the focus will be on Gerald’s historical works, his influences, and methods. The first influence identified is Sallust, whose writings provided an example of the historical monograph, of character descriptions and invented speeches. But Gerald drew on a wide range of pagan Christian writings, and used exempla from their works as a way of interpreting more recent events. Paying special attention to Gerald’s Vita Galfridi and De Principis Instructione, it is argued that Gerald used exempla from earlier histories in a way comparable to a hagiographer: drawing on a repertoire of models and choosing those most appropriate.

Roger of Howden

This chapter looks at the work of Roger of Howden, whose two massive chronicles are fundamental to our understanding of political life in the last decades of the twelfth century, paying particular attention to his use of sources. Roger’s chronicles provide an account of public events under Kings Henry II and Richard I that is unrivalled in volume and detail. Howden played a role in royal and ecclesiastical government, but it is argued here that it is only with difficulty that we can use his works as evidence of his own view of the events that he reports. His work is distinguished by its use of administrative and legal texts, but an analysis of his use of sources shows that he also drew on a much wider range of written materials, often without acknowledgement. In fact, when we read Howden’s words, we are often reading the words of others too.

The English and their Neighbours

This chapter addresses English attitudes to their neighbours. Much scholarly attention has focused on hostile attitudes expressed towards the Scots, Welsh, and Irish, but here some qualifications are proposed to the accepted narrative. Paying particular attention to the accounts of the invasion of Ireland, it is shown that while most English writers characterized their ‘Celtic’ neighbours as barbarous, they also recognized that they were fellow Christians. And while their Christianity was often seen as deficient, a large body of Christian opinion stood against attacks on one’s co-religionists. English aggression against the Irish was not only often criticized, but it was discussed in ways that recalled earlier criticisms of violence by Christians against Christians.

Church and Government from Becket to Longchamp

This chapter examines church and government in Angevin England, and especially the representation of those who held leading positions in both. The first subject is the shadow cast by the figure of Thomas Becket over later ecclesiastical matters and their representation. Although the Becket dispute itself is not prominent in these histories, churchmen of the last quarter of the century were often judged in comparison to Becket. The rest of the chapter concentrates on the career of William Longchamp, bishop of Ely, papal legate, and royal chancellor. The extraordinary invectives against Longchamp written by contemporaries reflect the real hostility that he provoked, but also the emergence of negative depictions of men in government, drawn from recent history but also from imperial Rome.

Outsiders

This chapter examines how the historians of Angevin England represented those outside the secular and ecclesiastical elite that dominated their pages. First, representations of Eleanor of Aquitaine are discussed as a way of analysing how these writers wrote about women more generally. The next group to be discussed is the urban poor, as seen in accounts of the revolt of William Longbeard in London in 1196. Thirdly, discussions of heresy are examined for what they show us of continental influence on English writers. Finally, more attention is paid to accounts of the attacks on England’s Jews in 1189 and 1190, with a special focus on William of Newburgh’s interpretation of the events.

The Battles of God and King Richard

This chapter looks at the representation of King Richard in war, particularly in the Holy Land and on the way there. English historians’ accounts of King Richard’s wars have usually been examined for the information they provide of military engagements, or for how they illustrate his image as the ideal knight-king. Here the emphasis is instead on the role of the divine. References to God’s role in battle are so obvious in medieval histories that they may easily be ignored, but, as shown here, there is much complexity in the presentation of such a role by these twelfth-century historians of Angevin England.

The Rise and Fall of Henry II

This chapter addresses biographical representations of King Henry II. Though no medieval biography of the king survives, many contemporaries attempted to trace the arc of his life and make sense of his rise and fall. Best known is Gerald of Wales’s devastating picture of the king in his late work De Principis Instructione, but, as is shown here, this narrative of the king’s life had already begun to take shape before his death. Other writers, both hostile and sympathetic, presented Henry as a king who had been raised to greatness by God but failed to repent for his sins, and consequently suffered divine vengeance.

Henry II and Angevin Kingship

This chapter examines portraits of King Henry II written by three courtier-clerks, Peter of Blois, Gerald of Wales, and Walter Map. These descriptions of Henry’s appearance and character are frequently quoted in modern histories, but are seldom analysed for their literary influences. In this chapter it is shown that they are strongly influenced by a tradition of royal portraiture going back to Suetonius and mediated by Einhard, William of Malmesbury, and others. More surprisingly, perhaps, they also have a very contemporary character, influenced by currently fashionable ideas of the courtly king, ideas that are more often associated with Henry’s son Richard.

Gervase of Canterbury and Ralphof Coggeshall

This chapter takes as its subject two monastic writers, Gervase of Canterbury and Ralph of Coggeshall. Gervase wrote a history of England focused on a particular place, the cathedral church of Canterbury, and follows a Canterbury tradition of writing about the struggles of that church within the broader scope of English history. Ralph’s work appears much less coherent in its subject matter and approach, combining short annals with long, detailed narratives, and ranging in subject matter from high politics to the supernatural. Here these two works are used as contrasting illustrations of the scope and integrity of English historiography in this period. It is argued that while Gervase’s work shows a strong consistency of purpose, Ralph’s reminds us of the fragmentary and discontinuous nature of much of medieval historical writing.

Ralph of Diceto

This chapter looks at the work of Ralph of Diceto, paying particular attention to his organizational methods, his interest in historical precedents, and his political stance. Ralph wrote a history of recent events, the Ymagines Historiarum, which has been noted for its cautious and balanced approach to controversial events. He has been characterized as a ‘civil service’ historian, interested in government and in law. Here it is argued that Ralph’s work also exemplifies certain aspects of medieval historical writing that are not always fully appreciated, including historical curiosity and display, and the extent to which historians often reflect the perspectives and opinions of their audience, as much as they seek to guide them.