Description

Between 1863 and 1876, the Rolls Series published several works from or about the abbey of St Albans, edited by Henry Thomas Riley (1816-78) under the rubric Chronica monasterii S. Albani. These annals, and a short chronicle, whose attribution to the shadowy John Amundesham seemed doubtful even in Riley's day, appeared in two volumes in 1870-1. They describe events in the first half of the fifteenth century, during the first abbacy of John of Whethamstede, and record fascinating information about the early reign of the boy king Henry VI. Topics covered in Volume 1 include a deputation of respectable women complaining about the behaviour of the Duke of Gloucester, relations between the Pope and Byzantium, visits from dignitaries, the abbot's travels in Europe, disasters, drownings, and the suppression of certain systems of weights. The book also contains occasional verse written by the abbot. The Latin text is accompanied by an English introduction and side-notes.