Roger of Hoveden
Encyclopedia
Roger of Hoveden, or Howden (fl.
1174 – 1201), was a 12th-century English chronicler
.
From Hoveden's name and the internal evidence of his work, he is believed to have been a native of Howden in East Yorkshire
. Nothing is known of him before the year 1174. He was then in attendance upon Henry II
, by whom he was sent from France
on a secret mission to the lords of Galloway
. In 1175 he again appears as a negotiator between the king and a number of English religious houses. The interest which Hoveden shows in ecclesiastical affairs and miracles may justify the supposition that he was a clerk in orders. This, however, did not prevent him from acting, in 1189, as a justice of the forests in the shires of Yorkshire, Cumberland and Northumberland
.
During this time, Hoveden is believed to have been working on his Gesta Henrici II et Gesta Regis Ricardi. This chronicle
was formerly ascribed to Benedict of Peterborough, who had the manuscript copied for his library. The Gesta Regis Henrici II & Gesta Regis Ricardi is the work of a well-informed man, connected with the court and inclined to take the side of Henry II. He confines himself to the external history of events, and his tone is strictly impersonal. He incorporates some official documents, and in many places obviously derives his information from others which he does not quote. There is a break in his work at the year 1177, where the earliest manuscript ends. The work begins at Christmas 1169, and concludes in 1192; it is thus in form a fragment, covering portions of the reign of Henry II and Richard I
.
Hoveden went on the Third Crusade
with Richard I of England
, joining him in Marseille
in August 1190. He left for Europe in August 1191, in the entourage of Philip II of France
. On his return, about the year 1192 he began to compile his Chronica, a general history of England from 732 to his own time. Up to the year 1192 his narrative adds little to our knowledge. For the period 732–1148 he chiefly drew upon an extant, but unpublished chronicle, the Historia Saxonum sive Anglorum post obitum Bedae (British Museum
manuscript Reg. 13 A. 6), which was composed about 1150. From 1148 to 1170 he used the Melrose Chronicle (edited for the Bannatyne Club
in 1835 by Joseph Stevenson
) and a collection of letters bearing upon the Thomas Becket
controversy. From 1170 to 1192 he drew upon his own earlier Gesta Regis Henrici II and Gesta Regis Ricardi, revising the text and inserting some additional documents. From 1192, the Chronica is an independent and copious authority.
Hoveden is sedulously impersonal, and makes no pretense to literary style, quotes documents in full and adheres to the annalistic method. His chronology is tolerably exact, but there are mistakes enough to prove that he recorded events at a certain distance of time. Both on foreign affairs and on questions of domestic policy he is unusually well informed. His practical experience as an administrator and his official connections stood him in good stead. He is particularly useful on points of constitutional history. His work breaks off abruptly in 1201, though he certainly intended to carry it further. Probably his death should be placed in that year.
Floruit
Floruit , abbreviated fl. , is a Latin verb meaning "flourished", denoting the period of time during which something was active...
1174 – 1201), was a 12th-century English chronicler
English historians in the Middle Ages
Historians of England in the Middle Ages helped to lay the groundwork for modern historical historiography, providing vital accounts of the early history of England, Wales and Normandy, its cultures, and revelations about the historians themselves....
.
From Hoveden's name and the internal evidence of his work, he is believed to have been a native of Howden in East Yorkshire
East Yorkshire
East Yorkshire could be:*East Yorkshire Motor Services*An alternative name for the East Riding of Yorkshire*East Yorkshire , a former district of Humberside*East Yorkshire...
. Nothing is known of him before the year 1174. He was then in attendance upon Henry II
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
, by whom he was sent from France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
on a secret mission to the lords of Galloway
Lords of Galloway
The Lords, or Kings of Galloway ruled over Galloway, in south west Scotland, for a large part of the High Middle Ages.Many regions of Scotland, including Galloway and Moray, periodically had kings or subkings, similar to those in Ireland during the Middle Ages. The Scottish monarch was seen as...
. In 1175 he again appears as a negotiator between the king and a number of English religious houses. The interest which Hoveden shows in ecclesiastical affairs and miracles may justify the supposition that he was a clerk in orders. This, however, did not prevent him from acting, in 1189, as a justice of the forests in the shires of Yorkshire, Cumberland and Northumberland
Northumberland
Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...
.
During this time, Hoveden is believed to have been working on his Gesta Henrici II et Gesta Regis Ricardi. This chronicle
Chronicle
Generally a chronicle is a historical account of facts and events ranged in chronological order, as in a time line. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events, the purpose being the recording of events that occurred, seen from the perspective of the...
was formerly ascribed to Benedict of Peterborough, who had the manuscript copied for his library. The Gesta Regis Henrici II & Gesta Regis Ricardi is the work of a well-informed man, connected with the court and inclined to take the side of Henry II. He confines himself to the external history of events, and his tone is strictly impersonal. He incorporates some official documents, and in many places obviously derives his information from others which he does not quote. There is a break in his work at the year 1177, where the earliest manuscript ends. The work begins at Christmas 1169, and concludes in 1192; it is thus in form a fragment, covering portions of the reign of Henry II and Richard I
Richard I of England
Richard I was King of England from 6 July 1189 until his death. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Count of Nantes, and Overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period...
.
Hoveden went on the Third Crusade
Third Crusade
The Third Crusade , also known as the Kings' Crusade, was an attempt by European leaders to reconquer the Holy Land from Saladin...
with Richard I of England
Richard I of England
Richard I was King of England from 6 July 1189 until his death. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Count of Nantes, and Overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period...
, joining him in Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
in August 1190. He left for Europe in August 1191, in the entourage of Philip II of France
Philip II of France
Philip II Augustus was the King of France from 1180 until his death. A member of the House of Capet, Philip Augustus was born at Gonesse in the Val-d'Oise, the son of Louis VII and his third wife, Adela of Champagne...
. On his return, about the year 1192 he began to compile his Chronica, a general history of England from 732 to his own time. Up to the year 1192 his narrative adds little to our knowledge. For the period 732–1148 he chiefly drew upon an extant, but unpublished chronicle, the Historia Saxonum sive Anglorum post obitum Bedae (British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
manuscript Reg. 13 A. 6), which was composed about 1150. From 1148 to 1170 he used the Melrose Chronicle (edited for the Bannatyne Club
Bannatyne Club
The Bannatyne Club was founded by Sir Walter Scott to print rare works of Scottish interest, whether in history, poetry, or general literature. It printed 116 volumes in all. It was dissolved in 1861....
in 1835 by Joseph Stevenson
Joseph Stevenson
Joseph Stevenson was an English Catholic archivist.-Biography:Though his parents were Presbyterians, he was educated at University College, Durham under the historian, James Raine, and afterwards at the University of Glasgow...
) and a collection of letters bearing upon the Thomas Becket
Thomas Becket
Thomas Becket was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his murder in 1170. He is venerated as a saint and martyr by both the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion...
controversy. From 1170 to 1192 he drew upon his own earlier Gesta Regis Henrici II and Gesta Regis Ricardi, revising the text and inserting some additional documents. From 1192, the Chronica is an independent and copious authority.
Hoveden is sedulously impersonal, and makes no pretense to literary style, quotes documents in full and adheres to the annalistic method. His chronology is tolerably exact, but there are mistakes enough to prove that he recorded events at a certain distance of time. Both on foreign affairs and on questions of domestic policy he is unusually well informed. His practical experience as an administrator and his official connections stood him in good stead. He is particularly useful on points of constitutional history. His work breaks off abruptly in 1201, though he certainly intended to carry it further. Probably his death should be placed in that year.
Works
- Gesta Regis Henrici Secundi et Gesta Regis Ricardi Benedicti abbatis (ed. William StubbsWilliam StubbsWilliam Stubbs was an English historian and Bishop of Oxford.The son of William Morley Stubbs, a solicitor, he was born at Knaresborough, Yorkshire, and was educated at Ripon Grammar School and Christ Church, Oxford, where he graduated in 1848, obtaining a first-class in classics and a third in...
) (2 vols., Rolls seriesRolls SeriesThe Rolls Series, official title The Chronicles and Memorials of Great Britain and Ireland during the Middle Ages, is a major collection of British and Irish historical materials and primary sources, published in the second half of the 19th century. Some 255 volumes, representing 99 separate...
, 1867), available at Gallica. - Chronica (ed. William StubbsWilliam StubbsWilliam Stubbs was an English historian and Bishop of Oxford.The son of William Morley Stubbs, a solicitor, he was born at Knaresborough, Yorkshire, and was educated at Ripon Grammar School and Christ Church, Oxford, where he graduated in 1848, obtaining a first-class in classics and a third in...
) (4 vols., Rolls series, 1868–71), available at Gallica and TannerRitchie Publishing.
Sources and further reading
- Frank BarlowFrank Barlow (historian)Frank Barlow CBE FBA FRSL was a British historian, known particularly for biographies of medieval figures.Barlow studied at St John's College, Oxford. He was Professor of History at the University of Exeter from 1953 until he retired in 1976 and became Emeritus Professor...
, "Roger of Howden", English Historical Review, vol. 65 (1950). - David Corner, "The Earliest Surviving Manuscripts of Roger of Howden's Chronica", English Historical Review, vol. 98 (1983).
- David Corner, "The Gesta Regis Henrici Secundi and Chronica of Roger, Parson of Howden", Bulletin of the Institute of Historical research, vol. 56 (1983).
- John Gillingham, "Roger of Howden on Crusade", in Richard Cœur de Lion: Kingship, Chivalry and War in the Twelfth Century (London, 1994).
- D. M. Stenton, "Roger of Howden and Benedict", English Historical Review, vol. 68 (1958).
- Lucas Villegas Aristizabal, "Revisión de las crónicas de Ralph de Diceto y de la Gesta regis Ricardi sobre la participación de la flota angevina durante la Tercera Cruzada en Portugal", Studia Historica- Historia Medieval 27 (2009), pp. 153-170.
External links
- Roger of Hoveden. The Annals (in English) Vol. 1. and Vol. 2..
- Annals of Roger de Hoveden in English translation. Vol. 1. First page to last page. Vol. 2 awaited
- Latin Chroniclers from the Eleventh to the Thirteenth Centuries: Roger of Howden from The Cambridge History of English and American LiteratureThe Cambridge History of English and American LiteratureThe Cambridge History of English and American Literature was originally published by Cambridge University Press in 1907–1921. The 18 volumes include 303 chapters and more than 11,000 pages edited and written by a worldwide panel of 171 leading scholars and thinkers of the early twentieth century...
, Volume 1, 1907–21.