Text this colour is a link for Members only. Support us by becoming a Member for only £3 a month by joining our 'Buy Me A Coffee page'; Membership gives you access to all content and removes ads.
Text this colour links to Pages. Text this colour links to Family Trees. Place the mouse over images to see a larger image. Click on paintings to see the painter's Biography Page. Mouse over links for a preview. Move the mouse off the painting or link to close the popup.
All About History Books
The Deeds of King Henry V, or in Latin Henrici Quinti, Angliæ Regis, Gesta, is a first-hand account of the Agincourt Campaign, and subsequent events to his death in 1422. The author of the first part was a Chaplain in King Henry's retinue who was present from King Henry's departure at Southampton in 1415, at the siege of Harfleur, the battle of Agincourt, and the celebrations on King Henry's return to London. The second part, by another writer, relates the events that took place including the negotiations at Troye, Henry's marriage and his death in 1422.
Available at Amazon as eBook or Paperback.
Early Medieval Books is in Books.
Annals of Oseney by Thomas Wykes
[4th August 1265] Meanwhile, the king and the earl, after hearing Mass early in the morning and having eaten only a little, prepared to mount their horses, intending to proceed toward Kenilworth. But as the foremost among them had just left the town, they saw Lord Edward with his army, banners raised, near the town walls, and they reported this to the Earl of Leicester, not without fear. But he, trusting in the valour of his men, encouraged his allies to battle. They immediately armed themselves for war, raised their banners, arranged their ranks for battle, and, lest they appear to flee, marched out from the town to meet the opposing host bravely. Lord Edward, now made more cautious by the shame he had suffered in captivity at Lewes and instructed by bitter experience, shrewdly divided his army into two companies. And so as to encourage the rest to battle, that first line was personally led by the prince himself, an invincible knight and leader, who was determined to bear the first assaults unflinchingly. The Earl of Gloucester, also captain of the said first division, promised steadfast support by his most vigorous valour. Following close behind came the Earl of Leicester, leading the first rank of his own forces. At that moment, on Tuesday, at the first hour, there fell darkness across the entire land, a gloom such as had never been seen in our time, followed by thunder with a terrifying crash and a miraculous downpour of rain, though before and after the whole day the sky remained clear. These signs seemed to indicate, unmistakably, the ominous events about to unfold.
From afar, being unable to see over an intervening hill, a certain man drew his army together in such dense array that they formed a circular mass, intending that by being closely packed together they might more bravely withstand the assaults of their enemies. But Lord Edward, relying on his lion-like boldness and entirely unshaken, with a terrifying blast of trumpets resounding, began to attack this compacted host with military might. As he furiously assailed the front of the closely clustered crowd, suddenly the Earl of Gloucester, accompanied by a valiant retinue in the second division, charged upon the opposite side of the previously mentioned mass. With the flanks of their formations tightly joined, they surrounded the entire army. With both sides fighting fiercely, the enclosed force could not withstand the onslaught of those enclosing them. Their shields were shattered into pieces, the mesh of their mail shredded to bits, and as spears and swords drenched in blood struck them down, they gave way without resistance. And so it happened that those who had previously triumphed in the Battle of Lewes, now experiencing the treacherous reversals of fortune, submitted their necks to their enemies, and nearly all, pierced by hostile blades, met their wretched ends in death. About 160 knights were killed in this battle, and a countless number of other nobles who had not yet received the military girdle (i.e., had not yet been knighted) also perished. Among those who met the fatal end of life in that battle, we have judged it fitting in this little work to record the most famous and distinguished for the knowledge of future generations. The captain of the victorious host was the Earl of Gloucester and those who fought on his side. It should be noted that Lord Henry, King of England, was in the battle on the side of Simon de Montfort, while Lord Edward, the king’s eldest son, was on the side of the Earl of Gloucester, though, it was said, against his father's will. From this moment, the king was restored to the former state of royal power, for he had previously been almost under the custody of the barons.
Note 1. The text here has "After this miserable slaughter, a parliament was convened at Winchester on the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary." which appears to be a mistake, referring to an event after the battle.
Porro rex et comes, summo mane audita missa, modicum pransi, processuri versus Kenilleuurthe equos ascendere sunt parati; verum quidem primites egressi de oppido, dominum Edwardum cum suo exercitu vocatis vexillis prope mænia conspexerunt, id ipsum comiti Leycestriæ non sine formidine nunciantes. At ille cum suis confidens virtute sibi cohærentium, complices suos animavit ad prælium. At illi protinus armis se bellicis munientes, erectis vexillis et aciebus ordinatis ad prælium, ne fugere vide[re]ntur, exeuntes de oppido, in occursum adversæ multitudinis viriliter processerunt. Siquidem dominus Edwardus, sola vexatione dante intellectum, ignominia quam ex captivatione Lewensi pertulerat et cautior effectus, sagaciter in duas turmas divisit exercitum, et ut cæteros animaret ad prælium, primam aciem primus ille dux et miles invictissimus strenuissime conducebat, primos insultus inflexibiliter perpessurus; comes quoque Gloucestriæ, aciei supradictæ capitaneus, probitate strenuissima indeficienter sibi subsidia præstiturus. Præcedentem e vestigio comes utique Leycestriæ primam turmam habens cepit, videlicet dicta die Martis hora prima, factæ sunt tenebræ per totam terram, quales nunquam nostris temporibus visæ sunt, et tonitruus sequente ness and thunder mirabili pluviarum inundatione, cum ante et post totam diem maxima esset aeris serenitas, quæ mani festum indicium dare videbantur futurorum.
Post stragem hanc miserabilem statutum est parliamentum chester, apud Wyntoniam in Nativitate beatæ Mariæ, ab his longe prospectans, (nam secundam interjacente quodam, monticulo videre non poterat,) nimia densitate tanquam in forma circulari suum inglomeravit exercitum, ut sibi invicem conglobati imminentes adversariorum insultus possent virilius sustinere. At dominus Edwardus, leonina fretus audacia, trepidationis ignarus, clangore tubarum terribiliter resonante; conglobatam multitudinem militariter cœpit impetere; eo quidem glomeratam multitudinem in fronte violentis motibus impugnante, ecce statim comes Gloucestriæ, aciei secundæ strenua comitiva stipatus, irruens in partem adversam coacervationis prætaxatæ, totum exercitum illum quasi conglutinatis acierum extremitatibus circumcinxit; alternis igitur partibus terribiliter dimicantibus, conclusa multitudo concludentium impetus sustinere non potuit, dum clypeis in frusta concisis, calybrina loricarum textura minutissime lacerata, confodientibus lanceis et gladiis sanguine debriatis, sine resistentia locum daret; unde factum est, ut qui prius in bello Lewensi triumphatores extiterant, tergiversationem fortunæ fallibilem jam perpessi, victores victis colla dedentes, pæne omnes hostili mucrone perfossi, fatales exitus miserabiliter terminarunt. Interfecti fuerant in hoc prælio circiter centum et sexaginta milites, et aliorum nobilium qui nondum militari cingulo decorati fuerant numerus infinitus interiit. Inter eos siquidem qui fatalem vitæ terminum in prælio supradicto fine concluserunt, famosissimos et præcipuos ad notitiam posterorum præsenti opusculo duximus annotandos, capitaneus multitudinis qui victoriam hanc obtinebant, scilicet comite Gloverniæ et his qui ex parte sua fuerant. Et sciendum quod dominus Henricus rex Angliæ fuit in prælio ex parte Symonis comitis, et dominus Edwardus regis primogenitus ex parte comitis Gloverniæ; patre tamen invito ut dicebatur. Ab hac hora dominus rex restitutus est ad pristinum statum regiæ potestatis, quia prius fuit quasi sub custodia baronum.
Matthew Paris' Chronica Majora
Written by Matthew Paris covering the period from Creation to the end of his life in 1259. Translated by John Allen Giles and first published in 1851.
Chronicum Anglicanum by Ralph Coggeshall
In the year of our Lord 1066, William, Duke of Normandy, having assembled an innumerable army from overseas, landed in England at Hastings. By the just judgment of God, on the feast of Saint Callixtus the Pope, he deprived King Harold, who had unjustly usurped the rule of England, of both his kingdom and his life.
However, some claim that Harold was not among the dead but escaped under the cover of night and, after many wanderings, lived a hermit's life in Chester. According to this account, he remained steadfast in his holy purpose until the final years of King Henry II.
Anno ab Incarnatione Domini MLXVI Willelmus, dux Normannorum, contracto a partibus transmarinis innumerabili exercitu, in Angliam applicuit apud Hastinghes, ac justo Dei judicio die Sancti Calixti pape, regem Haraldum, qui imperium Angliee injuste usurpaverat, regno simul ac vita privavit, quamvis quidam contendant ipsum Haraldum inter occisos delituisse, nocturnaque fuga lapsum, post multas peregrinationes, apud Cestriam eremeticam vitam duxisse, et usque ad ultima tempora regis Henrici Secundi, in sancto proposito perdurasse.
Gesta Regis Henrici by Benedict of Peterborough
The Chronicle of the Reigns of Henry II and Rlchard I, A.D. 1169—1192; known commonly under the name of Benedict of Peterborough. Edited, from The Cotton. MSS., by William Stubbs, M.A., Regius Professor of Modern History in the University of Oxford, and Librarian to the Archbishop of Canterbury.