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Chronicle of the Abbey of Evesham
The Chronicle of the Abbey of Evesham is a remarkable medieval history of one of England’s great Benedictine monasteries. Beginning with the abbey’s legendary and royal foundations, it traces the fortunes of Evesham through centuries of religious devotion, political conflict, legal struggle, rebuilding, reform, and royal patronage. At the heart of the chronicle is the abbey’s determination to defend its ancient liberties. Its monks record disputes with bishops, appeals to popes and papal legates, contested elections of abbots, lawsuits over lands and privileges, and the long struggle to preserve Evesham’s exemption from episcopal control. Alongside these institutional battles are vivid accounts of saints and miracles, including St Ecgwine, St Odulf and the royal martyr St Wistan, whose relics and cult formed an important part of the abbey’s identity. The chronicle also preserves a wealth of detail about everyday monastic life. It describes the building and repair of churches, cloisters, chapels, halls, mills, granges and fishponds; the acquisition of estates and revenues; the making of vestments, shrines, bells and liturgical books; and the provision of food, clothing, recreation and medical care for the monks. Successive abbots emerge not merely as religious superiors but as administrators, builders, patrons, diplomats and defenders of the community. Extending into the later Middle Ages, the narrative reflects the changing political world around Evesham, from the Norman Conquest and the Angevin kings to the Wars of the Roses and the reign of Henry VIII. The result is both a history of a single monastery and a richly detailed record of medieval English religious, legal, economic and political life. This edition offers modern readers direct access to one of the most important monastic chronicles of medieval England, revealing how the monks of Evesham understood their saints, their privileges, their rulers and their place in history.
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Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland is in Late Medieval Books.
Qwhene off Atholle the Erle Dawy En Kilblene wes slayne all wtrely
QWHEN Schyre Andrewe off Murrawe herd,
How rudly the Erle Dawy ferd
Wyth his men, he wes all angry,
And thoucht to rays the sege in hy.
Than all thame gaddryd he,
That on sowth-halffe the Scottis Se
He mycht purches off armyd men:
The Erle Patryke come till hym then:
Wyth hym bathe Ramsay and Prestown
And othir sere off gret renowne;
Willame off Dowglas als wes thare
Wyth his gud men, that worthy ware,
And othir sere, qwhill thai war then
Welle aucht hundyr off fychtand men:
The floure off that half the Scottis Se
At that tyme in his Court had he.
Thai rade on thare way sa fast,
Qwhill thai have the Mownth sawffly past.
The Erle herd off his cummyng welle,
And departyde swa fra the castelle:
Till Kylblene strawcht the way tuk he,
And lugyd thare hys gret menyhé
At the est end, rycht in the way.
And rycht befor thame, qwhar thai lay,
At the Halle off Logyrothwane
Schyr Andrew his herbry has tane.
Syne come till hym fra Kildrwmy
Thre hundyr, I trow wycht and hardy,
That comfort his men [a] gret thyng;
And he wes glade off thare cummyng.
So in his cumpany wes ane
Jhon off the Crag, that [hade] bene tane
Wyth the Erle, and suld his rawnsown pay
Apon the morne, that wes his day:
He sayd to the lordis in prewaté,
Gyve thai wald trow his cownsalle, he
Suld throw the wode a redy way,
Enwerown quhare thare fays lay
And behynd, bryng thaim on welle nere,
Or thai owcht off thaire cummyng suld here.
And he fullfillyd all, that he hycht;
For swne efftyr the mydnycht
To Dey he led thaim, and thare thai
Fand in the wode a redy way:
That way thai went, qwhill that thai ware
Passyd thare fays a mylle and mare.
Endlang the wode war wayis twa;
The Erle in the umast lay off tha:
The Scottis men held the tothir way;
Syne owrthort to that way held thai.
Thare hors thai levyd thare ilkane,
Syne to thare fays on fut ar gane,
That off thare come wyst nakyn thyng.
Bot syne welle swne in the dawyng
Thare dyscuverouris gat on thaim sycht,
That wyth all hy, that evyr thai mycht,
Warnyt the Erle; and he in hy
Gert trwmpe, and warnyt his cumpany:
Fand in the wode a redy way:
That way thai went, qwhill that thai ware
Passyd thare fays a mylle and mare.
Endlang the wode war wayis twa;
The Erle in the umast lay off tha:
The Scottis men held the tothir way;
Syne owrthort to that way held thai.
Thare hors thai levyd thare ilkane,
Syne to thare fays on fut ar gane,
That off thare come wyst nakyn thyng.
Bot syne welle swne in the dawyng
Thare dyscuverouris gat on thaim sycht,
That wyth all hy, that evyr thai mycht,
Warnyt the Erle; and he in hy
Gert trwmpe, and warnyt his cumpany:
Willame off Dowglas, that had then
The waywarde wyth the wychtast men,
That ware in all thare cumpany,
Qwhen that he sawe the Erle Dawy
Stand wyth his men arayid swa,
Hys spere in bathe his handis can ta
And kest it owrthort, and can say, "
Standis lordis a stownd; " and thai,
That war in till his cumpany,
Murmuryde tharoff all prewely.
Qwhen the Erle [ Dawy ] saw, that thai
Stwde swa, in hy he brak aray,
And cryid, "Hey! apone thame tyte,
For thai ar welle nere dyscumffyte."
Than till a fwrde downe can thai ga:
And qwhen the Dowglas saw thaim do swa,
He sayde, "Now we." But mare lete,
Thai strawcht thare speris, and thai thaim mete
In to the fwrd Robert Bradey,
Ane hardy knycht, thare gert thai dey.
Amang thaim strakis gret thai gave.
Wyth that Schyr Andrewe off Murrawe
Com in on syd so sturdely
Wyth thame all off his cumpany,
That in thare cummyng, as thai say,
Thai bare down buskis in thare way.
Fra he assemblyde abade nane;
The comownys all the flycht has tane.
| Thare by an ake deyd Erle Dawy, | There, by an oak, died Earl David, |
| And syndry off his cumpany: | And several of his company. |
| Schyre Waltyr Cwmyn als wes slayne; | Sir Walter Comyn was also slain; |
| And Schyre Thomas Brown wes tayne; | And Sir Thomas Brown was taken prisoner, |
| That syne wes hevyddyt hastily: | Who afterwards was beheaded hastily. |
| It semyd thai luwyd hym noucht grettumly. | It seemed they did not love him very greatly. |
Schyr Robert Meyhneis till Canmore
Went, qwhare he wonnand wes before:
Thiddyr he went, and in a pele
He sawffyt hym and his menyhé welle.
And syne apon the tothir day
He tretyd, and come to thare fay.
Thare war bot fewe slayne in that fycht,
For the wode held thame owt off sycht:
And thai fled als so hastyly,
That away gat the mast party.
This fycht on Saynctandrewys day,
Or on [the] evyn, as thai say,
As I devys, here strykyn was.
Off this fycht qwhilum spak Thomas
Off Ersyldowne, that sayd in derne,
Thare suld mete stalwartly stark and sterne:
He sayd it in his prophecy;
Bot, how he wyst it, wes ferly
| So fell [it] that the Erle off Gellere, | So it befell that earl of Guelders [aged 23] | |
| The Kyng off Ingland wyth his powere | The King of England with his power | 4480 |
| Till helpe, come in Lowthyane, | To help, came into Lothian, | |
| And till Edynburgh has tane | And towards Edinburgh has taken | |
| The way. Wyth that the Scottis men, | The road. At that the Scottish men | |
| That in Lowthyane war then, | Who were in Lothian gathered then | |
| Assemblyd to the Erle Jhone. | Around the Earl John [aged 29]. | |
| Gud Willame off Dowglas was one, | Good William Douglas [aged 35] was one, | |
| Alysandyr the Ramsay, and Prestown, | Alexander Ramsay and Preston, | |
| And othir fele off gret renown: | And many others of great renown. | |
| Thai met thaim on the Bwrowe Mwre, | They met them upon Boroughmuir, | |
| And sa rycht rwydly wyth thame fure, | And dealt with them so fiercely there | 4490 |
| That thai till Edynburgh held the way; | That they towards Edinburgh took their way; | |
| In at the Frere Wynd entryd thai, | Through the Friars’ Wynd entered they, | |
| And to the Crag wp throwch the town | And upwards through the town they passed | |
| Thai held thare way in a rawndown. | Towards the Rock, all in one mass. | |
| The Castelle thare wes noucht than made; | The castle there was not then made; | |
| Wpon the Crag thar thai abade, | Upon the Rock there they remained, | |
| And off thaire hors thai slwe party, | And some among their horses slew, | |
| And made thaim forowth thaim to ly, | And laid them down before their view, | |
| Sum defens for to mak thaim thare, | Some defence for themselves to make, | |
| Gyve that thai fast assaylid ware. | Should fierce assault upon them break. | 4500 |
| Thare bade thai all that nycht qwhill day, | There all that night till day they stayed, | |
| And in sa gret dystres war thai | And in such great distress were laid | |
| Off thryst, that thai off dew wald lyk, | By thirst that they the dew would lick | |
| Quhare thai fand it owcht fallyn thyke. | Wherever they found it lying thick. | |
| Thai tretyde on the morne at day, | They treated at the dawn of day, | |
| And a sowme off gold to pay | And agreed a sum of gold to pay | |
| Thai tretyd, that thai qwyt mycht be, | That they might be released and free, | |
| And pas hame to thare cwntré fre; | And journey home to their country; | |
| And [in] thare cunnand made thai, | And in their covenant made they | |
| That Scottis men suld thaim conway | That Scottish men should them convey | 4510 |
| In till Ingland, and thare thaim leve: | Into England, and leave them there. | |
| Tharefor the Erle Jhon off Murreve, | Therefore John, Moray’s noble earl, | |
| And Willame off Dowglas, thai twa | And William Douglas, these two, | |
| Can wyth a sympill powere ga | With but a slender force did go | |
| Till Ingland thame to coniay. | To escort them to England’s way. | |
| Sa met thai rycht in to thare way | And there they met upon the way | |
| Peris off Paryis, that had tane | Peter of Paris, who had ta’en | |
| À pray, and syne hamwart war gane: | A prey and homewards gone again. | |
| Wyth hym thai fawcht, bot for a man | With him they fought, but then a man | |
| Apon the Scottis half cryid than, | Upon the Scottish side cried then, | 4520 |
| “Allace! oure men has tane the flycht,” | “Alas! Our men have taken flight!” | |
| Thai lukyd behynd swne as thai mycht, | They looked behind as best they might, | |
| And saw off thare falowys ga; | And saw some of their fellows go; | |
| And thai, that saw thame fleand swa, | And those who saw them fleeing so | |
| Tuk hale the flycht, and gave the bak. | Took wholly to their flight, and turned. | |
| A wykyd word may wmqwhill mak | A wicked word may sometimes bring | |
| Full gret tynsell, as it dyd here; | Full grievous loss, as here it did; | |
| For men trowys traystly, but were, | For men believe assuredly, | |
| Had noucht this wykkyd word then, | Without this wicked word then spoken, | |
| The best had lefft wyth Scottis men. | The victory had stayed with Scottish men. | 4530 |
| The Erle off Murraiëe thare wes tane; | The Earl of Moray there was taken, | |
| And Jamys off Dowglas thare wes slane; | And James of Douglas there was slain; | |
| Bot Willame hys brodyr off Dowglas | But William, his brother of Douglas, | |
| Eschapyd throw Goddis gras. | Escaped through the grace of God. |