Royal MS 13 C I

HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS, made, wholly or in part, by William Worcester (d. 1482 ?), secretary to Sir John Fastolf, viz.:

1. Higden's Polychronicon, book vii, preceded by the conclusion of bk. vi from 'inquid, robur comitatus' (ed. Lumley, Rolls Ser., vii, p. 242), and with a continuation to 1374; ff. 1 and 10 should be transposed, also ff. 20 and 24. At the end of bk. vii [in 1342, 'carceris interdixit', Rolls ed., viii, p. 338] is the subscription 'Explicit policronica secundum Ranulphum monachum Cestrensem, completa ab eo anno dom. millesimo ccc^oxl^mo (sic) et anno regni regis Edwardi tercii post conquestum xvi^mo '. The continuation (f. 38, beg. ' Hoc anno Nonas Iunii natus est regi Edwardo tercio Edmundus apud Langleya') has a section relating to 1342-5 which is not in the printed text, and a rather fuller account of the campaign of Cressy; it also differs verbally throughout. The last part (ff. 41, 42) is very roughly written. f. 1.

2. Selected list of archbishops of Canterbury from Augustine to John Stafford (1443-1452) and of bishops of Wells from Athelm to Ralph of Shrewsbury (1329- 1363), with the note 'Plese hit my lord to chese out xii of the archebisshoppes of Caunterbury for iiii wy[ndowes] and to chese out ix of the bisshoppes of Welles and Bath for iii wyndowes', and further notes on the decoration of some building. ff. 42 b, 51, 51 b.

3. Calendar of years with lunar cycle, dominical letter, and date of Easter from 1001 to 1532. Notes of historical events are inserted down to 1459; and intermixed with them (and continuing after they cease) are similar notes of events in the corresponding years of earlier great cycles. In the hand of William Worcester. f. 43.

4. Moral notes, beg. 'De acceptione munerum: Acceptio munerum est detestanda'. f. 52.

5. Historical collections, including lists of English bishops (f. 53 b), accounts of the Saxon kings before the unification of England (f. 54 b), genealogies of French kings and Norman dukes (f. 56 b), kings of Rome (f. 57) and Persia (f. 57b), and extracts from Bible history (ib.), &c. f. 53 b.

6. Life of Henry V, by Thomas Elmham; imperfect at the beginning. Beg. '... concussis vires suas alterutrum multa strenuitate probarunt' (ch. 20, ed. Heame, 1727, p. 41). Ends 'supernorum ciuium fieri letetur', omitting the final chapter (ch. 130) of the printed text. This art. is wrongly identified by Giles (Incerti Scriptoris Chronicon Angliae, 1848, see below) with the 'Chaplain's narrative' of the reign of Henry V contained in Cottoll MS. Julius E. IV. f. 62.

7. 'De actibus tempore Regis Henrici sexti'. Beg. 'Primo die Septembris anno incarn. dom. millesimo cccc^mo vicesimo secundo'. Ends just before the first battle of St. Albans (1455), 'medio tempore accommodacioni inclinare'. Printed by J.A. Giles, op.cit., pt.iv, from this MS. and Sloane MS. 1776. f. 72.

8. Chronicle of the reigns of Richard II and Henry IV. Beg. 'Ricardus iuuenis et etatis vix vndecim annorum'. The life of Henry IV (ff. 116-130) is printed by Ciles (op. cit., pt. ii); but that of Richard II was omitted by him, on the ground of its identity with the Vita Ricardi II published by Hearne (1729) from Cotton MSS. Tiberius C. IX and Claudius B. IX, and attributed to a monk of Evesham. The present MS., however, shows considerable divergences from the printed text. f. 89.

9. Copies of letters from John [of Heinsberg], Bishop of Liège (1419-1455), to (a) the Cardinal of England [Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester, Cardinal 1426- 1447], (b) the Duke of Gloucester [Humphrey, 1414- 1447], and (c, d) the Council of England, with reference to depredations committed by Sir Robert Ponynghes [Poynings, 5th Baron Poynings, 1380-1446] under letters of marque. No date. French. f. 131.

10. 'Exemples pour esperer prosperite et victoire non obstant que vn soit en adversite, et que cellui qui est en prosperite puet trebucher, &c.': examples from sacred and profane records. f. 134.

11. Notes on Roman history, extracted by William Wyrcester [al. Worcester] from a French MS. in 1453. On f. 143 is the title 'Incipit compilatio et extractus actuum armorum gentis Romanorum inter Iullium Cesarem et Pompeium et aliorum, secundum Lucanum et Suetonium historiografos, scriptus per W. Wyrcestre mensibus Novembris et Decembris anno Christi 1453, extractus libri Iohannis Fastolf militis habitantis Parisius'. References are given in the margins to the pages of the book from which the extracts are taken. Fr. f. 141 b.

12. HistoricaI abstract from the reign of Augustus to A. D. 1067. Followed by a note of the translation of S. Edmund, K. and M. (in 1095, 'et sunt elapsi 361 anni a tempore translationis'. which gives 1456 as the date of this article), a short French narrative of the deposition of the Emperor Maurice (in 602, 'et habetur c. 29 inter actus regis Clotarius 2^de (sic) rex Francie'), and notes of the deaths of Bishop Robert Grosseteste (1254) and Roger Bacon (1292). Lat. f. 147.

13. Brief historical abstract from A.D. 1 to 1189. Lat. f. 153.

14. Brief chronicle from the Creation, with descriptions of the world and of England, and summary of English history to 1453. Lat. f. 155.

15. Historical notes on ecclesiastical and English history, to 1317. Lat. f. 165.

16. Life of S. David by Giraldus Cambrensis, preceded by a table of chapters. Prologue beg. 'Vitam sancti David archiepiscopi, quem vulgares Dewi dicunt'; text, 'Beatus David ingenuis natalibus ortus'. Printed in H. Wharton's Anglia Sacra, ii, p. 628, from Cotton MS. Vitellius E. VII (burnt in 1731), and thence by J. S. Brewer, in vol. iii of the Rolls cd. of Giraldus, where he states (p. xlii) that no other copy than the burnt Cottonian MS. is known to exist. The present text, however, is longer, containing in addition (ff. 177-180) several miracles, coming down in date to 1388. It may be the copy which Brewer (l. c.) states to have been used by Archbishop Ussher, since its readings agree with his quotations, except in two instances, which may be misprints in the latter. f. 171.

17. 'De sancta Nonita [mother of S. David] lectio prima [- quinta]': five short lectiones, apparently paraphrased from Giraldus' Life of S. David, capp. 1, 2. Beg. 'Diem festum beate Nonite selebremus' (sic). Imperf. at end. f. 180 b.

18. Notes on ancient history, in French. f. 181.

Paper; ff. 184. 12 in. x 8¹/₄ in., and smaller. XV cent. (circ. 1453-1459). A composite volume, the original gatherings lost. Artt. 3-5, 11-13, and occasional notes elsewhere, are in the hand of William Worcester (cf. Sloane MS. 4, ff. 6-62), and the whole collection was probably made by him. On f. 1 is a monogram, somewhat resembling the letters D C (? David Casley) in combination. Cat. of 1666, f. 8; CMA. 8145, 8302, 8333.