Royal MS 20 A II

17 folios at the end of Cotton MS Julius A V (ff. 171-187) belong between f. 146 and f. 147 of this manuscript. They complete the chronicle to 1307 on ff. 171-172, followed by other texts from ff. 173 to 187r. On the verso of the last folio (f. 187v) is the beginning of the Lancelot text from the present manuscript on f. 147r.

From the Warner and Gilson, Catalogue of Western Manuscripts (1921) entry:

'CHRONICLE of England by Peter of Langtoft, in French verse; bound with fragments of romances, &c. Contents:-

1. Drawings, Latin verses, and genealogical tables illustrative of art. 2. The subjects are:-(a) The Creation (see Langtoft, l. 1). The Creator, standing on r. with raised r. hand, holds in His l. hand a long cross-staff with small pennon bearing a red cross on a white ground. On the l. are birds (in a tree), beasts, and fishes. f. 1;-(b) 'Batayle de Troye' (cf. l. 8): mêlée of knights with fan-shaped crests to their helmets. The colouring is unfinished. f. 1 b;-(c) Brutus and Innogent (with small lap-dog) enthroned. f. 2;-(d) Locrin seated between Kambere and Albanac; all in armour, the last with shield, arg., a chevron between three roundles gu. f. 2;-(e) King Constans in monastic garb being stabbed. The original heading is simply 'Nayremoyn' [black monk], but a later hand has added Constans' name. f. 2 b;-(f) A group of men, one in the centre with bâton (Vortiger ?) apparently pointing at the murder above, another with glove in hand (perhaps doing fealty to the new king). Inscribed 'schenisschal' [seneschal]. Reproduced in Strutt, Dress and Habits, ii, pl. lxxxii. f. 2 b-(g) 'Vn chaustel ho une ray ardaunt': death of Vortiger. f. 3;-(h) 'Vne ray e sa genz': king standing with sceptre, and four courtiers, one with a hawk. Reproduced in Strutt, op. cit., pl. lxxxiii. f. 3;-(i) 'Vter roy' standing in front of a castle (in which is seen Igerne) in converse with 'Merlin prophete', who holds a scroll. f. 3 b;-

(k) 'Ray Arthour' standing, with shield on which are represented the Virgin and Child. Below are the crowns and names of thirty kingdoms. f. 4;-(l) 'Ray Adilstan' kneeling, and 'Gy de Warwyc' barefoot with staff as a palmer. f. 4 b;-(m) 'Sanctus Edwardus' standing, with sceptre and book. f. 5;-(n) William I with sword, on his throne. Above is a couplet 'Dux Normannorum Willielmus vi validorum Rex est Anglorum bello conquestor corum'.

Below is a table of his five children and the two sons of his daughter Constance, and at the foot 'Conquestor regnauit .xx. annis xi. mensibus. Cadamo iacet'. f. 5 b. Similar couplets and notes of the reign accompany each of the following pictures;-(o) William Rufus on his throne, wounded by an arrow. No genealogical table, but twenty-four lines of verse (ll. 2 and 8 are pentameters) on the king, beg. 'Nota canunt gesta Rufum venando foresta'. f. 6;-(p) Henry I on his throne, mourning. Table of his children and Matilda's two sons. The White Ship is depicted in a disabled condition behind. f. 6 b;-(q) Stephen on his throne, with hawk on fist. Twenty-four lines (l. 8 a pentameter) on the civil war. f. 7;-(r) Henry II on throne arguing with Becket. Table of his children and some of his grandchildren. f. 7 b;-(s) Richard I with sword, on his throne, with three Christians' heads beneath on l. and three Saracens' heads (cut off) on r. Twenty-four lines (l. 22 a pentameter). f. 8;-(t) John on throne, caressing a dog; another behind him. Table of his children, &c. f. 8 b;-(u) Henry III on throne; on his r. the west front of Westminster Abbey; on his l. two church-bells. Table of his children, &c. f. 9;-(v) Edward I on his throne; a sword in his r. hand, his l. touching a shield of his arms. Table of children by his two wives. f. 9 b;-(w) Edward II, with sceptre in l. hand, seated on his throne and touching his crown with his r.; a small figure on his r. (Cambria ?) offers him another crown. The distich is

'Princeps Edwarde, non tua lancea tarde In Scotos mota, per te sit Cambria nota'.

The original inscription below is erased, and in its Place is substituted a French poem (15 x 8 lines, written as 15 x 4) of the lament of Edward II. These verses, another copy of which is among the Marquess of Bath's MSS. (Hist. MSS. Commission, Third Report, Appendix, p. 180), do not seem to have been printed, but a Latin rendering of a few of them and a free English translation of a further portion are given in Fabyan's Chronicle (ed. Ellis, 1811, p. 431). f. 10. Begins:-

'En temps dyuer moy suruyngt damage fortune fort e forsanee.'

Ends:-

'Qe des toutz trahis eit merci e des toutz toringes fausement.'

2. Chronicle of Pierre de Langtoft, who is said by Robert of Brunne, who translated his work, to have been a canon of Bridlington. For another copy see below, 20 A. XI. The present MS. (C of Thomas Wright's edition, Rolls Series, 1866) has no title and is defective at the point (Wright, i, p. 264) where the author's name is mentioned, four leaves being lost after f. 50, from Wright's p. 252, l. 8, to p. 290, l. 16. The length of the gap shows that the Latin prophecies of Merlin, as given in Cotton MS. Julius A. v, were not in this MS. The 26 lines of introduction to the reign of Edward I (Wright, ii, p. 162) are also omitted in this MS., which makes no break at that point (f. 114), and the MS. is again defective at the end (Wright, ii, p. 374), breaking off in the year 1306. f. 11. Begins:-

'Dus le tout puissaunt ke ciel e tere crea Adam nostre pere qe homme de tere furma.'

Ends:-

'La pape Boniface fist determiner En son syme liuere kil fist ordener.'

Artt. 3, 5 are fragmentary and in rather later (but 14th cent.) hands. Artt. 3, 4 are one gathering of 8 leaves. Art. 3 is in double columns.

3. Lancelot du Lac: fragment, imperfect at the beginning and terminating abruptly, from part ii of the prose romance (see above, 19 C. XIII), corresponding to Sommer's edition, vol. iv, p. 55, last line-p. 83, 1. II, but the text is much shorter. Beg. 'vous iurez sur seintz qe uous pur amur ne pur haync nen dirrez'; ends 'E mysire G. fet ioye sur toz'. f. 147. Art. 4 is added in another hand of the second half of the 14th cent. on the blank leaves at the end of art. 3. The double-column arrangement of art. 3 is continued for three columns and then abandoned.

4. Letter purporting to be from Joanna, Queen of Sicily, to Hugh [IV], King of Cyprus (abdicated 1360), describing an apparition of S. John Baptist on 24 June, 1345, in a great battle between 200, 000 Christians and 1,200,000 Turks. The infidels were defeated and the Christian dead, numbering 3,053, were found miraculously marked and were buried 'en la cite de Teobaide'. Beg. 'Johane roygne de Jerusalem de Cecile honurable parente a nostre (sic) Hugh roy de Cipre saluz. voielletz sauoir qendroit de nouelles'; ends 'fructuose et plentiuose des touz biens'. f. 152b. Art. 5 is in a different hand from any other part of the volume. Gatherings apparently i³, ii⁸, iii⁴, without catchwords. Single column.

5. La Queste del Saint Graal: the prose romance (cf. 19 C. XIII, pt. iv), a text resembling that printed by Sommer, but with a large (accidental ?) omission from p. 20, l. 31 of the edition to p. 184, 1. 28. Imperfect at beginning and end, but in each case only a leaf is wanting (p. 4, l. 35; p. 198, 1. 10). Part of f. 169 is cut away. Beg. 'Sire feat ele il nira pas ore'; ends 'li plusurs del pais en fissent'. f. 155.

Vellum; ff. 169. 91/4 in. x 6 in. Artt. 1 (except the final verses) and 2 were probably written in Edward II's reign (1307-1327). Gatherings i¹⁰ (art. 1), ii-xii¹² (but v wants four from the middle), xiii⁸ (end of art. 2); ii-vi are lettered backwards f-b, ix is lettered a, the rest are without lettering; xi has the folios numbered in arabic figures; most gatherings have catchwords. For artt. 3-5 see above. Sec. fol. in art. 2 'ke en despite '. Initials in red, blue, and green. For the drawings in art. 1 see above. Old Royal press-mark 'no. 1046'; cat. of 1666, f. 14b; not in CMA.'