Royal MS 20 A XVIII

CHRONICLE of England, in French, from Brutus to A. D. 1329. The concluding section, which begins (f. 311) at the coronation of Edward II, and is in a different hand (late 14th cent.), is taken from the Brute chronicle (see Brie, Geschichte und Quellen der m.e. Prosachronzk The Brute of England,. 1905, p. 31); but the bulk of the narrative is a compilation (not yet fully described), another copy of which (imperfect) is in Add. MS. 10622. For a brief notice of it see Bulletin de la Soc. des anc. textes français, 1878, p. 142. Its chief sources seem to be Geoffrey of Monmouth, Henry of Huntingdon, Florence of Worcester, William of Malmesbury, William of Newburgh (these two less extensively used), Roger of Hoveden (who is named at f. 273 b as 'maistre Hugh de Houden'), and the verse-chronicle of Pierre de Langtoft. Marginal pen-drawings draw attention to some of the subjects, see below. The chronicle beg. 'Plusures choses et auentures qe ount este auaunt ces houres sount hors de memoire'; ends 'coment le Mortimer traiterousement lui aueit fait occire par moerdre'. This is followed (f. 336) by Merlin's prophecies extracted from the Brute chronicle, headed 'Coment le roy Arthur demaunda Merlyn les auentures de les sis derreins rois qe serroint a regners en la graunt Brutaigne et coment la terre finereit. co. lxxiiii' (-lxxix, clx, ciiiixxvi, ccxiiii). Of these, ch. 74-79 correspond roughly, but with many variations, to 20 A. XI, art. 3. Beg. 'Sire, fait Merlyn, en lan del incarnacioun Jhesu Crist mill. cc. et vi. vendra vn aignel hors de Wyncestre'; ends 'en graunt anguisse tote sa vie'. The fly-leaves (ff. 1, 344, 345), in a 15th cent hand in double columns, are from bk. ix (ch. 1-2, 6-8) of a compendium of religion and morals in French prose. This work, which is perhaps a translation of some Latin summa composed about the end of the 13th century, is partly preserved in Harley MS. 1310, ff. 1-80 b (for the text of the present fragments see ff. 33 b-35, 41-44), containing books viii-xii. Besides the Bible and SS. Augustine, Jerome, Gregory, and Bernard, the author cites Seneca, Aristotle, Valerius Maximus, Juvenal, Quintilian, Lucan, and Ovid; also the Alexandreis of Gautier de Lille, composed 1176-1202. He also gives exempla from Barlaam and Josaphat and the story of the young nobleman who became a monk because he saw the young die as well as the old (see Ward and Herbert, Cat. of Romances, iii, p. 10).

Vellum; ff. 345. 9 in. x 61/4 in. First half of XIV cent. Gatheringe (beg. f. 3) of 8 leaves (i, ii¹², xvii⁶, xxxviii⁷), with catchwords. Sec. fol. 'ore foundu'. Initials flourished in blue and red. The small marginal drawings (15th cent. ?) include the Nativity, f. 20 ; crowns and sceptres for coronations, passim; baptism of Ethelbert, f. 80 b; relics, f. 127b; Danish ravages, f. 134b; the White Ship, f. 168 b; tomb of Henry I, f. 172; castles, ff. 183 b, 218 b; slaughter of an infant, f. 203 b; Isaac Comnenus' outrage on his seneschal, f. 254, &c. Arms, &c., are also introduced into the margin, including banner with choughs for Cornwall, f. 62; double eagle for a Roman emperor, f. 71; a fleur-de-lis for Charlemagne, f. 113 b ; three crowns (and crest, a wolf's head) for S. Edmund, f. 119 b ; per saltire, a cross bottony surmounted by a crown for Athelstan, f. 126; a cross flory betw. five martlets (and crest, an arm holding a ring) for S. Edward the Confesssor, f. 143 b; three lions passant gardant (and crest, a lion passant gardant crowned) for William I and Henry II, ff. 151, 183; same arms, over all an escarbuncle, for Robert Curthose, f. 167; lion rampant for Mowbray, f. 161 b. Less carefully drawn and perhaps later are the arms of Hastings, f. 123, [Fitzalan], Earl of Arundel (a fret, really Maltravers, and therefore not earlier than 15th cent.), f. 190, Lucy, ff. 189 b, 202 b, &c., Ferrers, f. 204, and others. The MS. belonged to Nicholas Tubman, Rouge Croix pursuivant (1551-1552), Humphrey Lloid (al. Llwyd, d. 1568), and [his brother-in-law, John, Lord] Lumley (f. 3); Lumley cat. f. 164; cat. of 1666, f. 11; not in CMA.