Sloane MS 2732 A

A genealogical roll chronicle beginning with Noah and tracing the lineage of the Kings of England through Brutus to Henry VI (r. 1422-1461, 1470-1471), consisting of a genealogical diagram with a series of roundels accompanied by brief biographical entries.

The roll is believed to have been made in same workshop as another genealogical chronicle (now Add MS 18002). It was copied by the same scribe, the layout is the same and the pen-drawings of Lucius and St Augustine are drawn by the same artist, as is the crowned initial 'H' for Henry VI at the end.

Other rolls with similar content include Lansdowne Roll 2, Oxford, Bodleian Library Roll 10, Marshall MS 35 and Christchurch, New Zealand, Canterbury roll.

Contents:

The genealogy of the English kings is depicted in the central line on the face of the roll, with a series of contemporary historical figures on either side. On the left, in synchrony, are the leaders of the northern peoples who invaded Britain, the Dukes of Normandy and the archbishops of Canterbury. On the right are the genealogies of Trojan heroes, then British kings and chieftains, including Welsh princes. The accompanying commentary is written in Latin.

Notable features of the genealogy include:

Membrane 1: A larger roundel for Noah; his line divides into his three descendants with Japhet in the centre.The commentary begins, 'Ab isto Strephes filio Iapheth fratre' (left) and 'Ab hiis tribus filiis Noe texunt[ur] g[e]n[er]aciones septuaginta' (right). There is a larger roundel for Brutus in the centre and for Boerinus on the left, showing the nine tribes of his descendants: 'Cinrincius, Gothus, Jutus, Suethedus (Swedes), Dacus, Wandalus, Gethus, Fresus, Geatte'.

Membrane 2: A large empty roundel at the lower edge on the left with the rubric 'Incarnac[i]o xp[Christ]i' indicating the birth of Christ.

Membrane 3: In the central line, Lucius is marked by a larger roundel with a bust of a crowned figure and the words 'Iste erat p[ri]m[us] rex [Christi]anus in ho[c] regus' at the side. There are larger roundels for Constantinus and for Woden and his wife Ffrealaf, below which the line divides into five and then seven for the seven kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy, which is shown contemporary with Utherpendragon and Arthur in the central line. Below on the left, is a large roundel with a drawing of the bust of St Augustine wearing a mitre, at the beginning of the genealogy of the archbishops of Canterbury.

Membrane 4: A larger roundel for Egbert ('Egbrutus', r. 802-839); here the seven lines of the Heptarchy come together into one main line of descent.

Membrane 5: A larger roundel for Edward the Confessor ('Sanctus Edwardus Confessor') in the central line.

Membrane 6: A larger roundel for St Thomas Becket ('Sanctus Thomas') on the left.

Membrane 7: A larger roundel for Henry V; the genealogy ends at the crowned initial 'H'(enricus Sextus) in place of a roundel for Henry VI; the genealogy of the Archbishops of Canterbury on the left ends at Henry Chicheley (r. 1414-1443).

The dorse of the roll is blank.

Decoration

Two pen drawings of busts of notable figures (Membrane 3).

An outline drawing in brown ink of a large crowned letter 'H'(enricus Sextus) with knot-work decoration and the name (Membrane 7).

Roundels in red with names in brown or red. Lines of descent in red, brown or green.