Table Of ContentReimagining History
in Anglo-Norman
Prose Chronicles
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Reimagining History
in Anglo-Norman
Prose Chronicles
John Spence
YORK MEDIEVAL PRESS
© John Spence 2013
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First published 2013
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CONTENTS
List of plates vi
Acknowledgements viii
Abbreviations ix
A note on quotations and translations x
Introduction 1
1. The rhetoric of confidence in the prologues to Anglo- Norman
prose chronicles 26
2. The legendary history of Britain in Anglo- Norman prose
chronicles 40
3. Legends of English heroes: Engel, Havelok, Constance 74
4. Representations of the Norman Conquest in Anglo- Norman
prose chronicles 105
5. Family chronicles 141
Conclusions 162
Appendix: Two extracts from the Scalacronica: texts and translations 165
Bibliography 174
Index 197
v
PLATES
Plate 1: Roundels of kings Alfred and Arthur in London, British Library, MS
Cotton Roll XV.7, m. 4r.
© The British Library Board. MS Cotton Roll XV.7, m. 4r. All Rights Reserved.
Plate 2: Depiction and account of the Norman Conquest in London, British
Library, MS Cotton Vitellius A.XIII, fol. 3v.
© The British Library Board. MS Cotton Vitellius A.XIII, fol. 3v. All Rights
Reserved.
vi
The publishers acknowledge the generous fi nancial support of the Marc Fitch
Fund in the production of this volume.
The publication has been made possible by a grant from the Scouloudi
Foundation, in association with the Institute for Historical Research.
vii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I thank the Arts and Humanities Research Council for providing the funding
to support the early stages of this project. I am also grateful to the Members’
English Fund, Cambridge, and to the Jebb Fund, Cambridge, which both pro-
vided additional grants that enabled the early parts of my research. I grate-
fully acknowledge the generous fi nancial support of the Marc Fitch Fund and
the Scouloudi Foundation.
An earlier version of the material in the fi rst half of Chapter 5 of this book
appeared as ‘Genealogies of Noble Families in Anglo- Norman’, in Broken
Lines: Genealogical Literature in Medieval Britain and France, ed. R. L. Radulescu
and E. D. Kennedy, Medieval Texts and Cultures of Northern Europe 16
(Turnhout, 2008), pp. 63–77. I am grateful to Brepols Publishers for permission
to reprint this.
Without the guidance of Judith Weiss this book would not have been
written. Without Jocelyn Wogan- Browne’s encouragement, it would
not have been published. I have also benefi ted greatly from the advice of
Marianne Ailes, Elizabeth Archibald, Laura Ashe, James Carley, Julia Crick,
A. S. G. Edwards, Mary Flannery, Thelma Fenster, Sarah James, Edward
Donald Kennedy, Erik Kooper, Olivier de Laborderie, Françoise Le Saux,
Julia Marvin, Richard Moll, Victoria Moul, Heather Pagan, Christopher Page,
Nick Paul, Lisa Ruch, Andrea Ruddick, Corinne Saunders, John Scattergood,
Jean- Claude Thiolier, Elisabeth van Houts, Diane Vincent, Dan Wakelin,
Paul Webster, Barry Windeatt and Neil Wright. The anonymous reader for
York Medieval Press provided valuable suggestions and I am grateful to the
editorial boards and staff of York Medieval Press and Boydell & Brewer for
their support and hard work. I also thank the staff of all the libraries I visited
during my research. The two images in the book are reproduced with the
permission of the British Library.
My beloved wife, Yu- Chiao Wang, supported me through the writing
process both intellectually and emotionally: I owe her a great debt. I was also
supported by the rest of my family: my children Beatrice and Edward, my
sister Bex, her husband Joe and their daughter Kara Hogan, and George and
Sue Spence, my parents. This book is dedicated to my mum and dad.
viii
