Table Of ContentARIS & PHILLIPS CLASSICALTEXTS
WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH
The History of English Affairs
Book II
edited with an Introduction, Translation and Commentary by
P.G. Walsh & †M.J. Kennedy
Aris & Phillips is an imprint of Oxbow Books
10 Hythe Bridge Street, Oxford OX1 2EW
© P.G. Walsh and †M.J. Kennedy 2007. All rights reserved.
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ISBN 978-0-85668-474-6 Paperback
ISBN 978-0-85668-473-9 Hardback
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FOR MARGARET
Contents
Foreword......................................................................................................vi
Abbreviations..............................................................................................vii
Introduction...................................................................................................1
Text and Translation....................................................................................14
Commentary..............................................................................................159
Index.........................................................................................................205
Foreword
Following the favourable reception accorded to Book I, Michael Kennedy and I
decided to cooperate again in an edition of Book II. This book is especially
attractive, since it incorporates the murder of Thomas Becket in Canterbury
Cathedral, the capture of the king of Scots at Alnwick, and the first subjugation of
Ireland by the English, all events which cast long shadows over the history of
these islands. The book also documents the career of Nicholas Breakspear, the
only Englishman to become the Pope of Rome.
As in the preparation of Book I, Michael and I worked together on the
translation, gratefully acknowledging help from an earlier version by Joseph
Stevenson (London 1856; reissue, Felinfach 1996). As a specialist of the period
and a leading authority on William of Newburgh, Michael agreed to write the
historical entries in the Commentary, and to provide the Introduction. He had
completed a draft of the first fifteen chapters when, in the spring of 2004, he
sustained a tragic fall at his home, as a result of which he died. After initial
hesitation, I decided to round off the work by revising and completing the
Commentary, and writing the Introduction. Specialists will have no difficulty in
spotting deficiencies. The value of the edition thus lies primarily in the provision
of an accessible text and translation, the appearance of which is intended as a
tribute to Michael’s fine scholarship. I wish to express my gratitude to Professor
Chris Collard for his careful scrutiny of the proofs and his valuable suggestions
for improvement, and to Mya Padget for her expert supervision of the volume
through the Press. The dedication to Michael’s widow, Margaret, is a salutation to
her courage and to a special friendship.
P.G.W.
vi
Abbreviations
ACW Ancient Christian Writers (Mahwah, N.J.)
Anderson A.O. Anderson, Early Sources for Scottish History
(2 vols., Edinburgh 1922)
Appleby J.T. Appleby, Henry II (London 1962)
Barlow F. Barlow, Thomas Becket (Oxford 1986)
Battle Chronicle of Battle Abbey, ed. E. Searle (Oxford 1978)
Boso Vita Alexandri III, tr. G.M. Ellis (Oxford 1974)
Boussard J. Boussard, La comté d’Anjou sous Henri Plantagenet et ses fils,
1158–1204 (Paris 1938)
BS Brut y Saesson, edd. O. Jones – E. Williams – W.O. Pughe
(Denby 1870)
BT Brut y Tywysogion, ed. J. Williams (RS 1860)
C&S Councils and Synods, edd. D. Whitelock – M. Brett – C.N.L. Brooke
(Oxford 1981)
CL Classical Latin
Cronne H.A. Cronne, The Reign of Stephen, 1135–1154 (London 1970)
CSHR Chronicles of the Reigns of Stephen, Henry II, and Richard I
(4 vols., RS 1884–9)
DACL Dictionnaire d’archéologie chrétienne et de liturgie (Paris 1907–33)
DNB Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford 2004)
Du Cange Glossarium ad scriptores mediae et infinae Latinitatis (1678)
Dunbabin J. Dunbabin, France in the Making, 843–1180 (Oxford 2000)
EHD English Historical Documents 1042–11892,
edd. D.C. Douglas – G.W. Greenway (Oxford 1981)
EHR English Historical Review
Ellis See Boso above
EYC Early Yorkshire Charters, edd. W. Farrer – C.T. Clay
(12 vols., Yorkshire Archaeological Society, 1914–65)
Eyton R.W. Eyton, Court, Household, and Itinerary of King Henry II
(Dorchester 1878)
GA Gesta Abbatum Monasterii S. Albani, ed. H.T. Riley
(3 vols., RS 1867–9)
GC The Historical Works of Gervase of Canterbury,
ed. W. Stubbs (RS 1887–9)
GR William of Malmesbury, De gestis regum Anglorum,
ed. W. Stubbs (RS 1879)
GS Gesta Stephani, edd. K.R. Potter – R.H.C. Davis (Oxford 1976)
GW Gerald of Wales, The Description of Wales,
tr. L. Thorpe (Harmondsworth 1978)
HGL C. Devic – J. Yaissete, Histoire générale de Languedoc
(2 vols., Toulouse 1875)
HH Henry of Huntingdon, Historia Anglorum, ed. T. Arnold (RS 1879)
vii
HRB Geoffrey of Monmouth, Historia regum Britanniae,
tr. L. Thorpe (Harmondsworth 1966)
JS The Letters of John of Salisbury,
tr. W.L. Millor – H.E. Butler – C.N.L. Brooke (2 vols., Oxford
1955–79)
Kelly J.N.D. Kelly, The Oxford Dictionary of Popes (Oxford 1986)
LP Liber Pontificalis, ed. L. Duchesne (Rome 1886–92)
Martin F.X. Martin, in Medieval Ireland 1169–1534 (Oxford 1987) chs. 2–3
Materials Materials for the History of Thomas à Becket,
edd. J.C. Robertson – J.B. Sheppard (6 vols., RS 1875–85)
Mierow Otto of Freising, The Deeds of Frederick Barbarossa,
tr. C.C. Mierow (N.Y. 1953)
ML Medieval Latin
MGH Monumenta Germaniae Historica
Morris C. Morris, The Papal Monarchy: the Western Church from 1050 to
1250 (Oxford 1989)
MP Matthew Paris, Historia Anglorum, ed. F. Madden (3 vols., RS 1866–9)
Munz P. Munz, Frederick Barbarossa (London 1969)
NCE New Catholic Encyclopedia (14 vols., N.Y. 1962)
N.T. New Testament
ODCC3 Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 3rd edn.,
edd. F.L. Cross – E.A. Livingstone (1997)
OLD Oxford Latin Dictionary, ed. P.G.W. Glare (1982)
OV The Ecclesiastical History of Ordericus Vitalis,
ed. M.M. Chibnall (6 vols., Oxford 1968–80)
Partner Nancy F. Partner, Serious Entertainments: the Writing of History in
Twelfth-century England (Chicago 1977)
PL Patrologiae series latina, ed. J.P. Migne (Paris 1844–64)
RD Ralph of Diceto, Opera historica, ed. W. Stubbs (2 vols., RS 1876)
RH Roger of Howden, Chronica and Gesta,
ed. W. Stubbs (4 vols., RS 1876)
Robinson J.A. Robinson, The Abbot's House at Westminster (Cambridge 1911)
RS Rolls Series
RT The Chronicle of Robert of Torigni (CSHR vol. 4)
Runciman S. Runciman, A History of the Crusades
(3 vols., Harmondsworth 1963)
SD Symeonis Monachi Opera omnia, ed. T. Arnold (2 vols., RS 1882–5)
Somerville R. Somerville, Pope Alexander III and The Council of Tours 1163
(Berkeley 1977)
TLL Thesaurus Linguae Latinae (Leipzig–Stuttgart 1900–)
VCH Victoria History of the Counties of England
Warren W.L. Warren, Henry II (London 1973)
WT William of Tyre, Historia rerum in partibus transmarinis gestarum,
tr. E.A. Babcock – A.C. Krey (2 vols., N.Y. 1976)
viii
Introduction
I
William of Newburgh, born in 1136 near Bridlington in Yorkshire, received his
early education at Newburgh Priory, one of the numerous houses established by
the Augustinian Canons in twelfth-century England. Though one scholar has
argued that he married in his twenties and became a landowner in Oxfordshire
before returning to Newburgh after 1180, this speculative thesis has gained little
support. More probably, he entered religious life at Newburgh directly after his
early education. The Augustinian Canons followed the Rule of St Augustine,
which allowed considerable flexibility to individual houses in their monastic
routine, and gave ample scope for scholarly activity.1
We have no knowledge of William’s activities or movements during the first
decades of his religious life, other than the sparse indications which appear in his
writings. Presumably, he played an active role in the spiritual and academic
formation of young entrants to the Priory school. He must also have made his
mark beyond the bounds of the Priory as a student of scripture and of English
history, though apart from a few sermons, his only published works known to us
are a commentary on The Song of Songs, and The History of English Affairs. But
the fact that the first was commissioned by Abbot Roger of Byland (the Cistercian
house two miles from Newburgh Priory) and the second was composed at the
suggestion of Ernald, Abbot of Rievaulx, indicates that he was a scholar of at least
local eminence.2
The five books of The History of English Affairs were written in a relatively
short period between 1196 and 1198, which itself suggests that he had already
mastered much of the source-material before putting pen to paper. After a
summary account of the first three Norman kings, he devoted the greater part of
Book I to the reign of Stephen (1135–54), Books II and III to the extensive rule of
Henry II, and Books IV and V to the years of Richard 1 (1189–99). It is legitimate
to assume that he intended to complete his history with the death of Richard in
April 1199, since each of the first four books concludes at such a significant
juncture with appropriate closing remarks, whereas Book V ends abruptly at an
1 See M.J.K.’s Introduction to our edition of Book I, 2ff.
2 For WN’s commentary on The Song of Songs commissioned by Abbot Roger, see
J.C. Gorman, ‘William of Newburgh’s Explanatio sacri epithalamii in Matrem
Sponsi’, Spicilegium Friburgense 6 (1960). For abbot Ernald’s request, see the
prefatory letter to Book I in our edition of the book.
