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Rerum Britannicarum Medii Aevi Scriptores, or The Chronicles and Memorials of Great Britain and Ireland during the Middle Ages, usually referred to as the 'Rolls Series', was an ambitious project first proposed to the British Treasury in 1857 by Sir John Romilly, the Master of the Rolls, and quickly approved for public funding. Its purpose was to publish historical source material covering the period from the arrival of the Romans to the reign of Henry VIII, 'without mutilation or abridgement', starting with the 'most scarce and valuable' texts. A 'correct text' of each work would be established by collating 'the best manuscripts', and information was to be included in every case about the manuscripts used, the life and times of the author, and the work's 'historical credibility', but there would be no additional annotation. The first books were published in 1858, and by the time it was completed in 1896 the series contained 105 titles and 253 volumes. Although many of the works have since been re-edited by modern scholars, the enterprise as a whole stands as a testament to the Victorian revival of interest in the middle ages.

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253 results in Cambridge Library Collection - Rolls

Page 2 of 13

Materials for the History of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury (Canonized by Pope Alexander III, AD 1173)
  • Volume 4, Anonymous Lives, Quadrilogus, etc.
  • Edited by James Craigie Robertson
  • Published online:
    05 June 2014
    Print publication:
    15 November 2012
    First published in:
    1879
  • A scholar of Trinity College, Cambridge, who became canon of Canterbury in 1859, James Craigie Robertson (1813–82) edited for the Rolls Series this seven-volume work, published between 1875 and 1885. Superseding the earlier work of J. A. Giles, it is a collection of contemporary Latin lives and letters relating to the life of Thomas Becket (c.1120–70). Rising through the ranks to become royal chancellor and then archbishop of Canterbury, Becket fell dramatically out of favour with Henry II and, on his return from exile, was famously murdered in the cathedral church at Canterbury. Following his canonisation in 1173, his reputation grew considerably throughout western Christendom. Volume 4 contains two contemporary anonymous lives, one of which is tentatively ascribed to Roger of Pontigny. Also included is the Quadrilogus, a composite narrative comprising the writings of four biographers, including Elias of Evesham.

Polychronicon Ranulphi Higden, monachi Cestrensis
  • Together with the English Translations of John Trevisa and of an Unknown Writer of the Fifteenth Century
  • Volume 5
  • Ranulf Higden
  • Edited by Joseph Rawson Lumby
  • Published online:
    05 June 2014
    Print publication:
    15 November 2012
    First published in:
    1874
  • Ranulf Higden (d.1364) was a monk at the abbey of St Werburgh in Chester. His most important literary work is this universal chronicle, which survives in over a hundred Latin manuscripts, testifying to its popularity. The earliest version of it dates from 1327, but Higden continued writing until his death, expanding and updating the text. It was also continued in other monastic houses, most importantly by John Malvern of Worcester. The English translation made by John Trevisa in the 1380s was also widely circulated and is included in this work, published in nine volumes for the Rolls Series between 1865 and 1886. The chronicle shows how fourteenth-century scholars understood world history and geography. Volume 5 concludes Book 4, covering the later Roman Empire and the Saxon invasion of Britain. The first part of Book 5 concentrates on the spread of Christianity in Anglo-Saxon England.

Thómas Saga Erkibyskups
  • A Life of Archbishop Thomas Becket in Icelandic
  • Volume 1
  • Edited by Eiríkr Magnússon
  • Published online:
    05 June 2014
    Print publication:
    15 November 2012
    First published in:
    1875
  • This Old Norse text and English translation, prepared by the librarian and scholar Eiríkr Magnússon (1833–1913) and published in two volumes between 1875 and 1883, remains the standard edition of the 'Saga of Archbishop Thomas'. Composed in Iceland in the early fourteenth century, it narrates the life, death and miracles of Thomas Becket, based on earlier Latin and Old French traditions. Embedded in the saga is a lost Latin life by Robert of Cricklade, written soon after Becket's murder in 1170, which contains some unique details: for example, that he had a stammer. The saga is valuable not only as evidence for Becket's life, but as an insight into the development of his saintly cult in Iceland. Volume 1 contains the account of Thomas's childhood, his life as chancellor and archbishop, his conflict with the king and his murder at Canterbury.

Materials for the History of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury (Canonized by Pope Alexander III, AD 1173)
  • Volume 1
  • Edited by James Craigie Robertson
  • Published online:
    05 June 2014
    Print publication:
    15 November 2012
    First published in:
    1875
  • A scholar of Trinity College, Cambridge, who became canon of Canterbury in 1859, James Craigie Robertson (1813–82) edited for the Rolls Series this seven-volume work, published between 1875 and 1885. Superseding the earlier work of J. A. Giles, it is a collection of contemporary Latin lives and letters relating to the life of Thomas Becket (c.1120–70). Rising through the ranks to become royal chancellor and then archbishop of Canterbury, Becket fell dramatically out of favour with Henry II and, on his return from exile, was famously murdered in the cathedral church at Canterbury. Following his canonisation in 1173, his reputation grew considerably throughout western Christendom. Volume 1 comprises the collection of miracles, originally thought lost and therefore unpublished, compiled by William of Canterbury, who was present at the scene of Becket's murder.

Historia Anglorum sive, ut vulgo dicitur, Historia Minor
  • Item ejusdem abbreviatio chronicorum Angliae
  • Volume 1, AD 1067–1189
  • Matthew Paris
  • Edited by Frederic Madden
  • Published online:
    05 June 2014
    Print publication:
    15 November 2012
    First published in:
    1866
  • Sir Frederick Madden (1801–73) was for thirty years Keeper of Manuscripts at the British Library. His edition of Matthew Paris' Historia Anglorum has never been superseded: as Richard Vaughan wrote in 1958, 'it is one of the finest of all those published in the Rolls Series, and it set a standard of careful accuracy and profound scholarship which has seldom been equalled since'. Matthew Paris, a monk at St Albans Abbey from 1217 to 1259, wrote and illustrated the single complete surviving manuscript of this 'English History', which covers the years 1067–1253. The editor's introduction to Volume 1 magisterially surveys the manuscript's history and earliest editions of Paris' historical works. The Latin text from 1069 to 1189 follows, and derives chiefly from the work of Paris' predecessor at St Albans, Roger of Wendover, for its coverage of the Norman and Angevin Kings of England.

A Collection of the Chronicles and Ancient Histories of Great Britain, Now Called England
  • Volume 3, From AD 1422 to AD 1431
  • Jean de Wavrin
  • Edited and translated by Edward L. C. P. Hardy
  • Published online:
    05 June 2014
    Print publication:
    15 November 2012
    First published in:
    1891
  • In the mid-1440s, French knight Jean de Wavrin (c.1400–c.1473) took on the monumental task of compiling the first full-length history of England, spanning almost two millennia. Wavrin, who belonged to a noble family of Artois, was a chronicler under Philip the Good and Charles the Bold, Dukes of Burgundy. During his military career, he often fought on the side of the English, and was keen to keep the kingdom as an ally. He gathered a unique collection of records and used his own first-hand observations to write a work that provides a fascinating insight into the interests and methods of a medieval historian. Part of the Rolls Series of publications of historical documents, this volume, first published in 1891, was translated and edited by Edward L. C. P. Hardy. It begins with the death of Henry V and ends with the trial of Joan of Arc.

The Tripartite Life of Patrick
  • With Other Documents Relating to that Saint
  • Volume 2
  • Edited and translated by Whitley Stokes
  • Published online:
    05 June 2014
    Print publication:
    15 November 2012
    First published in:
    1887
  • Celtic scholar and philologist Whitley Stokes (1830–1909) edited and translated many important early medieval texts from Ireland, in Latin and Irish, which remain standard reading. This two-volume edition of works about Patrick, the fifth-century apostle to Ireland, was first published in 1887. Volume 2 contains a range of works dating from the fifth to the eleventh century. It includes the two surviving works that can be attributed to Patrick himself, the Confession and Letter to Coroticus. The excerpts from the Book of Armagh from the seventh century onward reflect the growing nationwide cult of St Patrick, and Armagh's claim to ecclesiastical primacy by associating Patrick with its church. These include the accounts of Patrick by Tírechán and Muirchu, and the 'Book of the Angel'. There are also hymns by Secundinus and Fiacc, Ninníne's prayer and an Irish homily from the Lebar Brecc. Translations of the Irish, along with several appendices and indexes, are also provided.

Materials for the History of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury (Canonized by Pope Alexander III, AD 1173)
  • Volume 2, Benedict of Peterborough, John of Salisbury, Alan of Tewkesbury, Edward Grim
  • Edited by James Craigie Robertson
  • Published online:
    05 June 2014
    Print publication:
    15 November 2012
    First published in:
    1876
  • A scholar of Trinity College, Cambridge, who became canon of Canterbury in 1859, James Craigie Robertson (1813–82) edited for the Rolls Series this seven-volume work, published between 1875 and 1885. Superseding the earlier work of J. A. Giles, it is a collection of contemporary Latin lives and letters relating to the life of Thomas Becket (c.1120–70). Rising through the ranks to become royal chancellor and then archbishop of Canterbury, Becket fell dramatically out of favour with Henry II and, on his return from exile, was famously murdered in the cathedral church at Canterbury. Following his canonisation in 1173, his reputation grew considerably throughout western Christendom. Volume 2 comprises the lives compiled by Benedict of Peterborough and Alan of Tewkesbury, as well as John of Salisbury, who abandoned Becket in the church, and Edward Grim, who was injured trying to protect him.

Flores historiarum
  • Volume 2, AD 1067–AD 1264
  • Edited by Henry Richards Luard
  • Published online:
    05 June 2014
    Print publication:
    15 November 2012
    First published in:
    1890
  • The nineteenth-century academic and university administrator Henry Richards Luard (1825–91) was a major contributor to the Rolls Series. His edition of the Flores historiarum, published in three volumes in 1890, remains the standard work. This Latin chronicle, compiled at St Albans and Westminster, is largely a version of Matthew Paris's Chronica majora to 1259; subsequent annals are independent and serve as a significant primary source for the last years of Henry III and the reigns of Edward I and Edward II. Volume 2 contains the annals from 1067 to 1264 and thus an important series of independent annals covering 1259–64 and the Second Barons' War. Earlier, where the chronicle cannot be considered a primary source, Luard helpfully prints material derived from the Chronica majora in a smaller typeface, enabling the reader to distinguish at a glance what the compiler of the later chronicle has added. English side-notes to the text are provided throughout.

Literae Cantuarienses
  • The Letter Books of the Monastery of Christ Church, Canterbury
  • Volume 2
  • Edited by J. Brigstocke Sheppard
  • Published online:
    05 June 2014
    Print publication:
    15 November 2012
    First published in:
    1888
  • Christ Church, Canterbury, was the seat of the archbishop and an important pilgrimage site. The letters and other documents in its register reveal not only its history, but how complex was the management of the priory and its estates. This three-volume edition is based on a transcript of the register compiled in 1411. Volume 2, edited by Joseph Brigstocke Sheppard (1827–95) and published in 1888, contains items 495–943, ranging in date from 1333 to 1373. The editor has selected documents addressed to individuals or groups, and the subjects vary widely. Most relate to church affairs and include formal letters of appointment and disputes with other monasteries. Others are financial, dealing with rents, taxes and donations by important pilgrims. Also covered are matters of national importance (as the prior sat in parliament), such as the Hundred Years' War and the Black Death. The texts are in Latin, Norman French and English, with translations provided for the French documents.

The Historical Works of Gervase of Canterbury
  • Volume 2, The Minor Works Comprising the Gesta Regum with its Continuation, the Actus Pontificum and the Mappa munri
  • Gervase of Canterbury
  • Edited by William Stubbs
  • Published online:
    05 June 2014
    Print publication:
    15 November 2012
    First published in:
    1880
  • Gervase of Canterbury (c.1145–c.1210) was professed as a member of the cathedral priory of Christ Church, Canterbury, by Thomas Becket in 1163. His observations on both church and court matters give his work breadth, ranging from the king's authority to ecclesiastical topography. A prominent player in the notorious dispute between the monks and Archbishop Baldwin, Gervase attempted to reassert the traditional role of Christ Church as the archiepiscopal church at a time when its position was under threat. This two-volume collection, edited by the scholar William Stubbs (1824–1901) and published between 1879 and 1880, comprises Gervase's entire corpus of Latin works (with marginal notes in English). Volume 2 includes the Gesta regum, which begins with Brutus's Albion and is drawn from authorities such as Geoffrey of Monmouth; the Actus Pontificum, a series of lives of the archbishops of Canterbury until 1205; and the Mappa mundi, an unprecedented monastic topography of England.

Polychronicon Ranulphi Higden, monachi Cestrensis
  • Together with the English Translations of John Trevisa and of an Unknown Writer of the Fifteenth Century
  • Volume 8
  • Ranulf Higden
  • Edited by Joseph Rawson Lumby
  • Published online:
    05 June 2014
    Print publication:
    15 November 2012
    First published in:
    1882
  • Ranulf Higden (d.1364) was a monk at the abbey of St Werburgh in Chester. His most important literary work is this universal chronicle, which survives in over a hundred Latin manuscripts, testifying to its popularity. The earliest version of it dates from 1327, but Higden continued writing until his death, expanding and updating the text. It was also continued in other monastic houses, most importantly by John Malvern of Worcester. The English translation made by John Trevisa in the 1380s was also widely circulated and is included in this work, published in nine volumes for the Rolls Series between 1865 and 1886. The chronicle shows how fourteenth-century scholars understood world history and geography. Volume 8 concludes Book 7, reaching the reign of Edward III. The appendices contain some of the continuations written after Higden's death.

Year Books of the Reign of King Edward the Third
  • Volume 6, Year XV
  • Edited and translated by Luke Owen Pike
  • Published online:
    05 June 2014
    Print publication:
    15 November 2012
    First published in:
    1891
  • The records of the medieval English courts were compiled into manuscript 'year books', organised by regnal year of the monarch, and further subdivided into the four law terms. The year books of the reign of Edward III (1312–77), beginning at the eleventh year (1337) and continuing to the twentieth (1346), were to have been edited for the Roll Series by Alfred Horwood (1821–81), who had previously edited the year books of Edward I, but he died while the first volume was in proof. The work was taken over by L.O. Pike (1835–1915), the set of fifteen books being published between 1883 and 1911. (Horwood chose his start date because the year books of Edward II and the first part of the reign of Edward III already existed in modern editions.) This volume contains reports from Easter Term, 15 Edward III, to Michaelmas Term, 15 Edward III.

Historia Anglorum. The History of the English from AC 55 to AD 1154
  • In Eight Books
  • Henry of Huntingdon
  • Edited by Thomas Arnold
  • Published online:
    05 June 2014
    Print publication:
    15 November 2012
    First published in:
    1879
  • Henry of Huntingdon (c.1088–c.1157) wrote his comprehensive Latin chronicle of English history at the behest of the bishop of Lincoln, who asked him to provide a narrative from the earliest English kings right up to their own day. Henry's fondness for anecdotes - including the story of King Cnut attempting to hold back the tide - adds charm to his account. Although the work was originally completed by 1130, Henry continued to add to his magnum opus for many years, producing a version that concluded with the death of King Stephen and the accession of Henry II in 1154. This is the version edited for the Rolls Series in 1879 by Thomas Arnold (1823–1900), whose scholarly introduction describes the various different versions of the text, lists the extant manuscripts, and surveys Henry's sources. The text is accompanied by side-notes in English as well as appendices, a glossary and an index.

Registrum Malmesburiense
  • The Register of Malmesbury Abbey Preserved in the Public Record Office
  • Volume 1
  • Edited by J. S. Brewer
  • Published online:
    05 June 2014
    Print publication:
    15 November 2012
    First published in:
    1879
  • Malmesbury abbey was a seventh-century foundation, re-established in the late tenth century and supported by royal patronage for several centuries. It was famous for its enormous library, and especially the work of the twelfth-century historian William of Malmesbury. This register of charters was compiled in the late thirteenth century and, although some are later forgeries, it is an important collection of Anglo-Saxon documents. It provides vital information about Wessex from the seventh century on, as well as material about the later difficulties between the monks and the bishop of Salisbury. This two-volume edition of the Latin texts with English side-notes was prepared by John Sherren Brewer (1809–79) and completed by Charles Trice Martin (1842–1914). Volume 1 (1879) contains royal decrees such as Magna Carta, the extensive rent roll of the abbey's properties (mostly local), and charters relating to them. The appendix contains an account of the early history of Britain.

The Historical Works of Gervase of Canterbury
  • Volume 1, The Chronicle of the Reigns of Stephen, Henry II, and Richard I
  • Gervase of Canterbury
  • Edited by William Stubbs
  • Published online:
    05 June 2014
    Print publication:
    15 November 2012
    First published in:
    1879
  • Gervase of Canterbury (c.1145–c.1210) was professed as a member of the cathedral priory of Christ Church, Canterbury, by Thomas Becket in 1163. His observations on both church and court matters give his work breadth, ranging from the king's authority to ecclesiastical topography. A prominent player in the notorious dispute between the monks and Archbishop Baldwin, Gervase attempted to reassert the traditional role of Christ Church as the archiepiscopal church at a time when its position was under threat. This two-volume collection, edited by the scholar William Stubbs (1824–1901) and published between 1879 and 1880, comprises Gervase's entire corpus of Latin works (with marginal notes in English). Volume 1 contains his Chronica, which begins in 1100 and offers insight into the reigns of Stephen, Henry II and Richard I; the Imaginaciones, or statements of the dispute between Baldwin and Christ Church; and a detailed account of the great fire of 1174.

Registrum Palatinum Dunelmense
  • The Register of Richard de Kellawe, Lord Palatine and Bishop of Durham, 1311–1316
  • Volume 1
  • Edited by Thomas Duffus Hardy
  • Published online:
    05 June 2014
    Print publication:
    15 November 2012
    First published in:
    1873
  • This Latin Register of Richard Kellaw, Bishop of Durham (d.1316), is the earliest to survive for this important diocese, where the bishop held quasi-royal authority within his palatinate. He was an active bishop, and the Register, covering the years 1311–16, includes information about ordinations, indulgences, loans, grants and licences to study, as well as about Kellaw's secular administration of his diocese. During his five-year episcopate, he also had to deal with constant trouble from the Scots under Robert Bruce. This four-volume work, published as part of the Rolls Series between 1873 and 1878, was edited by the historian Sir Thomas Duffus Hardy (1804–78). It is an important source on the civil and ecclesiastical history of the North of England in the early fourteenth century. Volume 1 contains the first 140 folios (of 366), which comprise documents from the years 1311–14.

Historic and Municipal Documents of Ireland, A.D. 1172–1320
  • From the Archives of the City of Dublin, etc.
  • Edited by John Thomas Gilbert
  • Published online:
    05 June 2014
    Print publication:
    15 November 2012
    First published in:
    1870
  • This diverse collection of medieval Irish records, written in Latin and French between 1172 and 1320, was first published for the Rolls Series in 1870. It was edited by the pioneering antiquary and archivist Sir John Thomas Gilbert (1829–98), who selected the documents primarily from archives in Dublin. The assembled material concerns the early administration of the English settlement in Ireland, touching on a variety of topics, including international trade, municipal elections, maintenance of urban defences, administration of Church lands, alcohol taxes and the grievances of ordinary citizens. As such, this is an invaluable aid in the study of medieval Irish economic, political, social and administrative history. The material is divided into ninety-seven separate sections and is supplemented by fifteen appendices, all of which are summarised in English. A discussion of the principal manuscripts and a general index accompany the text.

The Historians of the Church of York and its Archbishops
  • Volume 3
  • Edited by James Raine
  • Published online:
    05 June 2014
    Print publication:
    15 November 2012
    First published in:
    1894
  • James Raine (1830–96), canon of York, edited in three volumes these Latin works relating to the diocese, covering the period from 650 to 1522. Volume 3, published in 1894, contains a miscellany of 176 charters, letters, wills, papal bulls and other documents, dating from 930 to 1522, extracted from the registers of the archbishops and the muniments of the dean and chapter. Only three date from before 1066. The lengthy struggle for the primacy between York and Canterbury, and between York and other dioceses such as Durham and Lincoln, is a regular cause of concern, and the archbishop of York also claimed the obedience of Scottish bishops. The volume ends with an inventory of the sumptuous jewels, plate and vestments belonging to the see at the beginning of the sixteenth century. An index to all three volumes is also provided, along with English side-notes to the Latin text.

Giraldi Cambrensis opera
  • Volume 8, De principis instructione liber
  • Giraldus Cambrensis
  • Edited by J. S. Brewer, James F. Dimock, George F. Warner
  • Published online:
    05 May 2014
    Print publication:
    15 November 2012
    First published in:
    1891
  • Despite a frustrated ecclesiastical career - his ongoing failure to secure the See of St David's embittered him - Giraldus Cambrensis (Gerald of Wales, Gerald de Barry, c.1146–1220/23) composed many remarkable literary works, initially while employed as a royal clerk for Henry II and, subsequently, in semi-retirement in Lincoln. Eight volumes of his works were compiled as part of the Rolls Series of British medieval material. Volume 8, edited by archivist George F. Warner (1845–1936) and published in 1891, contains his 'Liber de principis instructione', a moral treatise including much invective against the Angevin court. Written while Louis of France - in whose support Giraldus composed a poem - was scheming to replace King John, the Latin text, in Giraldus' vigorous and anecdotal style, gives a vivid picture of contemporary politics, while the English introduction illuminates nineteenth-century interest in the period.

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