Raine, James, ed., The Historians of the Church of York and its Archbishops. (London: Longman & Co., (Rolls Series, No. 71), 3 vols., 1879-94). View Source Online

Text name(s):

Number of pages of primary source text: 1399

Medieval Author(s): Aeddi Eadmer of Canterbury Frithegod

Dates: 650 - 1522

Archival Reference: BL MS. Bodley Fell, i. 34a-56b; National Library at Paris MS. No. 8,431; BL Cotton MS. Claudius A. i., ff. 1b-32b; BL Cotton MS Caligula A. viii., ff. 59-83b; Corpus Ms. No. 371;

Original Language(s): Latin;

Translation: Original language included.

Translation Comments:

Geopolitical Region(s): England;

County/Region: York; Yorkshire; Northumbrial; Kent; Canterbury

Apparatus: Index Appendices Introduction

Comments:

These volumes contain several works related to the Church of York and its Archbishops. The first volume begins with a biography of St. Wilfrid written by Aeddi, a choir master in Northumbria at the turn of the eighth century and a personal acquaintance of Wilfrid who probably traveled with him to Rome. This account is particularly valuable because it was written too early to have been influenced by Bede and because, despite some minor errors, it mentions some events that are not to be found in any other source. He also presents the best known account of the building of several ecclesiastical structures in the Diocese of York. The volume contains three additional Lives of St. Wilfrid. The second Life of Wilfrid was written by Fridegoda, an educated contemporary who tutored the future Archbishop Oswald in the middle of the tenth century, in hexameter verse. It was intended to celebrate the saint’s achievements in Kent. The third Life was written by Eadmer, the precantor of Christ Church Canterbury. In this volume Wilfrid is treated as a saint of Canterbury. Eadmer probably write the fourth life as well. The appendices of the volume contain minor works relating to Wilfrid, St. John, and Oswald. The principle work in the second volume is the history of four Archbishops of York. Thomas I, Gerard, Thomas II and Thurstan. It was written by Hugh the Cantor, precentor of York, and is a valuable account of the controversy between the archbishops of York and of Canterbury. The volume also contains a letter from Archbishop Ralph to the pope in 1119 and anonymous lives of archbishops Thurstan and William Fitzherbert among other miscellaneous documents. The third volume is a collection of random episcopal documents from York including charters, wills, letters and papal bulls. Most of them were extracted from the Bishop’s Registers. The sumary of the second volume is based on the summary by Stephen Silver, “Index to the Rolls Series” at www.the-orb.net/rolls.html All of the volumes are available online. For the texts of the third and fourth colume see: http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k50335g/f583.table and http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k50336t/f3.table

Introduction Summary:

In his introduction (pp. ix-lxvii) Raine sketches the history of York focusing on both ecclesiastical and civic events. He also summarizes each of the works and describes the surviving manuscripts specifying in each instance which ones he has selected to edit.

Cataloger: SES