WEB For Arthurian texts, not collected
here, see the Camelot Project and
especially the Camelot Project
Author Menu for beautifully presented, introduced, and annotated texts of:
The Alliterative Morte Arthure
Annales Cambriae (Annals of Wales), Arthurian References in (c. 960-980)
The Avowyng of Arthur
The Awntyrs off Arthur
The Carle of Carlisle
Culwch and Olwen (translated by Lady Charlotte Guest as Kilhwch and Olwen)
The Greene Knight
The Jeaste of Sir Gawain
King Arthur and King Cornwall
The Knightly Tale of Gologras and Gawain
Lancelot of the Laik
The Marriage of Sir Gawain
Sir Gawain and the Carle of Carlisle
Sir Perceval of Galles
Sir Tristrem
Stanzaic Morte Arthur
The Turke and Sir Gawain
The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle
A selection of post medieval-Arthurian literature [Tennyson, Emerson, Swinbourne
and so on.]
St. Wulfstan, Bishop of Worcester: Sermo Lupi ad Anglos, c. 1014,
full text, in Latin and English. [Requires Frames], [At Rochester].
The sermon of the Wolf to the English, when the Danes were greatly persecuting them, which
was in the year 1014 after the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Anglo-Saxon Literature
Beowulf, 8th century, trans Francis Gummere [HTML,
here]
Beowulf, c. 1100
[At Lone Star]
Beowulf is the oldest surviving epic in English literature - and it survives in only one
manuscript. This copy survived both the wholesale destruction of religious artifacts
during the
dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII and a disastrous fire which destroyed the
library of Sir Robert Bruce Cotton (1571-1631). The poem still bears the scars of the
fire, visible at the upper left corner of the manuscript. This is a modern verse
trasnlation by David
Breeden.
[Tierney 56.2] William of Newburgh: on Henry II, copyrighted? See next item
William of Newburgh: Becket and Henry,
selections from Book II of his History, c. 1200
Three chapters concerning Becket's career, the murder, and Henry II's penance at the tomb
in 1174.
Gervase of Canterbury, d. 1205: Thomas Becket's Life,
from History of the Archbishops of Canterbury
A precis of Thomas' career taken from Gervase's History of the Archbishops of
Canterbury
Gervase of Canterbury, d. 1205: Thomas Becket's Death
Description of the martyrdom from the same work.
King John of England and the Jews: Charters,
c.1201
England under Angevin Rule
The Charter of St. Patrick,
13th century [At Britannia]
A fake document, attributed to St. Patrick but actually concocted by the monks of
Glastonbury Abbey to prove their primacy over the neighboring See of Bath and Wells.
The Pipe Roll of the Bishopric of
Winchester, 1208-1209
Pipe roll records are among the most detail of all medieval sources, and show both the
development of the English administrative system, as well as types and scale of economic
activity.
Bracton: De Legibus Et
Consuetudinibus Angliæ (On the Laws and Customs of England), in English and Latin,
attributed to Henry of Bratton, c. 1210-1268), Full Text. [At Harvard]
The Register of Roger Martival, Bishop of Salisbury,
1315-1330, trans. Richard Barton
Texts from the Register of Roger Martivall, Bishop of Salisbury. The last one, in
particular, is of interest, as it is concerned with criminous clerks and clerical status.
Medieval sources are linked to directly from here, but the site contains many more early
modern and modern discussions of the Richard III controversy.
Anonymous: Croyland
Chronicle [At R3]
A portion of the Second Continuation, and the full text of the Third and Fourth
Continuations. Covers all entries for the period 1453-1486. Important primary source for
the study of the Wars of the Roses and especially the reigns of Henry VI, Edward IV, and
Richard III.
Anonymous: History of the Arrival of Edward IV. in England and the Final Recovery of
His Kingdoms from Henry VI [At R3]
Yorkist propaganda in one of its earlier manifestations.
Nicolas, Nicholas Harris: The
Privy Purse Expenses of Elizabeth of York: The Wardrobe Accounts of Edward IV [At
R3] Nicolas's introductory memoirs of Yorkist royalty, with commentary on the
Ricardian controversies of the time; the privy purse expenses of Elizabeth of York. To
come: the Wardrobe Accounts. A lengthy series of documents, consisting of 24 interlinked
files.
Titulus Regius, 1484
[At R3]
The Act of Parliament settling the crown on Richard III.
Polydore Vergil: Anglica Historia,
Books 23-25.
History of the deposition of Edward V and the reign of Richard III by humanist historian
Polydore Vergil. One of the classic traditionalist sources.
Anonymous: The Ballad of Bosworth Field [At R3]
Sixteenth-century poem, thought to be written by an eye-witness to the battle, with
exhaustive list of Richard III's supporters.
NOTES: copyrighted means the text is not available for free distribution. In
some cases alternate versions are available, and are working through the pipeline. Dates of accession of material can be seen in the New Accessions Page. The date of inception was 1/20/1996. Links to files at other site are indicated by [At some indication of the site name or
location]. No indication means that the text file is local. WEB indicates a link to one of
small number of high quality web sites which provide either more texts or an especially
valuable overview. The Internet Medieval Sourcebook participates in ORB, the Online Reference Book for
Medieval Studies.
