The historical writing of Alfred of Beverley
This thesis examines the historical writing of the twelfth-century Yorkshire historian Alfred of Beverley, compiler of a Latin chronicle covering the history of Britain from its supposed foundation by Brutus down to the time of Henry I. From the late Middle Ages until the eighteenth century Alfred enjoyed a considerable reputation amongst chroniclers, antiquaries and topographers but by the mid-nineteenth century scholarly opinion had come to consider his work highly derivative, uninformative and of little historical value. The chronicle was printed by Thomas Hearne in 1716, but was never edited in the Rolls Series and the text has remained largely neglected until today. Alfredâs sources in the chronicle have been identified and his use of them examined. The circumstances and date of compilation have been reconsidered and supported by internal evidence from the text, a date of compilation of c.1148 - c.1151 x 1154 is proposed. Alfredâs purpose and intended audience of the work has been considered and evidence for the workâs dissemination and reception from the twelfth to the seventeenth century has been gathered in order to assess the place of the work in medieval historiography. This study finds the
Slevin, John Patrick
Anglo-Norman historiography
The historical writing of Alfred of Beverley. This thesis examines the historical writing of the twelfth-century Yorkshire historian Alfred of Beverley, compiler of a Latin chronicle covering the history of Britain from its supposed foundation by Brutus down to the time of Henry I. From the late Middle Ages until the eighteenth century Alfred enjoyed a considerable reputation amongst chroniclers, antiquaries and topographers but by the mid-nineteenth century scholarly opinion had come to consider his work highly derivative, uninformative and of little historical value. The chronicle was printed by Thomas Hearne in 1716, but was never edited in the Rolls Series and the text has remained largely neglected until today. Alfredâs sources in the chronicle have been identified and his use of them examined. The circumstances and date of compilation have been reconsidered and supported by internal evidence from the text, a date of compilation of c.1148 - c.1151 x 1154 is proposed. Alfredâs purpose and intended audience of the work has been considered and evidence for the workâs dissemination and reception from the twelfth to the seventeenth century has been gathered in order to assess the place of the work in medieval historiography. This study finds the
historical write examines historical write twelfth_century yorkshire historian latin chronicle cover history britain suppose foundation time henry late_middle ages eighteenth_century enjoy considerable reputation amongst chronicler antiquary scholarly opinion come consider work highly derivative little historical value chronicle print thomas never edit series text remain_largely neglect today source chronicle identify use examine circumstance date compilation reconsider support internal_evidence text date compilation propose purpose intend_audience work consider evidence work dissemination reception gather order_ass place work medieval historiography study find