Abbot John Whethamstede’s Chronicle of the Abbey of St Albans
Abbot John Whethamstede's Register aka Chronicle of his second term at the Abbey of St Albans, 1451-1461, is a remarkable text that describes his first-hand experience of the beginning of the Wars of the Roses including the First and Second Battles of St Albans, 1455 and 1461, respectively, their cause, and their consequences, not least on the Abbey itself. His text also includes Loveday, Blore Heath, Northampton, the Act of Accord, Wakefield, and Towton, and ends with the Coronation of King Edward IV. In addition to the events of the Wars of the Roses, Abbot John, or his scribes who wrote the Chronicle, include details in the life of the Abbey such as charters, letters, land exchanges, visits by legates, and disputes, which provide a rich insight into the day-to-day life of the Abbey, and the challenges faced by its Abbot.
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Chronicle of Gregory 1453 is in Chronicle of Gregory.
1453. Mayor of London John Norman. Sheriffs: John Walden and Thomas Coke.a
Note a. What is recorded under this year, viz. the battle of St. Alban's, really took place in the thirty-third year of Henry VI., but the mayor and sheriffs of that year are omitted, and all the remaining years of this reign are wrong numbered, that which is called the thirty-third year being really the thirty-fourth, and so on,