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Henrici Quinti, Angliæ Regis, Gesta, is a first-hand account of the Agincourt Campaign, and subsequent events to his death in 1422. The author of the first part was a Chaplain in King Henry's retinue who was present from King Henry's departure at Southampton in 1415, at the siege of Harfleur, the battle of Agincourt, and the celebrations on King Henry's return to London. The second part, by another writer, relates the events that took place including the negotiations at Troye, Henry's marriage and his death in 1422.
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Simeon of Durham is in Late Medieval Books.
THE CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. VOL. III.-PART II. CONTAINING THE HISTORICAL WORKS OF SIMEON OF DURHAM. TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL LATIN, WITH PREFACE AND NOTES, BY THE REV. JOSEPH STEVENSON, M.A. OF UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, DURHAM: VICAR OF LEIGHTON BUZZARD. Seeleys, FLEET STREET AND HANOVER STREET. MDCCCLV [1855].
A. D. 1069. The convent of St. German, at Selby, was founded.
In the third year of his reign, king William sent earl Robert, surnamed Cumin, to the Northumbrians on the north side of the Tyne. But they all united in one feeling not to submit to a foreign lord, and determined either that they would put him to death, or that they all would fall together by the edge of the sword. Agelwin, bishop of Durham, met him at his approach, and forewarned him to beware of the snares laid for him. But he, thinking that no one would be so daring, despised the warning. Entering Durham with a large body of soldiers, he allowed his men to act everywhere in a hostile manner, even slaying some of the yeomen of the church; but he was received by the bishop with all courtesy and honour. But the Northumbrians, marching all night with haste to Durham, at dawn burst the gates with great force, and slew on every side the earl's men, who were taken unawares. The affair was conducted with great ferocity, the soldiers being killed in the houses and the streets. They then proceeded to attack the bishop's dwelling in which the earl had been received; but not being able to withstand the javelins of the defenders, they burnt the house with its inhabitants. So great was the multitude of the slain, that almost all parts of the city were flowing with blood; for of seven hundred men none but one escaped. This slaughter took place on Wednesday, the fifth of the kalends of February [28th January 1069].
In this year, before the Nativity of St. Mary [8th September 1069], Harold (age 29) and Cnut (age 27), sons of Suane (age 50), king of the Danes, and their uncle, earl Osbern, and their bishop, Christian, and earl Turkill, coming with two hundred and forty ships from Denmark, landed at the mouth of the river Humber. There they were met by Eadgar Atheling, earl Walthev, and Marlesswein, and many others, with a fleet which they had provided. Earl Cospatric was there also, with the whole strength of the Northumbrians, who all assembled with one consent against the Normans.
At the approach of all these, Aldred, archbishop of York, becoming very timid, fell into great weakness, and in the tenth year of his episcopate, on Friday, the third of the ides of September [11th September 1069], ended his life, as he had besought God, and was buried in the church of St. Peter.
On the eighth day after this, namely on Saturday, the thirteenth of the kalends of October [19th September 1069], the Normans who garrisoned the castles, fearing lest the houses which adjoined the castles might be of use to the Danes in filling up the moats, commenced setting them on fire. The conflagration increasing exceedingly, seized on the whole of the city, and with it consumed the monastery of St. Peter. But this was speedily and severely visited upon them by the divine vengeance. For before the whole city was burnt, the Danish fleet arrived on the Monday, and the Danes assailing the castles on one side, the Northumbrians on the other, they took them by storm the same day. And more than three thousand of the Normans being slaughtered, and William Malet, who then held the office of sheriff, with his wife and two children, and Gilbert de Gant, and a very few others being preserved alive, the Danes returned to their ships with untold spoils, and the Northumbrians to their abodes. When this was made known to king William, he speedily assembled an army, and hastened to Northumberland in great anger, and did not cease for the whole winter from ravaging the country, slaughtering the men, and performing many other acts of ferocity. In the meanwhile, sending messengers to the Danish earl Ósbern, he promised that he would privately give him a considerable sum of money, and would allow his army full liberty of seizing supplies on the coast,-provided this were laid down as a condition, that, when the winter was over, they should depart without coming to hostilities. Osbern hereupon, being greedy of the gold and silver, yielded to his wishes, not without great disgrace to himself.
CONCERNING KING EDWARD AND W[ILLIAM]; AND ROBERT CUMIN, WHO WAS KILLED AT DURHAM; AND HOW THE TIDE WAS ARRESTED WHEN THE BODY OF THE BLESSED CUTHBERT ARRIVED IN THE ISLAND.
In the year of our Lord's incarnation one thousand and sixty-six, the most pious king Edward died, upon the nones of January [5th Jan.], in the twenty-fourth year of his reign, in whose stead Harold ascended the throne of the realm, but he held it only for a short time. For adverse circumstances sprang up around him on all sides; and he engaged in battle against the most valiant king of the Norwegians, in the first instance by two of his earls, and when they took to flight he fought with him personally at no great distance from York. Here indeed he gained the victory; but, proceeding from thence, he encountered in battle the most powerful earl of the Normans, who had just before arrived in England with a large army, and there Harold fell, with nearly the whole body of the English.
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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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When William had obtained the kingdom of the English, he, for a long time, bore with the rebellious Northumbrians, over whom he appointed a certain Robert, surnamed Cumin, in the third year of his reign. When the Northumbrians heard of this man's arrival, they all abandoned their houses, and made immediate preparation for flight; but a sudden snow-storm and a frost of extreme severity supervening, effectually prevented them from putting their intentions into practice. They all, therefore, came to the resolution of either murdering the earl or of themselves dying together.
When the bishop met the earl he told him of this plot, and advised him to return. But the other was not permitted to hearken to these words of counsel, for he was one of those persons who paid the wages of their followers by licensing their ravagings and murders; and he had already killed many of the rustics of the church. So the earl entered Durham with seven hundred men, and they treated the householders as if they had been enemies. Very early in the morning, the Northumbrians having collected themselves together, broke in through all the gates, and running through the city, hither and thither, they slew the earl's associates. So great, at the last, was the multitude of the slain, that every street was covered with blood, and filled with dead bodies. But there still survived a considerable number, who defended the door of the house in which the earl was, and securely held it against the inroads of the assailants. They, on their part, endeavoured to throw fire into the house, so as to burn it and its inmates; and the flaming sparks flying upwards caught the western tower, which was in immediate proximity, and it appeared to be on the very verge of destruction. The people knelt down on their knees and besought St. Cuthbert to preserve his church from burning; and immediately a wind arose from the east which drove the flames backwards from the church, and entirely freed it from all danger. The house, however, which had caught fire, continued to blaze; and of those persons who were within it some were burnt, some were slaughtered as soon as they crossed its doors; and thus the earl was put to death along with all of his followers, save one, who escaped wounded. This occurred on the second of the kalends of February [31st January 1069.].
Hereupon king William was bitterly incensed, and despatched thither a general with an army to revenge the death of the earl. But when they reached Allerton, and were about to advance towards Durham on the morrow, there arose such a dark mist that people could scarce recognise each other although standing close at hand; nor could they by any means discover the path. Whilst they were astonished at the occurrence, and deliberating with each other what should next be done, one of them announced that the inhabitants had a saint of their own in their chief town, who always protected them in their adversities, and whom no man could at any time injure without incurring his ven- geance. Hearing this, they forthwith returned, each man to his own home; but the people for whose destruction the army had been despatched, knew nothing of their enemies until those enemies had retired. And so it came to pass, (by God's mercy through St. Cuthbert,) that they heard of the retreat of their enemies before they were aware of their march. But in the same year¹ king William came to York with an army 1 A. D. 1069.