The History of William Marshal was commissioned by his son shortly after William’s death in 1219 to celebrate the Marshal’s remarkable life; it is an authentic, contemporary voice. The manuscript was discovered in 1861 by French historian Paul Meyer. Meyer published the manuscript in its original Anglo-French in 1891 in two books. This book is a line by line translation of the first of Meyer’s books; lines 1-10152. Book 1 of the History begins in 1139 and ends in 1194. It describes the events of the Anarchy, the role of William’s father John, John’s marriages, William’s childhood, his role as a hostage at the siege of Newbury, his injury and imprisonment in Poitou where he met Eleanor of Aquitaine and his life as a knight errant. It continues with the accusation against him of an improper relationship with Margaret, wife of Henry the Young King, his exile, and return, the death of Henry the Young King, the rebellion of Richard, the future King Richard I, war with France, the death of King Henry II, and the capture of King Richard, and the rebellion of John, the future King John. It ends with the release of King Richard and the death of John Marshal.
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Dorchester Abbey, Oxfordshire is in Dorchester on Thames, Oxfordshire [Map], Abbeys in England.
General Photos of Dorchester Abbey, Oxfordshire [Map].
In 634 Dorchester Abbey, Oxfordshire [Map] was the seat of a Saxon Bishopric when Pope Honorius I had sent Saint Birinus, its first bishop, to found it.
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 635. This year King Cynegils was baptized by Bishop Birinus at Dorchester [Map]; and Oswald [aged 31], king of the Northumbrians, was his sponsor.
In 635 Bishop Birinus of Dorchester was given permission to preach by King Cynegils of Wessex. He baptised King Cynegils of Wessex who then gave him Dorchester Abbey, Oxfordshire [Map] for his episcopal see.
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 636. This year King Cwichelm was baptized at Dorchester [Map], and died the same year. Bishop Felix also preached to the East-Angles the belief of Christ.
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 639. This year Birinus baptized King Cuthred at Dorchester [Map], and received him as his son.
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 954. This year the Northumbrians expelled Eric; and King Edred took to the government of the Northumbrians. This year also Archbishop Wulfstan received a bishopric again at Dorchester [Map].
Chronicon ex Chronicis by Florence and John of Worcester. 1067. Wulfwi, bishop of Dorchester, died at Winchester, but was buried at Dorchester [Map].
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 1067. This year came the king [aged 39] back again to England on St. Nicholas's day; and the same day was burned the church of Christ at Canterbury [Map]. Bishop Wulfwy also died, and is buried at his see in Dorchester [Map].
Chronicon ex Chronicis by Florence and John of Worcester. On Monday the nones [5th April 1092] of April, Osmund, bishop of Salisbury, assisted by Walkelin, bishop of Winchester, and John, bishop of Bath, consecrated the church which he had built in the castle of Sarum. Remi, who by license from William the Elder had transferred the seat of his bishopric from Dorchester [Map] to Lincoln, was desirous of consecrating the church which he had built at Lincoln, worthy indeed to be the cathedral of a bishop's see1, because he felt that the day of his death was at hand; but Thomas, archbishop of York, opposed him, asserting that the church was built within his diocese. However, king William the younger, for a sum of money paid to him by Remi, summoned nearly all the bishops of England to assemble together on the twentieth of the ides [the 9th] of May, and dedicate the church; but two days before the time fixed, by the mysterious providence of God, bishop Remi himself departed from the world, and in consequence the consecration of the church was deferred. After this the king went into Northumbria, and restored the city which is called in the British tongue Cairleii, and in Latin Lugubalia (Carlisle [Map]), and built a castle there; for this city, like some others in that quarter, had been laid in ruins by the heathen Danes two hundred years before, and had been uninhabited up to this time.
Note 1. Cf. Henry of Huntingdon, pp. 219, 220, Antiq. Lib.
After 17th June 1282 William "The Younger" Valence was buried at Dorchester Abbey, Oxfordshire [Map]. His. Monument Early Medieval Period with Right Leg over Left. A particularly fine effigy with some remnants of its original colouring.
William "The Younger" Valence: he was born to William de Valence 1st Earl Pembroke and Joan Munchensi Countess Pembroke.
The True Chronicles of Jean le Bel Volume 1 Chapters 1-60 1307-1342
The True Chronicles of Jean le Bel offer one of the most vivid and immediate accounts of 14th-century Europe, written by a knight who lived through the events he describes, and experienced some of them first hand. Covering the early decades of the Hundred Years’ War, this remarkable chronicle follows the campaigns of Edward III of England, the politics of France and the Low Countries, and the shifting alliances that shaped medieval warfare. Unlike later historians, Jean le Bel writes with a strong sense of eyewitness authenticity, drawing on personal experience and the testimony of fellow soldiers. His narrative captures not only battles and sieges, but also the realities of military life, diplomacy, and the ideals of chivalry that governed noble society. A key source for Jean Froissart, Le Bel’s chronicle stands on its own as a compelling and insightful work, at once historical record and literary achievement. This translation builds on the 1905 edition published in French by Jules Viard, adding extensive translations from other sources Rymer's Fœdera, the Chronicles of Adam Murimuth, William Nangis, Walter of Guisborough, a Bourgeois of Valenciennes, Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbroke and Richard Lescot to enrich the original text and Viard's notes.
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Around 1387 Hugh Segrave [aged 91] was buried at Dorchester Abbey, Oxfordshire [Map]. His. Monument of the Camail and Jupon Period.
On 29th January 1622 Francis Norreys 1st Earl Berkshire [aged 42] shot himself with a crossbow at Rycote, Oxfordshire [Map]; probably deliberately in view of his having a year before been imprisoned for attaching Emmanuel Scrope [aged 37] at the House of Lords in front of the future King Charles. He died two days later.. He was buried at Dorchester Abbey, Oxfordshire [Map]. His daughter Elizabeth [aged 19] succeeded 3rd Baroness Norreys of Rycote. Earl Berkshire and Viscount Thame extinct. Francis Rose [aged 13] inherited the manors of Weston-on-the-Green and Yattendon. Elizabeth Norreys 3rd Baroness Norreys Rycote inherited the Rycote and Wytham estates.
After 1799. The sad story of Sarah Fletcher. Having waited years for her husband to return from sea she discovered him in the process of marrying another woman, bigamously, driving her to suicide. The church agreed she had 'Died a Martyr to Excessive Sensibility' allowing her to be buried in consecrated ground. Her ghost is said to haunt their family home Courtiers House, Clifton Hampden near Oxford. Dorchester Abbey, Oxfordshire [Map].