Chronicles of the Reigns of Edward I and II Volume 2

The Chronicles of the Reigns of Edward I and Edward II, Volume 2, comprising A Sorrowful Commendation on King Edward, the Life of Edward II by a Monk of Bridlington, Life of Edward II by a Monk of Malmesbury and Life of Edward by Thomas de la More, presents a rich collection of medieval English chronicles illuminating the political, military, ecclesiastical and social upheavals of the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries. The volume offers contemporary and near-contemporary accounts of the reigns of Edward I and Edward II, a period marked by war with Scotland, conflict between Crown and nobility, disputes over royal government, ecclesiastical tensions, rebellion, deposition and civil violence. Particular attention is given to the struggle surrounding Piers Gaveston, Thomas of Lancaster and the Despensers, as well as the turbulent final years of Edward II and the political circumstances that shaped the early reign of Edward III. These chronicles are especially valuable for their vivid narrative detail. They preserve speeches, political arguments, descriptions of battles and executions, accounts of parliaments and royal councils, reports of diplomatic missions, ecclesiastical controversies, prodigies and natural events, and contemporary judgements on the conduct of kings, magnates and churchmen. Written from differing institutional and regional perspectives, the texts reveal not only what happened but how medieval observers interpreted events, often through ideas of divine judgement, legitimate kingship, loyalty, treason and moral retribution. An important primary-source collection for readers interested in Edward I, Edward II, medieval politics, the Scottish wars, the baronial opposition, the fall of Edward II, church history and fourteenth-century England, Volume 2 provides an indispensable window into one of the most turbulent periods of the English Middle Ages.

Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback format.

John Girle 1702-1761

Diary of Caroline Girlie. 8th June 1552. "This monument was erected by [his future wife] Mrs. Girle in memory of her deceased husband, John Girle, Esquire, late of Lincoln's-Inn-Fields, London, Surgeon, who having early in life acquired an ample fortune, the just reward of superior eminence, and unremitting diligence in his profession, indulged himself in the pleasing prospect of dedicating the remainder of his days to the noblest purpose of humanity, the relief of the distresses, and infirmities, of his indigent fellow-creatures, an office which the goodness of his heart made him ever undertake with readiness, and which the skill of his hand enabled him generally to execute with success. But this pious purpose was broken off by his death, which happened July 5th, 1761, in the 59th year of his age. He married the daughter of John Slaney, of Worcestershire, by whom he left an only daughter, married to Philip Lybbe Powys, Esquire, of Hardwick, Oxon."

Around 1702 John Girle was born to John Girle [aged 27].

In 1715 [his father] John Girle [aged 40] died.

On 9th May 1734 John Girle [aged 32] and Barbara Slaney [aged 16] were married.

On 27th December 1738 [his daughter] Caroline Girle was born to John Girle [aged 36] and [his wife] Barbara Slaney [aged 21]. She married 5th August 1762 Philip Lybbe-Powys.

On 5th July 1761 John Girle [aged 59] died.

On 14th January 1801 [his former wife] Barbara Slaney [aged 83] died at Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire [Map].

Diary of Caroline Girlie. In Beenham Church, Berks, in the belfry, is a tablet to the memory of John Girle, which tells us all that can now be found out about him:-

Diary of Caroline Girlie. The following extracts from the diaries and travelling journals of Mrs. Philip Lybbe Powys, nee Caroline Girle, ranging from a.d. 1756 to 1808, present such an accurate picture of life, manners, and customs of the upper class of that period, that though my work of collating, noting, and linking together the many, some twenty books, lent to me by various members of the family, was chiefly undertaken on their account, I feel that they cannot fail to interest the general reader, containing as they do such interesting anecdotes of royalty, and other notable people, descriptions of country seats, places, towns, manufactures, amusements, and general habits of the period which now form history, and that, comparatively little studied; for the immediate century beyond our own days, I fancy, is more often ignored, and less understood, than the more distant periods of time, at whatever period we live. My heroine was the daughter of John Girle, Esq., described of Lincoln's-Inn-Fields¹, M.D. He owned estates at Beenham, Bucklebury, Padworth, and Ufton, in Berkshire. He married in 1734 Barbara, third daughter, and co-heiress, of John Slaney, Esq., of Yardley and Lulsley, Worcestershire; their only child, Caroline, was born on December 27, St. John's Day, 1738, old style, but in new style, January 7, 1739. Her father, Mr. Girle, had two sisters: Jane, married to Benjamin Bagley, Esq.; the other, Elizabeth; in 1745, to William Mount, Esq., of Wasing Place, Berks, as his second wife. Mrs. Girle had also two sisters: one, Sarah, married William Goldborough, Esq.; the other, Mary, married to - Hussey, Esq.

Note 1. Mr. Girle built this house. His daughter states, "We went into the house my father built in Lincoln's-Inn-Fields, September 14, 1754.