William of Worcester's Chronicle of England

William of Worcester, born around 1415, and died around 1482 was secretary to John Fastolf, the renowned soldier of the Hundred Years War, during which time he collected documents, letters, and wrote a record of events. Following their return to England in 1440 William was witness to major events. Twice in his chronicle he uses the first person: 1. when writing about the murder of Thomas, 7th Baron Scales, in 1460, he writes '… and I saw him lying naked in the cemetery near the porch of the church of St. Mary Overie in Southwark …' and 2. describing King Edward IV's entry into London in 1461 he writes '… proclaimed that all the people themselves were to recognize and acknowledge Edward as king. I was present and heard this, and immediately went down with them into the city'. William’s Chronicle is rich in detail. It is the source of much information about the Wars of the Roses, including the term 'Diabolical Marriage' to describe the marriage of Queen Elizabeth Woodville’s brother John’s marriage to Katherine, Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, he aged twenty, she sixty-five or more, and the story about a paper crown being placed in mockery on the severed head of Richard, 3rd Duke of York.

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Archbishop Walter Reynolds -1327

After 22nd August 1307 Archbishop Walter Reynolds was appointed Lord High Treasurer.

On 13th November 1307 Archbishop Walter Reynolds was elected Bishop of Worcester.

On 13th October 1308 Archbishop Walter Reynolds was consecrated Bishop of Worcester.

On 6th July 1310 Archbishop Walter Reynolds was appointed Lord Keeper of the Great Seal and Lord Chancellor.

Annales Paulini. In the same year, during Easter week [19th April], Sir John de Langton, Bishop of Chichester, was honourably removed by the king from the office of Chancellor, and the seal was entrusted to the custody of Sir Adam de Osgodby, R. de Barneby and Master J. Franceys from that time until the Monday next after the feast of the Apostles Peter and Paul [6th July 1310]. On that same day Sir Walter Reynolds, Bishop of Worcester, having been released from the office of Treasurer, was made the king's Chancellor, although the commonalty of England did not consent. At the same time Sir John de Sandale was made the king's Treasurer.

Eodem anno, in septimana Pasche, dominus Johannes de Langethone, Cicestrensis episcopus, depositus fuit per regem de officio cancellariæ ad honorem suum; et fuit sigillum traditum in custodiam dominorum Adæ de Osegodesbi, et R. de Barneby et magistri J. Franceys; ab eo tempore usque ad diem Lunæ proximam post festum apostolorum Petri et Pauli; et eodem die dominus Walterus Reginaldi, episcopus Wygorniensis, absolutus addon ab officio thesaurarii, factus fuit cancellarius regis, communitate tamen Angliæ non consentiente; et eodem tempore dominus Johannes de Sandale factus fuit thesaurarius regis.

Adam Murimuth Continuation. In this year of our Lord 1312, namely on the thirteenth day of November, Queen Isabella bore a son1 to the king at Windsor. He had him baptized by Arnald, cardinal of Albano, and named Edward. He afterwards reigned, as will be described below, and was called Edward the Third from the Conquest.

Hoc anno Domini MCCCXII scilicet XIIJ die Novembris, Isabella regina peperit regi filium apud Windelesore, quem fecit baptizari per cardinalem Albanensem Arnaldum, et vocari Edwardum; qui postea regnavit, sicut inferius describetur, et vocatus est Edwardus tertius a conquæstu.

Note 1. Edward, the future King Edward III, was born on 13th November 1312. He was christened on 17th November 1312 with Archbishop Walter Reynolds being one of his godfathers.

On 13th November 1312 King Edward III of England was born to King Edward II of England [aged 28] and Isabella of France Queen Consort England [aged 17] at Windsor Castle [Map]. He was christened on 17th November 1312 with Archbishop Walter Reynolds being one of his godfathers. Coefficient of inbreeding 2.17%. He married 24th January 1328 his second cousin Philippa of Hainaut Queen Consort England, daughter of William of Avesnes I Count Hainaut III Count Avesnes III Count Holland II Count Zeeland and Joan Valois Countess Zeeland Holland Avesnes and Hainaut, and had issue.

In 1313 Archbishop Walter Reynolds was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury.

Annals Londonienses. In the year of our Lord 1313, and still in the sixth year of the king's reign, on Friday, 11th May, the said Robert de Winchelsey [aged 68], Archbishop of Canterbury, died at Otford [Map] in Kent. He was afterwards buried, on 16th May, in Christ Church, Canterbury, on the south side of the choir, for whom God works many miracles. He was succeeded as archbishop by Walter, called Reynolds, Bishop of Worcester. In the same year, on the vigil of the Ascension of the Lord [23rd May], the king and queen crossed the sea to Paris, to the King of France, and returned around the feast of St Margaret [20th July].

Anno Domini MCCCXIII, et anno regni regis adhuc vio, die Veneris, quinto ydus Maii, obiit dictus Robertus de Wynchelse, archiepiscopus Cantuariensis, apud Otteforde in Kantia; qui postea, XVII kalendas Junii, sepultus est in ecclesia Christi Cantuariæ, in australi parte chori; pro quo Deus multa operatur miracula. Post quem successit Walterus dictus Heyne, episcopus burial of Winchelsey, Wygornensis, in archiepiscopum. Eodem anno, rex et Visit of the regina in vigilia Ascensionis Domini, apud regem ad Parisius transfretarunt, et redierunt circa festum Sanctæ Margaretæ.

Adam Murimuth Continuation. In this year, on the twelfth day of the month of May, in the year of our Lord 1313, Archbishop Robert of Winchelsea [deceased] died, and Master Thomas de Cobham [aged 45], who was then in France on affairs of the kingdom, was unanimously elected in his place. Nevertheless, the king asked Pope Clement that Lord Walter Reynolds, bishop of Worcester, should be transferred to the church of Canterbury. This was done on the first day of October in the following year, namely in the year of our Lord 1313. Immediately afterwards he gave the bishopric of Worcester to Lord Walter de Maidstone, a man indeed widely spoken against in England for dishonourable conduct and life, and secretly familiar with the pope in an unseemly way. He remained in that bishopric only a short time. Later Pope John gave the bishopric of Worcester to the said Master Thomas de Cobham, who, because of the shame of his voluntary rejection from the church of Canterbury, remained for a long time at the Roman Curia, as will appear below.

Hoc anno, XIJ die mensis Maii, anno Domini MCCCXIII, obiit archiepiscopus Robertus de Wynchelse et fuit concorditer electus magister Thomas de Cobham, exsistens in Francia pro regni negotiis. Et tamen rex rogavit papam Clementem pro domino Waltero Reginaldi, episcopo W ygorniensi, ut ipsum transferret ad ecclesiam Cantuariensem; quod et factum fuit primo die Octobris in anno sequenti, scilicet anno Domini MCCCXIII, et statim dedit episcopatum Wygorniensem domino Waltero de Manestone, viro utique diffamato in Anglia de inhonesta conversatione et vita, et papæ ex inhonesta familiaritate secreto, qui modico tempore postmodum in episcopatu duravit Et postes papa Johannes dedit ipsum episcopatum Wygorniensem dicto magistro Thome de Cobham, qui propter verecundiam voluntariæ repulsionis suæ ab ecclesia Cantuariensi diu in Romana curia morabatur, sicut inferius apparebit.

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In January 1314 Archbishop Walter Reynolds was enthroned Archbishop of Canterbury at Canterbury Cathedral [Map].

Annales Paulini. In the year of our Lord 1314, and in the seventh year of the reign of King Edward, the dominical letter being F, on the thirteenth day before the Kalends of March [17th February 1314], namely a Sunday, Sir Walter Reynolds, formerly Bishop of Worcester, upon whom the pope had conferred the archbishopric of Canterbury at the request of the lord king, Master Thomas de Cobham [aged 46], the archbishop-elect, having been rejected, was enthroned at Canterbury in the presence of the lord king and many magnates. In the same year, on Passion Sunday, which fell on the ninth day before the Kalends of April [24th March], Master Gilbert de Segrave [aged 48], Bishop of London, was enthroned, and on the same day, as though its founder, he laid the first stones of the new shrine of St Erkenwald.

Anno Domini MCCCXIIII, et anno regni regis Edwardi VII; litera Dominicalis F. XIII kalendas Martii, videlicet die Dominica, dominus Walterus Reginaldi, quondam episcopus Wygorniensis, cui dominus papa archiepiscopatum Cantuariensem ad rogatum domini regis contulerat, magistro Thoma de Cobeham electo repulso, intronizatus fuit apud Cantuariam, domino rege præsente et magnatibus multis. Eodem anno, Dominica in Passione, quæ fuit Segrave IX kalendas Aprilis, intronizatus fuit magister Gilbertus de Segrave episcopus Londoniensis, et eodem die posuit primos lapides novi feretri Sancti Erkenwaldi quasi fundator.

Annales Paulini. Around the feast of All Saints [1st November 1314], a certain woman named Juliana de Lambeth, who was the daughter of a convert, was arrested within the jurisdiction of the Bishop of London. She was accused of sorcery by Sir Walter, Archbishop of Canterbury, and was rigorously examined before him and his clerks. Eventually she was handed over for examination and correction by the Bishop of London [aged 48]. The bishop had her brought into St Paul's Cathedral in London, dressed in a black cloak with long sleeves in the manner of a philosopher, and made her walk at the head of the procession carrying a certain wax image, because she had been accustomed to practise her sorcery by means of images of this kind. Afterwards she was stripped of this clothing and placed upon a high scaffold erected for the purpose above the consistory, in full view of all the people. There the bishop caused all her books, together with some of her hair, to be burned. In addition, she swore an oath that she would not make use of [....].

Circa festum Omnium Sanctorum, mulier quædam nomine Juliana de Lamhethe, quæ fuitde filia cujusdam conversi, comprehensa, in jurisdictione domini episcopi Londoniensis; cui imponebatur sortilegium per dominum Walterum archiepiscopum Cantuariensem, et coram ipso et clericis suis districte examinata. Tandem examinationi et correctioni episcopi Londoniensis fuit tradita. Episcopus vero fecit eam adduci in ecclesiam Sancti Pauli Londoniis, indutam capa nigra cum longis manicis ad modum philosophi, et fecit eam antecedere processionem portantem quandam ymaginem de cera, eo quod solebat de hujusmodi ymaginibus maleficia sua operari. Postea despoliata fuit, et in scaffoldo eminenti super consistorium, ad hoc præparato, in conspectu totius populi fuit statuta, et omnes libellos suos cum aliqua parte capillorum suorum ibidem facto fecit episcopus comburi, facto insuper juramento per ipsain de non utendo in [....]

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Annales Paulini. In the year of our Lord 1317, and in the tenth year of the reign of King Edward, the dominical letter being B, on the sixth day before the Kalends of February [27th January 1317], which was a Thursday, Master Richard de Newport was elected Bishop of London. On the Sunday immediately following the Ascension of the Lord [15th May], he was consecrated at Canterbury by Sir Walter, Archbishop of Canterbury. Around the same time, the Countess of Lancaster [aged 35] was abducted by the Earl of Warenne [aged 30].

Anno Domini MCCCXVII, et anno regni regis Edwardi X, littera Dominicalis B; VI kalendas Februarii, qui fuit dies Jovis, electus fuit magister Ricardus de Neuport in episcopum Londoniensem; et die Dominica proxima post Ascensionem Domini consecratus fuit apud Cantuariam a domino Waltero archiepiscopo Cantuariensi. Circa idem tempus rapta fuit comitissa Lancastriæ per comitem Warenniæ.

On 1st February 1327 King Edward III of England [aged 14] was crowned III King of England at Westminster Abbey [Map] by Archbishop Walter Reynolds.

Chronicle of Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbroke. After the glorious King Edward had, as previously stated, resigned the crown of the realm to his firstborn son, Lord Edward of Windsor, and once certain reports of this had spread, the nobles and prelates of the realm gathered in Parliament at London and most eagerly acknowledged this same Edward, son of Edward, then a youth of about fifteen years,1 as successor to the throne, a young man gracious in the sight of God and of all the world. On the first day of February at Westminster, he was crowned by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Walter Reynolds. Many attended this great solemnity, both foreigners and natives, and especially the hired soldiers of Queen Isabella, his mother, whom, as has been said, she had summoned from Hainaut and Germany. Thus the new king was adorned with the royal crown, the same which the most blessed confessor Saint Edward, his predecessor, had been accustomed to wear. Though the crown was of great weight and size, he bore it with such manly strength that all who knew the tenderness of his youth, the crown's great size, and its heaviness, were filled with wonder. On the same day, three sons of Roger de Mortimer, along with many others, were honoured with the belt of knighthood.

Postquam gloriosus rex Edwardus regni diadema, ut prescriptum est, suo primogenito, domino Edwardo de Wyndesore, resignaverat, habitis de hoc certis rumouribus, in parliamento Londoniis regni proceres ct prelati ipsum Edwardum Edwardi primogenitum, quindecim circiter annorum adolescentem, Deo et toti mundo graciosum, in patris successorem promtissime admiserunt, atque prima die Februarii, apud Westmonasterium, per archiepiscopum Cantuariensem, Walterum Renald, coronari fecerunt. Tante solemnitati interfuerunt multi tam alienigene quam indigene et precipue stipendiarii Isabelle regine matris sue, quos, ut dictum est, de Hanonia et Germania ipsa invitavit. Novus itaque rex regia corona insignitus, quam beatissimus confessor sanctus Edwardus suus predecessor gestare solebat, quantumcumque gravis ponderis et amplam, tamen ita viriliter ipsam gessit, ut inde mirarentur qui pueri teneritudinem et amplitudinem corone atque ponderositatem experti noverunt. Eodem die IIJ filii Rogeri de Mortuo mari atque multi alii milicie cingulo fuerunt decorati.

Note 1. Edward was just over fourteen years and two months old. The memorandum in the Rymer's Fœdera 2.683, relating to the coronation states that there were present the bishops of Ely, Hereford, Winchester, Chichester, Worcester, Durham, Lincoln, Llandaff, and Norwich; the earls of Norfolk, Kent, Surrey, and Hereford; Roger Mortimer, Henry Beaumont, and others.

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Chronicle of Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbroke. In this year, in the month of November, Walter,1 Archbishop of Canterbury, died, and he was succeeded by Master Simon de Mepham, a doctor of theology, through a canonical election. In this same year, Master Thomas de Cobham2, Bishop of Worcester, also died; and he was succeeded by papal provision by Adam Orleton, formerly Bishop of Hereford, who had gone to the papal court on behalf of his own affairs and those of the king's mother. Likewise, the pope provided the Church of Hereford with Master Thomas de Charlton, who was then present at the court.

Hoc anno, mense Novembris, obiit Walterus Cantuariensis archiepiscopus, cui successit per eleccionem canonicam magister Symon de Mepham, doctor in theologia. Hoc anno moriebatur magister Thomas de Cobham episcopus Wigorniensis; cui successit per provisionem pape Adam Torltoine, prius episcopus Herefordensis, ad curiam pro negociis propriis et matris regis profectus. Item papa providit ecclesie Herefordensi de magistro Thoma de Charletone, tunc in curia presente.

Note 1. Archbishop Walter Reynolds died on 16th November 1327.

Note 2. Thomas de Cobham, Bishop of Worcester, died on 27th August 1327.

Annales Paulini. In the same year, on the sixteenth day before the Kalends of December [16th November 1327], Sir Walter Reynolds, Archbishop of Canterbury, died at Mortlake, and on the fifth day before the Kalends of the same month [27th November] he was buried at Canterbury. During his time many ecclesiastical rights were lost.

Eodem anno, xvi kalendas Decembris, dominus Walterus Reginaldi, archiepiscopus Cantuariensis, obiit apud Mortelake, et v kalendas ejusdem mensis fuit sepultus apud Cantuariam, cujus tempore plura jura ecclesiastica Obiit Walterus archiepiscopus. perierunt.

On 16th November 1327 Archbishop Walter Reynolds died at Mortlake, Richmond.

Annales Paulini. Walter Reynolds, who had been brought up at the king's court, was made Treasurer of England by the king, and, a few days later, when the see of Worcester became vacant, the pope, at the king's request, conferred that bishopric upon the same Walter. Ralph, Bishop of London, was removed from the office of Chancellor, and John de Langton, Bishop of Chichester, again obtained that office. The barons of the Exchequer, the justices and other royal officials were removed, and others were appointed in their place.

Walterus Reginaldi, qui in curia regis nutritus fuerat, factus est a rege thesaurarius Angliæ, et, post dies paucos vacante sede Wygorniensi, ad instantiam regis papa eidem Waltero eundem contulit præsulatum. Radulfus episcopus Londoniensis amotus est ab John Langofficio cancellariæ, et Johannes de Langetone, episcopus Cycestrensis, iterum est illud officium assecutus. Barones de scaccario, justitiarii, aliique ministri regii amoventur, et loco ipsorum alii subrogantur.