![Johnrous](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Johnrous.jpg)
John Rous (c. 1411/20 – 24 January 1492) was an English historian and
antiquary
An antiquarian or antiquary () is an fan (person), aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifact (archaeology), artifac ...
, most noted for his ''Historia Regum Angliae'' ("History of the Kings of England"), which describes ancient British and English rulers from
Brutus
Marcus Junius Brutus (; ; 85 BC – 23 October 42 BC), often referred to simply as Brutus, was a Roman politician, orator, and the most famous of the assassins of Julius Caesar. After being adopted by a relative, he used the name Quintus Serv ...
to King
Henry VII. His historical work is now considered to have "displayed no critical faculty" and to have made credulous the "imaginative embellishments (of) the myths of
Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth ( la, Galfridus Monemutensis, Galfridus Arturus, cy, Gruffudd ap Arthur, Sieffre o Fynwy; 1095 – 1155) was a British cleric from Monmouth, Wales and one of the major figures in the development of British historiograph ...
." However his ''Rous Roll'' and ''Warwick Roll'' are noted for their historically important illustrations, often credited to Rous's hand but not with certainty.
Origins
Rous was born at
Warwick
Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Whi ...
, probably in 1420, though this is uncertain. He was the son of Geoffrey Rous of Warwick, a younger son of Thomas Rous of Brinklow, by his wife Margaret Fyncham, a daughter of Richard Fyncham, both of armigerous gentry families.
Career
He was educated at
Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
. He entered holy orders, remaining in the vicinity of Warwick for most of his clerical career but making some travels to study archives for his historical research. He spent most of his career in the service of the
Yorkist
The House of York was a cadet branch of the English royal House of Plantagenet. Three of its members became kings of England in the late 15th century. The House of York descended in the male line from Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, t ...
dynasty. He was chaplain of the chapel of
Guy's Cliffe
Guy's Cliffe (variously spelled with and without an apostrophe and a final "e") is a hamlet and former civil parish on the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon and the Coventry Road between Warwick and Leek Wootton, in the parish of Leek Wootton ...
during the reign of King
Richard III
Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Battl ...
(1483-1485) and was a canon of the
Collegiate Church of St Mary, Warwick
The Collegiate Church of St Mary is a Church of England parish church in Warwick, Warwickshire, England. It is in the centre of the town just east of the market place. It is grade I listed, and a member of the Major Churches Network.
The churc ...
.
Works
Rous Roll
![Rous Roll - Richard and family](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Rous_Roll_-_Richard_and_family.jpg)
He was responsible for creating the "Rous Roll", written during the reign of Richard III (1483–1485), which presents a pro-Yorkist version of contemporary English history. In it he praises Richard as a "good lord" who punished "oppressors of the commons".
[Charles Ross, ''Richard III'', xxii-xxiv.] However, he reversed his position dramatically in his later ''Historia Regum Angliae'' written in the following reign under Henry VII (1485–1509), Richard's deposer, in which he portrays Richard as a freakish individual born with fully-formed teeth and shoulder-length hair after having been in his mother's womb for two years, and as an adult with a stunted and distorted body with one shoulder higher than the other. In the later work Rous also attributes the 1471 murder of
King Henry VI
Henry VI (6 December 1421 – 21 May 1471) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471, and disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. The only child of Henry V, he succeeded to the English throne a ...
to Richard, and claims that he poisoned his own wife.
Warwick Roll
The "Warwick Roll" is a family chronicle of the Beauchamp family, concerned mainly with the life of
Richard Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick
Richard Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick (25 or 28 January 138230 April 1439) was an English medieval nobleman and military commander.
Early life
Beauchamp was born at Salwarpe CourtRichard Gough, ''Description of the Beauchamp chapel, adjoin ...
(1382-1439), a contemporary of Rous.
''Historia Regum Angliae''
In his ''Historia Regum Angliae'' ("History of the Kings of England") Rous was mainly interested in antiquarian details of social life and the development of scholarly institutions. For example in his life of King
Henry V Henry V may refer to:
People
* Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026)
* Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125)
* Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161)
* Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227)
* Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (121 ...
(1413-1422) Rous describes that king's educational history and his social projects but omits to mention the
Battle of Agincourt
The Battle of Agincourt ( ; french: Azincourt ) was an English victory in the Hundred Years' War. It took place on 25 October 1415 (Saint Crispin's Day) near Azincourt, in northern France. The unexpected English victory against the numerica ...
, the central event in his reign, merely noting that he "campaigned in France" and was "renowned for his military skills".
[Anne Curry, ''The Battle of Agincourt: Sources and Interpretations'', Boydell Press, 2000, p.196.]
Other works
Rous appears to have written a number of other works about Warwickshire local history and histories of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. He also wrote a treatise on giants whom he supposed lived after the
Great Flood
A flood myth or a deluge myth is a myth in which a great flood, usually sent by a deity or deities, destroys civilization, often in an act of divine retribution. Parallels are often drawn between the flood waters of these myths and the primaeval ...
, but most of these works are now lost.
Death
He died on 24 January 1492, aged 81 according to some sources, and was buried in the
Collegiate Church of St Mary, Warwick
The Collegiate Church of St Mary is a Church of England parish church in Warwick, Warwickshire, England. It is in the centre of the town just east of the market place. It is grade I listed, and a member of the Major Churches Network.
The churc ...
, to which he bequeathed his library, directing that a special room to house it be built.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rous, John
1491 deaths
English chroniclers
English antiquarians
15th-century antiquarians
People from Warwick
Year of birth uncertain
English male non-fiction writers