Peter Langtoft, also known as Peter of Langtoft ( fro, Piers de Langtoft; died 1305) was an English historian and chronicler who took his name from the small village of Langtoft in the

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to t ...

. Langtoft was an

Augustinian Augustinian may refer to: *Augustinians, members of religious orders following the Rule of St Augustine *Augustinianism, the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and his intellectual heirs *Someone who follows Augustine of Hippo * Canons Regular of Sain ...

canon regular at

Bridlington Bridlington is a coastal town and a civil parish on the Holderness Coast of the North Sea in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is about north of Hull and east of York. The Gypsey Race enters the North Sea at its harbour. The 2011 ...

Priory who wrote a history of England in Anglo-Norman verse, popularly known as ''Langtoft's Chronicle''. The history narrates the history of England from the legendary founding of Britain by

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 the death of

King Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassal ...

. The first part of Langtoft's chronicle is translated from

Wace Wace ( 1110 – after 1174), sometimes referred to as Robert Wace, was a Medieval Norman poet, who was born in Jersey and brought up in mainland Normandy (he tells us in the ''Roman de Rou'' that he was taken as a child to Caen), ending his car ...

's ''

Roman de Brut The ''Brut'' or ''Roman de Brut'' (completed 1155) by the poet Wace is a loose and expanded translation in almost 15,000 lines of Norman-French verse of Geoffrey of Monmouth's Latin '' History of the Kings of Britain''. It was formerly known ...

'', and the second part is drawn from a number of sources, including

Henry of Huntingdon Henry of Huntingdon ( la, Henricus Huntindoniensis; 1088 – AD 1157), the son of a canon in the diocese of Lincoln, was a 12th-century English historian and the author of ''Historia Anglorum'' (Medieval Latin for "History of the English"), ...

's ''Historia Anglorum''. The third part is widely considered to be original work by Langtoft, and he includes in it details not recorded elsewhere such as the fate of Gwenllian, daughter of

Llywelyn ap Gruffudd Llywelyn ap Gruffudd (c. 1223 – 11 December 1282), sometimes written as Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, also known as Llywelyn the Last ( cy, Llywelyn Ein Llyw Olaf, lit=Llywelyn, Our Last Leader), was the native Prince of Wales ( la, Princeps Wall ...

, Prince of Wales. On the whole, the chronicle is virulently anti-Scottish and famously contains nine 'songs', in both

Anglo-Norman Anglo-Norman may refer to: *Anglo-Normans, the medieval ruling class in England following the Norman conquest of 1066 * Anglo-Norman language **Anglo-Norman literature * Anglo-Norman England, or Norman England, the period in English history from 10 ...

and

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English ...

, supposedly capturing the taunts between English and Scottish soldiers during the Anglo-Scottish conflicts of the late 13th and early 14th centuries. ''Langtoft's Chronicle'' was the source of the second part of

Robert Mannyng Robert Mannyng (or Robert de Brunne; 1275 – c. 1338) was an English chronicler and Gilbertine monk. Mannyng provides a surprising amount of information about himself in his two known works, '' Handlyng Synne'' and '' Mannyng's Chronicle''. In ...

's '' Middle English Chronicle'', completed around 1338. Piers Langtoft's ''Chronicle'', as translated, illustrated and improved by Robert of Brunne, was also transcribed and published, in two volumes, by Thomas Hearne in 1725.Peter Langtoft, Robert of Brunne, Thomas Hearne
''Peter Langtoft's Chronicle''
(1725) in two volumes.

References

*T. Wright, ed., ''The Chronicle of Pierre de Langtoft'' (London: Rerum Britannicarum medii aevii scriptores, 1859) *Jean-Claude Thiolier, ed., ''Édition critique et commentée de Pierre de Langtoft, Le règne d'Édouard Ier'' (Créteil : C.E.L.I.M.A., Université de Paris XII, 1989- ).

External links

* * * Manuscript of Langtoft's Chronicle in the British Library
British Library Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts, Royal 20 A II

The Reign of Edward I
a chronicle written by Langtoft that is contained in a ''Trilingual compendium of texts'' in

Cambridge Digital Library The Cambridge Digital Library is a project operated by the Cambridge University Library designed to make items from the unique and distinctive collections of Cambridge University Library available online. The project was initially funded by a donat ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Langtoft, Piers Augustinian canons 14th-century English historians Anglo-Norman literature 13th-century English historians People from Bridlington 13th-century births 1300s deaths English male writers