Thomas Elmham (1364in or after 1427) was an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
chronicler.
Life
Thomas Elmham was probably born at
North Elmham
North Elmham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.
It covers an area of and had a population of 1,428 in 624 households at the 2001 census, including Gateley and increasing slightly to 1,433 at the 2011 Census. For ...
in
Norfolk
Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
. He may have been the Thomas Elmham who was a scholar at
King's Hall, Cambridge
King's Hall was once one of the constituent colleges of Cambridge, founded in 1317, the second after Peterhouse. King's Hall was established by King Edward II to provide chancery clerks for his administration, and was very rich compared to Michae ...
from 1389 to 1394. He became a
Benedictine
, image = Medalla San Benito.PNG
, caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal
, abbreviation = OSB
, formation =
, motto = (English: 'Pray and Work')
, foun ...
monk at
Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour.
...
, and then joining the
Cluniac
The Cluniac Reforms (also called the Benedictine Reform) were a series of changes within medieval monasticism of the Western Church focused on restoring the traditional monastic life, encouraging art, and caring for the poor. The movement began wi ...
s, was prior of
Lenton Priory
Lenton Priory was a Cluniac monastic house in Nottinghamshire, founded by William Peverel ''circa 1102-8''. The priory was granted a large endowment of property in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire by its founder, which became the cause of violent di ...
, near
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...
; he was chaplain to
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 ...
, whom he may have accompanied to
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
in 1415, and may have been present at 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 ...
.
Works
Elmham wrote a history of the
monastery
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...
of
St. Augustine at Canterbury, which was edited by
Charles Hardwick for the ''
Rolls Series
''The Chronicles and Memorials of Great Britain and Ireland during the Middle Ages'' ( la, Rerum Britannicarum medii aevi scriptores), widely known as the is a major collection of British and Irish historical materials and primary sources publish ...
'' (1858); and a ''Liber metricus de Henrico V'', edited by C. A. Cole in the ''Memorials of Henry V'' (1858).
As well as this verse life of Henry V, Elmham himself says he wrote a prose biography of the king. The eighteenth-century editor of the ''Vita et Gesta Henrici V'',
Thomas Hearne, made a claim for Elmham's authorship of that biography but, in fact, it was written in the mid-1430s, long after Elmham's death. The attribution was rejected by the early twentieth century and the ''Vita et Gesta'' since then has gone by the designation of "Pseudo-Elmham" (this biography was the main source of the ''Vita Henrici Quinti'' by
Tito Livio Frulovisi
Tito Livio Frulovisi ( 1430s–1440s) was a humanist scholar and author, who is best known for his biography of King Henry V of England in Latin, the ''Vita Henrici Quinti''.
Life and work
Frulovisi was from Ferrara and grew up in Venice. It was ...
). In the early twentieth century, it was suggested instead that Elmham's prose life could be equated with the ''
Gesta Henrici Quinti
The ''Gesta Henrici Quinti'' ("Deeds of Henry the Fifth") is a medieval Latin chronicle written by an anonymous author.
History
The book was published in 1975 by Frank Taylor and John Roskell Smith.
There are currently only two manuscripts of ...
'', which is the best authority for the life of Henry V from his accession to 1416. This work, sometimes referred to as the chaplain's life, and thought by some to have been written by
Jean de Bordin
Jean may refer to:
People
* Jean (female given name)
* Jean (male given name)
* Jean (surname)
Fictional characters
* Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character
* Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations
* J ...
, was first published for the
English Historical Society by B. Williams (1850).
However, the modern editors of the ''Gesta'' convincingly rejected this attribution to Elmham. In short, the prose life by Thomas Elmham is not known to survive.
References
Literature
* C. L. Kingsford, "The Early Biographies of Henry V", ''English Historical Review'', xxv (1910), pp. 58–92.
* F. Taylor & J. S. Roskell ed., ''
Gesta Henrici Quinti
The ''Gesta Henrici Quinti'' ("Deeds of Henry the Fifth") is a medieval Latin chronicle written by an anonymous author.
History
The book was published in 1975 by Frank Taylor and John Roskell Smith.
There are currently only two manuscripts of ...
'' (Oxford, 1975), pp. xviii – xxiii and iid., "The Authorship and Purpose of the Gesta Henrici Quinti: I", ''Bulletin of the John Rylands Library'', liii (1970–71), pp. 428–464.
External links
*
*The Text of the ''Liber Metricus De Henrico V'' https://books.google.com/books?id=hLeUGlUjqoAC
1364 births
1420s deaths
English Benedictines
English Roman Catholics
Roman Catholic writers
15th-century English historians
People from North Elmham
{{England-historian-stub