Robert of Avesbury (died 1359) was an English historian. He describes himself in the title of his work as "Keeper of the Registry of the Court of Canterbury". Beyond this fact nothing is known of him. He compiled a history of the "mirabilia gesta" of Edward III down to 1356; his chief interest is in military history, and especially in the French war. To ecclesiastical and civil affairs he pays little attention. His work opens with a short sketch of the reign of Edward II, and the wars with Scotland are told with comparative brevity. The continental wars from 1339 to 1356 occupy nine-tenths of his narrative. Robert is no more than a painstaking chronicler, but his history has special importance because he incorporated in his text original documents and letters, including those of Michael de Northburgh. There are three manuscripts: Harley MS 200 in the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

, MS Douce 128 in the Bodleian Library, and

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

MS. R v. 32; the first is the archetype, the two latter are derived from it through an intermediate copy. Robert of Avesbury's chronicle ("Historia de Mirabilibus Gestis Edwardi III") was published by Thomas Hearne, Oxford, 1720. It has been re-edited by Sir

E. Maunde Thompson Sir Edward Maunde Thompson (4 May 1840 – 14 September 1929) was a British palaeographer and Principal Librarian and first Director of the British Museum. He is noted for his handbook of Greek and Latin palaeography and for his study of Wil ...

, with the chronicle of

Adam Murimuth Adam Murimuth (1274/751347) was an English ecclesiastic and chronicler. Life He was born in 1274 or 1275 and studied civil law at the University of Oxford. Between 1312 and 1318 he practised in the papal curia at Avignon. King Edward II of En ...

, in 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 ...

, 1889. Robert of Avesbury's original manuscript is also one of the few credible eyewitness accounts of the black death and the flagellants Cohn, Norman, The Pursuit of the Millennium: Revolutionary Millenarians and Mystical anarchists of the Middle Ages (1970)

References

Cohn, Norman, The Pursuit of the Millennium: Revolutionary Millenarians and Mystical anarchists of the Middle Ages (1970) ;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Avesbury, Robert of Year of birth unknown 1359 deaths 14th-century English historians