Thomas Gardiner ( fl. 1507-1542), was a monk of Westminster Abbey who wrote a chronicle of English history from Brutus of Britain to the seventh year of Henry VIII, entitled ''The Flowers of England''. The only manuscript, which is among the Cotton MSS. (Otho C. vi.), was badly damaged by fire. He also wrote a genealogical roll of Tudor ancestry.

Life

Gardiner may be identical to the Thomas Gardiner who was the son of Helen Tudor, illegitimate daughter of

Jasper Tudor Jasper Tudor, Duke of Bedford (November 143121/26 December 1495), was the uncle of King Henry VII of England and a leading architect of his nephew's successful accession to the throne in 1485. He was from the noble Tudor family of Penmynydd i ...

. She married a London businessman named William Gardiner. Helen's son Thomas is known to have entered Westminster Abbey as a monk.Douglas Richardson, ''Plantagenet Ancestry: A Study In Colonial And Medieval Families'', Genealogical Publishing, 2011, p.370. Gardiner seems to have studied at Oxford and Cambridge universities. Henry VII appointed Gardiner Prior of Blythe in 1507. He later became Prior of Tynemouth. On his return to Westminster he became a priest in the king's chantry. After the dissolution of the monasteries Gardiner has been described as an "ex-monk turned propagandist", dedicated to promoting Henry VIII.

Writings

Gardiner was responsible for two known writings, both of which represent traditional medieval styles of history writing which were already old-fashioned. ''The Flowers of England'' was a largely uncritical chronology combining legend with history. His genealogical roll for Henry VIII was similar in character, designed to confirm the noble ancestry of the Tudors.James G. Clark, ''The Religious Orders in Pre-Reformation England'', Boydell & Brewer, Rochester, NY, 2002 p.71. This was presented to the king in 1542. The roll gave Henry VIII a pedigree showing his descent from Cadwallader, referred to as "the laste kynge of that blode from whome by trew and lynyall descensse" the Tudors descended. Gardiner also claimed that Henry was descended from Alfred the Great,

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...

and

Hugh Capet Hugh Capet (; french: Hugues Capet ; c. 939 – 14 October 996) was the King of the Franks from 987 to 996. He is the founder and first king from the House of Capet. The son of the powerful duke Hugh the Great and his wife Hedwige of Saxony, ...

,D.R. Woolf, "The power of the past: history, ritual and political authority in Tudor England", in Paul A. Fideler, ''Political Thought and the Tudor Commonwealth:Deep Structure, Discourse, and Disguise'', New York, 1992, pp. 21-22. which he was.

References

Year of birth missing Year of death missing 16th-century Christian monks English Christian monks 16th-century English clergy People from Westminster {{England-reli-bio-stub