Reimagining History in Anglo-Norman Prose Chronicles YORK MEDIEVAL PRESS York Medieval Press is published by the University of York’s Centre for Medieval Studies in association with Boydell & Brewer Limited. Our objective is the promo- tion of innovative scholarship and fresh criticism on medieval culture. We have a special commitment to interdisciplinary study, in line with the Centre’s belief that the future of Medieval Studies lies in those areas in which its major constituent disciplines at once inform and challenge each other. Editorial Board (2013) Professor Peter Biller (Dept of History): General Editor Dr T. Ayers (Dept of History of Art) Dr J. W. Binns (Dept of English and Related Literature) Professor Helen Fulton (Dept of English and Related Literature) Dr K. F. Giles (Dept of Archaeology) Professor Christopher Norton (Dept of History of Art) Professor W. M. Ormrod (Dept of History) Professor J. G. 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Except as permitted under current legislation no part of this work may be photocopied, stored in a retrieval system, published, performed in public, adapted, broadcast, transmitted, recorded or reproduced in any form or by any means, without the prior permission of the copyright owner The right of John Spence to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 First published 2013 A York Medieval Press publication in association with The Boydell Press an imprint of Boydell & Brewer Ltd PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DF, UK and of Boydell & Brewer Inc. 668 Mt Hope Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620-2731, USA website: www.boydellandbrewer.com and with the Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York ISBN 978-1-903153-45-1 A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library The publisher has no responsibility for the continued existence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this book, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. Papers used by Boydell & Brewer Ltd are natural, recyclable products made from wood grown in sustainable forests Printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY CONTENTS List of plates vi Acknowledgements viii Abbreviations ix A note on quotations and translations x Introduction 1 1. The rhetoric of confidence in the prologues to Anglo- Norman prose chronicles 26 2. The legendary history of Britain in Anglo- Norman prose chronicles 40 3. Legends of English heroes: Engel, Havelok, Constance 74 4. Representations of the Norman Conquest in Anglo- Norman prose chronicles 105 5. Family chronicles 141 Conclusions 162 Appendix: Two extracts from the Scalacronica: texts and translations 165 Bibliography 174 Index 197 v PLATES Plate 1: Roundels of kings Alfred and Arthur in London, British Library, MS Cotton Roll XV.7, m. 4r. © The British Library Board. MS Cotton Roll XV.7, m. 4r. All Rights Reserved. Plate 2: Depiction and account of the Norman Conquest in London, British Library, MS Cotton Vitellius A.XIII, fol. 3v. © The British Library Board. MS Cotton Vitellius A.XIII, fol. 3v. All Rights Reserved. vi The publishers acknowledge the generous fi nancial support of the Marc Fitch Fund in the production of this volume. The publication has been made possible by a grant from the Scouloudi Foundation, in association with the Institute for Historical Research. vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I thank the Arts and Humanities Research Council for providing the funding to support the early stages of this project. I am also grateful to the Members’ English Fund, Cambridge, and to the Jebb Fund, Cambridge, which both pro- vided additional grants that enabled the early parts of my research. I grate- fully acknowledge the generous fi nancial support of the Marc Fitch Fund and the Scouloudi Foundation. An earlier version of the material in the fi rst half of Chapter 5 of this book appeared as ‘Genealogies of Noble Families in Anglo- Norman’, in Broken Lines: Genealogical Literature in Medieval Britain and France, ed. R. L. Radulescu and E. D. Kennedy, Medieval Texts and Cultures of Northern Europe 16 (Turnhout, 2008), pp. 63–77. I am grateful to Brepols Publishers for permission to reprint this. Without the guidance of Judith Weiss this book would not have been written. Without Jocelyn Wogan- Browne’s encouragement, it would not have been published. I have also benefi ted greatly from the advice of Marianne Ailes, Elizabeth Archibald, Laura Ashe, James Carley, Julia Crick, A. S. G. Edwards, Mary Flannery, Thelma Fenster, Sarah James, Edward Donald Kennedy, Erik Kooper, Olivier de Laborderie, Françoise Le Saux, Julia Marvin, Richard Moll, Victoria Moul, Heather Pagan, Christopher Page, Nick Paul, Lisa Ruch, Andrea Ruddick, Corinne Saunders, John Scattergood, Jean- Claude Thiolier, Elisabeth van Houts, Diane Vincent, Dan Wakelin, Paul Webster, Barry Windeatt and Neil Wright. The anonymous reader for York Medieval Press provided valuable suggestions and I am grateful to the editorial boards and staff of York Medieval Press and Boydell & Brewer for their support and hard work. I also thank the staff of all the libraries I visited during my research. The two images in the book are reproduced with the permission of the British Library. My beloved wife, Yu- Chiao Wang, supported me through the writing process both intellectually and emotionally: I owe her a great debt. I was also supported by the rest of my family: my children Beatrice and Edward, my sister Bex, her husband Joe and their daughter Kara Hogan, and George and Sue Spence, my parents. This book is dedicated to my mum and dad. viii