William Rishanger
William Rishanger (born 1250), nicknamed "Chronigraphus", was an English annalist and Benedictine monk of St Albans Abbey.[1] He probably wrote the Opus Chronicorum, a continuation from 1259 of Matthew Paris's Chronicle. In effect it is a history of his own times from 1259 to 1307, a spirited and trustworthy account, albeit in parts not original.[1] He also wrote a history of the reign of Edward I of England, and a work on the Barons' War; and was probably the continuator of Gesta Abbatum Monasterii Sancti Albani.[2]
From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia
William Rishanger — Chronicler, b. at Rishangles, Suffolk, about 1250; d. after 1312. He became a Benedictine at St. Alban's Abbey, Hertfordshire in 1271, and there revived the custom of composing chronicles which had languished since the time of Matthew Paris. His chief work is the history of the Barons' Wars, "Narratio de bellis apud Lewes et Evesham", covering the period from 1258 to 1267 and including a reference which shows that he was still engaged on it on 3 May, 1312. Apart from its historical matter which is derived from Matthew Paris and his continuators, it is interesting for the evidence it affords of the extreme veneration in which Simon de Montfort was held at that time. He also wrote a short chronicle about Edward I, "Quaedam recapitulatio brevis de gestis domini Edwardi". It is possible, though not very probable, that he wrote the earlier part of a chronicle, "Willelmi Rishanger, monachi S. Albani, Chronica". Four other works attributed to him by Bale are not authentic.
RILEY, Willelmi Rishanger chronica et annales in R. S. (London 1863-76); RILEY in Mon. Germ. Hist., XXVIII (Berlin, 1865); HALLIWELL, Chronicle of William de Rishanger of the Barons' Wars in Camden Society Publications, XV (London, 1840); BEMONT, Simon de Montfort (Paris, 1884); HARDY, Descriptive Catalogue (London, 1862-71), I, 871; III, 171-2, 191-3; TOUT in Dict. Nat. Bioq., s.v.
Edwin Burton.
References
- Back to citation occurrence 1.0 Back to citation occurrence 1.1 Burton 1913.
- Back to citation Antonia Gransden, Historical Writing in England II (1982), pp. 4–5.
Bibliography
- Carley, James P. (2004). "Rishanger, William (b. 1249/50, d. after 1312)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/23669. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
- James Orchard Halliwell (1840), The Chronicle of William de Rishanger, Camden Society
- Burton, Edwin (1913). "William Rishanger". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
- Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Rishanger, William". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.