Alexandri Neckam De vita monachorum, ii. 175-200.

For some political poems of the 12th century, edited by C. L. Kingsford, see English Historical Review, 1890, v. 311–26.

2752. Cy ensuyt une chanson moult pitoyable des oppressions qe la povre commune de Engletere souffre soubz la cruelte des justices de Trayllbastun [ed. Francis Cohen, afterwards Sir Francis Palgrave. London, 1818.]

Also contains a poem on the death of Simon de Montfort and two other poems. There is another song on the death of Simon, edited by F. W. Maitland, in English Historical Review, 1896, xi. 314–18.

2753. English and Scottish popular ballads, ed. F. J. Child. 5 vols. Boston, etc., [1882–98].

The best collection of ballads; admirably edited. Supersedes the older editions of Child's work : 8 vols., 1857-58 and 1864.

2754. Political poems of the reigns of Henry VI. and Edward IV., ed. Frederic Madden. Soc. of Antiq. of London, Archæologia, xxix. 318-47. London, 1842.

For some earlier poems, see ibid., 1817, xviii. 21-28, Death of Edward III., etc.; 1824, xx. 1-423, Creton's Deposition of Richard II.; 1827, xxi. 43-78, Siege of Rouen, temp. Hen. V.

2755. *Political songs of England, from the reign of John to that of Edward II. Edited and translated by Thomas Wright. Camden Soc. London, 1839. Another edition, 'revised' by Edmund Goldsmid, in his Bibliotheca Curiosa. 4 vols. in 1. 4 vols. in 1. Edinburgh,

1884.

Goldsmid omits some of the longer poems printed by Wright. The most valuable song in Wright's volume is that on the battle of Lewes (pp. 72–121), which was written soon after the battle. It is a remarkably bold and complete statement of the baronial programme of constitutional reform. The author was a Franciscan friar. There is an excellent edition of this Latin tract by C. L. Kingsford: The Song of Lewes, Oxford, 1890.

On pp. 323-45 Wright prints a song on the times of Edward II., written about 1320, of which we have a better edition by C. Hardwick: A Poem on the Times of Edward II., Percy Society, 1849, pp. 35.

2756. *.

Political poems and songs relating to English history, from the accession of Edward III. to that of Richard III., ed. Thomas Wright. Rolls Series. 2 vols. London, 1859–61. Contains a critical review of the political 1327 to 1346, in Latin verse with a prose

John of Bridlington, i. 123-215. acts of Edward III., especially from

commentary; completed about 1370 by an unknown writer who adopts the pseudonym John of Bridlington.'

The Reconciliation of Richard II. with the City of London, 1393, by Richard de Maidstone (d. 1396), an admirer of Richard II., i. 282-300. Earlier edition, by Thomas Wright, Camden Soc., 1838.

The Complaint of the Plowman, also called the Plowman's Tale, i. 304–346. Assails the clergy; written about 1394. There is a better edition in Skeat's Complete Works of Chaucer (No. 2757), vii. 149-90. Another English poem by this unknown author is Pierce the Plowman's Crede, ed. W. W. Skeat, Early English Text Society, 1867: a Wyclifite satire, written about 1394 and directed particularly against the friars.

John Gower's Corruptions of the Age, Vices of the Different Orders of Society, King Richard II., Tripartite Chronicle, Verses on Henry IV., etc., i. 346–63, 417-54, ii. 1-15. These poems of Gower assail the government of Richard II. and denounce the Lollards. For his Vox Clamantis, see No. 2758.

The Deposition of Richard II., also called Richard the Redeless, i. 368-417. See No. 2759.

Jack Upland, ii. 16-39: also printed in Skeat's Complete Works of Chaucer (No. 2757), vii. 191-203. A popular indictment of the corruption of the friars, written in 1402.

The Libel of English Policy, ii. 157-205. See No. 2800.

For two poems on the siege of Harflet (Harfleur) and the battle of Agincourt, see Thomas Hearne's edition of Elham's Vita Henrici V. (Oxford, 1727), 359-75.

Chaucer (d. 1400).

2757. Complete works of Geoffrey Chaucer, ed. W. W. Skeat. 7 vols. Oxford, 1894-97. Poetical works of Chaucer. Edited by Richard Morris, with memoir by [N.] Harris Nicolas. 6 vols. London, 1891. — A six-text print of Chaucer's Canterbury tales, in parallel columns, ed. F. J. Furnivall. Chaucer Soc. 8 pts. London, [1868-77]. Various other works of Chaucer published by the Chaucer Society, 1868-98.

The Canterbury Tales give vivid glimpses of the social life of England. See William Godwin, Life of Chaucer, 2 vols., London, 1803 (2nd edition, 4 vols., 1804); Matthew Browne [W. B. Rands], Chaucer's England, 2 vols., London, 1869; Bernard ten Brink, Chaucer, pt. i., Münster, 1870; T. R. Lounsbury, Studies in Chaucer, 3 vols., New York, 1892.

Gower (d. 1408).

2758. Complete works of John Gower, ed. G. C. Macaulay. Vol. i. French works. Oxford, 1900. Poema quod dicitur Vox clamantis necnon Chronica tripartita auctore Johanne Gower, ed. H. O. Coxe. Roxburghe Club. London, 1850.

The Vox Clamantis is an important Latin poem, begun in 1381, which deals

with the causes of the uprising of 1381. It gives a vivid picture of the condition of society, denouncing the vices of the clergy, knights, peasants, merchants, and lawyers. The Tripartite Chronicle inveighs against Richard II.'s public policy from 1386 to 1399, and defends Henry IV.'s usurpation of the throne. For some of Gower's other historical poems, see No. 2756. See also Karl Meyer, John Gowers Beziehungen zu Chaucer und König Richard II., Bonn, 1889, pp. 73.

Langland (d. 1400?).

2759. The vision of William concerning Piers Plowman [together with Richard the Redeless]. By William Langland, ed. W. W. Skeat. Early English Text Soc. 4 pts. London, 1867-85. - The vision of William concerning Piers the Plowman, together with Richard the Redeless, ed. W. W. Skeat. 2 vols. Oxford, 1886.

The Vision of Piers Plowman, begun about 1362, throws much light on the social condition of England, especially on the life of the lower classes. It defines the political rôle of the commons, with whom Langland exhibits sympathy, and attacks abuses in the church. Richard the Redeless, written in 1399, is a valuable poem on the misrule and deposition of Richard II. Other editions, by Thomas Wright: The Deposition of Richard II., Camden Society, 1838; and No. 2756.

See Ernst Günther, Englisches Leben im 14. Jahrhundert, dargestellt nach The Vision of Piers the Plowman, Leipsic, 1889, pp. 62; J. J. Jusserand, Les Anglais au Moyen Age, l'Epopée Mystique de William Langland, Paris, 1893; Ziepel, The Reign of Richard II. (No. 2875). Jusserand's work has been translated by M. E. R.: Piers Plowman, a Contribution to the History of English Mysticism, London, 1894.

Lewis Glyn Cothi.

2760. The poetical works of Lewis Glyn Cothi, a celebrated bard who flourished in the reigns of Henry VI., Edward IV., Richard III., and Henry VII. [ed. John Jones and Walter Davies]. The Cymmrodorion, or Royal Cambrian Institution. Oxford, 1837.

Welsh poems throwing light on the Wars of the Roses, with an introductory essay on those wars. The author, a native of Glyn Cothi in Carmarthenshire, was also called Lewis y Glyn.

Map (d. 1200?).

2761. The Latin poems commonly attributed to Walter Mapes, ed. Thomas Wright. Camden Soc. London, 1841.

Many of these satirise the clergy, especially the monks. See No. 2251.

Minot (d. 1352 ?).

2762. The poems of Laurence Minot, ed. Joseph Hall. Oxford, 1887; 2nd edition, 1897. Other editions: by Joseph Ritson, 1795 and 1825; by Wilhelm Scholle, 1884; and in Wright's Political Songs (No. 2756), i. 58–91.

Minot's poems are war-songs dealing with Edward III.'s victories over the French and Scots, A.D. 1333-52. See F. J. Bierbaum, Ueber Laurence Minot und seine Lieder, Leipsic, 1876.

b. HOUSEHOLD BOOKS AND LETTERS.

For letters of kings, prelates, etc., see §§ 53, 56 d. Some valuable collections, like the Paston Letters and the Plumpton Correspondence, are included in § 57. Rogers, History of Agriculture and Prices (No. 1199), ii. 635-47, prints records of expenses for journeys, etc., in 1331 and 1395. For ordinances and accounts of the royal household, see § 50 e.

2763. Calendar of letters of Edward, son of Edward I. [1305]. Deputy Keeper's Reports, ix. app. ii. 246-9. London, 1848.

2764. Common-place book (A) of the fifteenth century, ed. L. T. Smith. London, etc., 1886.

Pt. i. Poetry.

Pt. ii. Manorial law: manorial dues and other matters relating to Stuston,

Suffolk, including articles of the court baron and leet.

Pt. iii. Private accounts, 1499-1503.

2765. Compota domestica familiarum de Bukingham et d'Angouleme [ed. W. B. D. D. Turnbull]. Abbotsford Club. Edinburgh, 1836.

Three household books, belonging to Humphrey, duke of Buckingham, 1443-44, the earl of Angouleme, 1452, and Anne, widow of the aforesaid Humphrey, 1463-64. To these are added a few fragments of a roll of expenses incurred by an earl in 1273 in a journey from the county of Durham to Monmouthshire.

2766. Expeditions to Prussia and the Holy Land made by Henry, earl of Derby (afterwards King Henry IV.), in 1390-91 and 1392-93 : being the accounts kept by his treasurer, ed. L. T. Smith. Camden Soc. [London], 1894. German edition, by H. G. Prutz: Rechnungen über Heinrich von Derbys Preussenfahrten. Leipsic, 1893.

Contains two wardrobe accounts.

2767. Household books of John [Howard], duke of Norfolk, and Thomas, earl of Surrey, 1481-90, ed. J. P. Collier. Roxburghe Club. London, 1844.

Contains domestic accounts.

2768. Letters of royal and illustrious ladies of Great Britain [1103-1558], ed. M. A. E. Wood [afterwards Green]. 3 vols. London, 1846.

2769. Manners and household expenses of England in the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries [ed. T. H. Turner]. Roxburghe Club. London, 1841.

Contains the household roll of Eleanor, countess of Leicester, 1265; accounts of the executors of Queen Eleanor, 1291; accounts, etc., of John Howard, duke of Norfolk, 1462-71. Valuable.

2770. Roll of the household expenses of Richard de Swinfield, bishop of Hereford, 1289-90, ed. John Webb. Camden Soc. 2 vols. [London], 1854-55.

Vol. i. Text and appendix.

| Vol. ii. Abstract and illustrations.

c. WILLS AND DEEDS.

Down to 1858 there were in each diocese an episcopal registry, or depository, of wills and various minor registries. The most important of the depositories was the prerogative court at Canterbury, the records of which, beginning in 1383, are now in Somerset house, London. Many wills of persons dying within the province of Canterbury, from 1312 onward, are also preserved at Lambeth palace. The archbishop of Canterbury had exclusive right to grant probate of a will if the deceased person had goods in more than one diocese of the province of Canterbury. There was a similar archiepiscopal court of the province of York, the records of which, beginning in 1389, are now at York. Most of the wills formerly preserved in the diocesan courts, which were merged in the court of probate in 1858, are now deposited in the district registries. The old and the new repositories are clearly indicated in Marshall's Handbook (No. 2774).

The following references are useful for bibliographical purposes: George Gatfield, Guide to Books relating to Heraldry, 1892, pp. 229-31; G. W. Marshall, Notes for a Bibliography of Wills, in the Genealogist, 1887, iv. 49–51, and his Handbook (No. 2774); W. P. W. Phillimore, How to Write the History of a Family, 1887, pp.