Robert of Gloucester

Victoria Shirley (Cardiff University)

Ed. by Natalie Hanna, University of Liverpool
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.02: English Writing and Culture: High and Late Medieval, 1066-1485.
Vol. editors: Kate Ash-Irisarri (University of Edinburgh), Rory Critten (Université de Lausanne), David Fuller (University of Durham), Natalie Hanna (University of Liverpool), Hugh Magennis (Queen's University Belfast), Jamie McKinstry (University of Durham), Sarah Peverley (University of Liverpool), Sebastian Sobecki (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen)

Dates

Born c. 1260
Died c. 1300
Activity 1280-c. 1300

Places

Born in England
Active in England

Activities

Primary

Historian / Chronicler

Resources

Robert of Gloucester's Works

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Very little is known about the medieval historian Robert of Gloucester (

. 1260–

. 1300)

who is credited as the author of a thirteenth-century English metrical chronicle that survives in two separate versions. Composed sometime between 1272 and 1307, Robert of Gloucester’s

Chronicle

is an important source of thirteenth-century history, particularly for the rebellion of Simon de Montfort and the Second Barons’ War (1264-7). According to an entry in the ‘longer’ version of the

Chronicle

, Robert was a witness at the Battle of Evesham (1265), and he recounts the ‘dark weder’ (l. 11,742) that followed Montfort’s defeat:

An vewe dropes of reine þer velle grete inou Þis tokninge vel in þis lond þo me þis men slou Ver þretti mile þanne þis isei

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2212 words

Citation: Shirley, Victoria. "Robert of Gloucester". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 15 June 2021 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=3805, accessed 21 November 2024.]