Father Bertrand of the monastery at Bury St Edmunds tells the future Discoverer of this Manuscript that he is eighty, and writing to defend King Stephen
and others.
qtd. in
Cobbold, Elizabeth. The Sword. A. Smith, 1791, 2 vols.
1
Bury St Edmunds lies within easy...
Literary Setting
Anna Maria Mackenzie
The story opens in the civil war for the English crown between Stephen
and EmpressMatilda or Maud
. (Mackenzie calls the empress Maud, while for her it is Stephen's wife who is Matilda.) Mackenzie...
Literary Setting
Henrietta Rouviere Mosse
The title-page quotes Shakespeare
, who is then cited in the preface to justify the genre of historical fiction. HRM
mentions her consultations of records and documents, and expresses her thanks to the gentlemen of...
Theme or Topic Treated in Text
Anne Bradstreet
The daughter colony comforts her mother nation. Each is skilled in history, New England recalling past civil wars (beginning with those of Matilda
and Stephen
), and Old England lamenting the untimely death of Lady Jane Grey
Timeline
1135-1142: Supporters of Matilda (sometimes called Maud)...
Bozman, Ernest Franklin, editor. Everyman’s Encyclopaedia. 4th Edition, J. M. Dent, 1958, 12 vols.
8: 379, 11: 586-7
December 1135: King Henry I died and Stephen of Blois assumed...
National or international item
December 1135
King Henry I
died and Stephen of Blois
assumed the throne of England.
Fryde, Edmund Boleslaw. Handbook of British Chronology. Editors Greenway, D. E. et al., 3rd ed., Offices of the Royal Historical Society, 1986.
35
Haydn, Joseph. Haydn’s Dictionary of Dates and Universal Information. Editor Vincent, Benjamin, 23rd ed., Ward, Lock, 1904.
425
8 April 1141: Matilda, claimant to the English throne,...
National or international item
8 April 1141
Matilda
, claimant to the English throne, assumed the title domina Anglorum, or mistress of the English; she was meanwhile holding her rival, Stephen
, in captivity.
Morgan, Kenneth O., editor. The Oxford Illustrated History of Britain. Oxford University Press, 1984.
14 September 1141: Matilda (sometimes called Maud) escaped the...
National or international item
14 September 1141
Matilda (sometimes called Maud)
escaped the forces of Stephen
(her rival claimant to the throne of England) by travelling on a bier disguised as a corpse.
Lee, Sophia. The Recess. Editor Alliston, April, University Press of Kentucky, 2000.
354n46
25 October 1154: King Stephen died; Henry II assumed the throne...
National or international item
25 October 1154
King Stephen
died; Henry II
assumed the throne of England on 19 December 1154.
Fryde, Edmund Boleslaw. Handbook of British Chronology. Editors Greenway, D. E. et al., 3rd ed., Offices of the Royal Historical Society, 1986.
36
Haydn, Joseph. Haydn’s Dictionary of Dates and Universal Information. Editor Vincent, Benjamin, 23rd ed., Ward, Lock, 1904.