Thomas Burton (also Thomas Burton , also Thoma de Burton ; d. 1437 ) is an English church historian, chronicler, abbot of the Cistercian monastery in Mo , one of the chroniclers of the Hundred Years War .
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Content
Biography
Biographical information is rather scarce, neither date nor place of birth is established. Judging by the surviving works, he received a good education, possibly in one of the universities. According to the review of the successor of his chronicle, he was a "very pious and well-educated" person.
In 1396 , under the patronage of the Rector of the Fountain Abbey of the Cistercians ( North Yorkshire ), Robert Burley, and thanks to the patronage of the patron of the monastery of Lord Holder, , became the 19th abbot of the Cistercian monastery in Mo. near Beverly ( East Riding of Yorkshire ) [1] .
Unable to get along with the brethren, and also due to intrigue, in August 1399 he was forced to resign, moving to Fountains Monastery , where he engaged in historical works. In 1429, 8 years before his death, he became blind.
He died in his monastery in 1437 [2] .
Compositions
The main historical work of Thomas Burton is “The Chronicle of the Monastery in Mo from Foundation to 1396” ( Chronica Monasterii de Melsa, a fundatione usque ad annum 1396 ), written in Latin and covering the period from the foundation of the monastery in 1150 , and until death in 1396 Her 18th Rector.
Its first edition was written between 1388 and 1397 in Mo , but then repeatedly edited after the author moved to Fountain Abbey .
Despite the fact that, by its nature, the Burton Chronicle is predominantly a monastic history and is divided into 18 chapters, each of which is dedicated to one of the abbots, it can be considered one of the most significant historical works created by English Cistercians . Along with the facts of church history, the author included in it a lot of valuable evidence of events in the kingdom and beyond, including those related to the Hundred Years War .
The main sources for compiling his chronicle were Burton: The History of British Kings by Galfried of Monmouth , Chronicle of the Kings of England by William of Malmesbury , works by Girald of Cumbria (12th century), Chronicle of the Popes and Emperors by Martin Polyak (1278), Ranulf 's Polychrononics Higden (1347), an anonymous chronicle of "Brutus" (XIV century), as well as the Bridlington Chronicle (“Acts of Edward III”) and materials of the monastery archives, in particular, the cartulary of the abbey in Mo [3] .
The events of the Hundred Years War are described in detail before the Battle of Cresius (1346) and the surrender of Calais (1347), further information about it becomes more concise, probably due to a lack of sources. Messages about foreign policy and the victories of King Edward III are sustained in an enthusiastic and patriotic spirit [4] , and the threat to the existence of the kingdom, allegedly emanating from the French themselves, is called the causes of the war.
The 31st chapter of the chronicle is entitled “On the Beginning, Cause and Reason for the War in France” and contains the author’s arguments about the causes of the conflict: Edward III’s right to the French throne, return of possessions in Aquitaine , punishment for inciting the Scots and protecting the English coast from attacks from the sea [5] .
Burton's language is simple and unsophisticated, but deep historical reasoning and well-defined personality characteristics add additional value to his composition, making him suggest that the author has some literary talent.
The commented scientific publication of the Burton Chronicle was published in 1866-1868 by Edward August Bond in three volumes in the Academic Rolls Series [6] .
Notes
- ↑ Kalmykova E.V. Images of war in historical representations of the British of the late Middle Ages. - M., 2010 .-- S. 463.
- ↑ Burton, Thomas // Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. - Oxford University Press, 2004.
- ↑ Gene Bernard. History and historical culture of the Medieval West. - M .: Languages of Slavic culture, 2002. - P. 114.
- ↑ Kalmykova E.V. Decree. Op. - S. 464.
- ↑ Ibid. - S. 40-41.
- ↑ Index to the Rolls Series . Compiled by Steven H Silver.
Publications
- Thomas de Burton. Chronica monasterii de Melsa, a fundatione usque ad annum 1396, auctore Thoma de Burton, abbate. Accedit con tinuation ad annum 1406 a monacho quodam ipsius domus. Ed. from the autographs of the authors by Edward. A. Bond. 3 vols. London, 1866-1868.
- Thomas de Burton . Chronica Monasterii de Melsa, a Fundatione usque ad Annum 1396. Edited by EA Bond. Vol. 1. Cambridge University Press, 2012. ISBN 978-1139225472 .
Bibliography
- Kalmykova E.V. Images of war in historical representations of the British of the late Middle Ages. - M.: Quadriga, 2010 .-- 684 p. - (Historical research). - ISBN 978-5-91791-012-3 .
Links
- Chronica monasterii de Melsa .. , vol. 1, 1866 , < https://archive.org/details/chronicamonaste00thomgoog >
- Chronica monasterii de Melsa .. , vol. 2, 1867 , < https://archive.org/details/chronicamonaster02thom >
- Chronica monasterii de Melsa .. , vol. 3, 1868 , < https://archive.org/details/chronicamonaste01thomgoog >