John Stritch or Stretch ( Eng. John Streeche , or Eng. John Strecche , Lat. Iohannes Strecche Canonicus , circa 1360 - after 1425 ) - English chronicler, Augustinian monk, canon of St. Mary's Abbey in Kenilworth ( Warwickshire ), one of the chroniclers of the Hundred Years War .
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Content
Biography
The date and place of birth are not precisely known, the contemporary explorer of his work, J. M. Hilton, names the year 1360 [2] .
Some biographical information can be extracted from his own writings. Being very well read for a provincial monk , he clearly received a good education, perhaps in one of the universities.
From 1407 to 1425 he headed the Priory in Brook ( Rutlandshire ), subordinate to the Abbey of St. Mary in Kenilworth (Warwickshire) [3] .
He was probably familiar with King Henry V , who repeatedly visited the abbey.
Died after 1425 [4] , possibly around 1430 [5] .
Works
From the historical writings of John Stritch, the Brief Chronicle of England from Brutus until 1422 is well known, covering the Anglo-Saxon period in some detail, as well as the Chronicle of the reign of King Henry V ( Eng. The Chronicle for the Reign of Henry V ) [6] , fully dedicated to the wars of this king in France and containing valuable information about the Hundred Years War , including the Battle of Azincourt , etc.
The Brief Chronicle of England, written in Middle English , covers events starting with the arrival on the island of the legendary Brutus of Troy , and ending with the death of Henry V in 1422. The sources for it were the " History of the Kings of Britain " by Halfried of Monmouth (XII century), "Polychronicon" by Ranulf Higden (about 1347), the anonymous chronicle "Brutus" (XIV century.) And others [7] .
The Chronicles of the Reign of King Henry V, covering the events of 1414-1422, may be based on the Rhymed Book of Henry V by the Prior of the Lenton Abbey Thomas Elmhem's Clunyans (d. 1427), as evidenced by the parallels in the presentation of the events and the acrostics with the names of the authors, as well as charts and documents from the archive of the Priory of St. Mary in Kenilworth.
By its nature, the Chronicle of the Reign of King Henry V looks more like a panegyric , the commander-in-king is compared to biblical and ancient heroes [8] , and the tales of his military victories are enthusiastic and patriotic, with obvious exaggerations to the detriment of objectivity.
Nevertheless, the chronicles of Stritch contain a number of information not found in other sources. So, as the main reason for the resumption of the war of Henry V with the French, he calls not the king’s territorial claims, but his unsuccessful matchmaking for the daughter of Charles VI to Princess Catherine [9] .
Describing in detail the historical events from the time of Brutus and the actions of the royal troops in France, Stritch almost completely ignores the history of his own priory, which is not typical of the traditional monastic chronicle [10] .
In the collection of the British Library, the writings of John Stritch are preserved in two manuscripts of the 15th century: BL, add. ms. 38665 and 35295. The first includes five prose texts in Latin , including the Latin written by his hand . Liber Catonis and the fables of Aesop . The historical chronicles described above are part of the second manuscript, in the monogram on the title page of which and on sheet 246 the name of Stritch [11] is mentioned.
Of Strich's other works, a collection of instructive articles is known, probably intended for teaching novices .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 Record # 19631697 // VIAF - 2012.
- Ilton Hilton GM John Strecche, Canon of Kenilworth: The Medieval Historian . - Kenilworth, 2004. - p. one.
- ↑ Anne Curry. Strecche, John // Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. - Oxford University Press, 2004.
- ↑ Kaufman AL Strecche, John // Encyclopedia of the Medieval Chronicle. - Leiden, 2016.
- Ilton Hilton GM John Strecche, Canon of Kenilworth: The Medieval Historian . - p. one.
- ↑ Kalmykova, EV. Images of war in historical representations of the English of the late Middle Ages. - M., 2010. - p. 493.
- Ilton Hilton GM John Strecche, Canon of Kenilworth: The Medieval Historian . - pp. 17-18.
- ↑ Kalmykova Ye.V. Decree. cit. - p. 493.
- ↑ ibid. - p. 55.
- ↑ Kudryakov V. V. Metaphysha in England of the XV century: traditions and innovations in the coverage of historiography // Teacher. XXI Century. - 2011. - № 4. - p. 288.
- ↑ Kaufman AL Strecche, John .
Publications
- Strecche John. The Chronicle of John Strecche for the reign of Henry V (1414-22), ed. Frank Taylor. - Manchester, 1932.
Bibliography
- Kalmykova, Ye.V. Images of War in the Historical Representations of the English of the Late Middle Ages. - M .: Quadriga, 2010. - 684 p. - (Historical research). - ISBN 978-5-91791-012-3 .
- Taylor Frank. The Henry V chronicle of the John the Great, // Bulletin of the John Rylands' Library. - Vol. 16. - № 1, January 1932. - pp. 137–187.
- Hilton Geoffrey Milestone Priest and John the Kenilworth Priory // Bulletin of the John Rylands Library. - Vol. 85 (1). - Manchester, 2003. - pp. 23-36.
- Hilton Geoffrey M. John Strecche, Canon of Kenilworth: The Medieval Historian . - Kenilworth, 2004. - 87 p. - ISBN 0-9536923-29 .
- Kaufman Alexander L. Strecche, John // Encyclopedia of the Medieval Chronicle, ed. By Graeme Dunphy, Cristian Bratu. - Leiden: Brill, 2016.