Henry of Huntingdon (c. 1080 / 1154)

 

As a boy Henry was educated in the household of Robert Bloet, Bishop of Lincoln. He became a canon at Lincoln and at the age of 30 was made Archdeacon of Huntingdon. Henry’s Historia Anglorum, dedicated to Bishop Alexander of Lincoln, a great patron of the arts, is a history of England which was brought to a conclusion in 1154. The work draws heavily on the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, but is, nonetheless, an important source for the reign of King Stephen. It contains vivid descriptions of  the civil war between the king and the party of the Empress Matilda in which, for example, Henry records that people were reduced to eating horses and dogs, and faced the menace of foreign mercenaries roaming the land killing and looting. Amongst incidents described in a vivid and colourful manner are the revolt against the crown led by  Geoffrey of Mandeville, Earl of Essex and the Battle of Lincoln (1141).

 

Bibliography

- Arnold, T. (ed.), 1879. Henrici Achidiaconi Huntundenensis Historia Anglorum (London, Rolls Series 64)
- Forester, T. (trans.), 1853. Historia Anglorum (London, Bohn)
- Greenway, D. (ed. and trans.), 1996. Henry, Archdeacon of Huntingdon: Historia Anglorum, the History of the English People (Oxford University Press)