yet affirms that the same Man was made a Presbyter seven years after A. D. 1059. But in truth the Gentleman himself is more upon the Blunder than his Author The Phrase of Saeculum reliquit does not as he imagines import the same thing with mortuus est But signifies only as it does in the same Year and on the same Occasion in Matt. of VVestminster and others the Man's leaving the Concerns of this world Secular Affairs to turn Regular and Secluse 'T is a scandalous reproach and not worth the answering which Sir Thomas Craig gives of him That He led his followers into Error like so many Cattle breaking over a Ditch Eadmerus a Monk of Canterbury is our next Historian whose Historia Novorum c. was published by Mr. Selden and contains the story of the two VVilliams and Henry the First from the year 1066 to 1122. 'T is a Work of great Gravity and unquestionable Authority It affords no fooleries of Miracles so very rife in the Writings of other Monks unless perhaps the Story of the B. Virgins Hair have a smack of the Cloister He had Temptations enough being an intimate Acquaintance of Archbishop Anselm to take the Pope's part in the mighty Dispute of his Time about Investituâ—e and yet he approves himself a person of that steady Loyalty to his Country as to give a fair account of the management on both sides and the unanswerable arguments made in Defence of the Regal Power His comparing of our Saviour's Commission to St. Peter and Pope Gregory's to Augustine the Monk for the establishing of the Primacy of Canterbury is notable and either clears that of Canterbury or clouds that of Rome The Character which Selden himself gives of him is that his Style equals that of Malmesbury his Matter and Composure exceeds him His Cotemporary Aelfred Monk and Treasurer of the Church of Beverly seems to be no more than an Epitomizer of Jeoffrey of Monmouth So that all the four general Treatises said to be written by this Author may probably well bear the Name of Deflorationes Galfredi But William Monk and Library-Keeper of Malmesbury was a person of another figure and has had the highest Commendations imaginable given him by some of our best Criticks in English History One calls him an elegant learned and faithful Historian Another says he 's the only Man of his Time that has honestly discharg'd the Trust of such a Writer And the third calls him the chief of all our Historians What falls under our present consideration is his Account De Gestis Regum Anglorum in five Books with an Appendix in two more which he stiles Historiae Novellae In these we have a judicious Collection of whatever he found on Record touching the Affairs of England from the first arrival of the Saxons concluding his Work with the Reign of King Stephen to whom he shews himself as hearty an Enemy as his Patron Robert Earl of Glocester could possibly be We shall have occasion to mention this Author in several of the following Chapters and therefore I shall now only add that I think himself has given an honest account of this part of his Labours when he tells us Privatim ipse mihi sub Ope Christi gratulor quod â—ontinuam Anglorum Historiam ordinaverim post Bedam vel solus vel primus And again Ego enim veram Legem secutus Historiae nihil unquam posui nisi quod a fidelibus Relatoribus vel Scriptoribus addidici Pits says he was epitomiz'd by W. Horman sometime Master of Eaton-School But whether all his Works or some part of 'em only were so contracted he does not tell us Possibly he only transcrib'd what Simeon Dunelmensis had before drawn up to his hand This Simeon and his Cotemporary Ealred Abbot of Rievaulx are our next Historians of Note in this Century and have both deserv'd to be remember'd in several parts of this Treatise The former was Monk and Precentor of Durham A. D. 1164. and might justly be reckon'd one of the most learned Men of his Age. But his two Books De Gestis Regum which alone are now to be mention'd are not his Master-pieces Being only a few indigested Collections chiefly out of Florence of Worcester whose very words he frequently copies Abbot Ealred not of Revesby in Lincolnshire but of Rievaulx in Yorkshire gives us a short Genealogy of our Kings but enlarges chiefly on the Praises of David King of Scots Founder of a great many Abbies for the Cistertians His other Books of the Life of Edward the Confessor c. are treated on elsewhere I doubt Sir George Mackenzy's Baldredus Abbas Rynalis is this very Author Notwithstanding the great pains he is at to distinguish them About the same time flourished Henry Archdeacon of Huntingdon whose eight Books concluding with the Reign of King Stephen were published by Sir Henry Savil. In the Preface he owns himself a Follower of Bede in the main for the time he wrote in But says withal that he added many things met with in old Libraries His first Lines will easily convince the Reader that he does really follow Bede for he Copies him to a word But I am not satisfy'd that he has added any great matters as far as that Author goes He has indeed a great many Lyes out of Jeoffrey of Monmouth which Bede never heard of and which the World might have wanted well enough After Bede's time he has many particulars out of the Saxon Chronicle which had been omitted by our Historians before him He is pleas'd to take notice of one great Truth that he writes very confusedly All the Transactions of the Heptarchy he reduces to the several Reigns of the West-Saxon Kings But has not adjusted them so well as he ought to have done At the same time liv'd John Serlo Abbot of Fountains who as John Pits tells us wrote a Treatise De Bello inter Scotiae Regem Angliae Barones We are not so well assur'd of this as that he wrote a History of the Foundation of his own Monastery for which he shall be remember'd in a proper place The general Histories written by Richard of the Devises and John of Tilbury a London-Divine before the end of this Age are of the same authority and that 's all I have to say concerning either of ' em William of Newburg was so call'd from a Monastery in Yorkshire of that Name whereof he was a Member tho his true Surname was Little whence he sometimes stiles himself Petit or Parvus His History ends at the year 1197. and therefore tho he is said to be alive A. D. 1220. he ought to be reckon'd among the Historians of this Age. John Pits thinks he appears too much a Flatterer of the Grandees at Court to write a true History But by the account he gives of the beginning
has Copy'd from the foremention'd Survey nor is De Laun's pretended Present State of the City much different from what we have there Indeed several new Discoveries and Observations touching its mighty growth and number of its Inhabitants proving that they are more than in Rome Paris and Roan that they are above 696000 People c. have been advanc'd in some Essays in Political Arithmetick by one of the most eminent Mathematicians and Virtuoso's of this Age Sir William Petty who was also the chief Director and Author of a piece publish'd sometime before by one John Graunt and Entitul'd Natural and political Observations on the Bills of Mortality in London The dreadful Fire which hapned in this famous City in the Year 1666. will for ever remain one of its chief Epoche's and of this we have two Historical Narratives One according to the Reports made to a Committee in Parliament and another publish'd by Edward Waterhouse The Epitaphs of our Kings Princes and Nobles that lie bury'd in the Abbey-Church at Westminster were first Collected by John Skelton a famous Poet who for making too bold with Cardinal Woolsey in some of his Satyrs ended his days miserably within the Precincts of the Asylum of that Church A. D. 1529. These were afterwards enlarg'd by Camden and compleated by H. Keep under the name of Monumenta Westmonasteriensia The Monuments of St. Paul's the Cathedral of this Diocese will be treated on elsewhere NORFOLK The Pen was long since drawn in defence of this County by one Iohn de S. Omero or Saintemer a Norfolk-man and Student in Cambridge about the Year 1219. when a certain Monk of Peterborough taking upon him to libel the Inhabitants of that Country in Latin Doggrel was answer'd in his own way by this John The Epitaphs here with some other Antiquities were collected by J. Weever who referrs us for further satisfaction to Sir Hen. Spelman's Iceni which we impatiently hope to see publish'd by Mr. Gibson Something relating to the Natural History of Norfolk may be had from Sir William Dugdale's Imbanking and in a little Treatise entituled Mercurius Centralis or a Discourse of Subterranean Cockle Muscle and Oyster-shells found in digging a Well at Sir William Doylie's in this County 'T is a Letter from one Tho. Lawrence M. A. to Sir Thomas Brown To which may be added the already mention'd Relation of the Damages done by a Tempest on the Coasts of this County and Lincolnshire The City of Norwich was describ'd by Alexander Nevil whose Book is quoted by Sir Henry Spelman We have Sir Tho. Brown's Vrn-Burial or a Discourse of Sepulchral Urns lately found in Norfolk and we expect his Repertorium or an account of the Tombs and Monuments in the Cathedral Church of Norwich It has been promis'd and I know not what occasion Sir Thomas has ever given any body to suspect that ought of his penning should rather fear than deserve an Edition The late Publisher of Camden makes Tho. Fuller the Reporter of Dr. Caius's having written the Antiquities of Norwich but I suspect there 's some mistake in that matter since Fuller in the place where he should especially have noted such a thing says nothing of it Nash's Account of the growth of great Yarmouth the History of the burning of East Derham and Sir R. W.'s Norfolk Furies may possibly contribute some small helps towards the Illustration of the Antiquities of these Parts but seem to be of too great or too little Age to be very valuable NORTHAMPTONSHIRE Will. Vincent Windsor-Herald collected some materials for a Survey and the Antiquities of this County which were lately in the possession of Mr. Wood. He frequently quotes Fran. Tate's Nomina Hydarum in Com. Northampton The State of the Town of Northampton from the beginning of the Fire Sept. 20. 1675. to Nov. 5. following was publish'd in a Letter to a Friend and we had its Fall and Funeral first in a Latin Elegy and afterwards with some Variations and Additions in English NORTHVMBERLAND John Pits says That the Genealogies of the Earls of Northumberland were drawn up by one Tho. Otterburn a Franciscan Friar about the Year 1411 and that John Currar he knows not when drew up a List of Seventy Eight Castles in this County with the Pedigrees of their several Owners These are Uncertainties But we know that Sir Robert Shaftoe and Mr. Clavering both now living have really made large Progresses in its Antiquities and we hope they will be so just to the Publick and themselves as shortly to communicate ' em The Town of Berwick with some other places of Note in this County are describ'd in a MS. in the Earl of Carlisle's Library at Noward But Newcastle still wants a just Description and History For Grey's Chorographical Survey comes short of its present Glory and the Anonymous Author of England's Grievances in Relation to the Coal-Trade c. is too much confin'd in his Subject to answer the Expectations of a Curious Reader NOTTINGHAMSHIRE's Antiquities were first attempted by Serjeant Boun who only transcrib'd what related to this County out of Dooms-day adding some short Notes at every Town This was compleated into a fair Work by his Son-in-law R. Thoroton M. D. at the instance of Sir William Dugdale He owns 't is capable of Improvements out of the Archbishop of York's Registry and other Records in private Hands which he had not an opportunity of consulting But the Work as it is shews a good Industry in its Author who being a Physician of eminent Practice had a free access to the Evidences of most of the considerable Families The Author had not the Curiosity to intermix any Observations relating to the British Roman and Saxon Antiquities writing only after the printed Copy of Mr. Burton's Leicestershire OXFORDSHIRE Vast Collections relating to the Antiquities of this County were made by Randal Catherall who dy'd A. D. 1625. and were sometime in the Custody of Bishop Sanderson But upon the strictest Enquiry that could be made after 'em they are not now to be found Dr. Plot 's Natural History of Oxfordshire was the first Essay made in that kind by its excellent Author who has made us acquainted with so many Physical Discoveries as well as notable Improvements in Trade and Manufactures that the Work has met with an Universal Applause And as this County had the happiness to have its Natural History set by that worthy Person as a Pattern to the rest of the Kingdom so it now affords a new Example of having some of its Parochial Antiquities consider'd in the History of Ambrosden Burcester and other adjacent Towns and Villages by a very Learned Antiquary Mr. White Kennet Some of the Annals of the City of Oxford seem to be drawn up in their Red Book which is quoted by
Cotton Sir Rob. 21. 37 44 210 225. Sir John 21. 23 33. Sir Tho. 35. Mr. 31. Couper Cowper 188. * Cheek 227. Chiswel 29. 〈◊〉 Clarendon 171. 181 182. Craig 151. 190 * Crew 27. S. Cuthbert 102. Darcy 231. Daniel 35. 117 193 * Danish Histories 129. 142. Monuments 134. 135. 144. Davies 77. 96. Devisiensis 157. 205 206 208. Digby 202. Doderidge 21 28 29 62. Dodesworth 16. 55 59 69. Dadwel 104. 196. Doilie 50. Dugdale 15. 16 22 26 44 49 53 63. 23. 24 105. Ealred 124. 154 155. Edda 137. 138 139. Essebiensis 158. 165. Ethelwerd 122 c. Ewes 11. 59 171. S. D' Ewes Fabian 46. 111 192. Fairfax 68. Fell 15. 101 104 218. Florilegus 171. 180. Fox 118. Fresne 106. Fuller 11. 12 14 27 31 32 50 183 192 * 222 231. Gale 16 c. 2. 3 29 83 121 163 173 177 207 212. Gibson 23. 24 39 49 114 116. Gildas 73. 81 c. 85. 87. 16. Grafton 189. * Grey 52. 92 98. Glover 15. Hall 189. * Hanson 15. Harding 125. 189. Harley 36. Harpesfield 225. Harrison 8. 190 * Hatton 23. Hemmingford 18. 176 212. Herald 's Office 21 23. R. of Hexham 203. 204. Heylin 13. Higden 176. 184. Hickes 24. 26 100 101 104. Hobbes 31. Holinshead 32. 190 * Hooker 32. 191 * Howard 14. 215. Howes 192. * 215. Huntingdon 120. 155. Hypercritica 12. James 22. 35. Jessop 20. Ingulfus 24. 148. Johnson 20. 45 57. Jonas 133. 140 142 142. Josseline 8. 12 83 101 103 114. Iscanus 206. 207. Junius 23. 101 103 104 111. 112. Kelton 61. 67 99. Kennet 35. 39 25 54 117. Keurden 41. 42. Kilburn 37. 39. Kniveton 15. Lambard 37. 100 111 112 117 127 168. Lanquet 188. * Laud 23. 114. Lawson 20. Leland 7. 8 37 72 77 78 83 90 91 98 122 124 164 207. Leicester 27 28. Lhuid 8. 20 62 75 80 97 186 186 * Lhwyd 92. 96. Lilie 6. 189 * Lister 18. 20 68. Mackenzy 155. Malmesbury 123. 124 152 177. Malory 98. Manwaring 28. Marianus 122. 148 149 150. Marshal 101. 102 127. Martia 87. Martyn 194. * Medals 90. Middleton 78. Milton 9. Molmutius 81. 87. Monmouth 85. 94 152 158 164. More 189. 211. Morgan 61. 77. Nash 50. 51. Nennius 16 84 85 88 95. Neubrigensis 24. 98 157. Niger 158. 165. Norden 29. 33. 36 39 45. Northcot 31. 32. Nowel 111. Olaus Magnus 139. Oldenburg 101. Oxoniensis 208. Paris 14. 24 165 180. Parker 14. 119. 188. Philpot 12. 37 39. Pettus 94. Pistorius 149. Pits 83. Plot 18. 20 45 53 54 58 93. Powel 60. 86 88 96 97 158. Ptolemy 2. 17. Rastal 188. * Reiner 38. Resenius 138. Rhese 76. 88. Risdon 31. 32. Rishanger 166. 173 211. Ross 64. 183 192. Soemund 137. 138. Saint George 16. Sammes 65. 101. Samothes 81. Sanderson 53. Savil 15. 105 123 155 160 185 * Saxo 131. 139 142 143. Saxton 16. Selden 8. 15 22 23 59 103 126 151 155 163 199. Sheringham 13. 87 96 126 127. Simpson 70. Sleidan 186. Somner 37. 38 40 41 105 106 108 101 103 104 112 116 117 126 127. Speed 13. 16 194 * Spelman 13. 16 49 50 86 106 105 108 112 120 121 124 129 160. Stephens 45. Stillingfleet 80. 99. Stow 46. 47 191 * 215. Sueno 142 143. Surita 17. Sylvius 81. Taylor 33. 36 40 79 202. Temple 9. 99 147 202. Tenison 24. Thynne 190 * Thoresby 69. 199. Tilburiensis 157. 164. Tinmuthensis 178. Todd 30. Towneshend 230. 231. Trussel 35. 194 * Turner 33. 229. Turpin 188. * Twisden 15. 106. 163. Twyne 8. 9 40. Virgil 82. 98 185 * Vincent 16. 23 51. Vinesauf 207 208. Vndallensis 124. Vossius 221. Vsher 15. 82 83 97 100 117 199. Walsingham 14. 119 188 219 231. Wats 106. 124. Waverley 18. Westcot 31. 32. Westminster 14 116. 167 179. Wharton 12. 19 c. 40 61 103 110 116 163 171 172 199 205. Wheloc 21 106 114 116. White 193. * Whitgift 191. * Wikes 118. 172. Williams 73. 77. Wolf 191. * Wood 54. 57 68 102. Woolsey 194. Worcester 14. 116 120 149. Wormius 129. 135 139 142 144. Wyrley 23. 'T is to be noted that in this additional Index References are not only made to the Book it self but also to the Preface which is suppos'd to be Paged from the Title-Page The other Errors and Defects are thus to be corrected and supply'd P. 2. l. 13. Reckoning Nor ought any thing that has been transcrib'd from them by Strabo or Pomponius Mela by Solinius or Pleny to carry any higher Value P. 4. l. 26. Most of them I Leland says he once saw in the Library at St. Paul's a Description of England written in the Saxon Tongue by Coleman who if he be the the same Man with Colemannus Monk of Worcester the Writer of St. Wulstan's Life may justly challenge a Precedence Otherwise Gyraldus c. P. 13. l. 6. This Nature With this fancyful Treatise let me join Mich. Drayton's Poly-Olbion which affords a much truer Account of this Kingdom and the Dominion of Wales than could well be expected from the Pen of a Poet. The first eighteen of these Songs had the Honour to be publish'd with Mr. Selden's Notes the other twelve being hardly capable of such a respect P. 15. l. 11. and Speed Mr. Ogilby design'd a most Noble Description of England in Three Volumes the first whereof which only is publish'd contains an Ichnographical and Historical Account of all our great Roads on 100 large Copper Cuts The second was to have given us the like View of our Cities and the third should have afforded us a Topographical Description of the whole Kingdom P. 16. l. 7. Library Sir John Marsham Junior lately deceas'd took good Pains in writing an Historical List of all the Burroughs in England which send Members to the Parliament This Work was just finish'd upon the Death of its Author and is now ready for the Press in the hands of his Brother Sir Robert Marsham P. 18. l. 8. Performance There are two small Tracts about our English Mastiffs and other extraordinary Animals as well as Plants written by Dr. Caius which are printed with his Treatise de Libris propriis P. 25. l. 13. before mention'd In which Work he told us he design'd a more complete History of these and that he had made Collections in order to it These Collections are now in his Musaeum at Oxford where there are also very considerable Materials of his own gathering for a General History of Berkshire P. 26. l. 5. Kingdom A Catalogue of the indigenous Plants of Cambridgeshire was long since publish'd by the learned Mr. Ray augmented afterwards by Mr. Stone-street and Mr. Dent. There is also a Manuscript-History of this County by Mr. Laire of Shephred near Royston whose Son intends to deposite it in some of the College-Libraries at Cambridge P. 31. l. 13. Jones There 's a MS. in the Musaeum at Oxford which bears the Title of Phil.
of greatest note since the Reformation were penn'd by Tho. White alias Woodhop a Monk of Doway where he dy'd of the Plague in 1654. A Manuscript Copy of this was in Mr. Wood's possession and I suppose is now among those Books that he Bequeath'd to the University in the Musaeum at Oxford But the chief of our Historians of this Order was Clement Reyner whose elaborate Book is Entitl'd Apostolatus Benedictinorum in Anglia sive Decerptatio Historica de Antiquitate Ordinis Congregationisque Monachorum Nigrorum in Anglia His Business is to prove that the Order was brought hither by Augustine Arch-bishop of Canterbury and he is thought by some of our best Antiquaries to have effectually prov'd his Point and to have fairly Answer'd all the Objections against it He is said to have had great helps from the Collections made by John Jones or Leander de Sancto Martino as he nam'd himself Prior of St. Gregory's and Publick Professor of Divinity at Doway who sojourning sometime in England with his heretofore Chamber-fellow Arch-bishop Laud had frequent access to the Cotton-Library where he transcrib'd whatever he could find that related to the History aâ—d Antiquities of his own Order Others say that the most of the Collections out of this Library which were used by our Author Reyner were made by Augustine Baker another Monk of Doway who left several Volumes in Folio of Select Matters very serviceable towards the Illustrating of this and other parts of our English History However it was Sir Thomas Bodley's Library was thought the most proper Magazine to furnish out Artillery against the Man that had already seiz'd on that of Sir Robert Cotton and to this purpose Father John Barnes a Brother Benedictine but of different Sentiments with Reyner betakes himself to Oxford and there Composes a sharp Refutation of the Apostolatus This was very ill resented by those of the Fraternity and other Members of the Roman Church And they had some reason to be Angry at one of their own Body's using the Book more Scurvily than any of the Protestant Writers had done There are several Learn'd Foreigners in France and Flanders that have lately made very Voluminous Collections of the Acta Benedictinorum in General wherein are some Tracts written by English-Men and such as wholly treat on our own Historical Matters These have been occasionally mention'd in other parts of this Work And my Design will not allow me to consider them any further The Cistercians may be reckon'd one of our own Orders For tho' they came not into this Kingdom 'till almost a Hundred Years after their first Formation they were founded by Robert Harding an English-Man Hugh Kirkstede or rather Kirkstall was a Monk of this Order about the Year 1220. and collected the Memoirs of all the English that had been of it which he Dedicated to John Abbot of Fountains This is attested by Leland who acquaints us further that in the Library at Rippon he saw his Book entitl'd Historia rerum a Monachis Cisterciensibus gestarum Bale tells us that he was greatly assisted in this Work by Serlo Abbat of Fountains about the Year 1160. And because there appears to be a good distance betwixt the reputed Times of these two Writers he assures us that Hugh liv'd very near a hundred Year I am apt to believe that Serlo was the sole Author of another Treatise ascrib'd to this Monk De Origine Fontani Coenobij and that this is the true bottom of Bale's fine Contrivance The Canons Regular of St. Augustine pretend to be Founded by that famous Father and Bishop of Hippo whose Name they bear But they are of no great Antiquity Here all our Historians agreeing in this tho' they disagree about the precise time that they came into England since the Conquest The first of their Historiographers was Jeoffrey Hardib Canon of Leicester and Privy Councellour to King Edward the Third in the Year 1360. who was an eminent Preacher a great Divine and amongst many other things wrote De rebus gestis Ordinis sui The next and the last that I know of was John Capgrave who was sometime Provincial of the Order and he alotted one his many Volumes the Subject De Illustribus Viris Ordinis S. Augustini The Dominicans Franciscans and other Mendicant Friers having had no Lands had no occasion for Leiger-Books But I know not why we should not have better Remains of their History Penn'd by themselves since 't was no part of their Vow that they should so far renounce the World as not to have their good Works had in remembrance The Story of the settlement of the Order of St. Francis in England being confirm'd by Henry the Third in the Year 1224 is written by Tho. Ecleston whose Book De adventu Minorum in Angliam is in several of our Libraries Mr. Pits says he wrote also another Book De Ordinis impugnatione per Dominicanos Which I am afraid is only a part of the former for they had Battail given soon after their first Landing Their History afterwards is pretty well accounted for by Fran. a Sancta Clara and we have a formal Register of that Colony of them that was seated in London with some Fragments of those of other Places The Records of the University of Oxford with those in the Neighbourhood have afforded us a diverting View of their frequent Bickerings with the Dominicans in our publick Schools which for an Age or two make up a good share of the Annals of that Place The Carmelites have likewise had some few of their Fraternity who have taken the pains to enquire into the History of that Order of whom William of Coventry about the Year 1360. wrote de Adventu Carmelitarum in Angliam Bale quotes some of his Words and Writes as if he had seen his Book About a Hundred Years after this Will. Green a Cambridg-Man collected out of the most of the Libraries in England the noted Exploits of the great Men of this Order which he afterwards published under the Title of Hagiologium Carmelitarum And lastly Robert Bale a Carmelite Fryar at Norwich and afterwards Prior of Burnham where he dy'd A. D. 1503. wrote Annales Breves Ordinis sui 'T is much that this Gentleman's name-sake the famous Mr. John Bale never penn'd any thing of this kind For he was also a Carmelite of Norwich and assures us in the Account he gives of his own dear Self in the Tail of his Writers that the Libraries of that Order were the chief Treasury out of which he had his Riches Perhaps he did Write some such Thing but did not afterwards think fit to own the Respects he once had for those Antichristian Locusts as he there most greatefully calls them CHAP. VIII Of the Histories of our Vniversities and Writers WHAT Sir John Marsham says of the old