Thomas Walsingham, a monk of St Albans, has been described as the last of the great medieval chroniclers. The St Albans Chronicle is arguably the most important account of English history to be written in England at this time. This volume contains the material which can be shown to have been written by Walsingham himself before 1400, and includes his highly individual account of such episodes as the Peasants' Revolt and the rise of Lollardy. This is the first modern edition, and it provides a facing-page English translation, substantial historical commentary, and textual notes.

The Abbey of Evesham in Worcestershire was founded in the eighth century. This history, written by an Evesham monk in the thirteenth century, tells the story from the beginning. Unusually, however, it is also a contemporary history. It describes in detail a great lawsuit in Rome where the writer was present. The story then returns to England and to the monks' attempts to depose their scandalous abbot. This Oxford Medieval Texts edition provides a Latin text with a facing page English translation, a detailed historical introduction, and notes.

Thomas Walsingham, a monk of St Albans, has been described as the last of the great medieval chroniclers. His major work, the Chronica maiora, covers the years 1376-1422, and is arguably the most important account of English history to be written in England at this time. Walsingham's text has never been published as a continuous whole. It is found in no fewer than three separate publications in the Rolls Series, and was printed from manuscripts whose exact identity was not then clearly understood. The nature of the Rolls Series publications, and the different versions of the chronicle have raised questions concerning the relationship of the various manuscripts of the Chronica maiora, and also of Walsingham's own involvement with the text. In this new edition these problems are considered and the Chronica maiora is shown to be predominantly the work of one man, Thomas Walsingham.
Volume II of the St Albans Chronicle (1394-1422) now completes the edition. Drawing on the text in Bodley 462 and confirming the work of V. H. Galbraith, the editors make clear that the Annales Ricardi Secundi et Henrici Quarti (regarded in the Rolls Series as a separate chronicle) were an integral part of the Chronica maiora. They also argue that, while Walsingham's contribution as author in the later years was much smaller than in the years to 1393 (when he was without doubt the sole author), it is most likely that he supervised the whole work; and at times, as in the vivid and dramatic descriptions of the battles of Shrewsbury and of Agincourt, his own style is again apparent.
The chronicle is of the greatest historical value for Richard II's last years and for his deposition and the accession of Henry IV. It is wholly in favour of the Lancastrian revolution of 1399 and remains 'Lancastrian' in tone to its end. It illustrates (with sympathy) Henry's difficulties in establishing the dynasty and includes unique material on his relations with his son. For Henry V's reign it provides valuable details of his Norman campaigns. Over both reigns St Albans' hatred of Lollardy and its interest in the healing of the Great Schism are apparent in the coverage given them. In the later years, the extent of the commentary on events decreases, but the information available at St Albans and written here continues to be of a high order. The chronicle remains absorbing right to its end.

This lively narrative, written by a monk, relates the history of the abbey of Saffron Walden from its foundation around 1136 to the year 1203. Its characters include the English kings, the earls of Essex, and other local landowners, large and small, as well as the monks and other ecclesiastics. Its interest extends far beyond the local: the editors' introduction and notes establish the chronicle's position as a valuable historical source.

The Waltham Chronicle is an interesting example of a twelfth-century historia fundacionis. Written by one of the secular canons of Waltham just after the refoundation of the house as an Augustinian priory (later abbey) in 1177, it records the legends of the original foundation and miracle stories, together with historical information about the pre-Conquest benefactors, the internal organization of the community, the burial of Harold after the Battle of Hastings, and events during Stephen's reign. Its value is much more than that of a local history, because of its connection with the literary romances of Harold Godwineson, the religious context of the theology of the Cross, and the general movement to replace secular colleges by houses of regular Benedictine monks or Augustinian canons. This is the first published translation, printed with the original text edited from the two manuscripts containing the Chronicle, with full introduction, historical notes and apparatus criticus, by Leslie Watkiss and Marjorie Chibnall.