Document Type
Article
Date
Fall 1976
Keywords
Syracuse University Special Collections, European history, historiography, Irish history, English history, Scottish history, sixteenth century
Language
English
Disciplines
Arts and Humanities | European History | History | Medieval History
Description/Abstract
The composite nature of the Holinshed's Chronicles is manifest in the first volume. It contains William Harrison's description of England followed by Holinshed's history of England prior to the Norman Conquest; then Harrison's description of Scotland; and then Richard Stanyhurst's description of Ireland, Holinshed's history of Ireland down to 1509, and finally Stanyhurst's continuation from 1509 to 1547. The work includes dedicatory epistles addressed to Lord Brooke, the Earl of Leicester, and Sir Henry Sidney, penned by Harrison, Holinshed, and Stanyhurst, respectively. The second volume encompassing the history of England from 1066 to the reign of Elizabeth—a narrative history patterned after Ranulf Higden's Polychronicon—was written by Holinshed and dedicated to Lord Burghley. Though bearing little resemblance to Wolfe's original plan, the Chronicles proved to be the most elaborate and comprehensive British history published thus far.
Recommended Citation
Snow, Vernon F. "Four Centuries of Holinshed's Chronicles (1577-1977)." The Courier 13.3 and 13.4 (1976): 3-27.
Source
local input
