Chronicon Henrici Knighton. Edited by Joseph Rawson Lumby, D.D. Vol.
II. "Master of the Rolls Series."—After an in- terval of between five and six years, Dr. Lumby completes. his edition of Knighton's (alias Cuitlion's) Chronicle, giving in his preface to the second volume a fuller account of the work in general. The great difference between the put now published and the earlier portion is that here Knighton, for- the most part, is giving matter of his own, whereas before he had borrowed very largely from various predecessors, notably from Higden and Walter of Hemingburgh. The Chronicle is. carried on as far as the year 1395, making the total period em• braced in the volume fifty-eight years. Knighton relates events in much detail, and in the later period from his own knowledge. The second volume is therefore by far the more valuable of the two. The most important events are the Scotch and French wars of Edward, the Black Death, and the rise of the Wiclifite movement. Many of the details which the chronicler gives are of an importance which he probably did not recognise. As an, instance of the exactions which caused so widespread a hatredt of Papal rule, we have the following :—In 1333 two Cardinals come to make peace between the Kings of France and England. An admirable purpose ! But they received 50 marks a day for- their expenses (equivalent to not less than .2400 in our money). and the English Church had to be taxed to make the payment, the contribution being 43. in the mark or about 2} per cent , Gd. in the £1. Fifty marks a day make a total of .£18,250 for the year ; multiplying this by 40 we get £730,000 as the total taxable income. If we take 12 to 1 as the ratio of the relative values of money we get a total revenue of about £6,000,000. This may be set higher, as the incomes were probably not taxed up to the full.
Previous page
