Chronicles of English history were presented both in codex (book) and roll form. The rolls were ideally suited to the presentation of history as line of royal succession, and gained considerable popularity in medieval England. Forty genealogical chronicles of English kings survive from the period between Edward I’s accession to the throne (1272) and the death of Henry V (1422). The text provides a commentary on the royal portraits, usually in Anglo-Norman French, the language of the English medieval aristocracy.
This chronicle dates from the reign of Edward I (1272-1307). Almost five metres in length, its historical narrative begins with a large round diagram depicting the Heptarchy, the seven kingdoms into which Anglo-Saxon England was divided. The royal line starts below with Egbert, the king of Wessex who united the Anglo-Saxons, and continues down to Edward I. Portraits of Edward II and Edward III were added in about 1340.
The original patron of this lavish chronicle is not known but it is almost certainly the Role des roys d’Angleterre that was listed amongst the books kept by Henry VIII at Richmond Palace in 1535.
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