''Estoire des Engleis'' (English: ''History of the English'') is a chronicle of English history composed by Geffrei Gaimar. Written for the wife of a landholder in

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

and

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, it is the oldest known history chronicle in the

French language French ( or ) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European family. Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. French evolved from Northern Old Gallo-R ...

. Scholars have proposed various dates for the chronicle's writing; the middle-to-late 1130s is commonly accepted. Largely based upon, or directly translated from, pre-existing chronicles, the ''Estoire des Engleis'' documents English history from the 495 landing of Cerdic of Wessex to the death of King William Rufus in 1100. The original chronicle opened with England's mythical Trojan beginnings, but all portions which document the period before Cerdic have been lost.

History

Geffrei Gaimar wrote the ''Estoire des Engleis'' for Constance, the wife of Ralf FitzGilbert. FitzGilbert, who, according to Gaimar in the chronicle's epilogue, commissioned its writing, possessed land in

and

. Gaimar himself may have been FitzGilbert's chaplain, or perhaps a secular clerk. Scholars have varying opinions concerning the date of the chronicle's writing, with commonly accepted ranges including March 1136 – April 1137 and 1135–1140. Gaimar possibly started the chronicle's composition in Hampshire and completed it in Lincolnshire. Ian Short, an emeritus professor of French at

Birkbeck, University of London Birkbeck, University of London (formally Birkbeck College, University of London), is a Public university, public research university located in London, England, and a constituent college, member institution of the University of London. Establ ...

, stated that the chronicle was written "to provide a vast panorama of the Celto-British, Anglo-Saxon, and Anglo-Norman dynasties in the British Isles from Trojan times until the death of William Rufus." It is the oldest known history chronicle written in the

. The chronicle was written with a Norman bias, stating that the Normans were the true successors to the English throne. As mentioned in the chronicle's epilogue, it opened with England's mythical Trojan beginnings when it was first written. However, this first portion of the chronicle, known as the ''Estoire des Troiiens'', along with another early part named the ''Estoire des Bretuns'', has been lost. The present-day copy begins with the 495 landing of Cerdic of Wessex in England, and ends with William II's death in 1100. The chronicle was written in couplets, containing 6,532 octosyllables. Four manuscripts of the ''Estoire des Engleis'' currently exist. The title ''Estoire des Engleis'' derives from the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

version. The ''Estoire des Engleis'' is based upon pre-existing chronicles. For instance, the now-lost portions of the chronicle, the ''Estoire des Troiiens'' and ''Estoire des Bretuns'', likely used information from the ''

Historia Regum Britanniae (''The History of the Kings of Britain''), originally called (''On the Deeds of the Britons''), is a fictitious account of British history, written around 1136 by Geoffrey of Monmouth. It chronicles the lives of the List of legendary kings o ...

'', which was written by Geoffrey of Monmouth. After this, starting with Cerdic, the chronicle is primarily a translation of the '' Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' to about 959. Its accuracy is questioned by scholars, but the chronicle is nonetheless recognized as valuable in other areas of study.

References

{{reflist, 30em 1130s books 12th-century history books Anglo-Norman chronicles about England