Geoffrey the Baker (died ), also called Walter of Swinbroke, was an English chronicler. He was probably a secular clerk at

Swinbrook Swinbrook is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Swinbrook and Widford, in the West Oxfordshire district, in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is on the River Windrush, about east of Burford. Widford, Oxfordshire, Widf ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

. He wrote a ''Chronicon Angliae temporibus Edwardi II et Edwardi III'', which deals with the history of England from 1303 to 1356. From the beginning until about 1324 this work is based upon Adam Murimuth's ''Continuatio chronicarum'', but after this date it contains information not found elsewhere, and closes with a detailed account of the

Battle of Poitiers The Battle of Poitiers was fought on 19September 1356 between a Kingdom of France, French army commanded by King John II of France, King JohnII and an Kingdom of England, Anglo-Gascony, Gascon force under Edward the Black Prince, Edward, the ...

. The author obtained his knowledge about the last days of

Edward II Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also known as Edward of Caernarfon or Caernarvon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir to the throne follo ...

from William Bisschop, a companion of the king's alleged murderers, Thomas Gurney, William Ockley and John Maltravers. Geoffrey also wrote a ''Chroniculum'' from the creation of the world until 1336. His writings have been edited with notes by Sir Edward Maunde Thompson as the
Chronicon Galfridi le Baker de Swynebroke
' (Oxford, 1889). Some doubt exists concerning Geoffrey's share in the compilation of the ''Vita et mors Edwardi II'', usually attributed to Sir Thomas de la More, or Moor, and printed by

William Camden William Camden (2 May 1551 – 9 November 1623) was an English antiquarian, historian, topographer, and herald, best known as author of ''Britannia'', the first chorographical survey of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland that relates la ...

in his ''Anglica scripta''. It has been maintained by Camden and others that More wrote an account of Edward's reign in French, and that this was translated into Latin by Geoffrey and used by him in compiling his ''Chronicon''. Nineteenth-century scholarship, however, asserts that More was no writer, and that the ''Vita et mors'' is an extract from Geoffrey's ''Chronicon'', and was attributed to More, who was the author's patron. In the main this conclusion substantiates the verdict of

William Stubbs William Stubbs (21 June 182522 April 1901) was an English historian and Anglican bishop. He was Regius Professor of History (Oxford), Regius Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford between 1866 and 1884. He was Bishop of Ches ...

, who has published the ''Vita et mors'' in his ''Chronicles of the reigns of Edward I and Edward II'' (London, 1883). The manuscripts of Geoffrey's works are in the

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1602 by Sir Thomas Bodley, it is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second-largest library in ...

at Oxford.

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