# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Paris, Matthew

​PARIS, MATTHEW (d. 1259), historian and monk, took the religious habit at St. Albans on St. Agnes's day, 21 Jan. 1217. He was then, it may be surmised, about seventeen years old. He had doubtless received his early education in the convent school. His surname, which was not uncommon in England in the thirteenth century, was probably inherited. St. Albans was at that time a place of art and learning, and the writing of history was specially encouraged there. Abbot Paul [q. v.] had endowed the scriptorium and increased the library, which received further additions under his successors; the vessels and ornaments of rare workmanship given to the convent encouraged the monks to follow artistic pursuits, while the wealth of the monastery enabled them to spend much on the adornment of their house and its books and other furniture. Abbot Simon (d. 1183) was an ardent lover of books, and kept two or three first-rate scribes continually at work in his chamber copying a large number of valuable works with minute care; he repaired the scriptorium, re-endowed it, made rules for its government, and ordained that his successors should always maintain a special scribe (Gesta Abbatum, i. 192). Roger of Wendover [q. v.] held this office after his recall from the priory of Belvoir, becoming the historiographer of the house. By his time the convent had a chronicle of England of its own, compiled about the beginning of the century, possibly by Abbot John de Cella (d. 1214) (Chronica Majora, ii. Preface, p. xi); it began with the Creation, and ended with 1188 (ib. p. 336). During Matthew's early years at St. Albans, Wendover was engaged in revising this chronicle and compiling and composing an addition to it. Matthew became expert in writing, which he perhaps learnt under a foreign teacher (Madden), in drawing, painting, and, it is said by Walsingham, in working gold and silver (Gesta Abbatum, i. 395). He was extremely diligent, and no doubt afforded much help to Wendover and in the work of the scriptorium generally. When Wendover died in 1236 (Chronica Majora, vi. Additamenta, p. 274), Matthew succeeded to his office, and carried on the ‘Chronica Majora,’ which had been brought down by Wendover to the summer of 1235 (ib. iii. 327 n.; Amundesham, ii. 303). He performed his task in a different way from that adopted by any English chronicler before him, keeping his eye on the affairs of the civilised world generally, and spending much pains in gathering information from all quarters. St. Albans was visited by kings and all manner of great persons, and he took care to make every such visit an opportunity for adding to his knowledge, and gaining some fresh material with which to enliven or enrich his chronicle. Nor was he content merely to hear what others told him. He moved about, was a traveller, and saw things for himself; he attended great ceremonies, and visited the court. The value of his work was recognised, and men of the highest rank were glad to tell him of events in which they were personally concerned, and were anxious to secure a favourable notice of their doings in his chronicle.
He tells us that he was present when, on the day of the translation of St. Edward, 13 Oct. 1247, Henry III carried with his own hands the holy blood from St. Paul's to Westminster. During the ceremonies of the day the king while on his throne saw and recognised him, called him to him, and, having made him sit on a step of the throne, asked him if he had seen and would remember all that had passed, and further earnestly requested him to write a full and detailed account of the whole affair in his book. Henry also invited him and the three brethren who accompanied him to dinner (Chronica Majora, iv. 644). Soon after this Matthew was called upon to visit Norway. The abbey of St. Benet Holm, on the island of Niderholm, in the province of Trondhjem, fell into trouble through the misconduct of its abbot, who, in 1240, deserted his house, and, having taken the seal of the chapter with him, borrowed money by affixing it to deeds for the sale or mortgage of the possessions of the convent. After his death the prior Clement came to St. Albans, probably in 1246, with a sum of three hundred marks, and carrying a letter from Hacon IV, requesting Matthew Paris to assist in freeing the abbey from its debts. Matthew accordingly bought up the bonds of the convent that were in the hands of the Caorsin money-lenders in London, and thus set right the worldly affairs of the abbey. In spiritual matters it was still in an unsatisfactory state, and the cardinal-bishop of Sabina, who was in Norway in June 1247, advised the monks to apply to the pope to appoint some one to reform their house. The new abbot followed his advice, and Innocent IV having told him and the prior that they might name the man whom they would prefer to be sent to them, they asked for Matthew, both because they had already had proof of his prudence and fidelity, and because ​he was on most friendly terms with their king (it is unlikely that Matthew had as yet met the king, but he may have corresponded with Hacon about the affairs of the abbey, or, as seems likely, may have put words into the abbot's mouth which antedate his friendship with the king). Innocent accordingly wrote to the abbot of St. Albans on 27 Nov., desiring him to send Matthew to St. Benet Holm to reform the house. Matthew, who was appointed visitor of the abbots and convents of the Benedictine order in Norway, unwillingly accepted the task of reformation, and sailed in the summer of 1248, carrying with him a letter from Louis IX of France, inviting Hacon to join in the crusade. When he arrived at Bergen in June, the ship that brought him was struck by lightning, its mast was shattered, one of the crew was killed, and others were hurt. He escaped the danger, for he was at the time celebrating mass in a church near the shore, and the king for love of him ordered that the ship should be supplied with a taller and better mast. Hacon treated him as an intimate friend, and talked familiarly with him on many subjects. Matthew went to the abbey of St. Benet Holm, and accomplished his mission with complete success. He returned to England in 1249, bringing back with him presents from the king (ib. p. 651, v. 36, 42–45; Historia Anglorum, iii. 40–1). Henry III esteemed him highly, and allowed him to speak freely to him. He fearlessly blamed Henry in 1250 for doing, and allowing others to do, certain injuries to St. Albans Abbey. The king answered him lightly, but added that he would consider the matter (Chronica Majora, v. 129). With that year Matthew intended to close his greater chronicle. At the end of the narrative for the year he wrote a summary of the chief events of the preceding fifty years, adding ‘Here end the Chronicles of Brother Matthew Paris, monk of St. Albans.’ Next follow some hexameters on the incidence of Easter, and then some rhyming lines declaring that his work was done, and praying that he might have rest here and hereafter; and, after a notice of some elemental disturbances, he ends with a couple of rhyming hexameters (ib. pp. 197–8). He turned to the work of revision (see below), but again continued the great chronicle, taking it up where he left off at Christmas 1250—that is, with the beginning of 1251, according to the reckoning that he followed. In 1251 he was with the king at Winchester, and he has recorded, probably by Henry's order, a complaint made to the king in his presence by one of Henry's messengers who had been ill-treated by the Pastoureaux (ib. pp. 253–4). He was present at the dedication of the church of Hayles, Gloucestershire, on 5 Nov., and there Richard, earl of Cornwall, the founder, told him that he had spent ten thousand marks on the building, in order, as we read, that Matthew might give a correct account of the matter in his chronicle (ib. p. 262). Nor was this the only occasion on which Earl Richard personally gave him information (ib. p. 347). He had a good opportunity of observing the ways of the king and his favourites during a visit that Henry paid to St. Albans towards the end of August 1252, and recounts as an eye-witness the unseemly behaviour of one of the king's Poitevin chaplains. When Henry visited St. Albans for a week in March 1257, he was much in Matthew's company, had him with him in public, at table, and in his chamber, took a lively interest in his work, talked with him about the election of Earl Richard as king of the Romans, and gave him the names of the electors. He also named to him all the kings of England who were saints, and the 250 English baronies. During this visit the Oxford masters complained to the king that the Bishop of Lincoln was interfering with their liberties, and Matthew privately urged the king to uphold the university, saying, ‘For God's sake, sire, have a care of the church, for it is now in a critical position! The university of Paris, the nurse of so many holy prelates, is now violently disturbed; and if at the same time the university of Oxford, the second in rank of the church's schools—nay, its very foundation—be troubled, there will be reason to fear that the church itself will be brought to utter ruin’ (ib. pp. 618–619). Matthew carried his greater chronicle down to May 1259, where he ends abruptly, and certainly died about that time (ib. p. 748 n.)
His character and attainments may be gathered from his historical works. They prove him to have been diligent and able. How much of the manuscripts of Paris and how many of their illustrations that are now preserved are the work of his own hands cannot, perhaps, be decided with certainty (on this matter see Madden's Preface to Historia Anglorum, where too much seems to be attributed to him; Hardy's Catalogue of Materials, vol. iii., and his remarks on the facsimiles there produced, for a minute and more critical discussion, which, however, seems to go somewhat too far on the other side; and Dr. Luard's Preface to the Chronica Majora, where Hardy's conclusions are generally approved). But it may safely be assumed that he performed a vast amount of manual work, both as a scribe and as an illustrator. ​He writes clearly and correctly, with much force and picturesque power, and gives many details. Now and then he uses expressions that are evidently proverbial, such as ‘ubi enim dolor, ibi et digitus,’ and sometimes plays on words, as in ‘Papa Lucius, lucis expers’ (ib. vol. vii. Preface, p. xvi). His quotations, though not superabundant, are fairly numerous. They come for the most part from Latin poets—Ovid, Horace, Juvenal, Persius, Terence, and others—and are generally well-worn citations; indeed, it seems probable that they were drawn from some textbook rather than from the authors directly. Some quotations given as from Seneca have not been identified. One quotation is given from Aristotle's ‘Meteora’ (ib. vol. iv. Preface, p. xvi). In vigour and brightness of expression he stands before every other English chronicler, and in these respects his writing is in striking contrast to that of his immediate predecessor, Roger de Wendover. The freshness of his narrative is partly due to the frankness with which he wrote, and partly also to his habit of collecting information from eye-witnesses of the events that he relates. It is evident that, in addition to the instances noted above, in which he expressly says that he has recorded things told him by King Henry and his brother Earl Richard, both of them, and especially the earl, must have been his authorities for many other statements. Besides them he names about eighteen persons as having given him information, and they must certainly have been a few among many who did so.
His narrative may be accepted as thoroughly accurate, though in so large a work as his greater chronicle some slips of course occur (ib.) Inaccuracies, however, occur more frequently in the many documents that he inserts in this chronicle, whether taken from the copies kept at St. Albans, or procured by himself; in these he makes frequent errors, and some interpolations. His interests were wide, for in his greater chronicle he writes much, and with full knowledge, on the relations between the empire and the papacy, on the affairs of Italy, Germany, and France, and on the crusades and other wars and movements in the East; and notes events in Spain, Hungary, the Eastern Empire, and elsewhere. Nor were his interests confined to political and personal matters. The weather of each year, floods, earthquakes, falling stars, and other natural phenomena; good and bad harvests, famines, sicknesses, and the like are all recorded by him. He remarks on the camel's neck and the leopard, describes the first buffaloes that were brought into England, writes fully on an elephant that was given to the king, and tells us of an invasion of crossbills that devastated the orchards. No trait in his character stands out more clearly in his historical writings than his boldness. Thoroughly English in feeling, patriotic, and a lover of freedom, he was deeply angered when foreigners were promoted to high places in church or state; when English wealth was spent on enriching them, or on objects and schemes that were of no benefit to the country; or when ecclesiastical or civil liberty was set at naught. In such cases he spared neither pope nor king, neither cardinal, minister, nor royal favourite. The abuses of the court, the greediness and falsity of the king, the insolence of his relations and his Poitevin ministers, the venality of the papal curia, and the oppression of the English church by successive popes, are exposed in his pages in scornful and indignant language. He speaks in the same spirit of the pride and luxury of the mendicant orders, and his wrath is strongly expressed against every one who attempted to injure his convent. His judgment of men and their doings is extremely valuable as expressing the independent opinion of a contemporary Englishman of wide knowledge, acute intellect, and perfect truthfulness. Nor have we merely the first outpourings of his indignation. He revised his work in later years, when his judgment was calm, and he was inclined to record such good as he could concerning men whom he had previously condemned in strong terms. And he was not a man of bitter spirit. In spite of much that angered him in the doings of Henry III, he certainly liked the king; and in other respects, too, he shows himself a man of genial temper and warm heart. No other English chronicler so vividly impresses on his readers his personal character. It is impossible to read his books without seeing that he had a pre-eminently manly temperament; that he was quickly moved to anger, was courageous, outspoken, satirical, and at the same time kindly. That he was trustworthy, courteous, and well-bred, may safely be asserted, seeing that his society was acceptable to the great, and that they conversed familiarly with him. His works are abundantly illustrated with drawings and paintings, executed either with his own hand, as was doubtless often the case, or under his direction; and presenting, among other things, the mitre and pastoral staff when a bishop is spoken of in the text, a large number of shields with heraldic bearings, the crown of thorns presented to Louis IX, fights by land and sea, Saracen girl-acrobats, Tartars devouring their captives, an elephant, whales, ​and many portraits. Three likenesses of Paris are known; one early in the volume containing his ‘Historia Anglorum,’ as Sir F. Madden calls it, Reg. MS. 14, C. 7, represents him as adoring the Virgin and Child, and is reproduced in Dr. Luard's edition of the ‘Chronica Majora,’ vol. i. Another, later in the same volume, at the end of the last part of the ‘Chronica Majora,’ where the author's work breaks off in 1259, shows him in bed, dying, with his head supported by his left arm, which rests on an open book inscribed ‘Liber Cronicorum Mathei Parisiensis,’ and above ‘Hic obit Matheus Parisiensis.’ It is reproduced in the same edition of the ‘Chronica Majora,’ vol. iv. The third is in Cotton. MS. Nero, D. 7, and is the work of a certain Alan Straylere, circ. 1400 (Trokelowe, Introduction, p. xliii, and p. 464). The engraved portrait in Wats's edition of the ‘Historia Major’ or ‘Chronica Majora,’ 1640, is founded on the first of these paintings. Matthew Paris gave many ornaments to St. Albans, among them two silver cups, a gold monile, with a fragment of the true cross, a rich cloth given to him by Queen Eleanor, a fringe that he received from King Hacon, and a silk cloth from Henry III, and many books, among which were his ‘Chronica Majora,’ now belonging to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and the volume Reg. MS. 14, C. 7, containing his ‘Historia Minor’ or ‘Historia Anglorum,’ and other matters.
Of the works of Matthew Paris, the greatest (1), the ‘Chronica Majora,’ is a composite chronicle, containing the St. Albans compilation to the end of 1188, Roger de Wendover's chronicle, 1189–1235, both revised by Paris, and his own work from 1235 to 1259. All manuscripts under the name of Matthew of Westminster or Roger de Wendover being left out of consideration here, the ‘Chronica Majora’ may, as far as 1253, be said to exist in two volumes in the library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, MSS. 26 and 16, the former containing the St. Albans compilation (Chronica Majora, ii. 336 n.), the latter the rest of the work from 1189 down to the end of 1253. Of these volumes there are two copies, Cotton. MS. Nero, D. 5, ending with 1250, and Harl. MS. 1620, ending with some independent matter in 1189. The literary history of the book has been worked out by Dr. Luard in his prefaces to the seven volumes of his edition of it. Paris had the St. Albans compilation copied out and corrected with his own hand, making many additions to it; eighty-seven of these additions being noted by Luard as inserted between 1066 and 1188, besides the additional passages at the end of each year, which he discovered for the most part to have been taken from the ‘Southwark Annals,’ Cotton. MS. Faustina, A. 8. Paris also subjected Roger de Wendover's independent chronicle to a similar revision, correcting and otherwise editing the copy before him to 1213 in the margin and in the text, though he sometimes abstains from correcting an error in his predecessor's work, but adds his own version of the matter. With the year 1213, when in C.C.C.C. MS. 16 a new St. Albans handwriting, though not that of Paris, begins, he ceased merely to correct and interpolate on a previously written page, and from this point incorporates his own matter in the text, making such important alterations and additions as ‘to give a new character to the history’ (Chronica Majora, vol. ii. Preface, p. x, and p. 567 n., vol. vii. Preface, p. xii). He took up Wendover's work where it ends abruptly in 1235, and continued it without a break. His independent work is in three parts, the first of which extends to the end of 1250, where he intended to leave off (see above). Having completed this, he caused the whole book of the ‘Chronica’ so far to be copied in Cotton. MS. D. 5, with a few alterations and additions, writing, probably with his own hand, some marginal notes. He also revised the original draft of his work in C.C.C.C. MS. 16, softening many severe sentences either by omission or alterations in the text, words being erased carefully, and in some cases others written in their place. For example, a simple erasure occurs under the year 1245; Matthew having at first described Boniface, archbishop-elect of Canterbury, and two other bishops as ‘domino Papæ specialiores et Anglis suspectiores,’ erased the last three words (ib. iv. 403); while his description of Boniface under 1241 may be referred to as an illustration of the alterations that he made in order to soften a severe remark (ib. p. 104). His original words are preserved in the copy Cotton. MS. Nero, D. 5, made before the revision. Paris further marked his work for abridgment with marginal notes against passages that referred to foreign affairs, and might be omitted in a history of England, or that were likely to be offensive to the king, writing, for example, opposite the charges against Hubert de Burgh the note ‘Vacat quia offendiculum’ (ib. iii. 618), and ‘Impertinens Anglis usque huc,’ followed by a reference mark, against a long passage relating to the Tartars, and the invasion of the Holy Land by the Kharismians (ib. iv. 298–311). He continued his great chronicle, and wrote the second part of it, extending from 1251 to the end of 1253, where he evidently again made a pause, for at that ​point the C.C.C.C. MS. ends. This part also received the author's revision, passages being erased or altered to soften anything that he judged to be too severe, as in the first part; but as Cotton. MS. Nero. D. 5 ends with 1250, we have not any means of knowing what he at first wrote (Luard). He then evidently turned to the abridgment of his work, apparently begun earlier, called the ‘Historia Minor,’ or ‘Historia Anglorum’ (see below); and, after bringing it to its close with the year 1253, wrote the last part, or third volume, as it is called in the manuscript (Chronica Majora, vol. v. Preface, p. viii, with references to pages), of his great chronicle, extending from 1254 to 1259. This is found only in one manuscript, called the Arundel manuscript, now in the British Museum, Reg. MS. 14, C. 7, where it immediately follows the ‘Historia Minor.’ Paris could not have finally revised this part of his work; while it is certainly his composition, and exhibits the characteristics of the previous parts, it is not so carefully written, and contains repetitions and faulty sentences (ib. p. xv). The manuscript could not have been written by Paris's own hand (so Dr. Luard, ib. p. xvi, in correction of Sir F. Madden). The greater chronicle ends with the picture of Matthew Paris on his death-bed, described above, and with a note that so far was his work, though in various handwritings, and that what follows was the work of another brother. The rest of the volume is occupied with the continuation ascribed to Rishanger (ib. p. 748).
The ‘Chronica Majora’ was first printed by Archbishop Parker, who, having printed the first part of the chronicle under the title of ‘Flores Historiarum per Mattheum Westmonasteriensem collecti,’ and finding a manuscript belonging to Sir William Cecil beginning at 1066, published ‘Mathæi Paris. monachi Albanensis Angli Historia Maior a Gulielmo Conquæstore ad ultimum annum Henrici tercii,’ printed by Reginald Wolfe, fol., London, 1571; reprinted, fol., Zürich, 1589 and 1606. For his text he used the Cecil manuscript ending 1208, now in the Bibliothèque Nationale at Paris, MS. 6048 B.—in which the texts of the ‘Chronica Majora’ and the ‘Historia Anglorum’ are mixed together—with some help from the present C.C.C.C. MS. 26, then Sir Edward Aglionby's; and for the next part, to the end of 1253, from the C.C.C.C. MS. 16, then Sir Henry Sidney's; while for the remainder of Paris's work, and the continuation to 1272 ascribed to Rishanger, he used Reg. MS. 14 C. 7, then the property of Henry, earl of Arundel. Some account of the extraordinary number and character of the errors in this edition will be found in Dr. Luard's Preface to his edition of the ‘Chronica Majora,’ vol. ii., and Sir F. Madden's Preface to ‘Historia Anglorum,’ vol. i. Probably never has the text of any historical author been served so ill. Another edition, with a similar title, was published by Dr. William Wats, fol., London, 1640, 1644, 1648. Wats found the text to 1189 already in type when he undertook his work. He made a distinct advance on what Parker had done, correcting many errors, and using the Cottonian manuscript to improve the text, but he appears to have relied on others for collation with the C.C.C.C. MSS., and his work is far from satisfactory. His edition also extends from 1067 to 1272, and he has added to it other matters written by or attributed to Paris (see below). It was translated into French, with the title ‘Grande Chronique de Mathieu Paris, traduite par A. Huillard-Bréholles,’ 4to, Paris, 1840–1, 9 vols., and an English translation by Dr. Giles is in Bohn's ‘Antiquarian Library,’ 8vo, 1847, 5 vols. The task of editing the ‘Chronica Majora’ in its proper extent (Creation—1259) was entrusted by the then master of the rolls to the late Dr. H. R. Luard in 1869, and was completed by him in 1883, in seven volumes of the Rolls Series of ‘Chronicles and Memorials,’ including the ‘Additamenta’ (see below) and a remarkably fine index, each of which, with prefaces and other apparatus, occupies a volume. No more thoroughly satisfactory edition of a great historical work has probably ever appeared.
Paris also wrote an abridgment of his greater chronicle, which was for a long period called (2) ‘Historia Minor,’ beginning at 1067 and ending with 1253. It exists in Reg. MS. 14, C. 7, believed by Sir F. Madden, though on insufficient grounds, to have been written and illustrated by the author's own hand. It was certainly revised by Paris, and many severe sentences have been softened. These changes are generally made on slips of vellum pasted over the passages that are altered (Historia Anglorum, iii. 35, 51, 89). Although this work is distinctly an abridgment, it contains a few matters not to be found in the ‘Chronica Majora,’ as some particulars concerning John's last illness, the apostate deacon (under 1223), and the idea entertained by Henry III of banishing the Jews (under 1251). Of this work there are two transcripts in the British Museum—one by William Lambarde [q. v.], and the other by Laurence Nowell [q. v.] The Arundel, or Royal, Codex that contains it begins with several plans and other matters, as a ‘Plan of the Winds,’ an ‘Itinerary from London to ​Jerusalem,’ a map of England and Scotland, the portrait of Matthew Paris with the Virgin (see above), a table for Easter, &c., all which were believed by Madden to be the work of Paris himself. The ‘Historia Minor’ was edited by Sir F. Madden in the Rolls Series as ‘Historia Anglorum, sive, ut vulgo dicitur, Historia Minor,’ 3 vols. 1866–1869. With it Madden also printed a book called ‘Abbreviatio Chronicorum Angliæ,’ from Cotton. MS. D. 6, which he believed to be the work of Paris, though he seems to have had no sufficient ground for this (Hardy, Catalogue of Materials, iii. 141).
In Cotton. MS. Nero, D. 1, will be found the ‘Vitæ duorum Offarum,’ frequently attributed to Paris, and printed by Wats in his edition of Matthew Paris as his work. It is, however, certain that the life of the second Offa is not by him, for it is largely used in the St. Albans compilation (Chronica Majora, i. 345 seq.), while it is extremely unlikely that he wrote the life of the fabulous Offa. These lives are followed by (3) ‘Vitæ Abbatum S. Albani,’ the lives of the first twenty-three abbots of the house, to 1255, each life having a miniature of the abbot at the beginning of it. They were certainly compiled, and the last two or three composed, by Paris, who more than once introduces himself in them as the author; and it is extremely probable that most of them were more or less taken from some earlier record written in the house. The lives were printed by Wats in his edition of Matthew Paris. They were incorporated by Walsingham, with some alterations and additions, in his ‘Gesta Abbatum,’ edited by Riley in the Rolls Series, 1867–9, 3 vols. After these come numerous documents relating, some to the lands and privileges of the monastery, others to the affairs of the kingdom or of foreign countries. They were copied under the direction of Paris, who evidently intended them in some cases for use in his history, and in the greater number as a kind of appendix to his two histories and his lives of the abbots, as containing valuable and illustrative matter with which he could not burden the pages of his books. Among them is an account of the rings, &c., belonging to St. Albans, with coloured drawings of the gems in the margins. It is often spoken of as a separate work, and is entitled ‘De anulis et gemmis et paliis quæ sunt de thesauro hujus ecclesiæ.’ It is printed among the ‘Additamenta’ by Dr. Luard, who gives a reproduction of a page with the illustrations. References are made by Paris to this collection in various places in his greater and lesser histories, and in his ‘Vitæ Abbatum;’ he calls it (4) ‘Liber Additamentorum,’ ‘Liber Literarum,’ and by other names. Some of the documents were printed by Wats, and the whole number, so far as the date of Paris's death, with the exception of those included in his other works, by Dr. Luard in his edition of the ‘Chronica Majora,’ vol. v. Additamenta. The book is illustrated probably by Paris himself. It was used after his death as a ‘kind of commonplace book for the insertion of any matter which was of interest to the monastery’ (Luard, ib.). A full table of the contents of the volume is given by Dr. Luard (ib. App. p. iii). Paris is also said to have written lives of (5) Sts. Alban and Amphibalus, of (6) Sts. Guthlac, Wulfstan, Thomas and Edmund of Canterbury, and Stephen Langton (Amundesham, ii. 303; Bale, De Scriptoribus, cent. iv. script. 26; Hardy, Catalogue of Materials, vol. iii. Preface, p. xlviii). Fragments of his life of Stephen Langton, and a piece of the history of the translation of St. Thomas are in the ‘Liber Additamentorum,’ and have been printed by Dr. Liebermann in his ‘Ungedruckte anglo-normännische Geschichtsquellen’ (Chronica Majora, vol. vi. Additamenta, p. 522). He speaks himself of his life of St. Edmund, as written by 1253, from information given him by Richard de la Wich [q. v.], bishop of Chichester, and friar Robert Bacon, as containing the miracles wrought through the saint's intercession, and as kept among the historical books at St. Albans (ib. v. 369, 384). It is not now known to exist (Hardy) u.s. vol. iii Preface, p. xciii). It will be observed that the St. Albans compilation contains a long passage on the life of St. Guthlac, taken from Felix, and that to this Paris has added nothing, though the compiler has inserted a few words (Chronica Majora, i. 324–8); that he has added nothing to the notices of the life of Bishop Wulfstan (ib. ii. 26–43); and that, though he inserts in Wendover's chronicle a notice of the translation of the bishop, copied apparently from Coggeshall, with a note of his own as to the acquisition of a relic of the saint by St. Albans, repeated at greater length in his ‘Lives of the Abbots,’ nothing is said as to any life written by him (ib. iii. 42; Gesta Abbatum, i. 283). Stowe (Annales, p. 43, ed. 1631) and Ussher (Antiquitates, p. 83, ed. 1687) say that Matthew Paris translated a Latin account of the passion of Sts. Alban and Amphibalus into French verse, and that his poem was in a manuscript book belonging to St. Albans, given or shown to Henry, and containing another piece, entitled ‘Tractatus de Inventione seu Translatione S. Albani,’ the title of one of the pieces in the ‘Liber Additamentorum.’ This poem has generally been identified with a French poem in the ​library of Trinity College, Dublin, written in a St. Albans hand of the time of Matthew Paris, with rubrics in a later St. Albans hand, and illustrations. It has been edited, under its proper title, ‘Vie de Seint Auban,’ by Dr. Robert Atkinson, 4to, 1876.
W. H.