Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland: England

Raphael HolinshedProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 4.5
Word count
362K words
Chapters
37

Tags

English Originals World History Historical ReappraisalPalace IntrigueKingdom Rise and FallPower GameHistorical ExplorationAnnalistic NarrativeFolk CustomsEnglish Countryside

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland (3 of 6): England (4 of 9) by HolinshedAuthor: Holinshed, Raphael, -1580?,Language: English, Class: DA: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere: Great Britain, Ireland, Central Europe, Release Date: May 5, 2014

Editor's review

This chronicle is the fourth England section of the six-volume Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland, reproduced as a public-domain ebook. Its value lies not in smooth narrative but in showing how sixteenth-century Englishmen organized national history: geographical description, dynastic change, anecdotes and rumor interwoven, providing an important source for Shakespeare's history plays. Reading it gives a direct sense of how early modern historiography organized materials and of its language style, especially meaningful for students of English historiography and the literary background of the Renaissance. The archaic spelling and elaborate sentence structures present a barrier; it is best consulted for verification and comparison rather than read straight through. It suits use as a sourcebook for specialized research, together with annotated editions or related scholarly works.

Who it's for

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Reading tips

  1. Read the table of contents and editor's notes first, then locate the dynastic sections relevant to your topic and read them closely.
  2. Prepare a glossary of archaic spellings and mark unfamiliar word forms and place names as you read.
  3. Read alongside Shakespeare's related history plays and note how chronicle material was adapted.
  4. Read mainly for verification, handling one topic at a time to avoid losing patience with continuous reading.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37

FAQ

Is this book the complete chronicle of the three kingdoms? No. It is the fourth England section of Holinshed's six-volume chronicle, covering only one segment of the England material; the Scotland and Ireland parts are not included. Check before reading whether the period you need is covered.
Can I read it without a background in English history? You can browse it, but not efficiently. People, places and events are densely packed, and without background it is hard to judge what matters. It is better to first gain a basic outline of English history before the Tudors, then use it as a sourcebook.
Will archaic spelling affect comprehension? Yes. The spelling differs markedly from modern English and the sentences are long. Readers familiar with early modern English will find it smoother; others can read alongside modern translations or scholarly works.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Raphael Holinshed Author · British

Raphael Holinshed (died perhaps 1580) was an English chronicler. Public information about his life is limited, and later generations have known him chiefly through the historical work he edited. Employed by the London publisher Wolfe, he presided over the compilation of the first edition of the Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland in 1577. The chronicle recounts the events and figures of the history of the British Isles in annalistic form, drawing on earlier writings and documents; its narrative is detailed and carries a strong tone of political and moral instruction. The work circulated widely and became a principal source for Shakespeare's history plays and for Macbeth, bridging English historiography and literature. The collection contains 27 works related to him.