Robert of Gloucester (historian)

Robert of Gloucester (fl. c. 1260 – c. 1300) was an English chronicler. He wrote a chronicle of British, English and Norman history sometime in the mid- or late thirteenth century.

Quotes

England is a very good land; I judge the best of all lands, set in the one end of the world, in the extreme west. The sea goes all round it; it stands as in an island: they need have no fears of foes save through the treachery of the folk of the same land.

• Engelond his a wel god lond · ich wene ech londe best ·
  Iset in the on end of the · worlde as al in the west ·
  The se geth him al aboute · he stond as in an yle ·
  Of fon hii they dorre the lasse doute — bot hit be thorȝ gyle.
  Of folc of the sulve lond · as me hath iseye ȝwile ·
  From southe to north he is long · eiȝte hondred mile ·
  And tuo hondred mile brod · from est to west to wende ·
  Amid the lond as hit be · and noȝt as bi the on ende ·
  Plente me may in Engelond · of alle gode ise ·
  Bote volc hit vorgulte · other ȝeres the worse be ·
  Vor Engelond is vol inoȝ · of frut and ek of tren ·
  Of wodes and of parkes · that joye hit is to sen ·
  Of foweles and of bestes · of wilde and tame also ·
  Of salt fichȝ and eke verss · of vaire riuers there to ·
  Of wellen suete and cold inouȝ · of lesen and of mede ·
  Of seluer or and of gold · of tyn and eke of lede ·
  Of stel of yre and of bras · of god corn gret won ·
  Of wit and of wolle god · betere ne may be non ·
  Wateres he hath ek inouȝ · ac at uore alle othere thre ·
  Out of the lond into the se · armes as thei it be ·
  Ȝware bi the ssipes mowe come · fram the se and wende ·
  And bring alonde good inoȝ · aboute in eche ende.
  • England is a very good land; I judge the best of all lands, set in the one end of the world, in the extreme west. The sea goes all round it; it stands as in an island: they need have no fears of foes save through the treachery of the folk of the same land, as has formerly been seen. From south to north it is eight hundred miles long, and two hundred miles broad, to go from east to west, that is taking the land in the middle and not at the one end. Plenty of all goods may be seen in England except the people forfeit them, or years lie worse: for England is full enough of fruit and of trees, of woods and of parks that it is joy to see; of fowls and of beasts, alike wild and tame; of fish salt and fresh; of fair rivers besides; enough of wells sweet and cold; of pastures and meadows; of silver ore and gold; of tin and also of lead; of steel, of iron, and of brass; of good corn great abundance, of wheat, and of good wool none can ht better. It has also enough of waters, and three above all others, like arms running out of the land into the sea, whereby the ships may come from the sea and return to it, and bring ashore goods enough bought at each end.
  • Chronicle, 1–22 (tr. W. J. Courthorpe, 1926)

• So clene lond is Engelond · and so cler withouten hore,
  The veireste men in the world · ther inne beth ibore,
  So clene and vair and pur ȝwit · among other men hii beth,
  That me knoweth hem in eche lond · bi seȝte thar me hem seth ·
  So clene is al so that lond · and mannes blood so pur ·
  That the gret evel ne cometh naȝt ther · that me ciupeth that holi fur ·
  That vorfreteth menne limes · riȝt as it were ibrende ·
  Ac men of ffrance in thulke vuel · sone ne sueth amende
  Ȝif hii beth ibroȝt in to Engelond · ȝware thorȝ me may iwite
  That Engelond is londe best · as it is iwrite.
  • So clean a land is England and so clear without dirt, the fairest men in the world are born therein; so clean, and fair, and pure white are they among other men that they may be known in each land wherever they are seen. So clean is also that land and man’s blood so pure, that the great evil may not come there that is called holy fire, that wastes men’s limbs as if they were burned. But men of France in that evil soon obtain a remedy if they be brought into England; whereby may be known that England is the best of lands as hath been written.
  • Chronicle, 180–88 (tr. W. J. Courthorpe, 1926)

He [William] cast out of house and home a great multitude of men, and took their land for thirty miles and more thereabout, and made it forest and pastures for the beasts to feed on; he took little heed of the poor men he disinherited. Therefore therein befell much mischief, and his son was shot in it, William the red king; and also his only son named Richard met his death there; and Richard his only nephew broke his neck there as he rode a-hunting, and his horse chanced to kick.

• Thus the English folk came to the ground for nought, for a false king having no right to the kingdom, and came to a new lord, whose right was greater: but neither of them, as may be seen, was entirely in the right; and thus was that land, I wis, brought into Norman's hand; so that it is a great chance if there is ever a recovery of it. The high men that be in England are of the Normans, and the low men of the Saxons, as I understand, so that ye see on either side what right ye have to it. But I understand that it was done by God’s will. For while the men of this land were pure heathens, no land and no people were in arms against them. But afterwards the people received Christianity, and kept but for a little while the commandments they had received, and turned to sloth and to pride, and to lechery, and to gluttony, and high men much to robbery; and it was as the spirits said in a vision to St. Edward, how there should come such misery into England on account of the robbery of high men and the fornication of clerks, and how God should send sorrow into this kingdom between Michaelmas and St. Luke on St. Calixtus day.
  • Chronicle, 7495–7514 (tr. W. J. Courthorpe, 1926)
  • Downfall of the Saxon dynasty

• Game of hounds and of wild beasts he loved well, and his forest and his woods, and the New Forest most of all, which is in Southamptonshire, for this he loved well, and stored full of beasts and pastures with great wrong, for he cast out of house and home a great multitude of men, and took their land for thirty miles and more thereabout, and made it forest and pastures for the beasts to feed on; he took little heed of the poor men he disinherited. Therefore therein befell much mischief, and his son was shot in it, William the red king; and also his only son named Richard met his death there; and Richard his only nephew broke his neck there as he rode a-hunting, and his horse chanced to kick. To such misadventure turned the wrong done to poor men.
  • Chronicle, 7698–7711 (tr. W. J. Courthorpe, 1926)
  • Descendants of William the Conqueror

Camden, Remaines Concerning Britain (1614)

• England is a well good land; in the stead best
  Set in the one end of the world, and reigneth west.
  The Sea goeth him all about, he stint as an yle,
  Of foes it need the lesse doubt: but it be through gile
  Of folke of the self land, as me hath I sey while
  From south to north it is long, eight hundred mile,
  And two hundred mile broad from east to west to wend
  Amid the land as it might be: and not as in the one end,
  Plentie men may in England of all good see,
  But folk it agult, other years the worse and worse be.
  For England is full enough of fruit and of treene,
  Of Woods and of Parks that joy it is to seene.
  • p. 8

• In the countrey of Canterbury, most plenty of fish is,
  And most chase of wild beasts, about Salisbury I wis.
  And London ships most, and wine at Winchester.
  At Hartford sheep and oxe: and fruit at Worcester.
  Soape about Coventry: and yron at Glocester.
  Metall, lead, and tinne in the countie of Exeter.
  Everwike of fairest wood: Lincolne of fairest men.
  Cambridge and Huntington most plenty of deep venne.
  Elie of fairest place: of fairest sight Rochester.
  • p. 8

External links

• W. J. Courthorpe, A History of English Poetry, vol. 1 (London: Macmillan and Co, 1926) pp. 144–47