Trimble - Early Tudor Historiography, 1485-1548.pdf

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Early Tudor Historiography, 1485-1548Author(s): William Raleigh TrimbleReviewed work(s):Source: Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol. 11, No. 1 (Jan., 1950), pp. 30-41Published by: University of Pennsylvania PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2707450 .

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EARLY TUDOR HISTORIOGRAPHY, 1485-1548BY WILIAM RALEIGH TRIMBLE

Thepatterns f historicalwritingwhichwereprominent nderthe early Tudors were at once a measureofthe nfluence f cul-tural,patriotic, ndreligious urrentswithin ngland on contem-poraryhistoriography,nd a testof thedegree o which he Eng-lishpeopleabsorbed hemore dvancedhistoriographical ethodsalreadydeveloped uring he talianRenaissance.Taking as the basis forthis studytheyears 1485 to 1548-from he accession ofHenry VII to thepublication f EdwardHall's The Vnion of thetwo noble and illustre ameliesof Lan-castre ndYorke-thesepatternsmaybe developed rom n anal-ysis of thehistorieswritten uring hisperiod isted n Pollardand Redgrave's A Short-TitleCatalogue of Books Printed inEngland, Scotland, and Ireland ... 1475-1640.1 In it there areninety hreebooksmentionedwhichcan be considered s histo-ries; ofthese, wenty ixwere printed n one editiononly,whiletheremaining ixty even nclude wo ormoreeditions ftwentytwotitles. Twenty ine of thetotal are translations rom therlanguages, hiefly atin and French, nd nineteen thers re ap-parently ranslations, hough ot so indicated. Seven booksareinLatin.2A selection fcertain fthese works howed hat the Renais-sance tendency o writehistorymorecriticallywas but slightlyfeltuntilthe thirddecadeof the sixteenthentury. During the'A. W. Pollard, G. R. Redgraveand others,A Short-TitleCatalogue of BooksPrinted n England,Scotland,and Ireland . . . 1475-1640 (London, 1926). Sincethepublicationof theShort-TitleCataloguetheomission f variousworksand theinclusionof ghosteditionshave been reported. Thoughthere s an admittedneedforrevision, hewriter eelsthat thenumber nd importance f the ibrarieswhoseholdingswerecataloguedand thecare exercised n preparingthevolumemake anypatternof historiographical rendshe establishessufficientlyalid, even thoughonlytentative, hatany errors nd omissions n theShort-TitleCatalogue will notseriouslyalter them.2 Thewriterwas able to control hegreaternumber f thesebooks; this,how-

ever, eaves a possiblemarginof error n accepting hesefigures s wholly ccurate.The typesof worksconsidered s histories ncludedtranslations f classical,medi-eval, and contemporary istories, hronicles, eligiouspolemicsobviously ntendedtobe considered s histories, ccountsof individualmilitary ampaigns,and lives ofimportantmen. 30


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EARLY TUDOR HISTORIOGRAPHY, 1485-1548 31years from1485 up to the 1530's the two main types of historiespublished were chronicles and translations of non-English his-torians, ancient, medieval, and contemporary.3 The chronicleswere invariably characterizedby an uncriticalattemptto recordthe historyof England from thebeginningof creationto the dateof writing, nd withoutany sense of discriminationBiblical nar-ratives and fictitious vents were included.4 Thus, for example,the Cronycles of the londe of Englond, printed at Antwerp in1493,5 and The Cronycles f Englande,published at London in1515,6trace in detailed sequence thehistoryof Britain beforeandafter Christ, giving names of kings and records of events forwhichthere is no substantiation.Generally,even in the betterwrittenchronicles, t is not untilthe narrativereaches theearlyMiddle Ages that someelementsofauthentic history,other than the Biblical accounts, appear; andonly when later centuriesare treated is there any fair degree ofreliability. The reason for thisconstantrepetitionof so many n-accuracies and myths ies in the fact that,centuryafter century,previous chroniclerswere followedas possessing authority,withlittle, f any, attemptto judge the accuracy of what was related.Since a strongreligiousstrain s thedominating actorthrough-out thechronicles, ny historicalmotivation s but briefly eferredto and littleevident. As far as it existed, t mightbe summedupin the openingwords of The Cronyclesof Englande:In so moche t t is necessaryo al creaturesfcrystenelygyon,r offals relygyion,r gentylesnd machomyteso knowetheyrprynceorprynceshatreygne ponthem nd them o obey. Soo it is commodyousto knowe heyrnobleactes and dedes,and the circumstauncef theyrlyues.7

3A large part of the atter fifteenthnd early sixteenth entury ooks isted nthe Short-Title Catalogue consisted of translations of such writers as Sallust,Froissart, nd Boccaccio, the ivesof famousmenofprevious ages, and sucheventsas the fall of Troy.4 The chronicles nvariably ncluded he traditionalmythological ccountof thenamingof Britain and the originof its people as told in the stories of Albyneandher sisters and of Brute.5The writer n this and certain subsequent titles and names of cities hasmodernized he spelling to some extent.6 It is stated in the prologue (fol. ai r.)) that this chroniclewas originallywrittenn 1483. Other editions wereprinted n 1542, 1543, and 1544.7The Cronycles of Englande (London, 1515), fol. ai(r.). The writer hasmodernized he punctuation and certainof the words.


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32 WILLIAM RALEIGH TRIMBLEIt is significant s a measure both of the type of interestandof the cultural advancementof the early Tudor period, that sev-eral of the medieval chronicles,revised and brought up to date,

wentthrough numberof editions. Two which were very repre-sentative of this group were Ranulphus Higden's Polychronicon8and The ChronicleofJhonHardyng.9 The former, n its originalLatin version,treated up to the year 1357,10and the later editionswere brought up to 1495 by the printer,Wynkynde Worde,'"fromtheEnglish translationmade in 1387 by John Trevisa.'2The purpose of this chronicle,according to de Worde in hispreface, was moral: fromthe records of thepast a man is able tolearn what to do and what to avoid, and thus may profitto hisownhappiness by avoiding others' misfortunes. Histories, there-fore, are more full of wisdom and better teachers than elderlymen.'3The chronicler, nterestingly nough, in following the usualmedieval method of gatheringfrom manywriters,clearly formu-lated this intothe principlethat differences f opinion necessarilycreep into history after a lapse of time,and a chroniclershouldnot be considered as affirminghe truth of what he wrote,butonly of what he had seen in other books.'4JohnHarding,in writinghis Chronicle, ccordingto theprefaceby the printer,Richard Grafton,used little discrimination n re-cording events before his time, thoughhe worked diligentlytopresent accuratelythe morerecenthistoryof his own day.'5 Nev-ertheless,his narrative showed,the printerfurther harged, thathe allowed himselfto be influenced y patriotism, s instancedbyhis animositytowards the Scots, and his desire for their subjec-tionto the English,'6and by "popish" errors.'7 The printer,how-8Higden's Polychroniconwas published n whole or in part in 1495, 1498, and1527. The writerused the 1527 edition,which was printedat Southwark.9There were twoeditions n 1543,bothprintedbyRichardGrafton t London.10Polychronicon, ol. aaiii(r.). Higden died in 1364."Ibid.12 Leslie Stephen and Sidney Lee (eds.), Dictionary of National Biography

(London, 1891), XXVI, 365.l13Polychronicon, ol. aaii(r.).14 Ibid., fol. iiii(v.).15 The Chronicleof JhonHiardyng, reface [no pagination]. JohnHardingflourishedn the fifteenthentury,dying about 1465.'I Ibid. 17 Ibid.


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EARLY TUDOR HISTORIOGRAPHY, 1485-1548 33ever, refrainedfromaltering the text, since he felt Englishmenwouldbe glad to know" the blindnesse of those tymes fromwhichtheyhad nowbeen freed by God.'8Only the firstpart of the chronicle was writtenby Hardyng,and the various extantmanuscriptsshow thathe revised it a num-ber of times to please successive patrons.'9 It is in verse, whileGrafton put his subsequent additions in prose, to maintain, hesaid, the " eloquence and greate grace" in which the originalsources were written.20But the printer presentedno advance inhistoriography, s he adhered in his sectionsto the patternof themedieval chronicles.In theyears of the Tudor era before the decade of the 1530'stwo chroniclers,Robert Fabyan in The New Chronicles of Eng-land andFrance,21 nd JohnRastell in The Pastime ofPeople orthe Chronicles f Divers Realms,22 ndicated, though only in asmall way and in chronicles of minor importance,the beginningsof a trend towardsa more criticaland a morediscriminating ypeofhistory.Robert Fabyan flourishedunder Henry VII and during thefirstfewyears of Henry VIII's reign. His intention n writinghis Chronicles was to harmonizediscordant elements n previoushistories23 but despite his evident erudition,24 e has been sub-jected to the criticism, ery true of all chroniclers, hat he lacked

18 Ibid.19Leslie Stephen and Sidney Lee (eds.), Dictionaryof National Biography(London, 1890), XXIV, 363.20 Ibid., Grafton'sContinuation, ol. i(v.).21 Between1485 and 1548 four editionsof Fabyan's work were published: in1516, 1533, and two in 1542. The writerused the volume edited by Sir HenryEllis in 1811 at London, taken from the 1516 edition. A critical discussion ofFabyan's Chronicles s contained n WilhelmBusch, England under the Tudors,trans.AliceM. Todd (London, 1895), Vol. I, King Henry Vii., 402-15. On pages400-02 Busch treats the city chronicle,which,being a variation fromthe generalchroniclepatternonly by includingspecial details concerningmunicipalactivitiesand institutions, as not been given special treatmentn this paper.22 John Rastell published thischroniclen 1529. The writerused the edition

published t London in 1811.23 Sir HenryEllis (ed.), The New Chronicles f England and France . . . byRobertFabyan (London,1811), xiii; Leslie Stephen (ed.), Dictionary of NationalBiography (London, 1889), XVIII, 114.24 Ellis, The New Chronicles f England and France . . . by Robert Fabyan,xiii; Dictionaryof National Biography, XVIII, 114.


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34 WILLIAM RALEIGH TRIMBLEa well-balanced sense of discretion in appraising the works ofotherwriters,25nd thathis value as an historianis chieflywhenhe concernedhimself with his own times.28 His unreliability nciting authorities27nd his adherence to the general form of themedieval chronicle, ncluding in his book unsubstantiatedtradi-tional eventsand mythological lements,detractfromthepurposeof his work as a historyof England and France. On the otherhand, he made some attemptto introducecritical judgments,aswhen he accused Robert Gaguin, whomhe used as his source forFrench history,of partiality towards France 28 and he exhibitedan attitude of doubt towards certain phenomena of a somewhatsuperstitiousnature.29The Renaissance spirit ofhistoricalcriticism s muchmoreevi-dent nJohnRastell's The PastimeofPeople or The ChroniclesofDivers Realms, publishedin 1529.30 He declared,for instance,that thestoryofAlbynewas fictitious nd improbable, ackinganyproof in England or corroboration n histories written n othercountries,where some of the scenes were laid; rather, it was asubject of ridicule among other peoples.3' The long-honoredstories of Brute and of Arthur,the latter long held with greatpride among Englishmen,were likewise rejected as unlikelyoftruth."2The value of Rastell's work lies preciselyin the use of a dis-criminatingudgmentbetweenwhat is certain and what is prob-able or improbable. Though his book is admittedlyof less im-portance thanthoseofhis contemporaries,Vergil and Hall, never-theless he too, typifiedthe developmentof a skeptical attitudetowards accepting past authoritieswithoutprobingmore deeplyto establish thevalidityof what theyasserted.

25DictionaryofNational Biography,XVIII, 114.26 Ibid.27Ellis, The New Chronicles f England and France . . . by RobertFabyan,xiil-x1v.28 Ibid., xvi-xvii. Fabyan's criticism f Gaguin on page 288 is an interestingexampleof his methodof analyzingthe weak points in anotherchronicler.29 Ibid., xvi.30JohnRastell,an Oxfordgraduate, ngagedduringhis career n law, politics,and printing.31The Pastime of People, or The Chronicles of Divers Realms . . . by JohnRastell (London, 1811), 4-5.32 Ibid., 5-7, 106-107.


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EARLY TUDOR HISTORIOGRAPHY, 1485-1548 35During the decade of the1530's and the 1540's English histori-ography assumed a somewhat different icture. Though chron-icles continuedto be written and the older ones to be reprinted,

and thoughtranslationsofnon-Englishhistoricalworkscontinuedto be published, the importanceof these was diminishedby theeffect f religious change and political events on historians,whonow frequentlyutilized the pen to defend what was taking placeand to praise the leaders of England. This new trendwas evi-denced in various ways. Translations of classical writingswerepublished with introductionscolored by a nationalistic purpose.Contemporary nd past eventswere rewritten n the lightof newconditions and with a strongpatriotic flavor. But only in onecase-that of Polydore Vergil-was a history of England pro-ducedwiththe sole intention fpresenting n absolutely objectivestudy.The contrast between such a high degree of impartialityandthe intrusionof emotion and bias into a narrative is seen in ana-lyzing the respective histories of Vergil and of Edward Hall.The former, n Italian cleric who became naturalized in England,broughtto the study of history the methods of evaluating factsalready developed in Renaissance Italy. He began his history n1505,completing t around 1533, the first ditionbeing publishedat Basle in 1534,and the second in 1546.33Throughoutall of Vergil's work runs a judicious treatment ffactsmore characteristicof thehistories of later centuries. It be-ginswitha carefuldescriptionof thegeography and of the peopleofEngland, inwhich,nhandlingthedisputed question ofthe earlyinhabitants of Britain, he showed his idea of what a historyshouldbe:What kinde fpeoplewere hefirstnhabitantsfBrittaine, hetherthei hatwerebredden the contrie r otherwisetraungers,t was neveryet ufficientlienownerdetermined; herebiet commetheo passe thatof onge eason uthors avenot greed hereof; s towching hich hinge,leste showlde ther verrashelie lightemie trouthen affirminge,r onthe other idegette nviebie refutinger falsifleinge,thought ood n

33Sidney Lee (ed.), DictionaryofNationalBiography (London,1899), LVIII,250,252. PolydoreVergil'sEnglishHistory s notincluded n theShort-TitleCata-logue, which specifically xcluded fromits scope books about England, printedoutsidethatcountry nd in a foreign ongue. The writerused Volume , editedbySir HenryEllis froman early translation f the Latin original,and publishedbythe Camden Society.


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36 WILLIAM RALEIGH TRIMBLEthisplacetorepete here entencesn order, nd to layethem eefore heieysof thereader, o the ntenthat ll thingsmaie stande o thearbitre-ment f othermenn as it is requisitehose hinggshowldewhich re in-certaine), ie causean Historie s a fullrehersallnd declaration fthingsdon,not a gesseor divination.34

In line with thismorepainstakingattitude he rejectedmuchofthe then currently ccepted historyof Britain as false and rash,including the story of Brute35 and the writings of GeoffreyofMonmouth,which contained the story of Arthur.36 He furtherplaced the blame for perpetuating falsehoods concerningthe ori-ginsof the British people on Henry Huntington nd the authorofthePolychronicon.37 Yet, Vergil, too, had his defects,whichthegreat German historian,Wilhelm Busch, pointedout, thoughthesewere less in regard to actual facts, than as to his chronologyofevents before his arrival in England.38The greatest of the native English historians of this period,Edward Hall, wrote a much more restrictedwork, imitedto thereigns of Henry IV to Henry VIII, in The Vnion of the two nobleand illustrefamelies of Lancastre and Yorke.39 The chief defectofthe book is that Hall, except for the reign of Henry VIII, whichis his own original treatment, o used Polydore Vergil's history,interspersed with data from other writers, as to constitute to alarge degree a free, and in places a literal, English translation.40The result was that Hall involved himself n contradictions, nd inmisinterpretations f Vergil. His history to the death of HenryVII must on this account be viewed as a faultyauthority.41The philosophy governing this work, as it is expressed in thededicationto Edward VI,42 s in themedieval tradition,covering34 Sir Henry Ellis (ed.), Polydore Vergil's English History, Vol. I., ThePeriodprior to theNormanConquest (London,1846), 26.35 bid., 30-31.36 Ibid., 29.37 Ibid.,31.38Buseh,England underthe Tudors, , 397-98.39 Therewerethreeeditionsof Hall's book duringtheyears1485-1548,one in1542 and two in 1548.40Busch,England undertheTudors, , 399-400; CharlesWhibley ed.), HenryVIII by Edward Hall (London, 1904), I, vii-ix.41 Busch,England under theTudors, , 399.42 Hall died in 1547,and RichardGrafton, heprinter, ompleted heprepara-tion of thebook forpublication.


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EARLY TUDOR HISTORIOGRAPHY, 1485-1548 37history with a religious and ethical purposiveness: "Oblivion"had blottedout theknowledgeof theoriginof the world untilGodinspired Moses to invent letters (which Mercurie likewise did inEgypt), successfullypreventing he eventsof later days frombe-ing lost. In thisway the fame of nations and of great men waspreserved,and knowledgeof the value of virtue and the evil ofvice was spread throughthemedium of the writtenword.43The immediatepurpose of this book was to gather and com-pile data frombothEnglish and foreign ources on thereignsfromHenry IV onward, since hithertothey had been defectivelyre-corded.44 The printer,Richard Grafton, dded thatHall in laterlifebecame less studious and less careful,completinghis book onlyup to the twenty-fourthear of Henry VIII, and leaving the restofhis materials in pamphletsand papers, which Graftoncollectedand printedwithoutany subsequentadditions.45Like his contemporariesHall also viewed history n the lightof political and dynasticevents; but he had a further, pecial in-terest,that of describingthe activitiesof the society of his day.46This wealth of detail is his greatest contribution o history, andit is not obscured even by his excessive loyalty to Henry VIII.Taking thetreatment f this monarchas the index of Hall's abili-ties, it must be said that he showed a marked inclinationso tohandle materials as to presenthis ownbiases, and to picture his-toryas he wished t to be seen,which s a markedchangefromthechroniclesof precedinggenerations withtheir slavish acceptanceof past authorities.Throughout he 1540's a recurringpoint of attack forpatrioticEnglishmen was Polydore Vergil's rejection of the storyof Ar-thur. The noted antiquarian, JohnLeland, wrote a defense, As-sertio inclytissimiArturij Regis Britanniae," in which he citedevidence to prove that Arthurhad lived and reigned. And hiscontemporary,heProtestantbishop JohnBale, inA brefeChron-ycle concernynge he Examtinacyon nd death of . . . Syr Johan

43 Edward Hall, The Vnionof the twonobleand illustrefameliesof Lancastreand Yorke (London,1548), dedication, ol. aaii(r.).44Ibi,d. fol. aaii(v-)-45 Ibid., Grafton's ddressto thereader [no pagination].46 Whibley,Henry VIII by Edward Hall, I, xii-xviii.47 Leland's bookwas publishedat London in 1544. In 1582 a translationwaspublished t LondonbyRichardRobinson, ntitledA learned and true AssertionoftheoriginalLife,Actes,and deathof . . . Arthure, ing ofgreatBrittaine.


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38 WILLIAM RALEIGH TRIMBLEOldecastell, he ordeCobham,48bitter eligious ractwrittensan historicalnarrative,said of Polydore Vergil:PolydorusVergilius collectouromtymen Englandeof thePopesPeterPensand afterwarderchedeaconfWellys, ath n thispoynt e-formed iswrytyngesreatlye,olutyngeureEnglyshe hronycles ostshamefullyeithhisRomisheyesand other talyshe eggerye.Battelshathhe described here t largewithno smalldiscommendyngesfsomeprinceswhichweregodlye, ut the preuyepackynge f Prelates, ndcraftyeonueyauncefthespiritualte athhe in eueryplace almost ullproperlyassedouer. He was tofamylyar ith heBysshoppesnd toketo moche f theyr ounsellwhanhe compyledheXXVI bokesof hisEnglyshe ystorye.Andnotgreatlys the andebeholden ntohim nthatworke,or nye argeprayse ferudicyonhathehathgeuen tthere.A syngular ewtyes it toa Christenegyon, han heyruncyentmonu-mentesregarnyshedmongethers, ithmene ffresheytteraturehichtherein ath smallremembrauncer non. Unlesse t be Gildas,Bedas,Alcuinas, oannes cotus,Aldemus, eubergus,ndone ortwomore, onare in thatwholeworkemencyonedoncernynghat, s though nglandehad alwayes enemostbarren fmenneerned. This do I notwrytendysprayse f hislernynge,which knowe obe verye xcellent) utfortheabusethereofeynge most yngular yft fGod.49The purpose of Bale's book was to defendthe life and activi-ties of the early fifteenthenturyLollard leader, Sir John Old-castle, against what to him were untrue statements by Vergil,whomBale accused ofhavingmade numerouserrors n his work.50The bishop attemptedto substantiate his statementsby mention-ing the sources he used and by includingexplanatory marginalnotes, but any critical analysis was marred by his extremebiasagainst opposingviewpoints.Two examples of books treating non-English subjects whichwereused to promotepatrioticand quasi-religiouscauses are An-thony ope's TheHistorieof Two theMosteNobleCapitainesofthe Worlde,Anniball and Scivio.5" and Paolo Giovio's A Shorte

48 Bale's bookwas published n 1544,perhapsatMarburgorAntwerp, nd therewas another ditionprobably n 1548 (the edition n theShort-TitleCataloguenum-bered1277 is a ghost). Bale's mostnotedwork s his Illustriummaioris BritanniaeScriptorum ummarium,whichwas first ublisedin 1548. As it belongsmoretoliterarythan to political and social history, t is not treated in this paper.49Bale, A brefeChronycle oncernynge . . Syr Johan Oldecastell,fol. 5(r.,v.). Thewriterhas made certainmodernizationsn thespellingand punctuation.50 Ibid., fol. 5 v.) -7 r.).51Publishedat London in 1544.


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EARLY TUDOR HISTORIOGRAPHY, 1485-1548 39Treatise upon the Turkes Chronicles.52 Like other sixteenth en-turywritersCope showedboth medieval and contemporarynflu-ences. He expressedhis theoryofhistory n termsof time,which,he said, dominates all things and consumes themin its process,eventually revealing even the most hidden facts.53 Patriotism,too,motivatedhim. Since England at that timewas engaged inwar, it was a meritoriousservice to reproduce the heroic storiesof Hannibal and Scipio, gathered from differentwriters,for theinspiration they might provide, and for the lessons they couldteach Englishmenfromtheexperiencesof others n the past.54The translation of the book by the noted Italian historian,Bishop Giovio, had, according to the dedicatory epistle, a quasi-religiousmotive, s a studyof the treatment f Christianpeoplesbythe Turks wouldmakeotherChristiansdesirea Crusade againstthe infidels.55 t is muchmore likely,however,that the transla-tor intendedto deepen English animosity gainst theFrench aris-ing from the currentwar, as Francis I of France had had the aidof theOttomanTurks in his fight gainst theEmperor Charles V.The volumehas certain featuresin the methodof presentationwhich are of special interest. The translator, n order to verifyfacts in thetext,placed substantiatingnotes in the marginsdrawnfromreputable historians, and supplied other explanatory datafor difficultnd strange words. And to simplify he translation,enabling it to be more widely read, he deliberatelyused the fa-miliar tongue ratherthan themore antiquatedChaucerian Englishor unfamiliartermswhichwould have demanded a knowledgeofLatin.56An example of the growthofinterest n contemporaryhistoryand of the more limited subjects now being treated was WilliamPatten's The Expedicion into Scotlade of the . . . Duke ofSoomer-set.57 Published in the formof a diary,58t was based on notesthe author had made while a memberof Somerset's expedition,

52 Translatedfrom heLatin byPeter Ashton nd published t London in 1546.53 Cope, TheHistorieof Two the Moste Noble Capitaines of theWorlde,Anni-ball and Scipio, fol. aii(r., v.).54Ibid.,fol. aiii(r.).55Giovio,A ShorteTreatiseupon theTurkesChronicles, edicatory pistle [nopagination].56 Ibid., preface [no pagination].57 Publishedat London in 1548.58 Patten,Expedicion into Scotldde,dedication, ol.+ ii(r.).


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40 WILLIAM RALEIGH TRIMBLEwith correctionsand additions fromnotes takenby Sir WilliamCecil.59 Even more than the author's personal relationship tothe subject, the widespread public interest n a victoryover theScots in theirhomelandhad caused himto writethebook.60 Intoit he breathed a strong air of patriotismand of loyalty to theTudors, their claim to the kingdomof Scotland being upheld asjust,61 nd the religious changes of Henry VIII being fully ac-cepted,as shownby Patten's stronganti-papalist attitude.Throughout,Patten showed that he had taken diligentcare topresenthis subject according to a careful and accurate plan. Inboth thepreface and the text of the narrative there are explana-torymarginal notes, and his referencestakenfrom otherwritersgive fairly specificinformationas to the exact location of thesource. In its general structure,therefore,Patten's work, likeVergil's, Hall's, and Bale's, marks a verydistinctdeparturefromthe historiesof a generationearlier.62

* *I *kThoughvarious aspects ofRenaissance culturebegan to affect

English intellectual ife early in the Tudor era, there was no per-ceptible stimulationof any widespread interesteither in historyor in improvedmethodsof historiography. Before the decade ofthe 1530's the chronicle,whetherwrittencontemporarilyor re-vised and improvedfroma medieval original,was thesole typeofhistoryproduced; and in the main its traditionalstructureof anuncriticalrelianceon past authorities,withpartial exceptionshereand there in the works of a few chroniclers,remained constant.When a new and radically different ind of historyappearedin the1530's and 1540's, itwas due not to the influence f Renais-sance historians on the Continent,but rather to the forces of re-ligious change, political and militaryevents,and a growingna-tionalism,whichwereunified y the strong eadership and exaltedconception of the monarchy. The more marked characteristicsthis new historiography vincedwere the limitedscope of eventstreated n. omparisonwiththebroad sweep ofthemedieval chron-

icle,thegreaterdiscrimination nd thegreaterdegree ofbias with-591Ibid.,Y iiij (v.)-Pv(r.).60 Ibid., preface [paginationis defective].61 Ibid.62 Patten detracted omewhatfromthe value of his judgmentby including acertainamountof superstition oncerning reams.


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EARLY TUDOR HISTORIOGRAPHY, 1485-1548 41which data were now handled, and the evident purpose ofmakinghistory mediumto defendthepolicies ofthecrownand to glorifyEngland's past. Polydore Vergil,an Italian bybirth, nd a prod-uct of the Italian Renaissance in his historical methods, alonestands as an exception,for his stated purpose was to create animpartial history. Yet he aroused not imitationbut opposition.By themiddle of thesixteenth entury, herefore, definite,n-digenous pattern of historiographywas clearly evolving in Eng-land-a matterofhistoricalimportancebecause from t developedthe leading features which distinguishedmany of the historieswritten n the Elizabethan and Stuart eras.Universityof Tennessee.

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Trimble - Early Tudor Historiography, 1485-1548.pdf