Chronicles of the Reigns of Edward I and II Volume 2

The Chronicles of the Reigns of Edward I and Edward II, Volume 2, comprising A Sorrowful Commendation on King Edward, the Life of Edward II by a Monk of Bridlington, Life of Edward II by a Monk of Malmesbury and Life of Edward by Thomas de la More, presents a rich collection of medieval English chronicles illuminating the political, military, ecclesiastical and social upheavals of the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries. The volume offers contemporary and near-contemporary accounts of the reigns of Edward I and Edward II, a period marked by war with Scotland, conflict between Crown and nobility, disputes over royal government, ecclesiastical tensions, rebellion, deposition and civil violence. Particular attention is given to the struggle surrounding Piers Gaveston, Thomas of Lancaster and the Despensers, as well as the turbulent final years of Edward II and the political circumstances that shaped the early reign of Edward III. These chronicles are especially valuable for their vivid narrative detail. They preserve speeches, political arguments, descriptions of battles and executions, accounts of parliaments and royal councils, reports of diplomatic missions, ecclesiastical controversies, prodigies and natural events, and contemporary judgements on the conduct of kings, magnates and churchmen. Written from differing institutional and regional perspectives, the texts reveal not only what happened but how medieval observers interpreted events, often through ideas of divine judgement, legitimate kingship, loyalty, treason and moral retribution. An important primary-source collection for readers interested in Edward I, Edward II, medieval politics, the Scottish wars, the baronial opposition, the fall of Edward II, church history and fourteenth-century England, Volume 2 provides an indispensable window into one of the most turbulent periods of the English Middle Ages.

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XXXIX Monument Of Mrs Howard By Nollekens In Wetheral Church, Near Corby, On The Banks Of The Eden

XXXIX Monument Of Mrs Howard By Nollekens In Wetheral Church, Near Corby, On The Banks Of The Eden is in Wordsworth Poems.

Stretched on the dying Mother's lap, lies dead

Her new-born Babe; dire ending of bright hope!

But Sculpture here, with the divinest scope

Of luminous faith, heavenward hath raised that head

So patiently; and through one hand has spread

A touch so tender for the insensate Child

(Earth's lingering love to parting reconciled,

Brief parting, for the spirit is all but fled)

That we, who contemplate the turns of life

Through this still medium, are consoled and cheered;

Feel with the Mother, think the severed Wife

Is less to be lamented than revered;

And own that Art, triumphant over strife

And pain, hath powers to Eternity endeared.

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On 9th September 1789 Maria Archer [aged 21] died in childbirth at Corby Castle, Cumberland [Map]. Monument in Holy Trinity Church, Wetheral [Map] sculpted by Joseph Nollekens [aged 52] costing £1500. He regarded it as his finest work; entitled Faith. When Nollekens realized that his work was destined for so remote a part of the Kingdom it is said that he burst into tears as he felt so few people would see it. This work is represented on the Nollekens Monument in Paddington Parish Church by William Behnes. On seeing the sculpture Wordsworth wrote "XXXIX Monument Of Mrs Howard By Nollekens In Wetheral Church, Near Corby, On The Banks Of The Eden".

Maria Archer: Around 1768 she was born to Andrew Archer 2nd Baron Archer and Sarah West Baroness Archer. On 22nd November 1788 Henry Howard and she were married.