Chronica Johannis de Oxenedes

The Chronica Johannis de Oxenedes is a medieval chronicle written in Latin, probably around 1290.

The chronicle was written by a monk of the Benedictine abbey of St. Benet's at Holme in Norfolk, made clear by his personal involvement in events related to that abbey, as well as the inclusion of a history of the house.

The author is generally supposed to have come from the former village of Oxnead, which lies about ten miles from the abbey. This supposition is supported by the fact that a number of monks at the abbey were given the name of their village as an appellation.

Following a trend from around the time of Henry I, the chronicler has compiled a register of historical events from previous sources, and has edited, removed or added events that he perceived to be less or more important, or of which he himself had personal knowledge.

The chronicler mentions the arrival of Hengist and Horsa but really begins the narration at the reign of Alfred the Great.

Highlights of the chronicle also include the reign of Edgar, the treatment of Jews in England at the time of the Norman Conquest, the Purgatory of St. Patrick, the reign of Henry III and the first elephant in England in 1255.

As is usual in medieval chronicles, the accounts of events near the author's own period are richer in detail and greater in length. In this case, the account of the Battle of Lewes is of particular interest, as are the defeat of the Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales, in 1282 and the punishment in which Rhys ap Meredith was tied to the tail of a horse and dragged to his death. The accounts of the floods which took place in Norfolk at this time, especially that of 1282, are also ususually detailed.

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