Roger of Wendover
| Roger of Wendover | |
|---|---|
| Born | Unknown Wendover(?), England |
| Died | 6 May 1236 St Albans Abbey, St Albans, England |
| Occupation | Chronicler |
Roger of Wendover (died 6 May 1236), probably a native of Wendover in Buckinghamshire, was an English chronicler of the 13th century.
At an uncertain date he became a monk at St Albans Abbey; afterwards he was appointed prior of the cell of Belvoir, but he forfeited this dignity in the early years of Henry III, having been found guilty of wasting the endowments. His latter years were passed at St Albans, where he died on 6 May 1236.
He is the first in the series of important chroniclers who worked at St Albans. His best-known chronicle, called the Flores Historiarum (Flowers of History), is based in large part on material which already existed at St Albans. The actual nucleus of the early part of Roger’s Flowers of History is supposed to have been the compilation of John de Cella (also known as John of Wallingford), who was abbot of St Albans from 1195 to 1214, although that is inconclusive.
John’s work started from the year 1188, and was revised and continued by Roger up to 1235, the year before his death. Roger claims in his preface to have selected "from the books of catholic writers worthy of credit, just as flowers of various colours are gathered from various fields." Hence he called his work Flores Historiarum—a title appropriated in the 14th century to a long compilation by various hands. Begun at St Albans based upon the Chronicle of Matthew Paris, it was finally completed at Westminster continuing to the year 1326. The work was long ascribed to one "Matthew of Westminster", but it is now known that no actual chronicler of that name ever existed.
Roger of Wendover’s work, like that of most chroniclers, is, valued not so much for what he culled from previous writers as for its full and lively narrative of contemporary events, from 1216 to 1235, including the sealing of Magna Carta. An example being his description of King John's troops action in the north during the bitter war at the end of his reign:
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