UC-NRLF 
 

 
 
The Sources 
 
 The British Chronicle History 
 
 Spenser's Faerie Queene 
 
 A DISSERTATION 
 
 PRESENTED TO THE FACULTY OF BRYN MAWP, COLLEGE 
 
 FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF 
 
 PHILOSOPHY 
 
 BY 
 
 CARRIE ANNA HARPER 
 1910 
 
 !?? 31 uh it (. Ittimitmt (u. 
 
 1006-1016 AKCH STHKKT 
 PHILADKLPHIA 
 
The Sources 
 
 OF 
 
 The British Chronicle History 
 
 Spenser's Faerie Queene 
 
 A DISSERTATION 
 
 PRESENTED TO THE FACULTY OF BRYN MAWPv COLLEGE 
 THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF 
 PHILOSOPHY 
 
 BY 
 
 CARRIE ANNA HARPER 
 1910 
 
 or THE 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 lir Jiitjtt (E. lUiuiitnu U! u. 
 
 1006-1016 ARCH STREET 
 PHILADELPHIA 
 
PREFACE 
 
 The following study, practically as it stands, was pre- 
 sented as a dissertation to the Faculty of Bryn Mawr Col- 
 lege in 1908 in partial fulfilment of the requirements for 
 the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. The subject was sug- 
 gested by Professor J. Douglas Bruce, formerly at Bryn 
 Mawr College and now at the University of Tennessee, and 
 the work was begun under his direction. It was continued 
 at intervals during several years, whenever opportunity of- 
 fered. The results were submitted to Professor Carleton 
 F. Brown and Dr. Percy W. Long, to whose criticism and 
 suggestion the present form is due. Professor Brown has 
 continued to assist me in all the various stages of the work, 
 and I cannot state too strongly my sense of obligation to 
 him. Professor Bruce has also read the manuscript and 
 has made valuable suggestions, of which I have availed my- 
 self in revision. To him and to Dr. Long, as well as to 
 Professor Brown, I wish to express my gratitude. At the 
 same time I wish to thank the Librarian of the Harvard 
 College Library and especially Mr. T. J. Kiernan, Super- 
 intendent of the Department of Circulation, who have ex- 
 tended to me for many years the privileges of that library, 
 without which this investigation could not have been car- 
 ried on. I wish also to thank Mr. J. P. Morgan for his 
 great courtesy in allowing me to work in his library for 
 several days, and thus giving me access to the invaluable 
 Chronicle by Caxton, which I could not otherwise have 
 seen. 
 
 C. A. H. 
 
 SOUTH HADLEY, MASS., 
 March 7, 1910. 
 
 209387 
 
TABLE OF EDITIONS TO WHICH REFERENCE 
 
 IS MADE 
 
 The text of the Globe edition of Spenser (Macmillan & 
 >., 1902) has been used in this dissertation. 
 The following books have been used in the editions here 
 specified : 
 
 Brut Tysilio, translated by Peter Roberts, 1811, under the 
 title, The Chronicle of the Kings of Britain. 
 
 Camden, William, Britannia, 1590. 
 
 Fabyan, Robert, The New Chronicles of England and 
 France, ed. Sir Henry Ellis, London, 1811. 
 
 Geoffrey of Monmouth, Historia Regum Britanniae, ed. 
 San Marte, Halle; 1854. 
 
 Grafton, Richard, Chronicle at Large . . . ed. Sir 
 Henry Ellis, London, 1809. 
 
 Hardyng, John, Chronicle, ed. Sir Henry Ellis, London, 
 1812. 
 
 Higden, Ralph, Poly chronic on, ed. in the Rolls Series, vols. 
 I arid II by C. Babington, vols. III-IX by J. R. Lumby, 
 1865-1886. 
 
 Holinshed, Raphael, Chronicles, 1577.* 
 
 Lajamon, Brut, ed. Sir Fred. Madden, 3 vols., London, 
 1847- 
 
 Mannyng, Robert, of Brunne, Chronicle, ed. Furnivall, Rolls 
 Series, 2 vols., 1887. 
 
 " Matthew of Westminster," Flores Historiamm, ed. H. 
 R. Luard, Rolls Series, London, 1890. 
 
 Mirror for Magistrates, ed. Joseph Haslewood, 3 vols., 
 London, 1815. 
 
 Paris, Matthew, Chronica Majora, ed. H. R. Luard, Rolls 
 Series, London, 1872. 
 
 Polydore Vergil, Anglicae Historiae Libri XXVI, English 
 
 1 When the edition of 1587 has been used it is specified in the foot- 
 note. 
 
TABLE OF EDITIONS 
 
 translation, ed. from MS. of the time of Henry VII, by Sir 
 Henry Ellis, Camden Society, London, 1846. 
 
 Rastell, John, The Pastime of People, ed. Dibden, London, 
 1811. 
 
 " Robert of Gloucester," Chronicle, ed. W. A. Wright, Rolls 
 Series, 2 vols., 1887. 
 
 Stow, John, Annales . . . Augmented by Edmund 
 Howes, London, 1631. 
 
 Warner, William, Albions England, London, 1612. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 PREFACE in 
 
 TABLE OF EDITIONS USED v 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 I INTRODUCTION I 
 
 II SPENSER'S METHOD OF WORK 10 
 
 III THE PROBABLE SOURCES OF SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HIS- 
 TORY 24 
 
 [V THE METHOD OF THE PRESENT INVESTIGATION 31 
 
 V A COMPARISON OF SPENSER'S CHRONICLE WITH ITS POSSIBLE 
 
 SOURCES 38 
 
 r l CONCLUSION 172 
 
 APPENDIX 187 
 
 VITA 191 
 
OF THE 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE SOURCES OF THE BRITISH 
 
 CHRONICLE HISTORY IN 
 
 SPENSER'S FAERIE 
 
 ^UEENE 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 Spenser incorporated in the Faerie Queene an almost 
 complete rhymed chronicle of the British kings from Brutus 
 to Cadwalladerr This he divides into two parts. The 
 first part, in Book II, Canto 10, takes the form of a narra- 
 tive which Prince Arthur reads from an old book called 
 " Briton Moniments." With the accession of Uther it ends 
 abruptly. The second part, in Book III, Canto 3, appears 
 as a prophecy which Merlin makes to Britomart. He de- 
 scribes the " famous Progenee " which shall spring from 
 her marriage with Arthegall. Beginning with her son, a 
 king who may be identified with Conan, the second in suc- 
 cession after Arthur, the prophecy continues to the last of 
 the British kings, Cadwallader. The only important omis- 
 sions from the chronicle are the stories of Arthur and his 
 successor, Constantine. 
 
 The two parts are bound together by the similarity of 
 the elaborate invocations that precede them. As Queen 
 Elizabeth is supposed by Spenser to be descended from 
 Prince Arthur and that " royall maid of yore," Britomart, 
 the ancestors of Arthur and the descendants of Britomart 
 are both in the Queen's ancestral line, and to chronicle their 
 
 I 
 
2 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 history was a tribute to the Queen. Spenser accordingly 
 begins the first part of his chronicle with the lines : 1 
 
 " Who now shall give unto me words and sound 
 Equall unto this haughty enterprise? 
 
 ******** 
 
 More ample spirit than hitherto was wount 
 
 Here needes me, whiles the famous auncestryes 
 
 Of my most dreaded Soveraigne I recount, 
 
 By which all earthly Princes she doth far surmount." 
 
 It is " a labor huge," far exceeding the might of his " fraile 
 pen." Yet with the help of the Muses, he says, he 
 
 " would assay 
 Thy name, O soveraine Queene ! to blazon far away." 
 
 In like fashion he introduces the canto that -contains* the 
 prophecy of Merlin. 2 
 
 " Begin then, O my dearest sacred Dame ! 
 
 ******** 
 
 Begin, O Clio! and recount from hence 
 My glorious Soveraines goodly auncestrye, 
 Till that by dew degrees, and long protense, 
 Thou have it lastly brought unto her Excellence." 
 
 In this way Spenser emphasized the unity of the two 
 parts, which otherwise might have been somewhat obscured 
 by the difference in form, a difference forced upon Spen- 
 ser by the plan of the Faerie Queene, which presented 
 Arthur as the principal hero, and placed the time of the 
 action immediately before Arthur's accession to the throne. 
 The reign of Arthur was therefore naturally omitted, and 
 the history of the kings who followed him was inevitably 
 given as a prophecy. Neither the omission nor the change 
 of form affects the essential character of the passages under 
 consideration, or appreciably lessens their right to the title 
 of a chronicle of British kings. 
 
 1 F. Q, II, 10, i. 
 * F. Q., Ill, 3, 4- 
 
INTRODUCTION 3 
 
 The material of which the chronicle is composed was 
 first published to the world about 1136, by Geoffrey of Mon- 
 mouth, in the Historia Regum Britanniae. The origin of 
 this extraordinary history has been much disputed. Al- 
 though Geoffrey himself asserted that he was translating 
 " an ancient book in the British tongue," 3 brought to him 
 by Walter, Archdeacon of Oxford, this book, if it ever ex- 
 isted, was then unknown to other writers, and still remains 
 unknown. The theory most generally held at the present 
 time is, that Geoffrey gathered from many sources fables, 
 popular traditions, and facts of history, and then combined 
 them with the utmost freedom to form a narrative essen- 
 tially original. 4 In any case, for all practical purposes, 
 Geoffrey may be accepted as the ultimate source, not of 
 every statement in the history of the British kings, but of 
 the narrative as a whole. 
 
 Geoffrey's narrative was more or less completely repro- 
 duced by many later writers, but was much modified in the 
 successive repetitions. Almost from the beginning it came 
 into conflict with authentic history recorded by both Roman 
 and Anglo-Saxon writers. As a result, omissions, addi- 
 tions, and changes were made in the interest of historical 
 accuracy. Finally, after a period of distrust, the growth 
 of historical acumen led to the complete rejection of 
 Geoffrey's material. But before this came about, changes 
 other than those due to a desire for truth had resulted from 
 the usual careless mediaeval attitude toward sources and the 
 inevitable errors of copyists. Because of its great and long- 
 continued popularity, the Historia was translated and re- 
 translated into both French and English, prose and verse. 
 It was sometimes epitomized, sometimes embellished and 
 expanded. Each redaction, through accident or design, was 
 marked by variations from the original. Then the earlier 
 
 3 " Quendam Britannici sennonis librum vctustissimum." 
 
 4 See Robert Huntingdon Fletcher, The Arthurian Material in the 
 Chronicles, Boston, 1906, p. 50. See also W. H. Schofield, English 
 Literature from the Norman Conquest to Chaucer, New York, 1906, 
 PP- 38-39- 
 
 
4 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 versions were compared and compounded in all possible 
 ways to make the later versions. In the time of Elizabeth, 
 consequently, the chronicle of the British kings, not yet 
 completely rejected, was known to the reading public in 
 many forms that agreed in general outline, but dif- 
 fered widely from one another in details, and even in mat- 
 ters of considerable importance. 
 
 The object of the present dissertation is to determine, 
 as exactly as may be, which of the possible sources Spenser 
 used in the preparation of his version of the chronicle, to 
 note whether he followed one authority or drew from sev- 
 eral of his predecessors, and, if the latter prove to be the 
 case, to consider his method of selecting and arranging his 
 material. A close study of this limited field should result, 
 not only in establishing the sources of his chronicle, but 
 also in increasing our knowledge of his habit of mind and 
 method of work. 
 
 The investigation of this subject has already been begun 
 by the annotators of the Faerie Queene, who have been 
 forced, in spite of the low estimate that they place on the 
 literary value of Spenser's chronicle, 5 to expend much labor 
 in commenting upon it. Their contribution to the study of 
 its sources has been for the most part, however, incidental 
 rather than direct and conscious. 
 
 Warton seems to have been the first critic to call atten- 
 tion to the chronicle history material in the Faerie Queene. 
 In his Observations on the Faery Queen, 1754, he groups 
 Canto 10 of Book II and Canto 3 of Book III, as both con- 
 taining " historical genealogies of future kings and princes 
 of England." 6 " This part of our author," he writes, 
 " is manifestly taken from the former part of John Har- 
 
 5 Kitchin, in his edition of Book II of the Faery Queene, Oxford, 
 1868, p. 221, writes, with reference to Canto 10, "This canto, by far 
 the dullest of all . . ." and Professor F. J. Child, in his edition 
 of Spenser, Boston, 1855, vol. II, p. 86, says of the stanzas on King 
 Lear, " The magic of Shakespeare's genius has made these the only 
 interesting stanzas in the whole canto." 
 
 6 Thomas Warton, Observations on the Faery Queen, 2 vols., Lon- 
 don, 1820, vol. II, p. 29. 
 
INTRODUCTION 5 
 
 dyng's Chronicle." 7 The story of the giants, however, put 
 him in mind of Geoffrey of Monmouth. 8 
 
 Upton, the next scholar to approach the chronicle, was 
 the first to make a detailed study of it. In the notes to his 
 edition of the Faerie Queene he assumed that Geoffrey of 
 Monmouth was Spenser's source and therefore gave a sum- 
 mary of the Historia. 9 He added quotations from the 
 works of Tacitus, Bede, Gildas, Hardyng, Ross, Holinshed, 
 and Stow, and from the History of Arthur (Morte d' Ar- 
 thur), the Mirror for Magistrates, Buchanan's Rerwm 
 Scoticarum Hist o ma, Camden's Britannia, Carew's Survey 
 of Cornwall, Drayton's Polyolbion, Milton's History of 
 England, Sir Richard Blackmore's Prince Arthur, and Gor- 
 don's Itinerarium septentrionale. 10 Upton's intention, ap- 
 parently, was to explain the text of his author, and to indi- 
 cate that the statements contained in it were not due to 
 the creative imagination of Spenser, but were matters of 
 ordinary knowledge, and in some cases represented actual 
 facts. Although he named most of the probable sources of 
 Spenser and quoted many of the most exact parallels in 
 Spenser's predecessors, he made no effort to study the rela- 
 tion of one source to another, or to determine which Spen- 
 ser actually used, as is sufficiently proved by his frequent 
 quotations from later books, such as Drayton's Polyolbion 
 (first part, 1612) and Milton's History (1670). 
 
 Todd, in his edition of Spenser, 1805, contented him- 
 self with repeating Upton's statement that Geoffrey was the 
 chief source of Spenser's history. So far as the chronicle 
 material is concerned, he added nothing of value to Upton's 
 notes. 
 
 1 Ibid., vol. II, p. 287. 
 
 8 Ibid., vol. II, p. 158. 
 
 . 9 The Faerie Queene, ed. Upton, 1758. The first summary of the 
 Historia is introduced by the statement that Spenser's "account of 
 Brutus and his sacred progeny is taken chiefly from Jeffry of Mon- 
 mouth" (II, 490). The second summary begins with a reference to 
 " the same author, Jeffry of Monmouth, whom Spenser in great meas- 
 ure follows" (II, 492). 
 
 10 Faerie Queene, ed. Upton, vol. II, pp. 488 ff. and pp. 534 ff. 
 
6 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 Forty years later Craik also repeated Upton's opinion : 
 " This long canto (II, 10) is, with the exception of the last 
 eight or nine stanzas, merely a metrical chronicle of the 
 old British kings from Brutus to Uther Pendragon, father 
 of Arthur, taken almost exclusively from Geoffrey of Mon- 
 mouth, not admitting abridgment, and containing few pas- 
 sages of eminent poetical beauty." J1 
 
 The next work of importance was the edition of Spenser 
 by Professor F. J. Child, whose brief notes represent the re- 
 sults of independent investigation. With regard to the 
 tenth Canto of the second Book of the Faerie Queene he 
 wrote : " Som;e parts of this Chronicle appear to be taken 
 from Holinshed, others from Geoffrey of Monmouth, the 
 oldest authority for these fabulous stories. There are two 
 or three unimportant particulars, not found in either, which 
 I have not succeeded in tracing to their original." 12 
 
 The latest commentator on any considerable portion of 
 Spenser's chronicle is Kitchin, who took up the work of 
 illustrating and explaining the first part with a zeal like 
 Upton's, and with much the same method. Kitchin re- 
 ferred to Samnes's Britannia, to Camden's Britannia, to 
 Geoffrey of Monmouth, Hardyng, Holinshed, " Robert of 
 Gloucester," Stow, Milton, Caesar, Bede, Tacitus, Dion 
 Cassius, Gildas, Nennius, and William of Malmesbury. 13 
 He quoted frequently and at length from Hardyng and 
 Holinshed, and less frequently from Geoffrey of Monmouth. 
 Occasionally he ascribed a single passage to a definite 
 source, 14 and twice he committed himself to a general state- 
 ment about the source of the whole. The first time, he 
 wrote that " Spenser made large use of Holinshed's chron- 
 icle," often drew " almost literally from Hardyng's Chron- 
 
 11 Spenser, ed. Craik, London, 1845, vol. I, pp. 234-235. 
 
 12 Spenser, ed. Child, Boston, 1855, vol. II, p. 76. 
 
 13 These names are given in the order in which they appear in 
 Kitchin's notes to Book II of the Faery Queene, Oxford, 1868. 
 
 14 The note on stanza 26 of II, 10 is " Spenser follows Geoffry of 
 Monmouth " (p. 225) ; on st. 35 the same (p. 226) ; on st. 45, " Spenser 
 closely follows Holinshed " (p. 228) ; and on st. 48, " Hardyng (whom 
 Spenser follows here) describes this in c. 44" (p. 229). 
 
INTRODUCTION 7 
 
 icle," and perhaps drew partly from Geoffrey of Mon- 
 mouth, " though this is not so clear." 15 The second time, 
 after referring to the " newly aroused national life and 
 feeling " in Elizabeth's reign, and the attention then being 
 given " in literary circles to archaeological questions," he 
 noted that Holinshed's Chronicles, Camden's Britannia., and 
 Stow's work were then recent publications, and concluded 
 by saying that " the influence of Holinshed was clearly very 
 great on Spenser's mind." 16 
 
 In a study of Spenser's sources the importance of Kitchin's 
 work is less than would appear at first sight, because on 
 inspection the quotations, chosen more or less at random 
 from a few chronicles, prove misleading rather than use- 
 ful. The fact that a considerable body of material was 
 common to nearly all the chronicles, was, it would seem, 
 overlooked. The note on Vigent, for instance, speaks only 
 of Holinshed's Vigenius and Hardyng's lugen. 17 The 
 reader infers 'that Holinshed is Spenser's source. But, as 
 Vigenius appears- also in Geoffrey of Monmouth and in a 
 large number of other chronicles, Holinshed is by no means 
 certainly the source. This misleading incompleteness is 
 characteristic of the majority of the notes. Moreover, 
 Kitchin frequently introduces confusion by quoting improb- 
 able sources like William of Malmesbury and " Robert of 
 Gloucester," whose chronicles existed in Spenser's time only 
 in manuscript, and impossible sources, like Milton and 
 Samnes. And a third difficulty is introduced when Kitchin 
 undertakes to disentangle the fiction of the chronicles from 
 the facts of history. In all these respects Kitchin's work is 
 like Upton's. But it is less valuable, from the point of 
 view of a study of the sources, because of his disregard of 
 Geoffrey as the ultimate source. 
 
 In a comparatively recent edition of the Faerie Queene, 
 the editor, Miss Kate M. Warren, makes a general state- 
 
 15 Book II of the Faery Queene, ed. Kitchin, p. 220. 
 
 16 Ibid., p. 221. 
 
 17 Book II of the Faery Queene, ed. Kitchin, p. 227, note on st. 44, 
 1. 9- 
 
 
8 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 ment of what she conceives to be the situation, but refuses 
 to enter into details. She writes as follows : - " Spenser 
 here based his ' facts ' on Geoffrey of Monmouth's His- 
 tory and some of the many Elizabethan Chroniclers, such 
 as Holinshed, Hardyng, Camden, etc. In many cases 
 these ' facts ' are mythical, and moreover, the poet does not 
 even keep to the statements as made by the historical au- 
 thorities he used. Sometimes, however, he follows them 
 almost word for word. As the question of the relationship 
 of the statements in the canto to Geoffrey of Monmouth 
 and the chroniclers is one chiefly of antiquarian and not 
 of literary interest, it has not been thought necessary to 
 enlarge on it at all fully in these notes." 18 As a matter of 
 fact, Miss Warren's scant notes show little original investi- 
 gation of the chronicle history material. 
 
 The one writer who has shown an appreciation of the 
 problems connected with Spenser's chronicle and a willing- 
 ness to cope with them, although in a limited field, is Per- 
 rett, who in his Story of King Lear has made a careful 
 study of the few stanzas in the Faerie Queene which deal 
 with that subject. The " auncient booke, hight Briton 
 monimcnts " he declares out of hand was " Geoffrey's liber 
 vetustissimus" 19 As for Spenser's version of King Lear, 
 he concludes, " Geoffrey alone satisfies all demands 
 . . . But Geoffrey is very laxly followed; and one or 
 two points, especially the title of Regan's husband, ' the 
 king of Cambria/ suggest that Spenser worked without the 
 book, but from memory, aided with notes of Geoffrey." 
 Moreover, he considers that the " rhyme in Spenser's diffi- 
 cult stanza " was " a powerful factor" in modifying Spen- 
 ser's narrative. The manner of Cordelia's death, for in- 
 stance, he thinks was due to Spenser's need for a rhyme 
 with strong and long. " Herself," therefore, " she 
 
 18 Faerie Queene, ed. Kate M. Warren, Constable & Co., London, 
 1897, vol. II, p. 272. 
 
 19 Wilfrid Perrett, The Story of King Lear, from Geoffrey of 
 mouth to Shakespeare, Berlin, 1904, p. 90. 
 
INTRODUCTION 9 
 
 hong." 20 " In Spenser," he has previously written, with 
 regard to more than the King Lear story, " we have to do 
 with an antiquary who had followed the then burning ques- 
 tion of the authenticity of the British record with a zeal 
 which it would not repay me, for the purposes of this study, 
 to emulate, I therefore leave unanswered such questions 
 as why he wrote ' Aganip of Celtica ' when ' Gallia ' would 
 have given a better rhyme; what was his authority for 
 sending Bladud to Athens (v. 228) ; whence came his 
 knowledge of the Welsh for Brute Greneshield, etc. (v. 
 220 f.)." 21 
 
 The difficulties which Perrett mentions are only some of 
 those which must be met in the study of the sources of 
 Spenser's chronicle. There are, as he suggests, a certain 
 number of statements for which no authority has as yet 
 been discovered, although Bladud' s journey to Athens is 
 not one of them. But there is more to be done than to 
 seek the authority for these. 
 
 The present confusion will best appear from a brief sum- 
 mary of the results which have been treated above in more 
 detail. According to Warton, Spenser's source was 
 Hardyng; according to Upton and Craik, it was Geoffrey 
 of Monmouth ; according to Professor Child, Spenser used 
 both Geoffrey of Monmouth and Holinshed; according to 
 Kitchin, he used Holinshed, Hardyng, and Geoffrey of 
 Monmouth, and possibly Camden and Stow; according to 
 Miss Warren, he used Geoffrey " and some of the many 
 Elizabethan Chroniclers " ; and finally > according to Per- 
 rett, in one section of the chronicle, he used only Geoffrey, 
 or more probably, notes from Geoffrey. 
 
 A complete and systematic re-examination of the subject 
 is evidently necessary, if the truth is to be established. But 
 first it seems wise to see what light Spenser's other work 
 may cast on his probable attitude toward the chronicle his- 
 tories. 
 
 20 Perrett, Story of King Lear, pp. 91-92. 
 
 21 Ibid., p. 91. 
 
II 
 
 SPENSER'S METHOD OF WORK 
 
 In the description of the rivers in the Faerie Queene, 
 Book IV, Canto n, Spenser handled material from Holins- 
 hed, and in the View of the Present State of Ireland he 
 referred more or less to the past history of the country. 
 To these two places, then, we turn for a preliminary study 
 of Spenser's method of work. 
 
 The marriage of the Thames and the Medway was a 
 subject long in Spenser's mind. Although as a part of the 
 Faerie Queene it did not appear until 1596, it was at least 
 in contemplation much earlier, for it is mentioned in a let- 
 ter to Harvey written " Quarto Nonas Aprilis," 1580, and 
 printed the same year. The passage is as follows : - 
 
 " For, to tell you trueth, I minde shortely at convenient 
 leysure, to sette forth a Booke in this kinde, whiche I entitle 
 Epithalamion Thamesis: whyche Booke, I dare undertake 
 wil be very profitable for the knowledge, and rare for the 
 Invention and manner of handling. For in setting forth the 
 marriage of the Thames : I shewe his first beginning, and off- 
 spring, and all the Countrey, that he passeth thorough, and 
 also describe all the Rivers throughout Englande, whyche 
 came to this Wedding, and their righte names, and right 
 passage, &c. A worke, beleeve me, of much labor, wherein 
 notwithstanding Master Holinshed hath muclie furthered and 
 advantaged me, who therein hath bestowed singular paines, 
 in searching oute their first heades and sources: and also in 
 tracing and dogging oute all their Course, till they fall into 
 the Sea. 
 
 O Tite, siquid, ego, 
 
 Ecquid erit pretij ? 
 
 But of that more hereafter." x 
 
 1 Spenser, Globe ed., p. 709. 
 
 10 
 
SPENSER'S METHOD OF WORK n 
 
 This letter is of the greatest interest. In the first place, 
 it proves Spenser's acquaintance with the first edition of 
 Holinshed, 1577. The two folio volumes of that edition 
 may even have been among the books which Spenser took 
 with him to Ireland the very year that he wrote the letter, 
 1580. In the second place, it shows that Spenser had no 
 mind, even then, to follow Holinshed slavishly. His main 
 dependence was on Holinshed, who had " muche furthered 
 and advantaged " him, but he planned to add something of 
 value himself, and the effort was to be " of much labour." 
 
 Whether the Epithalamion Thamesis was actually writ- 
 ten or not will probably never be known. 2 For the pres- 
 ent discussion the point is comparatively unimportant. 
 Spenser's first plan was to compose the Epithalamion in the 
 " English versifying " which was then so popular with a 
 group of English scholars. The metre was to depend on 
 quantity, not accent, and there was to be no rhyme. 3 Con- 
 sequently, even if the poem was written, not much of its 
 wording can have survived in the Faerie Queene, for the 
 change in versification would have necessitated a complete 
 revision. The essential point is that the account of the 
 
 2 The Epithalamion Thamesis is not mentioned in Harvey's letter to 
 Spenser (Spenser, Globe ed., pp. 709-710), or in Ponsonbie's notice 
 to the reader prefixed to the Complaints (Ibid., p. 488). Yet the ex- 
 pression "sette forth," which Spenser uses with reference to the poem 
 on the Thames, frequently indicates printing. " Since my late setting 
 forth of the Faerie Queene," wrote Ponsonbie, the printer (Ibid., p. 
 488). And in the dedicatory letter prefixed to the Prosopopoia Spen- 
 ser himself said that having lighted upon these verses "composed in 
 the raw conceipt" of his youth, he "was by others, which liked the 
 same, mooved to set them foorth" (Ibid., p. 512). So when he 
 wrote that at convenient leisure he was minded " to sette forth a 
 Booke . . . which I entitle Epithalamion Thamesis" it would 
 seem that it was printing that he referred to, and that the verses 
 were partly, if not wholly, written. 
 
 3 The " English versifying " may in itself account for the disappear- 
 ance of the Epithalamion Thamesis, supposing it was actually written, 
 for Spenser was quickly dissatisfied with this experiment in metre. 
 Failing to print while the movement was at its height, he would 
 naturally have kept his manuscript and put it away, as he did the 
 manuscript of the Prosopopoia. Then, after he had cast the old ma- 
 terial into a new and more satisfactory form, he would have de- 
 stroyed the first version of it. 
 
12 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 marriage of the Thames, as it appears in the Faerie Queene, 
 includes the material that was mentioned in the letter to 
 Harvey. " The first beginning and offspring of the 
 Thames " are described, and the " righte names and right 
 passage " of " all the Rivers throughout Englande whiche 
 came to this Wedding." From this identity of material 
 we may infer that Holinshed, who was to have furthered 
 the earlier form, was equally advantageous to the later. 
 A comparison of Spenser's verse with the description of 
 the rivers in Holinshed justifies such an inference. Holins- 
 hed, for instance, writes of the Thamar, " which for the 
 most part parteth Deuonshire from Cornewall," 4 and 
 Spenser paraphrases, 
 
 " There was the speedy Tamar, which devides 
 The Cornish and the Devonish confines." 5 
 
 Again in Holinshed, after the statement that the Stoure 
 " ryseth of sixe heds," there is a list of the towns on the 
 Stoure, which includes Blandford and Winburne. 6 These 
 facts are reproduced by Spenser in poetic phraseology : 
 
 " And there came Stoure with terrible aspect, 
 Bearing his sixe deformed heads on hye, 
 That doth his course through Blandford plains direct, 
 And washeth Winborne meades in season drye." 7 
 
 To multiply examples of the influence that may have 
 been exerted by the 1577 edition of Holinshed would be 
 easy, but a greater interest attaches to those which show 
 that Spenser used also the second, or 1587, edition. This, 
 indeed, may easily have replaced entirely the first edition, 
 the use of which might be difficult to prove, if it were not 
 for the reference to Holinshed in the letter to Harvey, 
 seven years before the appearance of the second edition. 
 Four examples will suffice to show Spenser's dependence 
 
 *Hol., ed. 1577, I, p. 54. 
 F. Q., IV, 11, 31. 
 6 Hoi., ed. 1577, I, p. 52. 
 ^F. Q., IV, 11, 32. 
 
SPENSER S METHOD OF WORK 13 
 
 on the second edition, namely, his description of the 
 Trent, of the Dart, of the Lindus, and of the group of 
 three Irish rivers, the Shure, the Newre, and the Barrow. 
 The account of the Trent runs as follows in the second 
 edition of Holinshed : " The Trent is one of the most ex- 
 cellent riuers in the land, not onelie for store of samon, 
 sturgeon, and sundrie other kinds of delicate fish where- 
 with it dooth abound, but also for that it is increased with 
 so manie waters, as for that onelie cause it may be com- 
 pared with the Ouze or Sauerne . . ." 8 In th*e 
 first edition there is no mention of the " sundrie . . . 
 kinds ... of fish." 9 But Spenser writes, 
 
 " And bounteous Trent, that in himself enseames 
 
 Both thirty sorts of fish and thirty sundry streames." 10 
 
 As this grouping of the various kinds of fish and the sun- 
 dry streams is not one that would naturally have occurred 
 to Spenser without knowledge of Holinshed, it indicates 
 his use of the second edition. 
 
 The account of the Dart in the second edition of Holins- 
 hed is much expanded from that in the first edition. It 
 gives for the first time the following sentence : " Of it 
 selfe moreouer this water" (the Dart) " is verie swift, 
 and thorough occasion of tin-workes whereby it passeth, it 
 carrieth much sand to Totnesse bridge, and so choketh the 
 depth of the riuer downeward, that the hauen it selfe is 
 almost spoiled by the same. 11 This re-appears in Spenser's 
 line, 
 
 8 Hoi., Descr. of Eng., I, ch. 15, ed. 1587, vol. I, p. 96. 
 
 9 In the first edition of Holinshed, I, p. 70 b, the text runs, " The 
 Trent is one of the most excellent ryuers in the lande, and increased 
 wyth so many waters . . ." etc. 
 
 10 F. Q., IV, 11, 35- 
 
 11 Hoi., Descr. of Eng., I, ch. 12. The full text of the two editions 
 is as follows : " The riuer of Darnt commeth out of Darntmore, XV. 
 myles aboue Totnesse (as I said before) from whence it goeth to 
 Bucklande Hole, and soone after taking in the Asheburn water on 
 the one side that runneth from Saddleton rocke by north, and the 
 Buckfastlich that commeth from north west, it runneth to Staunton, 
 Darington, Hemston, and there also crossing a rill on eche side, 
 
14 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 "And Dart, nigh chockt with sands of tinny mines." 12 
 
 Even the word " chockt " is the word of Holinshed. 
 
 The river Lindis is mentioned in both editions of Holins- 
 hed, but only in the second edition is there reference to 
 the fact that it gives its name to Lincoln. Holinshed pre- 
 fers the name Witham, and quotes the old rhyme, 
 
 "Ancolme ele, and Witham pike, 
 
 Search all England and find not the like." 
 
 He then refers to the other names of the river. (f Leland 
 calleth it Lindis, diuerse the Rhe, and I haue read all these 
 names my selfe: and thereto that the Lincolneshire men 
 were called in old time Coritani, and their head citie Lin- 
 dus, Lindon, or Linodunum . .. , 13 This informa- 
 tion is given by Spenser in two lines : 
 
 "And Lindus, that his pikes doth most commend, 
 Of which the auncient Lincolne men doe call." " 
 
 Finally, Spenser's description of the three Irish rivers, 
 the Shure, the Newre, and the Barrow, gives a particularly 
 
 passeth forth to Totnesse, Bowden, and aboue Gabriell Stoke, meeteth 
 with the Hartburne that runneth vnder Rost bridge, two miles aboue 
 Totnesse, or as an other sayeth, by Ratter, Harberton, Painesford, 
 and Asprempton into Darnt, which ere long also commeth to Corn- 
 worthy, Greneway, Ditsham, Darntmouth, betwene the Castels, and 
 so into the sea" (Hoi., ed. 1577, I, p. 53 b). "The riuer of Dart 
 or Darent (for I read Derenta muth for Dartmouth) commeth out 
 of Dartmore fifteene miles aboue Totnesse, in a verie large plot, and 
 such another wild morish & forrestie ground as Exmore is. Of it 
 selfe moreouer this water is verie swift, and thorough occasion of 
 tin-workes whereby it passeth, it carrieth much sand to Totnesse 
 bridge, and so choketh the depth of the riuer downeward, that the 
 hauen it selfe is almost spoiled by the same. The mariners of Dart- 
 mouth accompt this to be about a kenning from Plimmouth. The 
 Darent therefore proceeding from the place of his vprising, goeth on 
 to Buckland hole; and soone after taking in the Ashburne water 
 . . ." etc. as above (Hoi., ed. 1587, vol. I, p, 60). 
 
 R Q., IV, 11,31. 
 
 13 Hoi., Descr. of Eng. i, ch. 16, ed. 1587, vol. I, p. 100. The cor- 
 responding passage in the first edition is as follows : " Lelande calleth 
 it Lindis, diuers the Rhe, and I haue read all those names my selfe, 
 except my memory do faile me. It riseth among the Wickhams 
 
 f 3P 577 ' " 32) " 
 
SPENSER S METHOD OF WORK 15 
 
 clear proof of his use of the second edition of Holinshed. 
 In the first edition I have not been able to find any account 
 of them. In the second edition the following passage oc- 
 curs : " The Barrow is a goodlie and a notable riuer, 
 hauing his head or spring in the hill called Mons Blandina 
 or Slogh Blome, in which also are the heads or springs of 
 the two other notable riuers Sure and the other Eoire. 
 This Barrow keepeth and hath his course through the 
 countie of Lex . . . and so to Rosse, a little aboue 
 which towne it meeteth and ioineth with the Eoire and 
 they togither keepe their course about six miles, vntill they 
 meet with the Sure . . . and as they all doo spring 
 and rise out of one mounteine, so after they haue taken 
 their seuerall courses, they meet togither and take one waie 
 into the seas. They are all nauigable, and all alike re- 
 plenished with sundrie sorts and kinds of fishes." 15 Spen- 
 ser has elaborated this account, but reproduces the facts ac- 
 curately. He first describes the meeting of the giant 
 Blomius and the nymph Rheusa " under Slewboome in 
 shady grove." Then, he continues, Rheusa gave birth to 
 
 " three faire sons, which being thenceforth powrd 
 In three great rivers ran . . ." 
 
 The first was the Shure, the next the Newre, and the third 
 " the goodly Barow." 
 
 "All which, long sundred, doe at last accord 
 
 To joyne in one, ere to the sea they come; 
 
 So, flowing all from one, all one at last become." 16 
 
 This conclusion is strikingly like the sentence next to the 
 last in the extract from the 1587 edition of Holinshed. 
 But with the description of the Irish rivers a new ele- 
 
 115 Hoi., Conquest of Ireland, II, ch. 23, ed. 1587, vol. II, p. 46. 
 There is also an earlier mention of the Shure, " a goodlie and a 
 notable riuer," which is said to have its source in " a certeine hill 
 called Blandina, but in Irish Sloghblome, for the pleasantnesse thereof." 
 See Hoi., Conquest of Ireland, I, ch. 32, ed. 1587, vol. II, p. 22. 
 
 16 F. Q., IV, n, stanzas 42-43. 
 
16 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 merit enters into the consideration of Spenser's sources, for 
 here Camden's Britannia seems to have been used in con- 
 nection with Holinshed. 17 In Camden we read, "Infra 
 Ormondian Bliew Blemy, (Bladina montes vocat Giraldus,) 
 se leuiter conuexis iugis attollunt, e quorum visceribus 
 quasi maternis Suirus quern dixi, Neorus & Birgus aedun- 
 tur, & diuisis alueis decurrentes, priusquaw Oceanuw 
 adeunt, concordibus se consociant aquis, vnde Tres sorores 
 ab antiquis dicte." Camden also speaks of " Birgus, nunc 
 Barrow." 1 * Here, in Camden's "e quorum visceribus 
 quasi maternis " and his " Tres sorores," is a suggestion of 
 Spenser's fable. Furthermore, the names of the rivers 
 and the order in which they are enumerated indicate the 
 use of Camden, as the following table shows : 
 
 Holinshed Camden Spenser 
 
 1 Barrow Suirus Shure. 
 
 2 Sure Neorus Newre. 
 
 3 Eoire Birgus (nunc Barrow) .... Barow. 
 
 Beside the use that Spenser made of these two authori- 
 ties there are indications of some personal knowledge of 
 the rivers, such as might be expected after Spenser's long 
 residence in Ireland. For instance, while he calls the 
 Shure " gentle," he speaks of the " waters gray " of " stub- 
 borne Newre." 19 
 
 In one case, at least, Spenser's modifications of Holins- 
 hed's narrative led him into error. According to Holins- 
 hed the Thamar and the Plym both fall into the Haven at 
 
 17 Spenser's knowledge of Camden's work is a certainty. There 
 are two references to Camden in the View of the Present State of 
 Ireland, and a stanza in praise of him in the Ruines of Time (Spen- 
 ser, Globe ed., p. 491). 
 
 18 Camden's Britannia, p. 695. 
 
 19 Dr. Percy W. Long has called my attention to two articles by 
 Mr. Thomas Keightley, On the Life of Edmund Spenser (Frasers 
 Magazine, October, 1859) and Irish Rivers named in the Faerie 
 Queene (Notes and Queries, 28 October, 1869), in both of which the 
 influence of Spenser's personal knowledge of Ireland is assumed. 
 
SPENSER'S METHOD OF WORK 17 
 
 Plymouth. 20 Spenser represents the Thamar as " meeting 
 Plim " and thence declining to " Plimmouth," 21 an im- 
 possible geographical statement, as a glance at the map 
 will show. 
 
 For the purposes of a study of Spenser's sources in 
 chronicle history it is not necessary to pursue this investi- 
 gation further. The examples already given are sufficient 
 to bring out several facts about Spenser's method of han- 
 dling the material that he drew, at least in part, from books. 
 In the first place, there was no uniformity about it. He 
 sometimes followed accurately the source from which he 
 was drawing, as in the case of the Stoure and the Thamar, 
 and again he introduced a variation from his source, as 
 with the Plim. At one time he made a masterly brief sum- 
 mary, as in the case of the Dart, and at another he ex- 
 panded his account with poetic imagery, as in the case of 
 the Stoure and the three Irish rivers. In the second place, 
 Spenser accumulated material from different sources. Here 
 again the three Irish rivers will serve to illustrate, com- 
 bining, as they do, material from Holinshed, from Cam- 
 den, and from what seems to be personal observation. 
 Finally, in the third place, it is clear that Spenser continued, 
 after 1580, to read on the subject of the rivers of Great 
 Britain, and that he knew the latest authorities, as his use 
 of the Britannia of 1586 and the Holinshed of 1587 abun- 
 dantly proves. We find, in short, exactly what the letter 
 to Harvey would lead us to expect. Spenser both used 
 Holinshed and added to Holinshed. He thus, as a result 
 of " much labour," wrote stanzas which in his time, at least, 
 were undoubtedly "profitable for the knowledge and rare 
 for the Invention and manner of handling." 
 
 We turn now to consider Spenser's use of historical rec- 
 ords in the View of the Present State of Ireland. 22 Dr. 
 
 20 Hoi., ed. 1577, I, p. 54. The same statement is repeated in the 
 second edition, vol. I, p. 61. 
 
 21 F. Q., IV, 11, 31. 
 
 22 Entered on the Stationers' Register in 1598, and probably writ- 
 ten before 1596, which is said to be the date of the manuscripts. 
 
i8 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 Wilhelm Riedner, in Spenser s Belesenheit (Leipzig, 1908), 
 has shown that Spenser's citations from classical authori- 
 ties in this work are in nearly every case false. Neverthe- 
 less, a certain interest attaches to the list of authors to 
 whom he refers. The list is as follows: Buchanan, 
 Caesar, Strabo, Tacitus, Ptolemy, Pliny, Pompeius Mela, 
 Berosus, Vincentius, yEneas Silvius, Luddus, Camden, 
 Diodorus Siculus, Bede, Olaus Magnus, Jo. Bohemus, 
 Herodotus, the Greek Commentaries upon Callimachus, 
 Vergil, Stanihurst, Solinus, and Herodianus. 23 Appar- 
 ently, to Spenser, a poet was quite as good historical au- 
 thority as a writer of chronicles. 
 
 The subjects that led to this array of names show what 
 trivial matters sometimes held Spenser's attention. There 
 were " Irin or Irish Scotts " and " Albin-Scotts," so that 
 some writers called Ireland " Scotia major " and Scotland 
 "Scotia minor." 24 The "Gaulish speach " used by the 
 British before the coming of the Saxons is still retained by 
 the Welshmen, the Cornishmen, and the Britons of France. 25 
 Ireland was anciently called Britannia, and was a part of 
 Great Britain, besides having been later, as " appeareth 
 by good record yet extant," under subjection to Gurgunt 
 and to King Arthur. 26 Their method of pasturing cattle, 
 the wearing of a mantle, their battle cries, their arms, their 
 oaths, and their wailing for the dead, are all customs that 
 the Irish have in common with the ancient Scythians. 27 
 The origin of the battle cry " Farrih " may be from one 
 of the first kings of Scotland, " Fargus, Fergus, or Fer- 
 ragus," or from " Pharao," whose daughter Scota led the 
 Egyptians who first settled Ireland, though the latter story 
 is probably " a senceless fable." 28 Such are the statements 
 
 23 These names are given in the order of their appearance in the 
 View of the Present State of Ireland. 
 
 24 Spenser, Globe ed., p. 625. 
 
 25 Ibid., p. 628. 
 
 26 Ibid., p. 629. 
 
 27 Ibid., pp. 630, 632, 633 and 634. 
 
 28 Ibid., p. 632. 
 
19 
 
 that required the citation of authorities, sometimes two or 
 three for a single point. 
 
 The Irish chronicles are mentioned several times. They 
 all agree, Irenaeus says, that the first settlers of Ireland 
 came " out of Spayne," though " whether they were native 
 Spaynyards, or Gaules, or Affricans, or Gothes, or some 
 other of those Northerne Nations whiche did overspredd all 
 Christendome, it is impossible to affirme, onely some naked 
 conjectures may be gathered . . ." When Eudoxus 
 charges Irenaeus with leaning too boldly on " those Irish 
 chronicles which are most fabulous and forged," inasmuch 
 as of the ancient times there remain " onely bare tradi- 
 tions of times and remembrances of Bardes, which use 
 to forge and falsifye every thing as they list . . ," 
 Irenaeus makes a lengthy defence: 
 
 " I doe herein relye upon those Bards or Irish Chroniclers, 
 though the Irish themselves, through theyr ignoraunce in 
 matters of learning and deepe judgement, doe most constantly 
 beleve and avouch^ them, but unto them besides I add my 
 owne reading; and out of them both togither, with comparison 
 of times, likewise of manners and customes, affinitye of 
 woordes and names, propertyes of natures and uses, resem- 
 blances of rytes and ceremonyes, monumentes of churches 
 and tombes, and many other like circumstaunces, I doe gather 
 a likelihood of trueth; not certaynly affirming any thing, but 
 by conferring of times, languages, monumentes, and such 
 like, I doe hunte out a probabilitye of thinges, which I leave 
 to your judgement to beleve or refuse. Nevertheless there 
 be some very auncient authors which make mention of these 
 thinges, and some moderne, which by comparing them with 
 present times, experience, and theyr owne reason, doe open 
 a windowe of great light unto the rest that is yet unseene; 
 as namely, of the older Caesar, Strabo, Tacitus, Ptolomie, 
 Plinie, Pompeius Mela, and Berosus: of the later, Vincen- 
 tius, ^Eneas Silvius, Luddus, Buckhanan; of all which I doe 
 give most credit unto Buckhanan, for that he himself, being 
 an Irish Scott or Picte by nation, and being very excellently 
 learned, and industrious to seeke out the trueth of these 
 thinges concerning the originall of his owne people, hath both 
 sett downe the testimonyes of the auncientes truely, and his 
 
2o SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 owne opinion, withall very reasonably, though in some thinges 
 he doth somewhat flatter. Besides, the Bards and Irish 
 Chroniclers themselves, though throughe desire of pleasing 
 perhaps to much, and through ignoraunce of arte and purer 
 learning, they have clouded the trueth of those times; yet 
 there appeareth amongest them some reliques of the true 
 antiquitye, though disguised, which a well-eyed man may hap- 
 pely discover and find out."' 29 
 
 As Spenser made no effort to characterize the interlocutors 
 in his dialogue, which is expository rather than dramatic, 
 we are justified in accepting this as a statement of Spenser's 
 own method. 
 
 Add to this the facts that Irenseus had Irish poems 
 translated to him!, and that such phrases as these are com- 
 mon in the View of the Present State of Ireland: 
 "... I have reade in many Historyes and Chron- 
 icles . . . ," 30 " There be many greate author- 
 ityes . . . " ; 31 " . . . so f arre as I have 
 learned the same from some of themselves, and gathered 
 the rest by readinge" ; 32 " And first in this our realme of 
 England, it is manifest, by reporte of the Chronicles and 
 auncient writers of England" ; 33 and, " I have reade in 
 auncient recordes of England." 34 Consider finally the 
 comment of Eudoxus : " This ripping up of auncient his- 
 toryes is very pleasing unto me, and indeede savoureth of 
 goode conceite, and some reading withall." 35 
 
 The very name Irenseus is a proof of Spenser's reading 
 and of his tendency to borrow from his predecessors. In 
 Holinshed there are long quotations from a Latin dialogue 
 on Ireland, written by " one M. Alan Cope, or some other 
 that masketh vnder hys visours." 36 The interlocutors are 
 
 29 Spenser, Globe ed., pp. 625-626. 
 
 30 Spenser, Globe ed., p. 643. 
 
 31 Ibid., p. 643. 
 
 32 Ibid., p. 659. 
 
 33 Ibid., p. 671. 
 
 34 Ibid., p. 676. 
 35/foU, p. 629. 
 
 36 Hoi., ed. 1577, II, The Description of Ireland,, pp. 5 ff. 
 
SPENSER'S METHOD OF WORK 21 
 
 Irenaeus, an Englishman, and Critobolus, a German. From 
 this dialogue, either directly or through Holinshed, Spenser 
 must have borrowed the name of Irenaeus, and perhaps 
 even the form in which he cast his work. 
 
 Both directly and indirectly, then, we gather from the 
 View of the Present State of Ireland evidence as to Spen- 
 ser's attitude toward chronicle histories. It would seem 
 that he liked to read and compare them. He sifted evi- 
 dence, preferred one authority to another, viewed the past 
 by the light of the present, used reason as a test of truth, 
 compared times, manners and customs, rites and cere- 
 monies, gave thought to words and names, and even in- 
 spected monuments of churches and tombs, only to " gather 
 a likelihood of trueth," and to " hunt out a probabilitye of 
 thinges." 
 
 Yet with all this Spenser was no whit in advance of his 
 times in his historical methods. He did not consistently 
 reject such statements as were without a firm foundation of 
 contemporary records. He was credulous of the printed 
 word. He even, for all we know, accepted the History 
 of the British kings as a veracious account of the past. 
 Certainly he referred to King Arthur and to Gurgunt ex- 
 actly as he referred, later in the same speech, to King 
 Egfrid and Edgar. 37 
 
 Like his contemporaries, Spenser was interested in mat- 
 ters which seem to us insignificant trifles, but which then, 
 dignified by the nam)e of " antiquities," made the reputation 
 
 37 Spenser, Globe ed., p. 629. But see also Appendix I of the Globe 
 ed., p. 704, for evidence to the contrary in a passage printed by Ware, 
 though marked for omission on the authority of the best manuscripts. 
 " But the Irish doe heerein no otherwise then our vaine Englishmen 
 doe in the Tale of Brutus, whom they devise to have first conquered 
 and inhabited this land, it being as impossible to prove, that there 
 was ever any such Brutus of Albion or England as it is that there 
 was any such Gathelus of Spaine." This passage, if it expresses 
 Spenser's real opinion, indicates a hesitancy in accepting the accounts 
 of the more remote period of British history. Such hesitancy, how- 
 ever, would not necessarily extend to other parts of the British chron- 
 icle history. Furthermore, the omission of the passage in the best 
 manuscripts suggests that Spenser did not wish to commit himself 
 to any such expression of doubt. 
 
22 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 of many learned antiquarians. Even Camden, most famous 
 of them all, would enter into a long discussion of the nation- 
 ality of Gormond, and repeat the tale of Gogmagog, and 
 recount the wonders of England. All was grist that came 
 to the mill of an antiquarian. We have William Lam- 
 barde, for instance, writing in the dedication prefixed to his 
 Perambulation of Kent, "I ... did not onely my 
 selfe digge and rake together whatsoeuer I coulde of that 
 kinde, but procured diuers of my friends also to set to their 
 hands and doe the like." Now Spenser was at heart a 
 topographer and an antiquarian, as well as a poet. Like 
 his fellows, he found nothing too insignificant for his notice, 
 and was capable of picking up a tenderly prized " author- 
 ity " almost anywhere. 
 
 William Lambarde's book brings out another character- 
 istic of the time. It was "written in the yeere 1570 
 . . . first published in the year 1576, and now in- 
 creased and altered after the Authors owne last Copie," in 
 I596. 38 Constant revision, even after publication, was 
 usual in the case of books that dealt with antiquities and 
 topography, with details rather than principles. Such work 
 is never complete. Therefore we should expect to find 
 Spenser's work of this kind constantly revised and never 
 done, for, as the View of the Present State of Ireland 
 shows, he had a keen interest in matters of antiquarian de- 
 tail. 
 
 In our study of Spenser's treatment of the rivers of Great 
 Britain, we found that Spenser in 1580 was using the first 
 edition of Holinshed and planning to supplement it from 
 other sources. We found also that before 1596, when the 
 last three books of the Faerie Queene were published, he 
 was using Camden's Britannia and the second edition of 
 Holinshed, and finally we saw in his work accuracy in the 
 treatment of borrowed material alternating with freedom. 
 From our study of the View of the Present State of Ireland 
 we add the inferences that detail which seems insignificant 
 
 38 Title page, ed. 1596, " Imprinted at London by Edm. Bollisant." 
 
SPENSER'S METHOD OF WORK 23 
 
 to us was of significance to him, that he believed in col- 
 lecting material from any and every source, choosing here 
 and rejecting there, though not on modern principles, and 
 finally that he had a considerable knowledge of authors ^ 
 who dealt with chronicle history and similar subjects. 
 
Ill 
 
 THE PROBABLE SOURCES OF SPENSER'S 
 BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 If Spenser was in the habit of collecting material from 
 different books, as the preceding chapter indicates, it is 
 clear that all probable sources for his chronicle of British 
 kings must be examined. What, then, were these probable 
 sources? 
 
 In the time of Spenser the story of the British kings ex- 
 isted both in manuscript and printed forms. The manu- 
 scripts were of two classes. The first class is composed of 
 the older versions, such as Lagamon's Brut, the Chronicle 
 of " Robert of Gloucester/' and the metrical chronicle 
 printed by Ritson. The second class includes the work of 
 those who were contemporary with Spenser, such a manu- 
 script, for instance, as Harrison's Chronologic. The 
 printed forms ranged from the original Geoffrey, composed 
 about 1136, through Caxton, 1480, down to Holinshed, 
 1577, and Stow, 1580. 
 
 The first question that inevitably arises is, whether or no 
 the manuscript versions of the history of the British kings 
 are to be considered as probable sources. For the purpose 
 of the present investigation the question has been answered 
 in the negative. Manuscripts, it is true, were still owned 
 and read by the Elizabethans, 1 although even in their time 
 
 1 The chroniclers in the Elizabethan period naturally had recourse 
 to manuscript material, and we find evidence of its use by others. 
 Sir Henry Ellis, in the preface to his edition of Hardyng's Chronicle 
 (pp. xiv-xvi), mentions seven manuscripts of the Chronicle, and 
 of the fourth says that it "appears to have been, in 1604, in the 
 collection of Peter Manwood, and cost, at that time, twenty shillings." 
 He refers also to " fragments of another manuscript written upon 
 paper, from an old family library in the country." The inference is 
 that manuscripts existed in common use side by side with books. 
 
 24 
 
PROBABLE SOURCES 25 
 
 printed books were more common, and were fast relegating 
 to neglect all manuscripts that were not of contemporary 
 interest. While recent writings circulated freely before they 
 were printed, especially in select circles of the author's 
 
 Thomas Wright, in the introduction to Feudal Manuals of English 
 History (London, 1872, pp. ix-xi), says that during the feudal 
 period a synopsis of English history, written on rolls, was to be 
 found in every manor house in England. The keeping of these rolls 
 was a custom peculiar to England. The five that he prints are all 
 brief. The English Roll begins with Brutus. Of similar character is 
 the Short English Chronicle edited by Gairdner in Three Fifteenth 
 Century Chronicles, Camden Society, 1880. 
 
 Higgins, in his address to the reader (Mirror for Magistrates, ed. 
 H'aslewood, I, p. 7), refers to two manuscripts which he has used. 
 " I haue seen no anncient antiquities in written hand but two : one 
 was Galfridus of Munmouth, which I lost by misfortune ; the other, 
 an old chronicle in a kind of Englishe verse, beginning at Brute, and 
 ending at the death of Humfrey, Duke of Gloucester; in the which 
 and diuers other good chronicles I finde many thinges not mentioned 
 in that great tome engroced of late by Maister Grafton; and that, 
 where he is most barraine and wants matter." The chronicle in 
 verse is supposed to be Hardyng's (see Perrett, Story of King Lear, 
 p. 85). But a stanza in Bladud seems to indicate the use of another 
 manuscript. The hot springs of Bath are described in the ninth 
 stanza (pp. 116-117) as follows: 
 
 " Some saye I made the holesome Baths at Bathe, 
 And made therefore two Tunnes of burning brasse: 
 And other twayne seauen kindes of saltes that haue 
 In them inclos'd, but these bee made of glasse, 
 With sulphur fild, wilde fire emixt there was, 
 And in fbure welles these Tunnes so placed heate for aye 
 The water springing vp, before it passe away." 
 
 The source of this description seems to be the following lines from 
 the metrical fragment found by Sir Fred. Madden in the Cotton 
 copy of the Chronicle of " Robert of Gloucester " : 
 " Two tunnes there beth of bras, 
 
 And other two imaked of glas; 
 
 Seue saltes ther buth inne 
 
 And other thing imaked with ginne ; 
 
 Quick brimston in other also, 
 
 With wilde fur imaked thereto; 
 
 Sal gemme and sal petre, 
 
 Sal armonac ther is eke; 
 
 Sal abrod, and sal alkyn, 
 
 Sal comin, and sal almetre bright, 
 
 That brenneth bothe day and night," etc. 
 
 (See Madden's edition of Lagamon, III, p. 318.) The italics indi- 
 cate the resemblance of detail in the two descriptions, and a com- 
 parison with the accounts given in the other chronicles so far as 
 they are now known, will not show these details elsewhere. Higgins, 
 
26 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 friends, really old manuscripts do not seem to have been 
 often read, and had probably, in some cases, been lost to 
 sight and forgotten. 2 It must be admitted that chance 
 might have thrown into Spenser's hands almost any manu- 
 script then in existence. A visit in a country house might 
 have left him/ with idle hours when he ransacked library 
 shelves for amusement. He might have spent a morning in 
 chapter-house or college library, reading some manuscript 
 half illegible, or because of its old English, half incompre- 
 hensible. He might have talked of manuscripts with anti- 
 quarian friends and read treasures that they produced from 
 their private stores. We have no clue, however, to guide 
 us through the maze created by such conjectures. We 
 could never come to a satisfactory conclusion. Many 
 manuscripts are still unprinted, and probably many private 
 chronicles which existed in Spenser's time have perished 
 altogether. It has seemed best, therefore, in the absence of 
 proof to the contrary, to assume that Spenser's sources will 
 be found in the printed books of his time. Nevertheless, a 
 list of the most significant manuscript versions of the His- 
 toria material is given below : * 
 
 therefore, must have used the chronicle represented by this fragment, 
 or some cognate source now lost. The manuscript, according to Sir 
 Fred. Madden, is in a hand of the fifteenth century. It was quoted 
 by Selden in his notes on Drayton's Polyolbion. 
 
 2 Sir Fred. Madden (Introduction to his edition of Lasamon, p. 
 vii), says that the first mention of Lasamon was by Archbishop 
 Usher in Britannicarum Eccles. Antiquitates, 1639, and the next men- 
 tion of him by Nicolson, in the eighteenth century. 
 
 3 This is by no means a complete list of the versions of the His- 
 toria which existed in manuscript in Spenser's time. For a full 
 treatment of the chronicles which make use of this material, reference 
 should be made to Arthurian Material in the Chronicles, by Robert 
 Huntingdon Fletcher, Boston, 1906. Chronological tabulations of the 
 chronicles may be found in The Story of King Lear from Geoffrey 
 of Monmouth to Shakspere, by Wilfrid Perrett, Berlin, 1904, in Die 
 Lear sage vor Shakespeare, by Emil Bode, Halle, 1904, and^in Die 
 Locrinesage, by Theodor Erbe, Halle, 1904. Reference should also be 
 made to the Descriptive Catalogue of Manuscripts Relating to the 
 Early History of Great Britain, ed. Hardy, Rolls Series, London, 
 1862, to the Catalogue of Romances in the British Museum, by H, L. 
 D. Ward, and to the Sources and Literature of English History from 
 the earliest Times to about 1485, by Charles Gross, 1900. 
 
 Earlier treatments of the chronicle material are the following: 
 
PROBABLE SOURCES 27 
 
 Lajamon's Brut. 
 
 The Chronicle of " Robert of Gloucester." 
 
 The Chronicle of Robert Mannyng of Brunne. 
 
 The French Brut, known as the large Brut, composed about 
 1272. 
 
 The English Brut, a free translation of the French Brut, 
 and the basis of Caxton's Chronicles. It is often referred to 
 as " the English Chronicle" 
 
 William Harrison's Great Chronologic. This extends to 
 February, 15923, but the earlier part had long been com- 
 pleted, and is frequently referred to in Holinshed. 
 
 When we put the manuscripts to one side, there remain 
 the following books that were in print before 1590, and 
 may have been consulted by Spenser : 
 
 I. Histories that in part cover the ground of the Historia. 
 Bede, Historia Ecclesiastica, of which, according to 
 
 Hardy, 4 there had been nine continental editions before 
 1590, although no edition had been printed in England. 
 
 Gildas, De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae, printed by 
 Polydore Vergil, 1525; new edition by John Joscelyn (sec- 
 retary to Archbishop Parker) 1568. 
 
 II. Books which present some of the material of the 
 Historia, though not in chronicle form. 
 
 Perceforest, a French romance which includes a list of 
 the British kings, Paris, 1528, 1532. 
 
 Mirror for Magistrates: the edition of 1571 was the first 
 to contain the heroes and heroines of Geoffrey's story. 
 These were Albanact, Humber, Locrinus, Elstride, Sabrine, 
 Madan, Malim, Mempricius, Bladud, Cordila, Morgan, 
 Ferrex, Porrex, Kimarus, Morindus, and Nennius. The 
 edition of 1578 added Guiderius, Carassus, Hellina, Vor- 
 tiger, Pengragon, and Cadwallader. The additions in 1587 
 were Jago, Brennus, Caesar, and Guiderius. 
 
 The English Historical Library, by William Nicolson, London, 1697; 
 A Manual of British Historians to A. D., j6oo, containing a Chrono- 
 logical Account of the Early Chroniclers and Monkish Writers, their 
 Printed Works and Unpublished MSS., by William Dunn Macray, 
 London, 1845 ; and Early Chroniclers of England, by James Gairdner, 
 London, 1879. 
 * Hardy, Cat. of MSS.; I, pp. 442-443. 
 
28 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 Itinerarium Cambriae, by Giraldus Cambrensis, published 
 by Powel, London, 1585. 
 
 Camden's Britannia, 1586. 
 
 Albion's England, by William Warner, 1586. .This in- 
 cludes accounts of Brutus, Guendoleyne, Mempricius 
 (brief), Leir, Ferrex and Porrex, Dunwallo, Brenn and 
 Belyn or Beline (at length), the sons of Morindus, the in- 
 vasion by Caesar, a brief mention of several kings, then 
 accounts of Voada or Voadicia, Constantine, Vortiger, 
 Arthur (with the romance attributes omitted), and Cad- 
 wallader. 5 
 
 III. Geoffrey's Historia, and the chronicles based upon it. 
 
 Geoffrey's Historia Regum Britanniae, printed at Paris, 
 1508 and 1517, and at Heidelberg, by Commeline, in Rerum 
 Britannicarum Scriptores, isSy. 6 
 
 Caxton, Chronicles of England, printed by Caxton, 1480 
 and 1483, and by W. de Worde, 1497, 1502, 1515, 1520, 
 and I528. 7 
 
 Ralph Higden, Polychronicon, translated by Trevisa, 
 printed by Caxton, 1482, by W. de Worde, 1495, by Peter 
 Treveris, 1527. 
 
 * Jacobus Philippus Foresti, Bergomensis, Supplementum 
 Cronicarum, first edition, Venice, i486. 8 
 
 Robert Fabyan, The New Chronicles of England and 
 France, London, 1516, 1533, 1542, 1559. 
 
 s Warner (p. 351) acknowledges indebtedness to "our learned and 
 studious Antiquarie Master Camden, in such as is by him circum- 
 spectly set downe in his well-meriting ' work, intituled Britannia : 
 out of which I confesse my selfe to haue gleaned not a little apting to 
 this our abridged Historic." 
 
 6 Bode (Die Lear sage vor Shakespeare, p. 140 f.) gives also a 
 French translation, 1498, and an English translation, 1529. I have 
 found no other mention of these. 
 
 7 For other editions, see Gross, Sources and Literature of English 
 History, p. 272, No. 1733. 
 
 8 The Latin chroniclers who give brief summaries of the Historia, 
 but seem to have been without influence in England, have been omitted 
 from this list. Foresti is included because he appears to be the 
 author quoted by Holinshed and Stow under the title " Bergomas." 
 For these chroniclers, see Fletcher, Arthurian Material in the Chron- 
 icles, pp. 239 ff. 
 
PROBABLE SOURCES 2Q 
 
 Johannes Nauclerus, Memorabilium omnis aetatis et 
 omnium Gentium Chronici Comentarii, Tubingen, 1516; 
 Koln, 1579. 
 
 Alain Bouchart, Les Grandes Croniques de Bretaigne, 
 
 iS 1 ^ I53 1 * J 53 2 > i54i, 1545- 
 
 John Rastell, The Pastime of People, London, 1529. 
 
 Polydore Vergil, Anglicae Historiae Libri XXVI, printed 
 at Basle, 1534, 1546, 1555, 1556, 1556-7, \S7^ ^ 
 
 Ponticus Virunnius, Britannicae Historiae Libri sex, at 
 Augsburg, 1534; by Powel, 1585; by Commeline, 1587. 
 This is an abridgment of the first six books of Geoffrey. 
 
 John Hardyng, Chronicle, two editions printed by R. 
 Graf ton, London, 1543. 
 
 Wace's Brut, Paris, 1543, 1584. 
 
 * Arthur Kelton, A Chronycle with a Genealogie 
 . . . Newly compyled in Metre, printed by Grafton, 
 London, 1547. 
 
 Thomas Cooper, Epitome of Chronicles, earlier part by 
 Thomas Lanquet, " London, 1549, 1554, 1559, 1560, 1565, 
 1569. 
 
 * Gyles Godet, Chronicle, London, 1560. 
 
 Richard Grafton, Abridgment of the Chronicles of Eng- 
 land, 1562, 1563, 1564, 1570, I572. 10 
 
 John Stow, Summarie of Englyshe Chronicles, 1565, 
 
 1567, 1570, 1573, 1575, 1579, 1584, 1587- 
 Richard Grafton, Manuel! of the Chronicles of England, 
 
 1565- 
 Flores Historiarum, Matthew of Westminster, London, 
 
 1567, 1570; Matthew Paris, 1571. 
 Richard Grafton, Chronicle at Large, London, 1569. 
 
 * Humphrey Llwyd, Comentarioli Descriptionis Britan- 
 nicae Fragmentum, 1572; translated into English by 
 
 9 Only two copies are known to exist, one in the collection of 
 Earl Spencer, the other in that of Thomas Grenyille. See Mirror 
 for Magistrates, ed. Haslewood. Introduction, pp. vii-x. 
 
 10 The editions vary in details. See Fletcher, Arthurian Material 
 in the Chronicles, p. 264. 
 
30 SPENSER S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 Thomas Twyne, and published under the title The Breuiary 
 of Britayne, I573- 11 
 
 Raphael Holinshed, The Chronicles of Englande, Scot- 
 lande, and Ireland, 1577; revised edition, 1587. 
 
 David Chambers, Histoire dbregee, Paris, 1579. 
 
 John Stow, The Chronicles of England, London, 1580; 
 under the title, The Annales of England, London, 1584. 
 
 The chronicles that are marked in the list above with an 
 asterisk have been inaccessible, but all the others have been 
 examined as possible sources for Spenser's chronicle his- 
 tory. 12 
 
 11 The asterisk applies only to the Latin version. 
 
 12 Five of these chronicles I have not seen myself. My thanks are 
 due to Miss Rose Jeffries Peebles for her examination of the copy 
 of Nauclerus in the Peabody Library, Baltimore, and to Miss Beulah 
 Marie Dix for a study of Cooper's Epitome, 1547, Grafton's Abridg- 
 ment, 1572, Stow's Summarie, 1567, and Twyne's Breuiary of Britayne, 
 1572, all in the British Museum. 
 
IV 
 
 THE METHOD OF THE PRESENT INVESTI- 
 ' CATION 
 
 In Spenser's time Geoffrey's Historia was recognized as 
 the chief source of the British chronicle. Stow, for in- 
 stance, writes, " I hope it shall be sufficient in this History 
 for the Britaines time, to follow the authority of the re- 
 ceiued British History, which Geoffrey, Archdeacon of 
 Monmouth, translated out of the British toung about 400. 
 yeeres since, beginning with Brute. . . ." * Even 
 the controversy as to the authenticity of Geoffrey's history 
 which raged after the time of Polydore Vergil served only 
 to make the name of Geoffrey better known. Therefore, 
 as the Historia existed both in printed form and in many 
 manuscripts, 2 there is a strong antecedent probability that 
 Spenser was familiar with it. 
 
 This probability receives strong confirmation from an ex- 
 amination of the material before us. Although the chron- 
 icles repeated the facts in Geoffrey's Historia, few repro- 
 duced the continuous narrative as a whole. Such books as 
 the Poly chronic on, the Memorabilium of Nauclerus, the 
 Flores Historiarum, the Epitome of Lanquet and Cooper, 
 and the Histoire abregee of Chambers break the story into 
 fragments and scatter these fragments at considerable inter- 
 vals in the midst of other material. Furthermore, they 
 often strip Geoffrey's story to a bare outline. To piece to- 
 gether a coherent, flesh-and-blood narrative from these f rag- 
 
 1 Stow, Annales, ed. Howes, 1631, p. 6. 
 
 2 For lists of the MSS. of the Historia, see Hardy's Descriptive 
 Catalogue, I, pp. 341-350, and Ward's Catalogue of Romances, I, pp. 
 220-250. 
 
 31 
 
32 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 ments and so build up a new Geoffrey would be almost 
 impossible. Equally difficult would it be to restore 
 Geoffrey's narrative from the form in which it appears in 
 Hardyng, Fabyan, Grafton, Holinshed, and Stow, for in 
 these authors the desire for historical accuracy has led to 
 corrections and additions from Roman and Anglo-Saxon 
 accounts, together with long arguments about the conflict- 
 ing stories. Not even Caxton, who reproduces the English 
 Brut, holds strictly to the original, for beside having sur- 
 prising variations in proper names, and omissions, such as 
 the omission of the four kings after Rivallo, his version 
 gives the inserted story of Argentil and Curan, and thus 
 changes the course of the narrative to such an extent that 
 the Geoffrey story could not be reproduced from it. Spen- 
 ser's narrative, on the contrary, follows Geoffrey's, reign 
 by reign, with only three variations, the omission of 
 Arthur's reign because of the plot of the Faerie Queene, 
 the omission of Guiderius, which resulted in fusing his reign 
 with Kimbeline's, and the addition of the story of Bon- 
 duca, which is neatly inserted in the most convenient place, 
 without regard to other chronicles which also give the story 
 of Bonduca. 3 Spenser shows a knowledge of the Historia 
 material as a whole, 4 and notwithstanding his alteration of 
 details, he has reproduced the outlines of the narrative with 
 accuracy. This in itself creates a strong presumption in 
 favor of Geoffrey as one of Spenser's sources. 
 
 A glance at the proper names that Spenser uses brings 
 us again to the same conclusion. The names which ap- 
 peared in Geoffrey's Latin suffered many changes. English 
 forms were substituted. Mis-spelling, mis-reading, mis- 
 pronunciation, deliberate distortion for the sake of accent 
 or rhyme in verse, and confusion with other stories, all 
 
 3 See pp. 115-120, below. 
 
 * It should be noted here that the Historia is the ultimate or 
 partial source of some of Spenser's material which is not strictly 
 speaking British Chronicle History, and which has therefore been 
 omitted in this dissertation. Such is Spenser's account of Merlin 
 (F. Q., Ill, 3, 7-13), and his imitation of Merlin's prophecies (F. Q., 
 Ill, 3, 47-49). 
 

 METHOD 33 
 
 added to the variety of nomenclature. In Caxton's Chron- 
 icle Raynolde has replaced Rivallo, Hesider stands for 
 Elidure, and Marius has become Westmer. Hardyng's 
 Chronicle shows similar changes. The later chroniclers, 
 such as Grafton, Stow, and Holinshed, retain these varia- 
 tions, but place side by side with them the forms in 
 Geoffrey, and use either indifferently throughout the narra- 
 tive. From Caxton and Hardyng it would be impossible 
 to reproduce the names of the British kings in Geoffrey, 
 and it is improbable that anyone could pick and choose 
 among the various forms in the later English chronicles so 
 as to get together a majority of Geoffrey's names. From 
 the Latin world-chronicles such as the Poly chronic on it 
 would be more possible to do this so far as the forms of 
 the names are concerned, but the fact that they are scat- 
 tered so far apart brings in a new difficulty, and makes the 
 reproduction of a long list of them improbable from this 
 source too. Now Spenser's names, to a considerable ex- 
 tent, either reproduce Geoffrey's form exactly or give a 
 natural English form, stripped of the Latin ending. 5 Oc- 
 
 5 I append a list of the proper nouns in Spenser, with their equiva- 
 lents in the two early printed editions of Geoffrey's Historic,, 1508 
 and 1517, and in the San Marte edition. A glance will show that in 
 general they correspond. The forms that are used by the later chron- 
 iclers v will appear in the discussion, pp. 38 ff., below. 
 
 Snenser G " of M " G " of M " G " f M " 
 
 Paris, 1508. Paris, 1517. San Marte ed. 
 
 Albion albion Albion Albion 
 
 Brutus Brutus Brutw^ Brutus 
 
 Goe'mot goemagot Goemagot Goemagot 
 
 Corineus Corineus Corineus Corineus 
 
 Inogene Ignogen Ignogen Ignogen 
 
 Locrine Locrinus Locrinus Locrinus 
 
 Albanact Albanactw^ Albanactw.y Albanactus 
 
 Camber Kamber Kamber Kamber 
 
 Albania albania Albania Albania 
 
 Severne sabrinu flumen . Sabrinum flumen Sabrinum flumen 
 
 Logris loegria Loegria Loegria 
 
 Humber huber Huber Humber 
 
 Estrild estrildis Estrildis Estrildis 
 
 Guendolene .... guedoloena Guendoloena . . . Guendoloena 
 
 Sabrina habren and Sa- Habren and Sa- Sabren and Sa- 
 
 brina brina brina 
 
 Madan . . . madan Madan Maddan 
 
34 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 casionally such a name as Leill shows the influence of later 
 chroniclers. But sometimes Spenser uses a form which 
 he could scarcely have found except in Geoffrey. He is, 
 for instance, close to Geoffrey's Goemagot with his Goemot 
 
 o nA G. of M., G. of M., G. of M., 
 
 Paris, 1508. Paris, 1517. San Marte ed. 
 
 Memprise Menpcius Menpcius Mempricius 
 
 Manild manlio Manlio Malim 
 
 Ebranck ebrancus Ebrancus Ebraucus 
 
 Leill Leir Leir Leir 
 
 Cairleill Kaerleir Kaerleir Kaerleir 
 
 Huddibras hurdibras Hurdibras Hudibras 
 
 Bladud Baldudus Baldudus Bladud 
 
 Cairbadon Kaerbadum .... Kaerbadum .... Kaerbadus 
 
 Leyf Leir Leir Leir 
 
 Gonorill genorilla Genorilla Gonorilla 
 
 Regan regana Ragana Regan 
 
 Cordein [".".!'. cordeilla Cordeilla Cordeilla 
 
 Aggannip Aganippus Aganippus Aganippus 
 
 Maglan maglaun-// ^ MaglaunM.y .... Maglaunus 
 
 Morgan marganj Marganu Marganus 
 
 Cundah cunedagius Cunedagiu Cunedagius 
 
 Rivall' riuallo Riuallo Rivallo 
 
 Gurgustus gurgustius Gurgustius Gurgustius 
 
 Caecily sisillius Sisilliws Sisillius 
 
 Lago iago Lago Lago 
 
 Kinmarke Kinimacw^ Kinimacw ^ Kinmarcus 
 
 Gorbogud gorbodug Gorbodug Gorbodug 
 
 Ferrex f errex Ferrex Ferrex 
 
 Porrex porrex Porrex Porrex 
 
 Wyden Wide Wide Widen 
 
 Ymner pireme Pirane Ymner 
 
 Ruddoc rudaucus Rudaucus Rudaucus 
 
 Stater staterius Staterius Staterius 
 
 Donwallo duuallo Duuallo Dunvallo 
 
 Brennus brenius Brenus Brennius 
 
 Belinus belinus Belinus Belinus 
 
 Gurgiunt gurguitus Gurguintus Gurgiunt 
 
 Guitheline guinthelinus Guinthelinus . . . Guithelinus 
 
 Mertia martia Martia Martia 
 
 Sisillus sisillius Sisillius Sisilius 
 
 Kimarus Kimarus Kimarus Kimarus 
 
 Danius elaniw^ Elaniws Danius 
 
 Morindus moridus Moridus Morvidus 
 
 Morands morianorum Maurorum Moranorum 
 
 (gen. case) (gen. case) (gen. case) 
 
 Gorbpman gorbonianM.s . . . Gorbonianw.? . . . Gorbonianus 
 
 Archigald archigallo Archigallo Arthgallo 
 
 Elidure elidurus Elidurus Elidurus 
 
 Vigent vigenius Vigenius Vigenius 
 
 Peridure peredurus Peredurus Peredurus 
 
METHOD 35 
 
 (F. Q., II, 10, 10), and later gives Geoffrey's form ex- 
 actly (F. Q., Ill, 9, 50). So, too, he agrees with Geoffrey 
 in the name Hudibras, which, in every other source that I 
 have seen, appears as Rudhudibras, or Rudibras (Polydore 
 
 Sne G. of M., G. of M., G. of M., 
 
 Paris, 1508. Paris, 1517. San Marte ed. 
 
 Hely hely Hely Hely 
 
 Lud lud Lud Lud 
 
 Cassibalane cassibellanum . . Cassibellanu Cassibellaunus 
 
 Nennius neurium Neurium Nennius 
 
 Androgeus androgeus Androgeus Androgeus 
 
 Tenantius tenacius Tenacius Tenuantius 
 
 Kimbeline Kymbellinw^ . . . Kymbellinus Kymbelinus 
 
 Claudius claudius Claudius Claudius 
 
 Arvirage aruiragus Aruiragus Arviragus 
 
 Genuissa gennissa Gennissa Genuissa 
 
 Marius marius Marius Marius 
 
 Coyll coillus Coillus Coillus 
 
 Lucius lucius Lucius Lucius 
 
 Fulgent fulgenius Fulgenius Fulgenius 
 
 Severus seuerus Seuerus Severus 
 
 Carausius carassius Carassiwj Carausius 
 
 Allectus alectu Alectu Allectus 
 
 Asclepiodate . . . asclepiodotus . . . Asclepiodotwj . . Asclepiodotus 
 
 Coylchester colcestrise Colcestrae Colecestrise 
 
 Coyll coel Coel Coel 
 
 Constantius .... constantinus Costatinus Constantius 
 
 Helena Helena Helena Helena 
 
 Constantine .... costatinus Costatinus Constantinus 
 
 Traherne traheru Traheru Trahern 
 
 Octayius Octavius Octauiw^ Octayius 
 
 Maximian maximianus Maximianus Maximianus 
 
 Gratian Gratianus Gratianus Gratianus 
 
 Vortigere, Vorti- 
 
 ger vortegirnus Vortegirnus Vortegirnus 
 
 Aurelius aurelius ambro-Aurelius Ambro- Aurelius Ambro- 
 
 Ambrose .... sius sius sius 
 
 Uther Pendrag- 
 
 on vtherpendragon . Vtherpendragon . Utherpendragon 
 
 Horsus horsw^ Horsw^ Horsus 
 
 Hengist hegistw^ Hegistw^ Hengistus 
 
 Vortimere vortunerus Vortunerus Vortimerus 
 
 Stoneheng, Ston- 
 
 heng stranheng Stranheng Stanheng 
 
 Cador cadorem^ Cadorem Cadorem 
 
 Vortipore vortiporius Vortiporius Wortiporius 
 
 Malgo malgo Malgo Malgo 
 
 Careticus catericw^ Catericus Careticus 
 
 Gormond godmundu Godmudu Gormundus 
 
 Etheldred edelfridus Edelfridus Ethelfridus 
 
 Augustine Augustinus Augustinus Augustinus 
 
 Brockwell broemael Broemael Brocmail 
 
 Cadwan Caduanus Caduanus Caduanus 
 
 
36 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 Vergil) or, as in Holinshed, Lud or Ludhurdibras. The 
 evidence of the names, then, goes to prove that Spenser used 
 Geoffrey as a source. 
 
 For the three reasons given above i. e. the antecedent 
 probability that Spenser knew the " receiued British his- 
 tory " of his time, the coincidence in the general outlines of 
 the two chronicles, and the similarity of a large propor- 
 tion of the proper names it will be assumed in the fol- 
 lowing analysis that the basis of Spenser's chronicle is 
 Geoffrey's Historia. When Spenser's chronicle agrees with 
 the Historia, there will be no need to seek further for his 
 source, even though the same story is to be found in many 
 or all of the other versions. 
 
 Next to Geoffrey the most probable source of Spenser's 
 chronicle is Holinshed's great work, the most pretentious, 
 the largest, and, except for Stow's, the latest of all the 
 chronicles, and, moreover, a book with which Spenser was 
 certainly familiar. 6 When Spenser differs from Geoffrey 
 
 Spenser. G. of M., G. of M, G. of M, 
 
 Paris, 1508. Paris, 1517. San Marte ed. 
 
 Cadwallin caduallo Caduallo Cadwallo 
 
 Pellite pellitw^ Pellitus Pellitus 
 
 Edwin eduinus Eduinus Edwinus 
 
 Oswald Oswalds Oswaldus Oswaldus 
 
 Oswin osun Osunwj Oswius 
 
 Penda peanda Peada Peanda 
 
 Offricke offridus Offridus Offridus 
 
 Osricke offrido offrido Osricus 
 
 Cadwallader . . . cadualladrus Cadualladrus . . . Cadwalladrus 
 
 Octa octa Octa Octa 
 
 Oza cosa Cosa Eosa 
 
 The above list makes it seem probable that Spenser was using a 
 manuscript copy of Geoffrey. Many of the names reproduce, not the 
 form of the early editions, but that which appears in the San Marte 
 edition. See, for instance, Memprise, H'uddibras, Bladud, Gonorilla, Re- 
 gan, Kinmarke, Ymner, Gurgiunt, Guitheline, Danius, Nennius, Genuissa, 
 Carausius, Constantius, Traherne, Vortimere, Careticus, and Gormond. 
 The names Ymner, Danius, Nennius, Vortimere, and Careticus show 
 an especially marked variation from the early editions. On the other 
 hand, Madan, Manlio, Ebranck, Morindus, and Archgald resemble the 
 forms which are found in the early editions and not those in the 
 San Marte edition, and Brennus and Tenantius coincide with the 
 form of these names found in the 1517 edition. 
 
 6 See p. 10 and pp. 12-15, above. 
 
METHOD 37 
 
 and in so doing repeats information which Holinshed gives, 
 it is a natural inference that Holinshed is his source. In 
 the following pages, therefore, Spenser's story has first been 
 compared with Geoffrey's and next with Holinshed's. 
 Whatever remains unaccounted for has then been traced, 
 so far as possible, to other sources. At the same time an 
 effort has been made to note any verbal coincidences that 
 might help to fix Spenser's source. When some version 
 other than Geoffrey's or Holinshed's seems manifestly to be 
 Spenser's source, that version has been placed next after 
 Holinshed's. Other material that for any reason seems im- 
 portant follows in chronological order. 
 
 The quotations from Holinshed are drawn from the first 
 edition, with which Spenser was certainly acquainted. 7 
 But as the description of the rivers of Great Britain 8 indi- 
 cates Spenser's knowledge of the second edition also, I have 
 compared the second edition with the first, and noted the 
 few variations that seem significant. 
 
 Similarities of phrase are marked by a correspondence 
 in the type used. If a passage in Spenser seems to repro- 
 duce a passage in Geoffrey, both are printed in italics. If it 
 reproduces a passage in Holinshed, both passages are printed 
 in small Roman capitals. If it is like a passage in any other 
 possible source, black face type has been used. 
 
 T See Spenser's letter to Harvey, Spenser, Globe ed., p. 709. See 
 also Appendix, p. 187, below, for a discussion of the possibility that 
 Spenser's chronicle was composed at a comparatively early date as 
 a separate poem, and afterwards incorporated with the Faerie Queene. 
 
 8 F. Q., IV, ii. See pp. 15-19, above. 
 
A COMPARISON OF SPENSER'S CHRONICLE 
 WITH ITS POSSIBLE SOURCES 
 
 A. BOOK II, CANTO 10. 
 
 The agreement between the general outline of Spenser's 
 chronicle and that of the Historia does not begin until the 
 account of the arrival of Brutus, stanza nine. The previous 
 stanzas (58) are based rather on passages in the later 
 chronicles, and are substituted for Geoffrey's chapter on 
 the geography of Britain (I, 2). The early adventures of 
 Brutus (Geoffrey I, 3-15), are omitted from Spenser's 
 chronicle, but appear later in the Faerie Queene in Paridell's 
 speech to Britomart (III, 9, 48-51). Spenser preferred in 
 the chronicle proper to make direct transition, first from 
 the island to the giants that inhabited it, and second from 
 the giants to the coming of their conquerors, Brutus and 
 his men. He thus avoided shifting the scene of his narra- 
 tive from the island. 
 
 5. The land which warlike Britons now possesse, 
 
 And therein have their mighty empire raysd, 
 
 In antique times was salvage wildernesse, 
 
 Unpeopled, unmannurd, unprovd, unpraysd; 
 
 Ne was it Island then, ne was it paysd 
 
 Amid the ocean waves, ne was it sought 
 
 Of merchants farre for profits therein praysd; 
 
 But was all desolate, and of some thought 
 
 By sea to have bene from the celticke maynland brought. 
 
 38 
 
COMPARISON 39 
 
 Hol, Hist., p. i. 
 
 " . . . it semeth by the report of Dominicus Marius 
 Niger y* in the beginning, whew God framed the worlde, and 
 diuided the waters aparte from the earth, this Isle was then 
 a parcel of the continent, & ioyned without any separation 
 of sea to the mayne lande." 
 
 Camd., Brit., ed. 1590, p. i. 
 
 " Inter Cantium enim, & Caletum Galliae, ita in altum 
 se euehit, & adeo in arctum mare agitur, ut perfossas ibi 
 terras antea exclusa admisisse maria opinentur nonnulli, 
 opinionisque suae assertores adferunt Virgilium in illo 
 versu, 
 
 ' Et penitus toto diuisos orbe Britannos:' 
 Quia, inquit Servius Honoratus, olim juncta erat continents 
 Britannia/' 
 
 This stanza is little more than an expansion of one of 
 Holinshed's opening sentences, although the phrasing of 
 the last two lines seems to show also the influence of Cam- 
 den. 
 
 6. Ne did it then deserve a name to have, 
 Till that the venturous Mariner that way 
 Learning his ship from those white rocks to save, 
 Which all along the southerne sea-coast lay 
 Threatning unheedy wrecke and rash decay, 
 For safety that same his sea-marke made, 
 And namd it ALBION : But later day, 
 Finding in it fit ports for fishers trade, 
 Gan more the same frequent, and further to invade. 
 
 G. of M., I, 1-6, /. i, p. 1 8. 
 
 " Erat tune nomen insulae Albion ..." 
 
 Hoi., Hist., p. 6. The giant Albion, son of Neptune, 
 was chief ruler of the island, which took its name from him : 
 
4o SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 ". . . yet there be dyuers opinyons how it came by 
 that name : for many doe not allow of this historic of Albion 
 the Giaunte." A marginal note says, " Diuers opinions why 
 thys He was called Albion. See more hereof in the descrip- 
 tion." 
 
 Descr. of Br., p. i b. The story of the giant Albion is 
 told at length. 
 
 Ed. 1587, Vol. I, Descr. of Br., ch. 3, p. 3. In a passage 
 inserted before the story of Albion it is said that Goropius 
 
 " is brought into great doubt, whether Britaine was called 
 Albion of the word Alb, white; or Alp, an hill; as Bodinus 
 is no less troubled with fetching the same ab Olbijs, or as he 
 wresteth it, ab Albijs gallis." 
 
 Hardyng, ch. 6, p. 30. 
 
 " But Bartholomew de proprietatibus rerum, 
 
 Sayth howe this ysle of Albion had name 
 
 Of the see bankes full whyte, all or sum, 
 
 That circuyte the ysle; as shyppes came, 
 
 Fro ferrome sene, as thei, through the see fame, 
 
 Sailed by & by, for rypes and roches whyte 
 
 To shipmen were greate gladnesse and delyte. 
 
 "But Maryan saith, the [chronicler to sewe], 
 
 That dame Albion was the first that named it so. 
 
 Both two might be together [clere and trewe,]" etc. 
 
 Bartholomew, De Proprietatibus Rerum, Bk. 15, ch. 14. 
 
 " Englonde is the moost ylonde of Occean & is biclypped al 
 aboute w* the see & departyd fro the roundnesse of the 
 world & hyghte som tyme Albion. And hadde that name of 
 whyte roches whyche were seen on the see clyves . . ." 
 
 Caxton, Descr. of Br., cH. 3. 
 
 "Othir saye that this lond was named Albion as it where 
 the white londe of white rockes aboute the cliues of the sea 
 that were seyne fro ferre." 
 
COMPARISON 41 
 
 Fabyan, p. 7. 
 
 " The whiche so toke firste name, as wytnessyth Strabo and 
 other wryters, of the whyte Clyves or Rockes that stande 
 vpon the sees syde, and are ferre seen in clere wether and 
 bryght dayes, wherof it was of olde wryters named Albyon, 
 as it were the whyte Lande . . ." 
 
 Graf ton, p. 25. 
 
 " Another opinion is (which hath a more honest similitude) 
 that it was named Albion, ab Albis rupibus, that is, of 
 white rockes, because that vnto them that come by sea 
 from the east or south, the bankes and rockes of this isle 
 do apere white." 
 
 Grafton, however, does not himself accept this derivation. 
 
 Spenser could have taken from Geoffrey, in this passage, 
 only the name Albion, but he could have found elsewhere, 
 in many places, the statement that this name was given to 
 the island because ^of the white rocks on the sea-shore. In 
 Holinshed, however, a different story is told to account for 
 the name, and only in the second edition is even a passing 
 reference made to the derivation of Albion from' alb, white. 
 Among the authorities in which Spenser's story appears is 
 Grafton, who restricts these rocks to the Eastern and South- 
 ern shores, and suggests also the point of view of " them 
 that come by Sea." This thought is even more fully ex- 
 pressed by Hardyng, who says that the white banks are 
 seen from afar as the ships come sailing by, and the ship- 
 men find in them " greate gladnesse and delyte." . From 
 this may easily have developed Spenser's idea that the 
 " white rocks " served as a sea-mark which guided the mar- 
 iner to safety. Such service would account for their being 
 " gladnesse and delyte." Grafton and Hardyng, confirm- 
 ing each other, may both have influenced Spenser, though 
 the influence of Grafton would have been in itself slight. 
 Hardyng, indeed, may conceivably have been the sole source 
 of the material in Spenser's stanza. 
 
42 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 Beside the source of the material there is, as regards this 
 stanza, another consideration. The derivation that Spen- 
 ser gives is in most chronicles only one of several possible 
 derivations. In stating it authoritatively and alone Spenser 
 is at variance with Graf ton, who mentions it only to reject 
 it, and from Hardyng, who adds the story of Dame Albion 
 and, unable to give up either, suggests that " both two might 
 be together." He is in accordance, however, with the older 
 authorites, such as Bartholomew and Caxton. Whether he 
 was intentionally reverting to them, or merely rejecting the 
 other derivations as improbable or inartistic, it is impossible 
 to decide. 
 
 We may conclude that Spenser used neither Geoffrey nor 
 Holinshed as a source for this stanza, but drew from Graf- 
 ton and Hardyng, or from Hardyng alone, and was either 
 independent in handling the material he borrowed, or was 
 further influenced by still older authorities, such as Bar- 
 tholomew and Caxton. 
 
 7. But far in land a salvage nation dwelt 
 
 Of hideous Giaunts, and HALFE BEASTLY MEN, 
 
 THAT NEVER TASTED GRACE, NOR GOODNES FELT; 
 
 But wild like beastes lurking in loathsome den, 
 
 And flying fast as Roebucke through the fen, 
 
 All naked without shame or care of cold, 
 
 By hunting and by spoiling liveden; 
 
 Of stature huge, and eke of corage bold, 
 
 That sonnes of men amazd their sternnesse to behold. 
 
 G. of M., I, ch. n, //. 75-76, p. 13. 
 
 " Insula in Oceano est habitata Gygantibus olim, 
 Nunc deserta quidem: gentibus apta tuis." 
 
 /, ch. 16, /. i f., p. 18. 
 
 " Erat tune nomen insulae Albion, quae a nemine, exceptis 
 paucis gygantibus, inhabitabatur . . ." 
 
COMPARISON 43 
 
 HoL, Hist., p. 5 /. 
 
 " This Albion (that thus chaunged the name of this Isle) 
 and his companie, are called Gyants, which signifieth none 
 other than a tall kind of men, of that uncorrupte stature and 
 highnesse naturally incident to the first age (which Berosus 
 also seemeth to allow, where he writeth, that Noe was one of 
 the Gyantes: and were not so called only of their monstrous 
 greatnesse, as the common people thinke (although in deede 
 they exceeded the vsuall stature of men nowe in these dayes, 
 (but also for y t they tooke their name of the soyle where they 
 were born ; for Gigantes signifieth THE SONS OF THE EARTH : 
 the Aborigines (or as Cesar calleth them Indiginae,) that is, 
 
 BORNE AND BRED OUT OF THE EARTH WHERE THEY INHABITED 
 
 . . . When Albion chiefe Capitayn of the Gyants was 
 slayn, the residue that remayned at home in the Isle, con- 
 tinued without any rule or restraint of lawe, in so muche 
 
 that THEY FELL TO SUCH A DISSOLUTE ORDER OF LYFE, THAT 
 THEY SEEMED LITTLE OR NOTHING TO DIFFER FROM BRUTE 
 
 BEASTES : and those are they which our auncient Chronicles 
 call the Giants . . . (sithens as before is sayd, that age 
 
 brought foorth far greater men than are now liuing) 
 
 
 
 p. 9. " Hitherto haue wee spoken of them that inhabited this 
 land before the commyng of Brute, although some will needs 
 haue it, that he was the firste which inhabited y* same with 
 his people, descended of the Troyans, some few Giaunts onely 
 excepted whome hee utterly destroyed, and lefte not one 
 of them alyue through the whole Isle." 
 
 Camd. f Brit., p. 115. 
 
 " Vnde Poeta quidam satis antiquus, cum Gigantes quosdam 
 Britannicos describeret, sic lusit de Britannia loquens 
 
 Titanibus ilia 
 
 Sed paucis famulosa domus, quibus vda ferarum 
 Terga dabant vestes, cruor haustus, pocula trunci, 
 Antra lares, dumeta thoros, coenacula rupes, 
 Praeda cibos, raptus Venerem, spectacula caedes, 
 Imperium vires, animos furor, impetus arma, 
 Mortem pugna, sepulchra rubus, monstrisqw^ gemebat 
 Monticolis tellus, sed eorum plurima tractus 
 Pars erat occidui, terror majorque premebat 
 Te furor, extremum Zephyri Cornubia limen." 
 
44 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 Geoffrey's statement that the island of Albion was in- 
 habited by giants was quickly elaborated l and Spenser fol- 
 lowed the later accounts. In describing the giants as 
 
 " half beastly men 
 That never tasted grace, nor goodnes felt," 
 
 he apparently took a hint from Holinshed, who says that 
 " they seemed little or nothing to differ from brute beastes,' 
 but the rest of the stanza, which compares the giants to 
 beasts for another reason, namely, the wildness of their 
 lives, seems to have been suggested rather by the Latin 
 verses which Camden quotes. Although Spenser's giants 
 differ from those of the Latin verses in going naked, in- 
 stead of wearing clothes of skin, like them they dwell in 
 caves and live by hunting. Spenser's description of the 
 giants seems, therefore, to have been based on Holinshed, 
 and on the Latin verses quoted by Camden, which Spenser 
 may have known in their original form, or only through 
 Camden. 
 
 8. But whence they sprong, or how they were begott, 
 Uneath is to assure; uneath to wene 
 
 That monstrous error, which doth some assott, 
 That Dioclesians fifty daughters shene 
 
 INTO THIS LAND BY CHAUNCE HAVE DRIVEN BENE; 
 
 Where, companing with feends and filthy Sprights 
 Through vaine illusion of their lust unclene, 
 They brought forth Geaunts, and such dreadful wights 
 As far exceeded men in their immeasurd mights. 
 
 9. They held this land, and with their filthinesse 
 Polluted this same gentle soyle long time ; 
 
 That their owne mother loathd their beastlinesse, 
 
 And gan abhorre her broods unkindly crime, 
 
 All were they BORNE OF HER OWNE NATIVE SLIME : 2 
 
 1 See Ward, Cat. of Romances, I, pp. 100-203. Ward catalogues 
 six Latin MSS. De Origine Glgantum. Three are bound with 
 Geoffrey's Historia and a fourth is written as an introduction to it. 
 
 2 See p. 43, above. 
 
COMPARISON 45 
 
 Hol., Hist., pp. 5, 6, 10, 8, and Q. 3 In two separate 
 paragraphs, one on page 5 at the top of the second column, 
 and the other on page 6 in the middle of the second col- 
 umn, Holinshed states that the giants are said to be sprung 
 from the earth. He tells at length the story of those whom 
 Spenser calls " Dioclesians fifty daughters." " These La- 
 dies thus imbarqued and left to the mercie of the raging seas, 
 
 AT LENGTH BY HAP WERE BROUGHT TO YE COASTS OF THIS 
 
 YLE. . . ." They " met with no other inhabitantes 
 than the rude and sauage giauntes of whome before we haue 
 made mencion, which our historicians for their beastly 
 kynde of lyfe, doe call Deuilles. . . ." Afterward 
 they " ingendred a race of people in proportion nothing dif- 
 fering from their fathers that begote them, nor in condi- 
 tions from their mothers that bare them." But, accord- 
 ing to Holinshed, these ladies were not Dioclesian's daugh- 
 ters, for the name Dioclesianus he takes to be a mistaken 
 substitute for the correct name, Danaus. Even with this 
 correction Holinshed hesitates to vouch for the truth of the 
 story, " sith I see not how either in this, or in other things 
 of suche antiquitie we can haue any sufficient warrant other- 
 wyse than by lykely conjectures." 
 
 Hardyng, pp. 25 if. Hardyng tells of the thirty daugh- 
 ters of Dioclesian who came to this island. He then de- 
 nies that story and tells of the fifty daughters of Danao. 
 So greatly did they desire husbands 
 
 " that spyrites, in mannes forme, 
 Lay by theim their desyres to performe. 
 
 ******** 
 
 The spyrites gatte children y 1 were gyauwtes tyte." 
 
 (Ch. 5, p. 29.) 
 
 The Brut, p. 4. The daughters of Dioclician desired hus- 
 bands. The devil sent them spirits in the form of men, 
 and " after thei broughten forth Geauntes, of which on me 
 
 3 The pages are given in the order in which they occur. Errors 
 in pagination are frequent in the 1577 edition. 
 
46 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 called Gogmagog, and ano^er Laugherigan ... & 
 they dwellyd in Cauys & in hulles at here will . . ." 
 
 The account of the giants is continued in these two stan- 
 zas with details in no way suggested by Geoffrey. The 
 wonder as to the origin of the giants expressed in the be- 
 ginning of the eighth stanza and the reference in the ninth 
 stanza to the one mother from whose " owne native slime " 
 they were born, both seem to refer to the theory that they 
 were " sons of the earth," and to originate in Holinshed's 
 repeated assertions to that effect. From Holinshed may 
 have come, also, Spenser's doubt as to the story of Dio- 
 clesian's daughters. But the influence of Holinshed on the 
 story itself is less certain, for Spenser has retained the name 
 Dioclesian, which Holinshed insists is a mistaken substitu- 
 tion for Danao. There seem to have been two stories in 
 existence, one the story of Danao's fifty daughters, the 
 other the story of Dioclesian's thirty or thirty-three daugh- 
 ters. Both are given by Hardyng, but only the story of 
 Dioclesian's daughters appears in the English Brut. 4 This 
 was apparently the older of the two. So in retaining the 
 name Dioclesian Spenser was deliberately rejecting the 
 newer story. A significant fact is that he did not at the 
 same time change the number of the daughters from fifty 
 to thirty or thirty-three. It is probable that he was follow- 
 ing Holinshed except in refusing to substitute Danao for 
 Dioclesian. In one respect, however, Spenser shows the in- 
 fluence of some other authority. His account of the spirits 
 that became the fathers of the giants is certainly based on 
 the account that appears both in the English Brut and in 
 Hardyng, from either of which sources he may have taken 
 it. In these stanzas, then, Spenser seems to have followed 
 Holinshed in the main, but to have been influenced also by 
 the older versions of the story of Dioclesian's daughters, 
 particularly by the one that appears in the English Brut and 
 in Hardyng. 
 
 * See The.Brut, E. E. T. S., pp. 1-4. 
 
COMPARISON 47 
 
 >, //. 6 if. Until that Brutus, anciently deriv'd 
 
 Torn roiall stocke of old Assaracs line, 
 Driven by fatall error here arriv'd, 
 And them of their unjust possession depriv'd. 
 
 G. of M., I, 3, pp. 5-6. The descent of Brutus from 
 Aeneas, through Ascanius and Silvius, is given. 
 
 Hoi, Hist., p. 9. Holinshed repeats Geoffrey's account. 
 
 Virgil, Georg., 3, 35. 
 " Assaraci proles." 
 
 Spenser's reference to " old Assaracs line " is an evidence 
 of his classical reading, and a new way of expressing the 
 descent of Brutus from ^Eneas. The account is so brief 
 that it offers no clue to Spenser's direct source, but with 
 the mention of Brutus Spenser takes up the narrative in 
 Geoffrey's Historia, so that Geoffrey may be assumed to 
 have been his source. 
 
 10. But ere he had established his throne, 
 And spred his empire to the utmost shore, 
 He fought great batteils with his salvage fone; 
 In which he them defeated evermore, 
 And many Giaunts left on groning flore : 
 
 G. of M., I, 1 6, //. 4 if., p. 1 8. 
 
 " Peragratis ergo quibusque provinciis, repertos gygantes in 
 cavernas montium fugant, patriamque donante duce sorti- 
 untur." 
 
 Hoi, Hist., p. 15. 
 
 "But as he" (Brutus) "thus trauayled to discouer the 
 state and commodities of the ylande, he was encountred by 
 diuers strong & mightie Giauntes, whom he destroyed and 
 slewe, or rather subdued them, with all suche other people, 
 as hee founde in the Ilande, whiche were more in number 
 
 
48 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 undoubtedly than by report of some authors, it shoulde appere 
 there were." 
 
 Hardyng,ch. n, p. 39. 
 
 " The giaunts also he sleugh doune beelive 
 Through all the lande in battaile mannely." 
 
 Spenser's statement that Brutus defeated the giants in 
 " great batteils " cannot have its source in Geoffrey's ac- 
 count of the giants' fleeing to the mountain caves. It 
 might possibly spring from Holinshed's statement that 
 Brutus " encountered . . . destroyed and slewe, or 
 rather subdued them." Yet while this suggests actual fight- 
 ing, it is almost too vague to be the source of Spenser's 
 downright assertion. A more probable source is Hardyng's 
 declaration that Brutus slew the giants " through all the 
 lande in battaile," which is as downright as Spenser's. 
 Hardyng, therefore, seems to have been Spenser's source. 
 
 10, //. 6 ff. That well can witness yet unto this day 
 The westerne Hogh, besprincled with the gore 
 Of mighty Goemot, whome in stout fray 
 Corineus conquered, and cruelly did slay. 
 
 t; 
 
 G. of M.j I, 1 6, p. 1 8 /. The story of Goemagot is told 
 at length. Corineus hurled the giant from a high rock in 
 the port where they first landed, which was on the coast of 
 Totnesse, 5 ". . . at ille " (Goemagot) "per abrupta 
 saxa cadens, in multa frusta dilaceratus est: et fluctus 
 sanguine maculavit" (1. 40 /., p. 19). 
 
 Hoi., Hist., p. i$. 
 
 " Among these Giants (as Geffrey of Monmonthe writeth,) 
 there was one of passing strengthe and greate estimation, 
 named Gogmagog, with whome Brute caused Corineus to 
 wrastell, at a place beside Douer, where it chaunced, that the 
 
 6 See ch. 15. 
 
COMPARISON 49 
 
 Giaunt brake a ribbe in the syde of Corineus whyle they 
 stroue to claspe, and the one to ouerthrowe the other: where- 
 with Corineus being sore chafed and stirred to wrath, he so 
 doubled his force that he got the upper hand of the Gyaunt, 
 and caste him downe headlong from one of the rockes there, 
 not farre from Douer, and so dispatched hym : by reason 
 whereof, the place was named long after, the fall or leape 
 of Gogmagog, but afterwards it was called the fall of Douer." 
 
 Camd., Brit., p. 129. 
 
 " De fabulosa ilia Corinei cum Gogmagog Gigante, hoc in 
 loco colluctatione, sat fit, quia credere non libet, unum & alterum 
 ex Architrenio de Gigantibus nostris versiculum adiungere. 
 Hos auidem belli robur Corineus Auerno 
 Praecipites misit cubitis ter quatuor altum 
 Gogmagog Herculea suspendit in acre lucta, 
 Anthaeumque suum scopulo detrusit in aequor. 
 Potauitque dato Thetis ebria sanguine fluctus, 
 Diuisumqw tulit mare corpus, Cerberus umbram. 
 Scopulus vero ille, e quo Gigantem detrusum, ferunt, the 
 Haw nunc dicitur . . ." 
 
 In Geoffrey the giant's name is Goemagot. In other 
 versions of the story the invariable form is Gogmagog. 
 Spenser's form Goemot is closer to Geoffrey's form than to 
 Gogmagog. Geoffrey is also the probable source of the de- 
 tail about the giant's blood, which in Spenser's verse be- 
 spatters the cliff, and in Geoffrey's Latin stains the flood. 
 But in locating the fight at the " westerne Hogh," that is, 
 at Plymouth, Spenser is at variance both with Geoffrey, 
 who places it at Totnesse, and with Holinshed, who con- 
 nects it with Dover. He agrees, however, with Camden, 
 and with local tradition, evidence of which has been pre- 
 served in Richard Carew's Survey of Cornwall. 6 Carew 
 described " the portraiture of two men, one bigger, the 
 other lesser . . . (whom they term Gogmagog)," 
 which was cut upon the ground at the HaWfe in Plymouth, 
 
 6 Richard Carew, The Survey of Cornwall, with notes by Thomas 
 Tonkin: London, 1811; p. 4. This work, although not printed until 
 1602, is said to be referred to by Camden in the first edition of the 
 Britannia, 1586. 
 
 
50 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 and renewed by the townsmen when necessary, " which 
 should infer the same to be a monument of some moment." 
 The Receiver's Accounts of the borough of Plymouth 
 records expenditure for renewing a Gogmagog figure as 
 early as 1494-5, and at intervals afterward. 7 By this local 
 tradition, whether it reached Spenser through Carew's Sur- 
 vey in manuscript, through Camden, or through some other 
 source, 8 Geoffrey's story was modified. In other respects 
 Spenser here followed Geoffrey. 
 
 ii. And eke that ample Pitt, yet far renownd 
 For the large leape which Debon did compell 
 Coulin to make, being eight lugs of grownd, 
 Into the which retourning backe he fell : 
 
 Spenser refers to the story of Debon and Coulin a second 
 time in the Fcuerie Queene, III, 9, 50, where he links it, as 
 here, with the story of Goemagot. This connection with 
 such a well-known incident, and the description of the am- 
 ple " far renownd " pit across which Coulin leaped, both 
 suggest that the story existed before Spenser's time and was 
 not of his invention. As yet, however, no source has been 
 found. 
 
 n, //. 5 ff. But those three monstrous stones doe most ex- 
 cell, 
 
 Which that huge sonne of hideous Albion, 
 Whose father Hercules in Fraunce did quell, 
 Great Godmer threw, in fierce contention, 
 At bold Canutus; but of him was slaine anon. 
 
 HoL, Hist., pp. 5-6. Albion and Bergion, brothers, 
 fought with Hercules near the river Rhone, in Gallia. The 
 army of Hercules was reduced to using stones as weapons, 
 
 7 R. N. Worth, The Myth of Brutus the Trojan, in the Trans, of 
 the Devonshire Ass'n, vol. XII, p. 566. 
 
 8 Spenser's spelling, " Hogh," makes another source the most prob- 
 able. 
 
 
COMPARISON 51 
 
 but in the end Hercules conquered and killed both Albion 
 and Bergion. 
 
 The same story is also told in the Descr. of Br., p. ib. 
 
 The story of Canutus and Albion's son, Godmer, like 
 the story of Debon and Coulin, is unknown in an earlier 
 form. 
 
 The incidental allusion to the fight between Albion and 
 Hercules in France seems to be based on Holinshed's long 
 account, which is also, apparently, the source of Spenser's 
 version of the story in the Faerie Queene, IV, n, 16. 
 There he tells how Albion 
 
 " Out of his Albion did on dry foot pas 9 
 Into old Gall, that now is cleeped France, 
 To fight with Hercules . . . 
 
 ******** 
 
 And then his mortall part by great mischance 
 Was slaine." 
 
 
 12. In meed of these great conquests by them gott, 
 Corineus had that Province utmost west 
 To him assigned for his worthy lott, 
 Which of his name and memorable gest 
 He called Cornwaile, yet so called best; 
 
 T 
 
 G. of M., I, 16, //. 12 if., p. 18. 
 
 "At Corineus portionem regni, quae sorti suae cesserat, 
 ab appellatione sui nominis Corineiam vocat: populumque 
 Corineiensem, exemplum ducis insecutus: . . . maluit 
 regionem illam, quae nunc vel a cornu Britaniae, vel per cor- 
 ruptionem praedicti nominis Cornubia appellatur." 
 
 Hoi., Hist., p. i$. 
 
 " For this valiant deede " (the killing of Gogmagog) " and 
 other the like seruice firste and laste atchieued, Brute gaue 
 vnto Corineus the whole countrey of Cornwall." 
 
 9 This is another reference to the belief that England was once 
 part of the continent. Cf., p. 38 f., above. 
 
52 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 The source of these lines may have been Geoffrey's His- 
 toria, which may even have influenced Spenser's wording 
 slightly, inasmuch as Spenser's statement that the province 
 of Cornwall was assigned to Corineus " for his worthy lott " 
 seems to echo Geoffrey's statement that the province " sorti 
 suae cesserat." 
 
 12, //. 6 ff. And Debons shayre was that is Devonshyre: 
 But Canute had his portion from the rest, 
 The which he cald Canutium, for his hyre; 
 Now Cantium, which Kent we comenly inquyre. 
 
 For these particular facts, as for the story of Canutus 
 in general, no source has been found. 10 
 
 13. Thus Brute this Realme unto his rule subdewd, 
 
 And raigned long in great felicity, 
 
 Lov'd of his freends, and of his foes eschewd : 
 
 He left three sonnes, his famous progeny, 
 
 Borne of fayre Inogene of Italy; 
 
 Mongst whom he parted his imperial! state, 
 
 And Locrine left chiefe Lord of Britany. 
 
 At last ripe age bad him surrender late 
 
 His life, and long good fortune, unto finall fate. 
 
 G. of M., II, i ,11. i ff., p. 20. 
 
 " Cognoverat autem Brutus uxorem suam Ignogen ; et ex 
 ea genuit tres inclytos filios, quibus erant nomina: Locrinus, 
 Albanactus, et Kamber. Hi, postquam pater vigesimo quarto 
 anno sui adventus ab hoc seculo migravit, sepelierunt eum 
 intra urbem quam condiderat, et diviserunt regnum Britan- 
 niae inter se, et secesserunt unusquisque in locum suum." 
 
 HoL, Hist., p. 12. The wife of Brutus was Innogen, 
 daughter of Pandrasus, king of the Greeks. 
 
 10 In Devonshire, near Torquay, there is a place which has been 
 known for centuries as Kent's Hole or Cavern. To explain the name 
 a story is told of a dog that entered the cave in Devonshire and 
 went and went until he came out in Kent (See Trans, of Dev. 
 
COMPARISON 53 
 
 p. 1 6. Brutus ruled fifteen years and had three sons, 
 among whom he divided his kingdom (See p. 54, below). 
 
 Although the form of the name Inogene is closer to Hol- 
 inshed's Innogen than to Geoffrey's Ignogen, Spenser's story 
 seems in the main based on Geoffrey's account, and shows 
 a slight verbal similarity to it. In one detail, however, 
 there is a difference. According to Spenser Inogene came 
 from Italy, not Greece. For this statement he apparently 
 had no authority. Either his memory failed him a possi- 
 bility, inasmuch as Geoffrey does not mention Ignogen's 
 native country in the passage which Spenser seems to be 
 paraphrasing or he deliberately substituted Italy for 
 Greece for the sake of alliteration and rhyme. 11 
 
 14. Locrine was left the soveraine Lord of all: 
 
 But Albanact had ALL THE NORTHERNE PART, 
 
 Which of himself e Albania he did call; 
 
 And Camber did possesse the Westerne quart, 
 
 WHICH SEVERNE NOW FROM Logris DOTH DEPART: 
 
 And each his portion peaceably enjoyd, 
 
 Ne was there outward breach, nor grudge in hart, 
 
 That once their quiet government annoyd; 
 
 But each his paynes to others profit still employd. 
 
 G.ofM.,II, i,ll.6ff.,p.20. 
 
 " Locrinus, qui primogenitus erat, possedit mediam partem 
 insulae, quae postea de nomine ejus appellata est Loegria. 
 Kamber autem partem illam quae est ultra Sabrinum flumen, 
 quae nunc Gualia vocatur, quae de nomine ipsius postmodum 
 Kambria multo tempore dicta fuit: ... At Albanactus 
 junior possedit patriam, quae lingua nostra his temporibus 
 
 Ass'n., vol. V, p. 183, and vol. X, p. 160). This story, however, is 
 manifestly of no great antiquity. Perhaps the name of Kent's Cavern 
 has its origin in some forgotten Devonshire tradition of Canutus. 
 
 11 The omission of any reference to Greece in Spenser's account of 
 the journey of Brutus from Italy to Britain (F. Q., Ill, 9, 48) should 
 be noted. See p. 169 f., below. 
 
54 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 appellatur Scotia : et nomen ei ex nomine suo Albaniam dedit. 
 Illis deinde concordi pace diu regnantibus, applicuit Humber 
 rex Hunnorum in Albaniam." 
 
 Hoi, Hist., p. 1 6. 
 
 " In this meane whyle also he had by his wyfe .III. sonnes, 
 of which the firste was named Locrinus, or Locrine, the second 
 Cambris or Camber, and the third Albanactus or Albanact. 
 And when the tyme of his death drew neere, To the first 
 he betoke the gouernment of that part of the lande which 
 is nowe knowne by the name of England: so that the same 
 was long after called Loegria or Logiers, of the sayd Locrinus. 
 
 " To the seconde he appoynted the countrey of Wales, the 
 whyche of hym was first named Cambria, DEUIDED FROM 
 LOEGRIA, BY THE RIUER OF SEUERNE. 
 
 " To his thirde sonne Albanacte, hee delyuered ALL THE 
 NORTH PARTE of the Isle, afterwardes called Albania, after 
 the name of the said Albanacte: which portion of the sayd 
 Isle lieth beyond the Humber northward . . . 
 
 " Locrinus, or Locrine, the first begotten sonne of Brute 
 began to reigne ouer y e countrey called Logiers . . ." 
 
 Hardyng, ch. 15, pp. 42-43. The supreme power of 
 Locrine is stated clearly and at length. It is again referred 
 to in the first stanza of chapter 16. Brutus is described as 
 parting his dominion during his life. 
 
 " Fro Humbar North vnto the Northwest sea 
 Of all Britaine, which he called Albany e 
 For Albanacte the kyng thereof to be." 
 
 Ch. 17, p. 44. 
 
 : ' This eldest sone was king y 1 hight Locrine, 
 
 Of all Britayne hauing ye souerante, 
 
 Hauing Logres as Brute dyd determine, 
 
 To whome Cambre, and Albanacte the free, 
 
 Obeying both vnto his royalte, 
 
 There homage made as to ye lorde souerayne, 
 
 And emperoure of that lande of Britayne. 
 
 ********* 
 
 "And reigned so (by lyfe in) 112 one assente, 
 Eche (one) other to helpe and fortifye 
 
 12 in loue by 
 
COMPARISON 55 
 
 (And thus in peace holding their regalite) ls 
 But as they satte (so) beste in peace and rest 
 Kyng Humbar arose in Albyne full preste." 
 
 Caxton, ch. 5. 
 
 " And when brute had sought al the land in lengthe and 
 in brede / he fonde a lande that joyned to brytayne in the 
 north and that londe Brute yaf to Albanac his sone & lete 
 calle it Albania after his name / that now is callyd Scot- 
 land / And Brute fond an other countre toward the Weste / 
 and that yaf to Cambyr hys other sone / and he lete calle 
 it Camber after his name / and now it is called Wales / And 
 whan brute had regned / XX. yere as byfore is sayd, he dyed 
 in the cyte of newe troye / and there his sone him entered 
 with moche honour / and lotryn brutes sone was crouned 
 kyng with moche solempnyte of al the land of Brytayne / 
 & after whan he was crowned albanac and camber his two 
 bretheren wente ageyne in to her owne countrey & lyved 
 with mykell honour / And lotryn her broder regned and was 
 kyng and gouerned the lande wel & wysely for he was a good 
 man and wonder wel byloued of all his lond / And it befell 
 so that Albanak duellyd in his owne lande with moche honoure 
 and worship / & thenne cam kyng humbar of hunland with 
 a grete power & arriued in albanye / " 
 
 In this portion of the story the later chroniclers, such as 
 Caxton, Hardyng, and Holinshed, differ from Geoffrey in 
 two particulars. They state (i) that Brutus divided his 
 kingdom during his lifetime, and (2) either that Brutus 
 named Albania or that it was so named by posterity. Ac- 
 cording to Geoffrey, the sons themselves divided the king- 
 dom after the death of their father, and Albanact gave his 
 own name to the province that fell to his share. In both 
 these particulars Spenser agrees with Geoffrey. Neverthe- 
 less the later chroniclers evidently had some influence. 
 Spenser's " all the Northerne part " echoes Holinshed's " all 
 the North parte," and his description of Cambria as divided 
 from Logris by the Severne is like Holinshed's " Cambria, 
 deuided from Loegria by the riuer of Seuerne." At the 
 
 13 As bretherne shuld of theire fraternytie. 
 
56 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 same time Spenser's first line seems to have its source in 
 Hardyng, who, like Caxton, and unlike Geoffrey and Holin- 
 shed, throws Locrine's overlordship into prominence. 
 Spenser's " soveraine Lord of all " is practically the same as 
 Hardyng's " Of all Britayne hauing y e souerante," and his 
 " lorde souerayne " a few lines below. From Hardyng, too, 
 Spenser apparently took the form Logris, instead of Geof- 
 frey's Loegria or Holinshed's Logiers. The natural con- 
 clusion from these facts is that Spenser followed Geoffrey 
 in the main outline of his story, but also was influenced, 
 especially in phrasing, by both Holinshed and Hardyng. 
 The fusing of the three authorities is of such a nature as to 
 suggest that Spenser may have had all three books, or notes 
 from all three, before him at once. 
 
 15. Untill a nation straunge, with visage swart, 
 And corage fierce that all men did affray, 
 
 Which through the world then swarmd in every part, 
 
 And overflowd all countries far away, 
 
 Like Noyes great flood, with their importune sway, 
 
 This land invaded with like violence, 
 
 And did themselves through all the North display : 
 
 Untill that Locrine for his Realmes defence, 
 
 Did head against them make and strong munificence. 
 
 1 6. He them encountred, a confused rout, 
 Foreby the River that whylome was hight 
 The ancient Abus, where with courage stout 
 He them defeated in victorious fight, 
 
 And CHASTE so FIERCELY after fearefull flight, 
 That forst their chief etain, for his safeties sake, 
 (Their Chief etain Humber named was aright,) 
 Unto the mighty streame him to betake, 
 Where he an end of batteill and of life did make. 
 
 G. of M., II, 1-2, p. 20. Humber, king of the Huns, 
 invaded Albania and killed Albanactus. Locrinus and 
 
COMPARISON 57 
 
 Camber united and defeated Humber near the river now 
 tiled Humber. " Inito ergo congressu compulit Humbrum 
 in fugam, qui usque ad fluvium diffugiens, est submersus in 
 ), et nomen suum flumini reliquit " (ch. 2, II. 3 if.). 
 Hoi., Hist., pp. 16-17. Humber, " a King of the Hunnes 
 or Scythians/ ' killed Albanact and possessed Albania, " til 
 Locrinus with his brother Camber, in reuewge of their other 
 brothers death, and for the recouery of the kingdome, 
 gathered their powers togither, and comming against the 
 said king of the Hunes, by the valiancie of their people they 
 discomfited hym in battell, and CHASED HIM so EGRELY, 
 that he himselfe and a greate number of his men were 
 drowned in the Gulfe that then parted Loegria and Albania, 
 which after tooke name of y e sayd king, & was called Hum- 
 ber, and so continueth vnto this day." 
 
 Descr. of Br., />. 31. 
 
 " There is no ryuer called Humber from the heade, wher- 
 fore that which we now call Humber 14 hath the same denomi- 
 nation no hygher then the confluence of Trent with the Ouze, 
 as beside Leland, sundry auncyent writers haue noted before 
 us both. . . . yet are we contented to cal it Humber, 
 of Humbrus a king of y s Scithiens, who inuaded this He in y e 
 time of Locrinus." 
 
 Two lines of Latin verse are quoted later : 
 
 " Dum fugit obstat ei flumen submergitur illic, 
 Deque suo tribuit nomine nomen aquae." 
 
 Mir. for Mag., King Locrinus, st. 10, vol. I, p. 55. 
 
 " When hee (Locrine) was deade they hop'd to winne the 
 
 rest 
 And ouer Aby streame with hast did hye. 
 
 ********** 
 Wee brake theyr rayes and forst the king to fly 
 Into the arme of sea they ouercame, 
 Where Humber drownde the waters tooke their name." 
 
 14 The edition of 1587 (vol. I, Descr. of Br., p. 92) adds here, 
 " Ptolomie Abie, Leland Aber, as he gesseth." 
 
58 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 Spenser, in this stanza, has dwelt on the story of Hum- 
 ber 15 without either following Geoffrey very closely or dif- 
 fering from hinu in any essential detail. His " chaste so 
 fiercely " recalls Holinshed's " chased him so egerlie." His 
 Abus is like the " Aby streame " in the Mirror for Mag- 
 istrates, and his " forst their chief etain " may be more than 
 a casual resemblance to the " forst the king " in the same 
 poem. But as these points of resemblance are slight, the 
 influence of Holinshed and the Mirror for Magistrates is 
 a conjecture resting on trivial evidence only. In the name 
 Abus, however, we have certainly from some source an ad- 
 dition to Geoffrey's story. 16 
 
 17. The king retourned proud of victory, 
 And insolent wox through unwonted ease, 
 That shortly he forgot the jeopardy, 
 Which in his land he lately did appease, 
 And fell to vaine voluptuous disease : 
 
 He lov'd faire Ladie Estrild, leudly lov'd ; 
 
 Whose wanton pleasures him too miuch did please, 
 
 That quite his hart from Guendolene remov'd; 
 
 From Guendolene his wife, though alwaies faithful prov'd. 
 
 1 8. The noble daughter of Corineus 
 Would not endure to bee so vile disdaind, 
 But, gathering force and corage valorous, 
 
 15 Humber is again mentioned in the Faerie Queene, Bk. IV, c. n, 
 stanzas 37-38. He is there said to have been a Scythian, and to have 
 drowned six brothers, all valiant knights, who became six rivers, the 
 names of which are given. Locrinus, son of Brutus, avenged them 
 and drowned Humber in the same stream in which Humber had 
 drowned the brothers. From Humber the stream took its name. It 
 still keeps something of his character, for it is troubled with storms. 
 Significant here is the fact that Humber is called a Scythian, and not, 
 as in Geoffrey, a Hun. This shows the influence either of Holin- 
 shed's History, where Humber is called "a King of the Hunnes or 
 Scythians," or of the Description, where Humber is said to have been 
 " a king of ye Scithiens." 
 
 16 The addition of the forms of the name, Abie and Aber, in the 
 1587 edition of the Descr. of Br. should be noted. See note, p. 57, 
 above. 
 
COMPARISON 59 
 
 Encountred him in batteill well ordaind, 
 
 In which him vanquisht she to fly constraind : 
 
 But she so fast pursewd, that him she tooke 
 
 And threw in bands, where he till death remaind ; 
 
 Als his faire Leman flying through a brooke 
 
 She overhent, nought moved with her piteous looke ; 
 
 19. But both her selfe, and eke her daughter deare, 
 
 Begotten by her kingly Paramoure, 
 
 The faire Sabrina, almost dead with feare, 
 
 She there attached, far from all succoure; 
 
 The one she slew upon the present floure ; 
 
 But the sad virgin, innocent of all, 
 
 Adowne the rolling river she did poure, 
 
 Which of her name now Severne men do call; 
 
 SUCH WAS THE END THAT TO DISLOYALL LOVE DID FALL. 
 
 G. of M., II, 2-5, pp. 20 if. Locrinus was in love with 
 Estrildis, who was. captured at the battle of the Humber. 
 Forced to fulfill his former engagement and marry Guendo- 
 loena, daughter of Corineus, he continued secretly his re- 
 lations with Estrildis. Finally, after the death of Corineus, 
 he divorced Guendoloena and made Estrildis queen. But 
 Guendoloena gathered an army and fought a battle with 
 him near the Sturius. In this battle Locrinus was killed by 
 an arrow. Estrildis and her daughter Sabre were thrown 
 into the river " unde contigit quod usque in hunc diem ap- 
 pellatum est flumen Britannica lingua Sabren, quod per cor- 
 ruptionem nominis alia lingua Sabrina vocatur " (p. 22, ch. 
 5, //. 13 ff.). 
 
 HoL, Hist., p. 17. Holinshed tells the story more briefly 
 than Geoffrey does, gives the name of Locrine's wife as 
 " Guendoloena or Guendoleyn," and omits all mention of 
 the death of Estrild and Sabrina. 
 
 Desc. of Br., pp. 25 b and 26. Guendolena drowned 
 Estrildes, whose name is also given as Estruldis, and her 
 daughter Habren in the river Severn. 
 
6o SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 " AND IN PERPETUAL REMEMBRANCE OF HIR HUSBANDES 
 
 DISLOYALTIE TOWARDES HIR, she caused the streame to be 
 called Habren of the young Ladye, for which the Romaines 
 in processe of tyme for readinesse, & mildenesse of pronuncia- 
 tion, wrate Sabrina, and we at this time do pronounce the 
 Sauerne. ... Of the drowning of the sayde Abren also 
 I finde these verses insuing. 
 
 In fluuium praecipitatur Abren, 
 Nomen Abren, fluuio de virgine, nomen eidem 
 Nomine corrupto deinde Sabrina datur." 
 
 Mir. for Mag., King Locrinus, st. 22, vol. I., p. 58. 
 
 " But Gwendoline, that saw her selfe disdaynd, 
 Strayght fled, and mou'de the Cornish men to fight." 
 
 Stow, p. 9. " She drowned the Lady Estrilde, with her 
 daughter Sabrine in a riuer, that after the yong maidens 
 name is called Seuerne." 
 
 The liveliness of style that characterizes Spenser's treat- 
 ment of the story of Humber is continued in the story of 
 Estrild and Sabrina. Moreover, there appears the same 
 freedom in the use of authorities. 17 The story agrees in 
 most respects with Geoffrey's, and yet shows in phrasing 
 slight traces of later versions. Guendoline cannot endure to 
 be " disdained " in the Mirror for Magistrates or in Spenser. 
 The " disloyalty " of Locrinus, according to Holins- 
 hed's Description, 'is to be perpetuated by the naming 
 of the river Severne, and in Spenser, the statement 
 that the river was named from Sabrina is followed 
 by the reflection, " Such was the end that to dis- 
 loyal love did fall." At the same time, in this very 
 passage, Spenser varies from the Description. Instead of 
 having the river named by the injured Guendoline, he says 
 that men now call the river Severne, which echoes Geof- 
 frey's "in hunc diem appellatum est flumen . . . 
 Sabren." Yet here Spenser also comes close to Stow's 
 
 17 Both stories are connected with British rivers, and therefore 
 probably had been in Spenser's mind since 1580. 
 
COMPARISON 6l 
 
 wording, " a riuer, that after the yong maidens name is 
 called Seuerne," and agrees with him in not troubling about 
 the method of deriving Severne from Sabrina, a point 
 which Geoffrey, Holinshed, and others found vexatious. 
 Two points in Spenser's story, however, are independent 
 of all known authority. First Spenser describes the cap- 
 ture and imprisonment of Locrinus, who both in Geoffrey 
 and in the later chroniclers is invariably killed by an arrow 
 in battle. Secondly, he says that Guendoline was killed at 
 the moment of capture, and Sabrina alone drowned in the 
 river. We have in the story of Locrinus, then, an interest- 
 ing situation. Spenser has repeated a story which he could 
 have found in Geoffrey and in other authorities although 
 Holinshed's History is not among them and shows traces 
 of possible influence from the Mirror for Magistrates, 
 Holinshed's Description, and Stow's Chronicle, but at the 
 same time in two important points varies from previous \/ 
 
 authorities and gives what is apparently an independent 
 version. 
 
 20. Then for her sonne, which she to Locrin bore, 
 Madan was young, unmeet the rule to sway, 
 
 In her owne hand the crowne she kept in store, 
 Till ryper years he raught and stronger stay ; 
 During which time her powre she did display 
 Through all this Realme, the glory of her sex, 
 And first taught men a woman to obay : 
 But, when her sonne to mans estate did wex, 
 She it surrendred, ne her selfe would lenger vex. 
 
 21. Tho Madan raignd, unworthie of his race, 
 For with all shame that sacred throne he fild. 
 
 G. of M., II, 6, //. i ff., p. 22. 
 
 " Regnavit autem Guendoloena quindecim annis post inter- 
 fectionem Locrini: qui decem annis regnaverat. Et cum 
 
62 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 vidisset Maddan filium suum aetate adultum, sceptro regni 
 eum insignivit : contenta regione Cornubiae, dum reliquum 
 vitae deduceret. . . . Regnumque cum pace et diligentia 
 quadraginta annis tractavit." 
 
 Hoi, Hist., p. 17. 
 
 " Guendoloena or Guendoleyn 18 . . . FOR so MUCHE 
 
 AS HIR SONNE MADAN WAS NOT OF YEERES SUFFICIENT TO 
 
 GOUERNE," ruled during her son's minority and then made 
 him king. " Ther is little lefte in writing of his doings, 
 sauing that he vsed greate tyranny amongst his Britons: and 
 therefore after he had ruled this land the tearme of 40 yeres, 
 he was deuoured of wilde beastes, as he was abroad in 
 hunting." 
 
 Robert Manning of Brunne, II. 2125-6. 
 
 " Madan regned fourty ger 
 
 & left his sones )>at lond in wer." 
 
 Hardyng, ch. 20, p. 47. Hardyng gives a favorable ac- 
 count of " Maddan." 
 
 Caxton, ch. 7. 
 
 " & he (Madan) regned & gouerned the land wel and 
 honourably." 
 
 Fdbyan, p. 12. 
 
 " Of this is lytell or no memory made by any wryters, 
 except y* some wryte of hym y* he vsed great Tyranny amonge 
 his Brytons." 
 
 Mir. for Mag., I, pp. 86 if. Madan is represented as evil. 
 
 Stow, p. 9. 
 
 " Guendoline the daughter of Corineus, and wife to Locrine, 
 (for so much as Madan her sonne was too young to 
 gouerne the Land) was by common assent of all the Brytaines, 
 made ruler of the whole He of Brytaine." 
 
 Madan " vsed great tyranny among the Brytans." 
 
 The story of Guendoline and her son Madan breaks into 
 two parts, her regency and his reign. The first part, which 
 
 18 This name also appears as Guindoline. 
 

 COMPARISON 63 
 
 is treated in full by Spenser, may show the influence of 
 Holinshed and Stow in the statement that Madan was too 
 young to rule, although this might be inferred easily enough 
 from Geoffrey's statement that Guendoline surrendered the 
 scepter when her son reached manhood. The second part 
 of Spenser's story, however, very clearly follows late 
 authorities. Although Geoffrey, Caxton, and Hardyng 
 agree that Madan was a good ruler, Fabyan, Holinshed, and 
 Stow, on the other hand, say that Madan " vsed great 
 Tyranny among his Brytons," 19 and the Mirror for Magis- 
 trates likewise represents Madan as an evil ruler. So, too, 
 does Spenser. In this case, therefore, Spenser has varied 
 from Geoffrey to follow later versions of the story. 
 
 21 , M- 3~5- Next Memprise, as unworthy of that place; 
 In which being consorted with Manild, 
 For thirst of single kingdom him he kild. 
 
 G. of M., II, 6, />, 22. Mempricius and Malim, 20 sons of 
 Maddan, quarreled for the rule, " quia uterque to tarn 
 insulam possidere aestuabat" (I. 10 /.). Mempricius 
 treacherously killed Malim. He then ruled with great 
 tyranny twenty years. While hunting he was devoured by 
 wolves. 
 
 Hoi., Hist., p. 17. Mempricius was the eldest son of 
 Madan. His brother Manlius rebelled against him and was 
 by him treacherously slain. Mempricius led an evil life, 
 and after twenty years was slain by wild beasts while he was 
 hunting. 
 
 Robert Manning of Brunne, II. 2127-8. 
 
 " Pyse breth^re wer eu<?re wroth^ 
 ffor ]>e lond fey striuen boj?e." 
 
 19 The fact that the phrasing is identical in the three chronicles 
 shows a common origin for this statement. How such a contradiction 
 of the original story came into existence is difficult to understand. 
 A hint of a movement hostile to Madan appears as early as Robert 
 Manning of Brunne, who said that Madan left the land in war, but 
 this statement can scarcely be the source of the later story. Madan 
 may possibly have been confused with his successor, the wicked 
 Mempricius. 
 
 20 In the editions of 1508 and 1517 this name appears as Manlio. 
 
64 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 Caxton, ch. 7. 
 
 " And Menprys for encheson that he was the eldest sone 
 wolde haue had al that lond / & maulyn wold not suffre hym." 
 
 Stew's Summarie, Grafton's Abridgment, and Cooper's 
 Epitome all give the name Manlius. 
 
 The transition from Madan to Memprise emphasizes the 
 evil rule of Madan, 21 and so brings into this portion of the 
 story also the influence of the later chroniclers. But the 
 reason why Memprise killed Manild " for thirst of single 
 kingdom " is more clearly and forcibly given in Geoffrey's 
 " quia uterque totam insulam possidere aestuabat " than else- 
 where. We have in these three lines, therefore, evidence 
 of the use of both Geoffrey and some one of the later 
 chroniclers, possibly Holinshed. 
 
 21, //. 6 ff. But Ebranck salved both their infamies 
 With noble deedes, and warreyd on Brunchild 
 
 In Renault, where yet of his victories 
 
 Brave moniments remaine, which yet that land envies. 
 
 22. An happy man in his first dayes he was, 
 And happy father of fair progeny : 
 
 For all so many weekes as the yeare has, 
 
 So many children he did multiply ; 
 
 Of which were twentie sonnes, which did apply 
 
 Their mindes to prayse and chevalrous desyre: 
 
 Those germans did subdew all Germany, 
 
 Of whom it hight; but in the end their Syre 
 
 With foule repulse from Fraunce was forced to retyre. 
 
 G. of M., II, 7-8, p. 23. Ebraucus, 22 son of Mempricius 
 ruled forty years. He was the first after Brutus to invade 
 Gaul. He returned victorious. He had twenty sons anc 
 thirty daughters. His sons conquered Germany. 
 
 21 See also st. 21, below, " But Ebranck salved both their infamies.' 
 
 22 In the editions of 1508 and 1517, Ebrancus. 
 
COMPARISON 65 
 
 HoL, Hist., pp. 17-18. Ebrancke, son of Mempricius, 
 had twenty sons and thirty daughters. He " was the first 
 Prince of his lande that euer inuaded Fraunce after Brute, 
 and is commended as author and originall builder of many 
 Cities, both in his owne kingdome and else where." His 
 sons conquered Germany. Holinshed does not say that the 
 country was named after them, but he describes the mar- 
 riages of the children and names the towns that were built 
 at this time. 
 
 " After which cities thus builded, he [Ebrancke] sayled 
 ouer into Gallia, now called France with a great army, and 
 subduing the Guilles as is aforesayde, he returned home with 
 great riches and triumph." This was evidently the first expe- 
 dition into Gaul. There is here no mention of a second inva- 
 sion, or of Brunchild and Henalt, but later, in the account 
 of Brute Greeneshielde, these are given, with a reference in 
 the margin to " Jacobus Les. . . ." " Thys Prince 
 [Brute Greeneshielde] bare alwayes in the field a greene 
 shielde, whereof he jtoke hys surname, and of him some for- 
 raine authors affirme, y 4 he made an attempte to bring the 
 whole Realme of Fraunce under his subiection, which he per- 
 formed, bycause his father susteined some dishonor and losse 
 in his last voyage into that countrey. Howbeit they say, y* 
 whew he came into Henaud, Brinchild a Prince of y* quarter 
 gaue him also a greate ouerthrowe, and compelled him to 
 retire home agayne into hys countrey. This I borrow out 
 of William Harrison, who in his chronologic toucheth the 
 same at large, concluding in the end, that the said passage of 
 this prince into France is verie likely to be true . . ." 
 
 Caxton, ch. 7. 
 
 " Ebranc thurgh his myghte & help of his bretons conquerd 
 al Fraunce . . . This kyng had X'X sones / XXXIII 
 doughters . . ." 
 
 Fdbyan, p. 13. Ebranck " subduyed the Gallis, and re- 
 tourned with great triumphe and rychesse." 
 
 Stow, p. 9. 
 
 "This Ebranck first after Brutus attempted to inuade 
 France with an Army, as Jacobus Bergomas sayeth in his 
 
66 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 sixth of his Chronicles, and Jacobus Lessabeus in the descrip- 
 tion of Henalt affirmeth the same, and that he was driuen 
 backe by Brunchildis, Lord of Henalt, with no small losse 
 of his men. Assaracus, the second Sonne of Ebrancke, with 
 the rest of his young brethren 18 at the least by the ayde of 
 Alba Siluius, conquered all Germany, which was then no 
 great matter. ... Of these brethren had Germany the 
 name, a germanis fratribus, that had subdued it." 
 
 In his account of Ebranck Spenser has introduced so 
 many variations based on the later chroniclers as to lead to 
 the supposition that Geoffrey was entirely superseded at this 
 point. Spenser has added to Geoffrey's story three impor- 
 tant particulars the derivation of the name Germany, the 
 name of Brunchild of Henalt, and the final defeat of 
 Ebranck in Gaul and while retaining the number of the 
 sons as in Geoffrey, he has changed the total number of the 
 children from fifty to fifty-two. The three additions to 
 Geoffrey's story seem all to be based on Stow. 23 But 
 Spenser's account of the twenty sons who subdued Ger- 
 many is independent of Stow's confusing statement that 
 "Assaracus, the second son of Ebrancke, with the rest of 
 his young brethren 18 at the least by the ayde of Alba 
 Siluius, conquered all Germany." Spenser had evidently in 
 mind the usual statement that there were twenty brothers. 
 In his count of all the children, however, he may have been 
 influenced by Caxton, who changed the familiar fifty to 
 fifty-three, although it is quite possible that in saying that 
 Ebranck had as many children as there were weeks in the 
 year, Spenser sought merely to substitute a poetical ex- 
 pression for the round number. Nevertheless, even in this 
 case, the variation in Caxton would have had its effect in 
 
 28 Holinshed does not mention the naming of Germany, or the de- 
 feat of Ebranck, and his reference to Brunchild does not occur in 
 his account of this reign. Holinshed, therefore, cannot be Spenser's 
 source. But the manuscript Chronologic by William Harison, to 
 which Holinshed refers, or Stow's source, Jacobus Lessabeus, might 
 conceivably have furnished Spenser with the material he used. Yet 
 even if this were the case, the coincidence in the selection of details 
 would indicate that Stow's account was not without influence. 
 

 COMPARISON 67 
 
 justifying the liberty he was taking. Spenser's account of 
 Ebranck, then, seems to show in a minor degree the in- 
 fluence of Caxton, and in the main the influence of Stow. 
 
 23. Which blott his sonne succeeding in his seat, 
 The second Brute, the second both in name 
 And eke in semblaunce of his puissaunce great, 
 Right well recur'd, and did away that blame 
 With recompence of everlasting fame : 
 
 He with his victour sword first opened 
 
 The bowels of wide Fraunce, a forlorne Dame, 
 
 And taught her first how to be conquered ; 
 
 Since which, with sondrie spoiles she hath been ransacked. 
 
 24. Let Scaldis tell, and let tell Hania, 
 And let the marsh of Esthambruges tell, 
 What colour were their waters that same day, 
 And all the moore twixt Elversham and Dell, 
 With blood of Henalois which therein fell. 
 How oft that day did sad Brunchildis see 
 The greene shield dyde in dolorous vermeil ? 
 That not Scuith guiridh it mote seeme to bee, 
 But rather 3; scuith gogh, signe of sad crueltee. 
 
 G. of M., II, 9, //. i if., p. 24. 
 
 " Brutus autem cognomento Viridescutum cum patre re- 
 mansit, regnique gubernaculo potitus post patrem duodecim 
 annis regnavit." 
 
 Hoi., Hist., p. 1 8. Brutus Greeneshield ruled twelve 
 years and conquered France (see p. 80, above). 
 
 Stow, p. 9. 
 
 "Brutus 2 the eldest Sonne of Ebranke, succeeded in the 
 Kingdome, and for that his father had receiued such a repulse 
 at the hands of Brunchildis, Lord of Henalt, hee in reuenge 
 thereof, inuaded Henalt with a great army in the Fennes and 
 Marshland, at the mouth of the Riuer Scaldis (of old time 
 
68 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 named Stadus) and encamped himself e upon the river Hania, 
 where betweene Brutus and Brunchildis was foughten a strong 
 battell in that place, which to this day is called Estam-bruges, 
 of the station and campe of Brutus, as Jacobus Lessabeus 
 writeth in his description of Henalt. This Brute, of his lusty 
 courage, was surnamed Greene shield, he raigned 12 yeeres, 
 and was buried at Yorke." 
 
 Spenser's account of the victory won by the second 
 Brutus, with its reference to the Scaldis, the Hania, and 
 Esthambruges, may be based chiefly on Stow's chronicle, 
 which it closely resembles, even in the order in which it 
 gives the proper names. Holinshed, however, may have 
 had some influence on Spenser's account of the " green 
 shield " which Brunchildis saw dyed in " dolorous ver- 
 meil," for Holinshed alone refers to the fact that " Brutus 
 bare alwayes in the field a greene shielde, whereof he 
 toke hys surname." Spenser may also have had access 
 to the Description of Henalt by Jacobus Lessabeus or to 
 the Chronicles by Jacobus Bergomas, the first of which 
 Stow names as his authority, and both of which are re- 
 ferred to by Holinshed. 24 Certainly he added something 
 to what he found in Stow and Holinshed, for neither 
 authority gives the Welsh words for green shield and red 
 shield, 25 or mentions " the moore twixt Elversham and 
 Dell." We may conclude, then, that Spenser, in this vig- 
 orous and poetical account of the second Brute, departed 
 
 24 Holinshed says also that William Harison, in his Chronologie, 
 gives the same at large. 
 
 25 These Welsh words are in every way mysterious. Some copies 
 of the edition of 1590 give the last two lines of the twenty- fourth 
 stanza in an imperfect form : 
 
 "That not it mote seem to be 
 
 But 
 
 These omissions may be due to an error in printing, or to a delay 
 on Spenser's part in completing his manuscript, because of his un- 
 certainty about the Welsh. To add to the confusion, copies in which 
 the Welsh words are omitted have the spelling of those words cor- 
 rected in the Errata. J. Payne Collier, in his edition of Spenser, 
 London, 1862, called attention to this fact I have verified it by 
 reference to Mr. J. P. Morgan's copy of the first edition of the Faerie 
 Queene. 
 
COMPARISON 69 
 
 entirely from the brief and dry account in Geoffrey, and 
 followed Stow, or Stow's original, with perhaps some 
 reference to Holinshed, and certainly with some knowl- 
 edge of another authority as yet undiscovered. 
 
 25. His sonne, king Leill, by fathers labour long, 
 
 Enjoyd an heritage of lasting peace, 
 
 And built Cairleill, and built Cairleon strong. 
 
 G. of M., II, 9, //. 3 #., p. 24. "... huic 
 successit Leir ejus filius pacis atque aequitatis amator." 
 Leir had a prosperous reign of twenty-five years. He 
 built Kaerleir. Toward the end of his reign he grew re- 
 miss in his government and so occasioned a civil dissen- 
 sion. 
 
 HoL, Hist., p.- 1 8. Leil built Caerleil and repaired 
 Caerleon. 
 
 " But now to y e purpose concerning K. Leil. We find it 
 recorded y* he was in y e beginning of his raigne very vpright, 
 & desirous to see iustice executed, & aboue all things loued 
 peace & quietnesse, but as yeres encreased with him, so his 
 vertues began to diminish, in so much, that abandoning y e 
 care for the body of y e common welth, he suffered his own 
 body to welter in all vice and voluptuousnesse, & so procuring 
 the hatred of hys subiectes, caused malice and discorde to 
 ryse amongst them, which during his life, he was neuer able 
 to appease. But leauing them so at variance, departed this 
 life, and was buried at Careleil . . ." 
 
 Stow, p. 9. 
 
 " Leill the sonne of Brute Greeneshield, being a louer of 
 peace, builded Carleile, and repaired Carleon . . . King 
 Leill in the end of his raigne, fell to sloth, and lust of the 
 body, by meanes whereof, ciuill strife was raised, and not in 
 his daies ended. He raigned 25 yeers, and was buried at 
 Carleile alias Chester." 
 
70 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 Caxton, ch. 9. Leill " made a fair toune / & lete calle 
 it Carlylle. . . . And whan he had regned XXII 
 yere he dyed / & lyeth at Caerlyll." 
 
 Spenser's account of King Leill, brief as it is, differs 
 from Geoffrey's in three respects i. e. in the name Leill, 
 in the reference to Cairleon, and in the statement that the 
 reign was peaceful. Spenser is following the later chron- 
 iclers with regard to the name, and also apparently in his 
 reference to Cairleon, although he varies the story by say- 
 ing that Leill built the city, while the chroniclers state only 
 that he repaired it. The chroniclers do not, however, give 
 any authority for the statement that the reign was peace- 
 ful. As mere conjecture one may hazard two supposi- 
 tions, which separately or conjointly might account for 
 Spenser's reference to the " heritage of lasting peace." 
 Spenser apparently was following Stow in his narrative 
 of the two previous reigns. If he continued to read in 
 Stow he would have found in the first sentence of the par- 
 agraph about Leill the main facts. Then he would have 
 been confronted with twenty-nine lines given over to an 
 account of the Roman legion, and filled with figures. If he 
 followed the reader's natural impulse to omit the digres- 
 sion, his eye might easily have caught only the last sen- 
 tence, which is about Leill's burial, or the first sentence of 
 the new paragraph, which deals with Rudhudibras, and he 
 would thus have missed Stow's brief reference to civil strife. 
 Or Spenser may have been influenced by the fact that Cax- 
 ton makes no mention of the trouble that came at the end 
 of Leill's reign. 26 Consequently, all three variations from 
 Geoffrey's story, and, indeed, Spenser's whole account of 
 the reign of Leill, except for the building instead of the re- 
 pairing of Cairleon, can be explained on the supposition that 
 Spenser used Caxton and Stow. 
 
 28 Caxton, although a possible source for the " lasting peace," could 
 not have been Spenser's only source, because Caxton, like Geoffrey, 
 makes no mention of Cairleon. 
 
COMPARISON 71 
 
 25, //. 4-5. Next Huddibras his realme did not encrease, 
 But taught the land from wearie wars to cease : 
 
 G. of M.j II, 9, p. 24. Hudibras 21 pacified the kingdom 
 and built three cities, Kaerlem, Kaerguen, and the town 
 now called Sefovia. 
 
 Hol. } Plist., pp. 1819. Lud, or Ludhurdibras, pacified 
 the kingdom and built Canterbury, Winchester, and Shaftes- 
 bury. 
 
 As Leill " Enjoyd an heritage of lasting peace " which 
 resulted from his " fathers labour long/' it is difficult to see 
 why Hudibras found it necessary to teach the land " from 
 wearie wars to cease." At first it seems as if here Spen- 
 ser, careless of the discrepancy, had reverted to the story 
 told by Geoffrey and repeated in the later chronicles, ac- 
 cording to which the civil strife of Leill's reign was paci- 
 fied by Leill's successor. But Spenser's first line makes this 
 doubtful, for the statement that Hudibras did not increase 
 his realm suggests that the wars which he did not wage 
 were foreign, not civil, wars. Spenser's lines would then 
 grow out of the account of the second Brutus, and would 
 perhaps be an attempt to explain the facts in Geoffrey's 
 account of Hudibras so as to make them harmonize with 
 the account of Leill to which Spenser had previously com- 
 mitted himself. However this may be, Geoffrey was cer- 
 tainly influential in this passage, for the name Hudibras is 
 not found in the later chronicles, which have Rudhudibras, 
 Ludibras, Lud, and other variations of the name. 28 Geof- 
 frey may therefore be considered the source of this passage. 
 
 25, //. 6 ff. Whose footsteps Bladud following, in artes 
 Exceld at Athens all the learned preace, 
 
 27 In the editions of 1508 and 1517, Hurdibras. 
 
 28 Fletcher, Arthurian Material, p. 86, says that all the manuscripts 
 of Geoffrey which he has seen give Rudhudibras, which he thinks was 
 probably Geoffrey's real form. This would account for the forms in 
 the later chronicles. 
 
 
72 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 From whence he brought them to these salvage parts, 
 And with sweet science mollifide their stubborne harts. 
 
 26. Ensample of his wondrous faculty, 
 
 Behold the boyling bathes at Cairbadon, 
 
 Which seeth with secret fire eternally, 
 
 And in their entrailles, full of quick Brimston, 
 
 Nourish the flames which they are warmd upon, 
 
 That to their people wealth they forth do well, 
 
 And health to every forreyne nation : 
 
 Yet he at last, contending to excell 
 
 The reach of men, through flight into fond mischief fell. 
 
 G. of M., II, 10, p. 24. Bladud ruled twenty years. He 
 built Kaerbadus, now Bath, and made the hot baths, which 
 he dedicated to Minerva : ". . . . in cujus aede inex- 
 tinguibiles posuit ignes, qui nunquam deficiebant in favillas, 
 sed ex quo tabescere incipiebant in saxeos globos verteban- 
 tur" (//. 4-6). Bladud taught and practised magic. In 
 an attempt to fly he fell upon one of Apollo's temples and 
 was killed. 
 
 HoL, Hist., p. 19. Bladud, or Baldud, who ruled twenty 
 years, was learned in magic, by which he made the hot 
 baths at Caerbran (Bath). "But William of Malmesbery 
 is of a contrary opinion, affirming that Julius Cesar made 
 those bathes or rather repayred them when he was here in 
 Englande: which is not like to be true." Bladud, "to 
 shew his cunning in other poynts, vppon a presumptuous 
 pleasure which he had therein," attempted to fly, and fell 
 upon the temple of Apollo and was killed. Holinshed uses 
 in the text the name Baldud, but in the margin, Bladud. 
 
 Descr. of Br., pp. 88a and 88&. The virtue of the baths 
 at Bath is due to sulphur. If anything is mingled with it, 
 it is saltpetre. " But howsoeuer y e matter standeth this is 
 to be gathered by our hystories, that Bladud first buylded 
 that citie there, and peraduenture might also kindle the 
 
COMPARISON 73 
 
 Sulphurous vaines of purpose to burne continually e, in the 
 honour of Minerva." 
 
 La^amon, ed. Madden, Notes, vol. Ill, p. 318. In a 
 metrical fragment written in a hand of the fourteenth cen- 
 tury, and found in the Cotton copy of " Robert of Glouces- 
 ter," is a description of the baths at Bath. The first in- 
 gredient mentioned is " quick brimston." 29 
 
 Hardyng, ch. 2$, p. $2. 
 
 " When at Athenes he had studied clere, 
 
 He brought with hym IIII philosophiers wise, 
 
 Schole to holde in Brytayne and exercyse 
 
 ********* 
 
 He flyed on high to the temple Apolyne, 
 
 (And ther brake) his necke for al his great doctrine." 
 
 Fabyan, p. 14. Caerbadon. 
 
 Grafton, p. 34 /. Bladud studied at Athens. Grafton 
 quotes Bale. 
 
 Mir. for Mag., King Bladud, st. 3, vol. I, pp. 112 if. 
 
 " In Britayne though I learned had full well 
 The artes, and could amongist the wise conferre, 
 Yet when of Athens I the fame heard tell 
 (Though it in Greece so far hence distant were) 
 I trauaylid thither, writers witnesse are 
 I studied there, and thence of learned men I brought 
 That learning might from Britayne land no more so far bee 
 sought." 
 
 Caxton, Descr. of Eng., ch. 19. Bath is called Caer- 
 badun. Caxton denies that either Julius Caesar or Bladud 
 made the baths, " but it accordeth better to kindly reson 
 that the water renneth in the erth by veynes of brym- 
 ston and sulphur and so is kendly made hoote in that 
 cours . . ." 
 
 Stow, p. 10. "Bladud, the Sonne of Rudhudibras, who 
 had long studied at Athens, brought with him foure Phi- 
 
 29 See note, p. 25, above. 
 
74 SPENSER S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 losophers to keep schoole in Britain." Stow mentions the 
 hot baths without describing them. He says that Bladud 
 " presumed to fly." 
 
 Camd., Brit., p. 165. ". . . sulphure enim & 
 bitumine aqua percolatur . . ." In the edition of 
 I ^37 (p- 233), this is translated "the water is . . . 
 strained through veins of Brimstone, and a clammy kind of 
 earth called Bitumen." 
 
 The description of Bath, in which Spenser showed much 
 interest, is composed of elements that are common to a 
 number of the chroniclers. The virtues of the baths were 
 usually, though not by Geoffrey, ascribed to sulphur, for 
 which brimstone is merely another name. 30 Spenser's ex- 
 act words, " quick Brimston," occur in the metrical frag- 
 ment in the Cotton copy of " Robert of Gloucester," and as 
 this fragment seems to have been used in the Mirror for 
 Magistrates? 1 the coincidence is especially curious. Some 
 version of the material in the fragment may have been in 
 circulation at the end of the sixteenth century, or Spenser 
 may have seen the fragment itself. 'But even if so, he 
 was also influenced by accounts more nearly contemporary, 
 as is indicated by his reference to the wealth and health 
 that are derived from the baths. And his form of the old 
 name, Cairbadon, which differs slightly from Geoffrey's, a 
 little less from Caxton's, and much from Holinshed's, 
 agrees with Grafton's. Apart from the details in the de- 
 scription of Bath, Spenser has added to Geoffrey's narra- 
 tive the story of .Bladud's journey to Athens, whence he 
 brought the " artes " to Britain. 32 For this journey Spen- 
 ser had ample authority in Hardyng, Grafton, and Stow, 
 
 30 Caxton, to be sure, speaks of " brymston and sulphur " as if 
 they were two different substances, but cf. translation of Camden's 
 Britannia, above. 
 
 31 Cf. p. 25, above. 
 
 32 The usual story is that Bladud brought back four philosophers to 
 teach school. According to some accounts he founded the university 
 of Stamford. See Grafton, p. 35, Hardyng, p. 52, Mirror for Magis- 
 trates, Bladud, st. 6, vol. I, p. 116, Stow, p. io. 
 
COMPARISON 75 
 
 and a poetical example in the Mirror for Magistrates. The 
 use of the word " artes " to describe Bladud's studies sug- 
 gests that this last had special influence. Spenser's account 
 of Bladud, we may conclude, shows the influence, not of 
 Holinshed, but of other writers later than Geoffrey. Bas- 
 ing the assertion on what is admittedly slight evidence, we 
 may name among the works from which Spenser may have 
 drawn material (i) the fragment in the Cotton copy of 
 " Robert of Gloucester," (2) Grafton, and (3) the Mirror 
 for Magistrates. 
 
 27. Next him king Leyr in happie peace long raynd, 
 But had no isswe male him to succeed, 
 
 But three faire daughters, which were well uptraind 
 
 In all that seemed fitt for kingly seed : 
 
 Mongst whom his realme he equally decreed 
 
 To have divided. Tho, when feeble age 
 
 Nigh to his utmost date he saw proceed, 
 
 He cald his daughters, and with speeches sage 
 
 Inquyrd, which of them most did love her parentage ? 
 
 28. The eldest, Gonorill, gan to protest 
 
 That she much MORE THAN HER OWNE LIFE him lov'd; 
 
 And Regan greater love to him profest 
 
 Then all the world, when ever it were proov'd; 
 
 But Cordeill said she lov'd him as behoov'd: 
 
 Whose simple answere, wanting colours fayre 
 
 To paint it forth, him to displeasaunce moov'd, 
 
 That in his crown he counted her no hayre, 
 
 But twixt the other twain his kingdom whole did shayre. 
 
 29. So wedded th'one to Maglan king of Scottes, 
 And thother to the king of Cambria, 
 
 And twixt them shayrd his realme by equall lottes ; 
 
 But without dowre the wise Cordelia 
 
 Was sent to Aggannip of Celtica. 
 
 Their aged Syre, thus eased of his crowne, 
 
 OP THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF 
 
76 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 A private life ledd in Albania 
 
 With Gonorill, long had in great renowne, 
 
 That nought him griev'd to beene from rule deposed downe. 
 
 30. But true it is that, when the oyle is spent, 
 The light goes out, and weeke is throwne away: 
 So, when he had resignd his regiment, 
 
 His daughter gan despise his drouping day, 
 
 And wearie wax of his continuall stay. 
 
 Tho to his daughter Regan he repayrd, 
 
 Who him at first well used every way ; 
 
 But when of his departure she despayrd, 
 
 Her bountie she abated, and his cheare empayrd. 
 
 3 1 . The wretched man gan then avise too late, 
 That love is not where most it is profest ; 
 Too truely tryde in his extremest state. 
 
 At last, resolv'd likewise to prove the rest, 
 
 He to Cordelia him selfe addrest, 
 
 Who with entyre affection him receav'd, 
 
 As for her Syre and king her seemed best; 
 
 And after all an army strong she leav'd, 
 
 To war on those which him had of his realme bereav'd. 
 
 G. of M., II, 11-14, pp. 24 if. Leir came to the throne. 
 " Cui negata masculini sexus prole, natae sunt tantummodo 
 tres filia\e, vocatae: Gonorilla, Regan, Cordeilla " (//. 4 ~ff., 
 p. 25). Leir " cogitavit regnum suum ipsis dividere " 
 (/. 8). " Sed ut sciret quae illarum majore regni parte 
 dignior esset, adivit singulas ut interrogaret, quae ipsum 
 magis diligeret " (//. 10 n). 
 
 Gonorilla's answer was, " patrem sibi plus cordi esse 1 
 quam animam, quae in corpora suo degebat " (/. 13). 
 
 Regan's answer was, " se nullatenus conceptum exprimere ' 
 aliter posse, nisi quod ipsum super omnes creaturas dili- 
 geret " (II. 18-19). 
 
 Cordeilla's answer began, " Est uspiam, mi pater, filia, ] 
 
 
COMPARISON 77 
 
 quae patrem suum plus quam patrem diligere praesumat (/. 
 24)"? She ended, " Etenim quantum habes, tantum vales, 
 tantumque te diligo " (/. 30). 
 
 Leir expressed his anger with Cordeilla. " Nee mora : 
 consilio procerum regni dedit praedictas puellas duas duobus 
 ducibus, Cornubiae videlicet et Albaniae cum medietate tan- 
 tum insulae : dum ipse viveret. Post obitum autem ejus 
 totam monarchiam Britanniae eisdem concessit habendam " 
 (p. 25 /., //. 41 if.). 
 
 Afterward Aganippus, " Francorum rex," heard of the 
 beauty of Cordeilla, and sought and obtained her hand in 
 marriage, without dowry. 
 
 After a long time, when Leir had grown old, the dukes 
 rebelled against him. He was allowed maintenance with 
 sixty soldiers at the house of Maglaunus, duke of Albany 
 and husband of Conor ilia. Two years passed. Then the 
 number of his attendants was reduced to thirty. He went 
 to Regan, whose husband was Henvinus, duke of Cornwall. 
 Before a year had ended she reduced the number of his 
 attendants to five. He returned to Gonorilla and was cut 
 down to one attendant. Thereupon he sought help from 
 Cordeilla, by whose aid he was restored to his kingdom. 
 He died three years later. 
 
 Hoi., Hist., pp. 19-20. Holinshed follows Geoffrey of 
 Monmouth. He gives the names as Gonorilla, Regan, Cor- 
 deilla, Maglanus, Duke of Albania, Henninus, Duke of 
 Cornwall, and Aganippus, " one of the twelve Kyngs that 
 ruled Gallia." 
 
 Leir decided to test his daughters, -" therefore hee firste 
 asked Gonorilla the eldest, ho we well shee loued him." 
 
 Gonorilla " protested, that she loued him MORE THAN 
 HER OWNE LIFE, which by righte and reason shoulde be 
 most deere vnto hir." 
 
 Regan said, " that she loued him more than tong could 
 expresse, and farre aboue all other creatures of the world." 
 
 Cordeilla answered, "... I protest vnto you, that 
 I haue loued you euer, and shall continually while I Hue, 
 
78 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 loue you as my naturall father . . ." She ends with, 
 ". . . so much as you haue, so much you are worth, 
 and so much I loue you, and no more." 
 
 Leir decreed that the land should be divided between the 
 two eldest at his death, " and the one halfe thereof imme- 
 diately should be assigned to them in hande." Aganippus 
 married Cordeilla without dower. 
 
 " But to proceede, after that Leir was fallen into age, the 
 two Dukes that had married his two eldest daughters, thinking 
 long ere the gouernemente of the land did come to their handes, 
 arose against him in armour, and reft from him the gouernance 
 of the land vpon conditions to be continued for tearme of life : 
 by y e whiche he was put to his portion, that is to Hue after 
 a rate assigned to him for the maintenance of his estate, 
 whyche in proces of time was diminished as well by Maglanus, 
 as by Henninus. But the greatest griefe that Leir toke, was 
 to see the vnkindnesse of his daughters, which seemed to 
 thinke that all was too much which their father hadde, the 
 same being neuer so little: in so muche that going from y e 
 one to y 6 other, he was brought to that miserie, that unneth 
 would they allow him one seruaunt to waite vpon him." 
 
 Hardyng, ch. 26, p. 53. Leyr had three daughters, 
 Gonorella, Ragan, and Cordelle. 
 
 " Emonges theim, as Leyr satte on a daye, 
 He asked theim howe muche thei hym loued; 
 Gonorell saied ' more then my selfe ay.' 
 And Ragan saied more than was after prouid, 
 (For joye of whiche the kyng was greately moued) 
 ' I loue you more then all this worlde so f ayre : ' 
 
 (He graunted theim twoo, of thre partes to bee heire.) " 
 i 
 
 Gonorell married " Maglayn, duke of Albanie." 
 
 " Euin of Walis, and of Cornwayle ther by 
 That duke was of those twoo landes stoute, 
 Ragan wed (did) ; to whiche twoo dukes, no doubte, 
 Kyng Leyr gaue rule and gcniernaunce 
 Of all Bryteine, for age and none puissaunce." 
 

 COMPARISON 79 
 
 Caxton, Chronicle, ch. 12. ". . . but first he 
 thought to assay / which of hem loued hym moost & best / 
 for she that loued best shold best ben maryued / & he axed 
 of the first doughter how moche she him loued. & she 
 answered and seid better than hir own lyf. now certes 
 quod the father that is a grete loue. Tho axed he of the 
 second doughter / how much she him louid & she said 
 more & passyng al the creatures of the world / per ma foy 
 qd the fadre I may no more axe / & tho axed he of the 
 third doughter / how moche she him loued certes fadre 
 quod she my sustres haue told you glosyng wordes, but for- 
 soth I shal telle trouth / for I loue yow as moche as I 
 ought to loue my fadre / & for to bring you more in cer- 
 tayn how I loue yow / I shall yow telle as moch as ye ben 
 worthe as moche shal ye be loued." Later, Lear says that 
 Cordelia answered that " she louid me as moch as she 
 ought to loue hir fader by al manere of reson. . . ." 
 
 The proper names in Caxton are as follows: Leyr, 
 Gonoryll, Rygau, Cordeyl (or Cordeill), Maugles (or 
 Managles), kyng of Scotland, Hauemos, earl of Cornwall, 
 Agampe, kyng of France, Morgan, Conedage. 
 
 Mir. for Mag., Queene Cordilla, st. n, vol. I, p. 126. 
 In the middle of Cordilla's answer occurs this line, 
 
 " To loue you, as I ought my father, well." 
 St. 13, p. 127. 
 
 " And eke my sister Ragan to Hinniue to haue, 
 And for her dowry Camber and Cornwall" 
 
 Stow, p. 10. Stow's account of Lear is very brief. 
 Lear " had three daughters, Gonorill, Regan, and Cordeilla, 
 which Cordeilla for her vertue and wisedome towards her 
 father, succeeded him in the Kingdome." 
 
 Warner, Albions England, Bk. I, C. 14, p. 65. 
 
 " About a thirtie yeeres and fiue did Leir rule this Land, 
 When, doting on his daughters three, with them he fell in 
 hand 
 
8o SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 To tell how much they loued him. The Elders did esteeme 
 Her life inferior to her loue, so did the second deeme: 
 The yongest said her loue was such as did a child behoue, 
 And that how much himselfe was worth, so much she him 
 did loue." 
 
 As to " Cordelia," 
 
 " for her forme, and vertuous life, a noble Gallian King 
 Did her, vndowed, for his Queene into his Countrie bring." 
 
 Spenser's story of King Lear follows the outline of Geof- 
 frey's narrative, but shows a few changes in details, and 
 such variation in incidents as would naturally result from 
 an endeavor to shorten the story without detracting from 
 its interest. Perhaps to accomplish this Spenser substi- 
 tuted the immediate division of the kingdom for Geoffrey's 
 partial division, which was not to be followed by the gift 
 of the whole 33 until after the death of Lear. 34 This 
 abridgment would of itself have necessitated a second 
 change, inasmuch as the rebellion against Lear would no 
 longer be a necessary step toward the catastrophe. The 
 same desire for brevity would have led Spenser to omit the 
 particulars of the unnatural conduct of Gonorilla and 
 Regan, and to assign the whole action to Lear's old age. 
 So far, then, as the choice and the order of incidents go, 
 Spenser's account may well have been based entirely on 
 Geoffrey's. The belief that it was so based is confirmed 
 by the verbal similarity that appears in the beginning of the 
 story. 
 
 The possibility still remains that later chronicles influ- 
 enced Spenser's account in phrasing and detail. The an- 
 swers of the three daughters at once attract attention. As 
 they stand in the versions of the story that are most 
 likely to have influenced Spenser they may be tabulated as 
 follows : 
 
 33 " To tarn monarchiam Britanniae." 
 
 34 See also Hardyng, p. 78, above. 
 
COMPARISON 8l 
 
 Gonorill. Spenser : more than her own life. 
 
 Geoffrey: plus . . . quam animam quae in corpore 
 
 suo degebat. 
 
 Hardyng : more them myself ay. 
 Caxton : better than hir owne lyf. 
 Holinshed: more than her owne life, which by right and 
 
 reason should be most deere vnto hir. 
 Warner : The elder did esteem her life inferior to her love. 
 Regan. Spenser: Greater love to him profest 
 
 Then all the world. 
 Geoffrey : super omnes creaturas. 
 Hardyng : more then all this world so fayre. 
 Caxton : more and passyng all the creatures of the world. 
 Holinshed : far aboue all other creatures of the world. 
 Cordelia. Spenser : she lov'd him as behoov'd. 
 Geoffrey : Begins with a question and is long. 
 Caxton : I loue yow as moche as I ought to loue my father. 
 Holinshed : loue you as my naturall father. 
 Warner: The youngest said her loue was such as did a 
 
 childe behoue. 
 
 This tabulation shows that in the wording of the first 
 answer Spenser agrees with Holinshed, in that of the sec- 
 ond with Hardyng, and in that of the third with Warner. 
 The coincidence in the first case might result from inde- 
 pendent translations of Geoffrey's Latin, but in the second 
 case this seems less likely, and in the third case impossible. 
 The closing sentence of Cordeilla's answer in Geoffrey, 
 " Etenim quantum habes, tantum vales, tantumque diligo," 
 is repeated in all the versions of the Lear story that are at 
 all full, except Warner's and Spenser's. This, when taken 
 in connection with the use of the word behooved by both 
 poets, seems to be more than the result of chance. 35 
 
 Again an influence from some source later than Geoffrey 
 
 35 It is possible that both Spenser and Warner were influenced by 
 Caxton's simple, " I loue you as moche as I ought to loue my father." 
 Yet the coincidence may be due to the fact that both poets needed 
 a word to rhyme with love. 
 
82 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE .HISTORY 
 
 appears in the titles of the husbands of Gonorilla and 
 Regan. According to Geoffrey, Holinshed, and most of the 
 other writers they are dukes; in Spenser they are kings. 
 Furthermore, according to most versions, Regan marries 
 the ruler of Cornwall, but according to Spenser she mar- 
 ries the ruler of Cambria. To explain both these changes 
 Perrett has suggested that Spenser had in mind the original 
 division of the kingdom among the sons of Brutus. 36 This 
 explanation, however, loses sight of the fact that Spenser 
 made Locrine " the soveraine Lord of all " and never ap- 
 plied the title of king to the other two brothers. It neg- 
 lects also the very probable influence of the writers who 
 preceded Spenser. In Hardyng we have Regan married to 
 
 " Euin of Walis, and of Cornwayle ther by 
 That duke was of those twoo landes stoute." 
 
 And Lear 
 
 " gave rule and governaunce 
 Of all Briteine " 
 
 to his two sons-in-law. Following Hardyng alone, then, 
 Spenser might by anticipation have named the two men as 
 kings, because of the royal power that immediately became 
 theirs, and not wishing to mention both Wales and Corn- 
 wall, he might have retained Wales as the more important 
 division of Britain in his own day. The name he would 
 naturally have changed to Cambria, especially as Hardyng 
 later speaks of Regan's son as " king of Cawbre yt Walis is 
 nowe." A tendency to do this would have been strength- 
 ened by a recollection of the lines in the Mirror for Magis- 
 trates. 
 
 " And eke my sister Ragan to Hinniue to haue, 
 And for her dowry Camber and Cornwall." 
 
 Finally we have the fact that Caxton calls Maugles " kyng 
 of Scotland." The united influence of these statements in 
 
 30 See Perrett, Story of King Lear, p. 92. 
 
COMPARISON 83 
 
 Hardyng, Caxton, and the Mirror for Magistrates is suffi- 
 cient to account for Spenser's details. 
 
 We may conclude, then, that Spenser's version of the 
 Lear story is in general outline based directly on Geoffrey's, 
 which by condensation, however, is somewhat modified, and 
 that it is influenced in phrasing and detail by Holinshed, 
 Warner, and Hardyng, and perhaps also by Caxton and the 
 Mirror for Magistrates. 
 
 
 32. So to his crowne she him restord againe ; 
 
 In which he dyde, made ripe for death by eld, 
 
 And after wild it should to her remaine, 
 
 Who peaceably the same long time did weld, 
 
 And all mens harts in dew obedience held; 
 
 Till that her sisters children, woxen strong, 
 
 Through proud ambition against her rebeld, 
 
 And overcommen kept in prison long, 
 
 Till weary of that wretched life her selfe she hong. 
 
 I 
 
 G. of M., II, 15, p. 28 /. Cordeilla ruled five years. 
 Her sisters' sons then rebelled against her and put her in 
 prison : " ubi ob amissionem regni dolore obducta sese in- 
 ter fecit " (/. 12, p. 29). 
 
 Hoi., Hist., p. 20. Cordeilla ruled five years. She was 
 then imprisoned by her sisters' sons. She " slew hirselfe." 
 
 Mir. for Mag., Queene Cordila, st. 47, vol. I, p. 138. 
 After Despair had tempted Cordila in vain (pp. 134-139), 
 he killed her with a knife. 
 
 The only variation from Geoffrey in this part of the 
 Lear story is Spenser's statement that Cordelia hanged her- 
 self. Lasamon says that she killed herself with a knife, 87 
 with which weapon also she is slain by Despair in the Mirror 
 for Magistrates. The usual statement is the simple " she 
 slew hirselfe." Spenser may have varied the mode of death 
 
 37 Lasamon's Brut, ed. Madden, vol. I, 11. 3776-7, p. 160. 
 
84 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 because hanging seemed to him more tragic, 38 or through 
 the influence of Greek tragedy,* or because he had in mind 
 the Mirror for Magistrates, where a long passage that de- 
 scribes Cordelia's death is devoted chiefly to an account of 
 the temptation of the imprisoned Queen by Despair, who 
 offers her various means of death poison, a rope, a knife. 
 It is only after she has refused to use any of them that 
 he seizes the knife and kills her. These verses certainly in- 
 fluenced Spenser in his account of the temptation of the 
 Red Cross Knight by Despair, 39 an account in which hang- 
 ing is curiously emphasized. Sir Terwin, when he appears, 
 has around his neck a rope which Despair has given him. 
 Then Despair offers to the Red Cross Knight " swords, 
 ropes, poison, fire." In the end, disappointed of his prey, 
 Despair 
 
 " chose an halter from among the rest, 
 And with it hong himselfe, unbid, unblest." 
 
 Since death by hanging is so conspicuous in a passage sug- 
 gested at least in part by the temptation of Cordelia in the 
 Mirror for Magistrates, it may well be that the rope which 
 was there offered to her remained in Spenser's mind and 
 led him to say that Cordelia hanged herself. The Mirror 
 for Magistrates, then, with Geoffrey's Historia, would seem 
 to have been the source of Spenser's stanza. 
 
 33. Then gan the bloody brethren both to raine ; 
 But fierce Cundah gan shortly to envy 
 
 38 This is not the only case where Spenser has substituted hanging 
 for some other death. In the Faerie Queene, I, 5, 50, we have 
 " Faire Sthenoboea, that herself did choke 
 With wilful cord, for wanting of her will." 
 
 According to classical '"story she drank poison (Aristoph., Ran., 
 1082). In the Faerie Queene, III, 3, 36, Pellite was hanged, although 
 according to Geoffrey, Holinshed, and others, he was stabbed. See 
 pp. 158-162, below. 
 
 * This is the suggestion of Professor J. Douglas Bruce. 
 
 "Faerie Queene, I, g, 50-51. See Warton, Hist. Eng. Poetry, ed. 
 Hazlitt, IV, 196: 
 

 COMPARISON 85 
 
 His brother Morgan, prickt with proud disdaine 
 To have a pere in part of soverainty ; 
 And kindling coles of cruell enmity, 
 Raisd warre, and him in batteill overthrew, 
 Whence as he to those woody hilles did fly, 
 Which hight of him Glamorgan, there him slew : 
 Then did he raigne alone, when he none equall knew. 
 
 G. of M., II, 15, p. 29. Marganus, son of Maglaunus, 
 and Cunedagius, son of Henvinus, shared the kingdom of 
 Cordeilla. After two years Marganus attacked Cunedagius, 
 but he was defeated, pursued, and killed " in pago Kam- 
 briae, qui post interfectionem Margani ejus nomine videlicet 
 Margan hucusque a pagensibus appellatus est. Potitus 
 itaque Cunedagius victoria monarchiam totius insulae adep- 
 tus est, eamque triginta tribus annis gloriose tractavit " (II. 
 
 25 /?.). 
 
 Hoi., Hist., pp. 20 and 27 (sic). Cunedagius (or Cune- 
 dag) and Marganus (or Margan) nephews of Cordeilla, 
 shared the kingdom. After two years Margan attacked 
 Cunedag, but he was defeated, pursued, and killed in Cam- 
 bria: ". . . he was there ouercome & slaine in y e 
 field, by reason whereof, yt countrey tooke name of him, 
 being there slaine, and so is called to this day Glau Margaw, 
 which is to meane in our English tong Margans land." 
 
 Hardyng, ch. 29, p. $$. 
 
 " Cowdage was kyng of (Cawbre, y* Walis is nowe) 
 
 ******** 
 At Glomorgane, with Morgan did he meete, 
 In bataill sleugh hym, there casten vnder fete." 
 
 Poly chronic on (Trevisa), Rolls Series, III, p. 41. 
 Cunedagius " slow^ Morgan, fat was rebel ajenst hem, in 
 Glamorgan in Wales, and by cause of Pat happe fat con- 
 tray is sit i-cleped Morgans londes." 
 
86 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 Graf ton, p. 37. 
 
 " Which field or Country where the said Morgan fought, 
 and was slaine, is to this day called Glamargan, which is as 
 much to say, as Morgans land." 
 
 Caxton, ch. 14. Morgan and Conedage. 
 
 Mir. for Mag., King Morgan, st. 14, vol. I, p. 146. 
 
 " And for to keepe in memory for aye 
 That there vnfaythfull Morgan lost his life, 
 The place is cal'd Glamorgan to this daye." 
 
 Stow, p. 10. "Morgan, the eldest Sonne of Dame Gono- 
 rilla, claimed Britaine, and warred on his nephew Cunedagius, 
 that was king of Camber (that is now Wales) and of Corn- 
 wall, but Cunedagius met with Morgan in Wales, and there 
 slew him: which place is called Glamorgan till this day. And 
 then Cunedagius was King of all Brytaine." 
 
 Spenser agrees with Geoffrey in the sequence and form of 
 the two statements, ( i ) that a country in Wales was named 
 after Morgan, and (2) that Cundah, after the defeat of his 
 brother, reigned alone. 40 'But the names of both brothers 
 show the influence of later chronicles, as does also the name 
 Glamorgan. Cundah seems to be a shortened form of the 
 Cunedag of Holinshed, or of the Conedage of Caxton, or 
 of the Cowdage of Hardyng, while Morgan is to be found 
 in Caxton and Grafton, and both Morgan and Glamorgan 
 are given in Hardyng, the Poly chronic on, the Mirror for 
 Magistrates, and Stow. As Geoffrey does not give the 
 name Glamorgan in any form, and as Holinshed renders 
 it Glau Margan, Spenser has clearly modified Geoffrey's ac- 
 count without following Holinshed. His modification may 
 have come from any one of several sources, or from the com- 
 bined influence of them all. At the same time, the founda- 
 tion of the story remains the narrative in Geoffrey. 
 
 40 Stow has a similar sequence and phrasing, but does not give au- 
 thority for Spenser's first line. 
 
COMPARISON 87 
 
 34. His sonne Rivall' his dead rowme did supply; 
 In whose sad time blood did from heaven rayne. 
 
 G. of M., II, 1 6, pp. 29-30. Rivallo, son of Cunedagius, 
 succeeded him. In his time it rained blood three days to- 
 gether, and there fell vast swarms of flies, followed by a 
 great mortality among the people. 
 
 Hoi., Hist., p. 27. Riuallon, or Ryuall, 41 son of Cune- 
 dag, succeeded him, and ruled forty-six years. During his 
 time it rained blood three days, and afterwards there were 
 many flies, and many people died. 
 
 Hardyng, ch. 30, p. 56. Hardyng speaks of the flies, and 
 continues : 
 
 " And rayned bloodde the same .III. dayes also, 
 Create people dyed, the land to mykell woo." 
 
 Grafton, p. 37. There was a rain of blood and then 
 flies came. "And after (as sayth an olde Aucthor) en- 
 sued great sicknesse and mortalitie, to the great desolation 
 of this land." 
 
 Stow, p. 10. 
 
 "Riuallus, Sonne of Cunedagius, succeeded his father, in 
 whose time it rained blood three claies : after which tempest, 
 ensued a great multitude of venemous flies . . ." 
 
 These two lines bear a strong resemblance to Stow's ac- 
 count of the reign of Rivallus, and both Stow and Spenser 
 reproduce Geoffrey's account. Spenser's " sad time " may, 
 however, reflect Hardyng's " the land to mykell woo." Yet 
 the facts in Geoffrey would be in themselves a sufficient jus- 
 tification for Spenser's adjective. It is not necessary to 
 assume any other source than the Historia. 
 
 34, //. 3-6. Next great Gurgustus, then faire Csecily, 
 In constant peace their kingdomes did contayne. 
 After whom Lago, and Kinmarke did rayne, 
 And Gorbogud, till far in years he grew : 
 
 41 In the 1587 edition (vol. I, Hist, of Eng., p. 14) the forms Riuallus 
 and Riuall are used. 
 
88 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 G. ofM.,II, 1 6, //. 4 #.,/>. 29. 
 
 " Post hunc (Cunedagius) vero successit Gurgustius filius 
 ejus: cui Sisillius: cui Lago Gurgustii nepos : cui Kinmarcus 42 
 Sisillii filius: post hunc Gorbodug. Huic nati fuerunt duo 
 filii : quorum unus Ferrex alter Porrex nuncupabatur." 
 
 Hoi., Hist., p. 27 and p. 22 (sic). Succession of kings: 
 Gurgustius ; Sysillius or Siluius, brother of Gurgustius, who 
 " in the English chronicle is named SeSil ; " lago or Lago, 
 cousin of Gurgustius; Kinimachus or Kinmarus (in mar- 
 gin, Kinimak), "son of Sycillius;" Gorbodug, son of 
 Kinimachus. 
 
 "Robert of Gloucester," I. 903, sicille: Robert Manning 
 of Brunne, I. 2632, Cycyllius, /. 2633, Cycilly: Hardyng, 
 ch. 30, p. 56, Scicilius: Fabyan, p. 17, " Cecilius or after 
 some wryters Siluius . . . This in the Englysshe 
 Boke is named Seyzill : " Stow, p. 10, Scicilius. 
 
 Spenser's account of the five kings who ruled after Ri- 
 vallo seems to be nothing more than a re-phrasing of Geof- 
 frey's. Three of the names, Gurgustus, Caecily, and Gor- 
 bogud, are slightly different from what we should expect 
 from Geoffrey's Latin, yet do not seem to have been af- 
 fected by the later chroniclers, except for Caecily, which is 
 noticeably similar to the Cycilly in Robert Manning of 
 Brunne, a form which may have been preserved in some 
 of the chronicles which Spenser knew. At least Spenser 
 must have been influenced by the spellings in older chron- 
 icles such as Fabyan's. The three syllable form, however, 
 and likewise the names Gurgustus and Gorbogud, may re- 
 sult from Spenser's changes for euphony and for conven- 
 ience in versification. 
 
 34, //. 7 if. Then his ambitious sonnes unto them twayne 
 Arraught the rule, and from their father drew; 
 Stout Ferrex and sterne Porrex him in prison threw. 
 
 42 In the editions of 1508 and 1517, Kinimacus. 
 

 COMPARISON 89 
 
 35. But O ! the greedy thirst of royall crowne, 
 That knowes no kinred, nor regardes no right, 
 Stird Porrex up to put his brother downe ; 
 Who, unto him assembling forreigne might, 
 Made warre on him, and fell him selfe in fight : 
 Whose death t'avenge, his mother mercilesse, 
 Most mercilesse of women, Wyden hight, 
 Her other sonne fast sleeping did oppresse, 
 And with most cruell hand him murdred pittilesse. 
 
 G. of Ml, //_, 1 6, p. 29 /. " Cum autem in senium 
 vergeret pater, orta est contentio inter eos, uter eorum in 
 regno succederet " (/. 8 /.). Porrex designed to kill Fer- 
 rex treacherously. Ferrex escaped and sought aid of the 
 Franks. He returned with an army, and was defeated and 
 killed. The mother of the two brothers, " cui nomen 
 Widen" (p. 30. /. 15), in revenge slew Porrex while he 
 slept, and with the .help of her women tore him into pieces. 
 
 Hoi., Hist., p. 22. Ferrex and Porrex inherited the 
 kingdom and quarreled for supremacy. Ferrex fled to 
 Gallia, and having obtained help, returned to England, 
 where in battle with Porrex he was slain. The English 
 chronicle says that it was Porrex who fled to France, and 
 Ferrex who survived. " But whether of them so euer 
 suruiued, the mother of them was so highly offended for 
 the deathe of him that was slayne, whome she most en- 
 tierly loued, that setting aparte all motherly affection, she 
 found meanes to enter the chamber of him that suruiued, 
 in the night season, and as hee slept, she with helpe of hir 
 maidens slue him, and cut him into small peeces, as the 
 writers doe affirme." 
 
 Spenser reproduces in a brief form the essential points 
 of Geoffrey's account of Ferrex and Porrex. His only 
 variation is the apparently unauthorized statement that the 
 two sons imprisoned their father. They quarreled, accord- 
 ing to Geoffrey, during the lifetime of their father, but ac- 
 
90 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 cording to Holinshed, after his death. Spenser's story is 
 manifestly nearer to Geoffrey's than to Holinshed's. In- 
 deed, his variation may be an inference to explain the fate 
 of the father, which Geoffrey leaves in obscurity. There 
 is no evidence that Spenser was influenced by any authority 
 other than Geoffrey. 
 
 36. Here ended Brutus sacred progeny, 
 
 Which had seven hundred yeares this scepter borne 
 
 With high renowme and great felicity : 
 
 The noble braunch from th' antique stocke was torne 
 
 Through discord, and the roiall throne forlorne. 
 
 Thenceforth this Realme was into factions rent, 
 
 Whilest each of Brutus boasted to be borne, 
 
 That in the end was left no moniment 
 
 Of Brutus, nor of Britons glorie auncient. 
 
 G. of M., II, 1 6, p. 30. After the death of Porrex there 
 was civil war for a long time, and the island became divided 
 under five kings. 
 
 Hoi, Hist., p. 22. 
 
 " After this folowed a troubleous season, full of cruell 
 warre, & seditious discord, whereby in the ende, and for the 
 space of fiftie yeres, the gouernemente of the Ilande was 
 deuided betwixt fiue Kings or rulers, till Dunwallon of Corne- 
 wall ouercame them all. Thus the line of Brute, after the 
 affirmance of most writers, tooke an end . . ." 
 
 Holinshed quotes the Polychronicon as saying that the 
 rule of Donuallo was 703 years after Brutus entered Brit- 
 ain. 
 
 Stow, p. 10. 
 
 " Thus cruelly was the blood and house of Brute destroied, 
 when this Realme by the space of 616 yeeres had beene gov- 
 erned by that lynage. 
 
COMPARISON 91 
 
 "After, this Realme was diuided with ciuill warres, for 
 lacke of one soueraigne gouernour vntill Dunwallo reduced 
 the same into one Monarchic." 
 
 Tragedy of Gorboduc, Act V, Sc. 2, //. 180 ff. 
 
 " Loe here the end of Brutus royall line, 
 
 And loe the entry to the wofull wracke 
 
 And vtter ruine of this noble realme ! 
 
 The royall king and eke his sonnes are slaine, 
 
 No ruler rests within the regall seate, 
 
 The heire, to whom the scepter longes, unknowen; 
 
 That to eche force of forreine princes power 
 
 Whom vauntage of our wretched state may moue 
 
 By sodeine armes to gaine so riche a realme, 
 
 And to the proud and gredie minde at home 
 
 Whom blinded lust to reigne leades to aspire, 
 
 Loe, Brittaine realme is left an open pray, 
 
 A present spoyle by conquest to ensue ! " 
 
 Warner, Albions England, p. 68. 
 
 " And thus from noble Brute his line the scepter then did 
 
 passe : 
 When of his bloud for to succeede no heire suruiuing was." 
 
 Here Spenser has made two additions to Geoffrey's nar- 
 rative : the first, that the line of Brutus ended with Ferrex 
 and Porrex, and the second, that the progeny of Brutus 
 ruled 700 years. The first statement has ample authority 
 in Holinshed and Stow. The second seems to be based on 
 the figures in the Poly chronic on, quoted by Holinshed, ac- 
 cording to which the accession of Dunwallo was 703 years 
 after the arrival of Brutus. Spenser may have identified 
 the accession of the new line with the end of the old, and so 
 have spoken of the 700 years that the line of Brutus reigned. 
 But, while both additions to Geoffrey's story may thus be 
 accounted for by Holinshed, Spenser's expansion of this 
 part of his story and his emotional treatment of it, in strong 
 contrast with Warner's brevity, suggest an influence from 
 the lament of Eubulus in the Tragedy of Gorboduc. To 
 this lament Spenser's lines bear a decided resemblance. 
 
92 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 For this reason the Tragedy of Gorboduc as well as Holins- 
 hed should be counted as a source of this stanza. 
 
 37. Then up arose a man of matchlesse might, 
 And wondrous wit to menage high affayres, 
 Who, stird with pitty of the stressed plight 
 Of this sad realme, cut into sondry shayres 
 
 By such as claymd themselves Brutes right full hay res, 
 
 Gathered the Princes of the people loose 
 
 To taken counsell of their common cares; 
 
 Who, with his wisedom won, him streight did choose 
 
 Their king, and swore him fealty to win or loose. 
 
 38. Then made he head against his enimies, 
 And Ymner slew of Logris miscreate; 
 Then Ruddoc and proud Stater, both allyes, 
 This of Albany newly nominate, 
 
 And that of Cambry king confirmed late, 
 
 He overthrew through his owne valiaunce ; 
 
 Whose countries he redus'd to quiet state, 
 
 And shortly brought to civile governaunce, 
 
 Now one, which earst were many made through variaunce. 
 
 39. Then made he sacred lawes, which some men say 
 Were unto him reveald in vision ; 
 
 By which 'he freed the Travellers high-way, 
 
 The Churches part, and Ploughmans portion, 
 
 RESTRAINING STEALTH AND STRONG EXTORTION, 
 
 The gratious Numa of great Britany; 
 
 For till his dayes, the chiefe dominion 
 
 By strength was wielded without pollicy : 
 
 Therefore HE FIRST WORE CROWNE OF GOLD FOR DIGNITY. 
 
 G. of M., II, 17, pp. 30-31. Dunvallo Molmutius, son 
 of Cloten, King of Cornwall, killed Ymner, King of 
 Loegria, in battle. Rudaucus, King of Kambria, and 
 Staterius, King of Albania, combined against Dunvallo, 
 
COMPARISON 93 
 
 but were defeated and slain. Dunvallo conquered the 
 whole island, and " fecit sibi diadema ex auro " (p. 31, /. 
 25). He established the Molmutine laws, and gave right 
 of sanctuary to temples and cities and roads leading to 
 them, and also to husbandmen's ploughs. 
 
 HoL, Hist., p. 23. Dunuallo (or Donuallo) Mulmucius, 
 son of Cloton, got the rule over all Britain. Holinshed has 
 previously named the five kings of the island (p. 22) ; 
 Rudacus, King of Wales, Clotenus, King of Cornewall, 
 Pinnor, King of Loegria, Staterus, King of Albania, and 
 Yewan, King of Northumberlande. 
 
 Dunuallo had made a crown of gold, and was the first 
 to wear one, so by some he is called the first king. A mar- 
 ginal note (p. 23), emphasizes this: "THE FIRST KING 
 
 THAT WAS CROWNED WITH A GOLDEN CROWNE." 
 
 Dunuallo made the Mulmutius laws. " Moreouer, this 
 Mulmutius gaue priuileges to Temples, to ploughes, to 
 Cities, and to high wayes leading to the same, so that who- 
 soeuer fled to them, should be in safegard from bodily 
 harme, and from thence he might depart into what coun- 
 trey he would . . . AND FURTHER HE DEUISED SORE 
 
 Caxton, ch. 20. 
 
 " How donebaud was fiyrste kynge that euer wered crowne 
 of gold in Brytayne." 
 
 Hardyng, ch. 31, p. 60. Names of the kings subdued by 
 Dunwallo, " Pynner, in Logres intrusour," Ruddan, and 
 Stater. 
 
 " Dunwallo so called Moluncius, 
 
 At Troynouaunt, with royall diademe 
 
 Of gold crouned, moost riche and precious, 
 
 Vpon his hede as did hym well besene. 
 
 The first he was, as chronicles expreme, 
 
 That in this isle of Brytein had croune of golde, 
 
 For all afore copre and gilt was to beholde." 
 
94 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 Mir. for Mag., King Pinnar, st. 4, vol. I, p. 173. 
 
 " I did my selfe at last into the throne intrude." 
 Pinnar is given a bad character. 
 
 Spenser, in his account of Dunwallo, closely follows 
 Geoffrey's Historia, and yet in three points shows the in- 
 fluence of the later chroniclers. He agrees with Holins- 
 hed in his reference to the special laws against stealing; he 
 accepts the statement in Caxton, Hardyng, and Holinshed 
 that Dunwallo was the first king in Britain who ever wore 
 a crown of gold ; 43 and like Hardyng and the Mirror for 
 Magistrates, he gives Ymner an evil reputation. Spenser 
 also adds details, such as the gathering of the princes to 
 choose Dunwallo, and Dunwallo's title, the " Numa of great 
 Britany." Such details, however, are of a nature to give 
 vividness to the narration, and may well be of Spenser's 
 invention, stimulated by his interest in this king, whose 
 reign he describes in unusually vigorous stanzas. For this 
 reason the only sources outside of Geoffrey which we need 
 to assume are Hardyng or the Mirror for Magistrates, and 
 Holinshed. 
 
 40. Donwallo dyde, (for what may live for ay?) 
 
 And left two sonnes, of pearelesse prowesse both, 
 
 That sacked Rome too dearely did assay, 
 
 The recompence of their perjured oth; 
 
 And ransackt Greece wel tryde, when they were wroth; 
 
 Besides subjected France and Germany, 
 
 Which yet their praises speake, all be they loth, 
 
 And inly tremble at the memory 
 
 Of Brennus and Belinus, kinges of Britany. 
 
 43 Geoffrey says only that Dunwallo had made for himself a crown 
 of gold. We may infer from this, as the later chroniclers did, that 
 it was the first gold crown in Britain, or we may infer with equal 
 plausibility that it was made to replace the crown of the previous 
 monarchs, lost during the civil wars. 
 
COMPARISON 95 
 
 G. of M., Ill, i-io, pp. 31 if. The first seven chapters 
 relate the strife between the two sons of Dunvallo, Bren- 
 nius 44 and Belinus. Finally Brennius became Duke of 
 the Allobroges. The two brothers then subdued Gaul and 
 marched to Rome. They made a treaty with the Romans 
 and invaded Germany. The Romans broke the treaty. 
 Brennius then marched on Rome, while Belinus remained 
 in Germany. When Belinus heard that the Romans were 
 about to intercept Brennius, he marched to his assistance. 
 He conquered the Romans and joined Brennius in the 
 siege of Rome. In a battle before the city the brothers lost 
 heavily, but were in the end victorious. Rome surren- 
 dered, Brennius remained to rule Italy, and Belinus re- 
 turned to Britain. 
 
 HoL, Hist., pp. 23, 24, 25, 42, 27, and 21 (sic). Bren- 
 nus and Belinus conquered Germany and together attacked 
 Rome. The story for the most part follows Geoffrey, but 
 there is no mention of the broken treaty. Of the conquest 
 of Greece Holinshed says (p. 27), " . . . Brennus, 
 the which . . . was a Brytain, and brother to Beline 
 (as before is mentioned) although I know that many other 
 writers are not of that mind, affyrming him to be a Gaul, 
 and likewise that after this present time of the taking of 
 Rome by this Brennus no yeares, or there aboutes, there 
 was another Brennus a Gaull also by Nation (say they) 
 vnder whose conduct an other armie of the Gaulles inuaded 
 Grecia, whiche Brennus had a brother that hight Belgius, 
 although Humfrey LLhuyd and sir John Price doo flatlie 
 denie the same, by reason of some discordance in writers, 
 and namely in the computation of the yeares set downe by 
 them that haue recorded the doings of those times, whereof 
 the error is growen. Howbeit I doubt not but that the 
 truth of this matter shall be more fully sifted out in time by 
 the learned and studious of such antiquities." 
 
 Stow, p. n. "Wherefore, while the Macedons being 
 beaten, kept them within the walls of their Cities, Brennus 
 
 44 In the edition of 1517, Brennus. 
 
96 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 like a Conqueror, against whom, no man durst shew his 
 head to make resistance, forraged all the lies of Macedon. 
 And from thence, as though those booties and spoyles 
 seemed too base and simple in his eye, he turned his minde 
 to the Temples of the gods, scoffing that the gods were 
 rich, and ought to depart liberally to men." Stow contin- 
 ues with a full description of the visit which Brennus made 
 to Delphos. 
 
 In Spenser's brief but appreciative account of Brennus 
 and Belinus there is again evidence of the fusion of the 
 Historia and the later chronicles. Only in Geoffrey is the 
 story of the broken treaty told at length and with sufficient 
 detail to suggest Spenser's lines, 
 
 " That sacked Rome too dearely did assay, 
 The recompence of their perjured oth." 
 
 And only in later writers is there any mention of the con- 
 quest of Greece. This Spenser could have found in 
 Fabyan, 45 Grafton, 40 the Mirror for Magistrates*'* and 
 Stow. Holinshed also speaks of it, though in so argumen- 
 tative a manner as to make his influence doubtful. Prob- 
 ably the agreement of these writers, rather than the in- 
 fluence of any single one of them, accounts for Spenser's 
 inclusion of the non-Gal fridian material in a stanza which 
 of necessity omitted much of the original story. 
 
 41. Next them did Gurgiunt, 48 great Belinus sonne, 
 In rule succeede, and eke in fathers praise; 
 He Easterland subdewd, and Denmarke wonne, 
 And of them both did foy and tribute raise, 
 The which was dew in his dead fathers daies : 
 He also gave to fugitives of Spayne, 
 
 p. 24. 
 " 
 
 P. 45- 
 
 47 Vol. I, pp. 198 ff. 
 
 48 So ed. 1590; in 1596, " Gurgunt." 
 
COMPARISON 97 
 
 Whom he at sea found wandring from their waies, 
 
 A seate in Ireland safely to remayne, 
 
 Which they SHOULD HOLD OF HIM, AS SUBJECT to Britayne. 
 
 G. of M., Ill, 11-12, pp. 39-40. Gurgiunt Brabtruc suc- 
 ceeded his father Belinus. He conquered the neighboring 
 provinces that rebelled against him, and forced the king of 
 the Dacians to continue to pay the tribute and homage 
 which he had paid to Belinus. On his way home from the 
 conquest of Dacia he found among the Orkney Islands 
 thirty ships, on board of which were refugees from Spain. 
 The leader spoke with Gurgiunt. " Dicebat autem se ex 
 partibus Hispaniarum expulsnni fuisse . . . Petebat 
 . . . ne odiosum iter mans diutius pererraret: Annus 
 enim cum dimidio jam elapsus fuerat, ex quo patria sua 
 pulsus per Oceanum cum sociis navigaverai " (ch. 12, //. 5 
 
 HoL, Hist., p. 21. Gurguyntus (or Gurguint) recon- 
 quered Denmark because tribute was refused to him. He 
 fell in with the people banished from Spain. They " had 
 sayled long on the Sea, to the ende to finde some Prince 
 that woulde assigne to them a place of habitation vnto 
 whom they would BECOME SUBIECTS, & HOLD OF HIM as of 
 theyr soueraigne gouernour." Gurguint settled them in 
 Ireland. 
 
 HoL, ed. 1587, vol. II, First Inhabitation of Ireland, p. 58. 
 
 ". . . certeine merchants of Norwaie, Denmarke, and of 
 other those parties, called Ostomanni, or (as in our vulgar 
 language we tearme them) Easterlings, bicause they lie East 
 in respect of us . . ." 
 
 The marginal note reads : " Easterlings began to trade 
 into Ireland." 
 
 Caxton, ch. 24. 
 
 " & the kynge of denmarke wolde not paye hym his truage. 
 that is to saye a .M. pounde / as he had sworn by othe for to 
 paye it / & also by writing recorded to belyn his fader." 
 
98 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 Spenser's account of Gurgiunt closely follows Geoffrey's 
 even in phrasing, but adds the conquest of Easterland and 
 the statement that Ireland was to be held " as subject to 
 Britayne." For the conquest of Easterland there seems to 
 be no authority. The name itself may be derived from the 
 name of the people mentioned by Holinshed, " the Osto- 
 manni or ... Easterlings." 49 The statement 
 that Ireland was to be subject to Britain seems certainly 
 based on Holinshed. 50 Holinshed and Geoffrey, therefore, 
 were apparently Spenser's sources for everything in this 
 stanza except the reference to Easterland. 
 
 42. After him raigned Guitheline his hayre, 
 The justest man and trewest in his daies, 
 Who had to wife Dame Mertia the fay re, 
 A woman worthy of immortall praise, 
 Which for this Realme found many goodly layes, 
 And wholesome Statutes to her husband brought. 
 Her many deemd to have beene of the Fayes, 
 As was Aegerie that Numa tought : 
 Those yet of her be Mertian lawes both nam'd and 
 thought. 
 
 G. of M., Ill, 13, p. 40. "Post ilium Guithelinus 51 
 diadema regni suscepit, quod omni vitae suae tempore 
 benigne et modeste tractavit. Erat ei nobilis mulier Martia 
 nomine, omnibus artibus erudita. Haec inter multa et 
 inaudita, quae proprio ingenio repererat, invenit legem 
 quam Britones Martianam appellaverunt." After the 
 death of Guithelinus Martia ruled during the minority of 
 their son. 
 
 HoL, Hist., pp. 21-22. Guintolinus or Guintellius, ' 
 prudent Prince, graue in counsell, and sober in behauiour 
 
 49 The Easterlings are mentioned by Spenser, st. 63, below. 
 60 The resemblance has previously been pointed out by Kitchin 
 notes to the Faerie Queene, Bk. II, p. 227. 
 51 Editions of 1508 and 1517, Guinthelinus. 
 
COMPARISON 99 
 
 He had also a wife named Martia, a woman of passing 
 beautie, and wisedome incomparable. . . ." The 
 Martian laws are not mentioned in the account of Guintoli- 
 nus, but in the account of Sicilius. 
 
 Hardyng, ch. 35, p. 66. 
 
 "(Gvytelyn, his sonne, gan reigne as heyre) 
 
 Of all Brytayn, aboute vnto the sea, 
 
 Who wedded was to Marcyan full fayre 
 
 That was so wyse in her femynitee; 
 
 That lawes made of her syngularytee, 
 
 That called wer the lawes Marcyane 
 
 In Britayne tongue, of her owne witte alane. 
 
 " This Guytelyn was good of his estate, 
 Full iuste he was in all his judgement, 
 Wise . . ." 
 
 A whole stanza is given to the praise of Guytelyn. 
 
 Stow, p. 12. ff Guinthelinus, sonne of Gurgunstus, was 
 crowned King of Brytaine. A Prince sober and quiet, who 
 had to wife a woman named Mercia, of excellent learning and 
 knowledge. She deuised certaine Lawes, which long time 
 among the Brytains were greatly esteemd, and named Mer- 
 cian Lawes" 
 
 Spenser's account of Guitheline and Mertia shows in its 
 phrasing such a strong resemblance to Hardyng's as to 
 make the influence of Hardyng a certainty. 52 Spenser's 
 form of the king's name, however, differs from that used 
 by Hardyng and the other later chroniclers, and likewise 
 from that in the early printed editions of Geoffrey. But 
 Spenser's form appears in the San Marte edition of Geof- 
 frey, so it seems probable that Spenser may have taken it 
 from some manuscript of the Historia. The comparison 
 of Mertia to Aegeria, like the reference to Numa in the ac- 
 count of Dunwallo, is not suggested by the chroniclers. 
 
 52 See Kitchin, Book II of the Faerie Queene, notes, p. 227. Kitchin 
 has pointed out the resemblance, but has overlooked the fact that only 
 in Hardyng is there precedent for Spenser's adjective "just." 
 
ioo SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 Spenser's sources for this stanza seem to have been Geoffrey 
 and Hardyng. 
 
 43. Her sonne Sisillus 53 after her did rayne ; 
 
 And then Kimarus ; and then Danius : 
 
 Next whom Morindus did the crowne sustayne; 
 
 Who, had he not with wrath outrageous 
 
 And cruell rancour dim'd his valorous 
 
 And mightie d cedes, should matched have the best: 
 
 As well in that same field victorious 
 
 Against the forreine Morands he exprest; 
 
 Yet lives his memorie, though carcas sleepe in rest. 
 
 G. of M., Ill, 14-15, p. 40 f. Succession of kings: 
 Sisilius; Kimarus; Danius; 54 Morvidus. 55 " Hie" (Mor- 
 vidus) " nimia probitate famosissimus esset, nisi immod- 
 eratae crud\elitati indulsisset" (ch. 14, //. 6-7). He sub- 
 dued a king of the Morini ( " rex Moranorum " ) . He 
 was himself devoured by a sea-monster. He left five sons. 
 
 Hoi, Hist., p. 29. Succession of kings: Sicilius; 
 Kimarus; Elanius (called in the English Chronicle 
 "Haran" and by Matthew Westmin., "Danius"); 
 Morindus. " This Morindus in the Englishe Chronicle is 
 called Morwith, and was a man of worthie fame in chiual- 
 rie, and Martiall doings, but so cruell withall, that his vn- 
 mercifull nature could vneth be satisfied with the tormewts 
 of them that had offended him, although oftentymes with 
 his own handes he cruelly put them to torture and execu- 
 tion." He defeated a king of the Moriani, whom Holins- 
 hed does not think were the Moravians or the Merhenners. 
 Morindus was devoured by a sea-monster. He left five 
 sons. 
 
 Ponticus Virunnius, ed. 1585, p. 14. Morindus. Geni- 
 tive form, "Morinorum," the people subdued by Morindus. 
 
 63 " All copies read Sifillus." See Spenser, Globe ed., p. 689. 
 
 54 In the editions of 1508 and 1517, Elanius. 
 
 55 In the editions of 1508 and 1517, Morindus. 
 
COMPARISON 101 
 
 Hardyng, ch. 35, p. 66. Sicilius : ch. 36, p. 67, " the 
 kyng of Morians." 
 
 Graf ton, p. 46. Cecilius or Sisillus : p. 47. " Kimarus, 
 y e sonne of Cecilius . . . Morindus." 
 
 Fabyan, p. 26. Sicillius or Secilius. 
 
 Bale, Scriptores Britanniae, ed. 1557, p. 13. Sisillus. 
 
 Mir. for Mag., Kimarus, st. 5, vol. I, p. 209. Cicilius. 
 
 Stow, p. 12. Cecilius. 
 
 The name Sisilius 56 underwent many changes at the 
 hands of the chroniclers. Spenser's form is to be found in 
 Grafton and Bale. The name Kimarus shows no variation. 
 Spenser's form Danius appears in the San Marte edition of 
 Geoffrey, but in the early printed editions we have Elanius, 
 which is also the preferred form in Holinshed. Spenser's 
 Morindus, on the other hand, agrees with the form in the 
 early printed editions of Geoffrey, and not with that repro- 
 duced in the San Marte text. The form Morindus is also 
 found in Grafton, Ponticus Virunnius, Holinshed, and 
 Stow. The description of the character of Morindus seems 
 based on Geoffrey. The evidence of the names is not de- 
 cisive, but on the whole the main source of the stanza ap- 
 pears to be Geoffrey. 
 
 One point remains inexplicable. Spenser goes out of 
 his way to say that the body of Morindus sleeps in rest, 
 although other chroniclers agree that Morindus was de- 
 voured by a sea-monster. No version of the story is known 
 which warrants this contradiction, as it were, of the usual 
 account. 
 
 44. Five sonnes he left, begotten of one wife, 
 All which successively by turnes did rayne: 
 First Gorboman, a man of vertuous life, 
 Next Archigald, who for his proud disdayne 
 Deposed was from princedome soverayne, 
 
 &6 Cf . Sisillius, p. 88, above. 
 
IO2 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 And pitteous Elidure put in his sted; 
 Who shortly it to him restord ^gayne, 
 Till by his death he it recovered ; 
 But Peridure and Vigent him disthronized. 
 
 45. In wretched prison long he did remaine, 
 Till they outraigned had their utmost date, 
 And then therein reseized was againe, 
 And ruled long with honorable state, 
 Till he surrendered Realme and life to fate. 
 Then all the sonnes of these five brethren raynd 
 By dew successe, and all their Nephewes late; 
 Even thrise eleven descents the crowne retaynd, 
 Till aged Hely by dew heritage it gaynd. 
 
 G. of M., Ill, 16-20, pp. 41 ff. Succession of kings: 
 Gorbonianus (" Nullus ea tempestate eo justior erat, aut 
 aequi amantior." Ch. 16, /. 2 f., p. 41) ; Arthgallo, 57 who 
 plundered the rich, and was deposed by them; Elidurus, 
 " qui postea propter misericordiam, quam in fratrem fecit, 
 Pius vocatus fuit " (ch. 17, /. n f., />. 42), and who restored 
 Arthgallo to the throne, and afterwards, on the death of 
 Arthgallo, again became king ; Vigenius and Peredurus, who 
 deposed Elidurus. " Potiti vero victoria, ceperunt ilium, et 
 intra turrim urbis Trinovantinae incluserunt, imponentes 
 custodes " (ch. 18, /. 5 f., p. 43). Vigenius and Peredurus 
 died, and Elidurus came to the throne a third time. 
 
 Ch. 19 names the thirty-three successors to Elidurus. 
 
 Ch. 20 says that the last of these, Hely, reigned forty 
 years. 
 
 Hoi., Hist., pp. 30 ff. Morindus left five sons, Gor- 
 bonianus or Gorbonian, 58 Archigallo, 59 Elidurus, Vigenius 
 
 67 In the editions of 1508 and 1517, Archigallo. 
 
 58 The form Gorbomannus appears in the list of the sons of Morin- 
 dus at the end of the account of the reign of Morindus. It is cor- 
 rected in the second edition to Gorbonianus (I, Hist, of Eng., p. 20). 
 
 69 Changed in the second edition to Archigallus (I, Hist, of Eng., p. 
 20). 
 

 COMPARISON 
 
 103 
 
 or Nigenius, and Peredurus. Gorbonianus was " a right- 
 eous Prince in his gouernment, and very deuout (accord- 
 ing to such deuotion as he had) towardes the aduauncing 
 of the religion of his Gods." The other sons are described 
 as in Geoffrey, and the same story is told. The successors 
 to Elidurus were thirty-two or thirty-three kings, the last 
 of whom was Hely (or Helie). 
 
 Caxton, ch. 30. 
 
 " After Grandobodyan regned his sone artogayll V yere / 
 and he become so wykked and so sterne / that the britons 
 wold not suffre hym to be kyng / but put hym a doune / and 
 made Hesydur his broder kyng & he bycome so good & 
 merciable / that men hym callid kyng of pyte / And whan 
 he regned V yere he had so grete pite of his broder artogayll 
 that was kyng byfore / & anon he forsoke his dignyte. and 
 toke his broder the crowne ayene . . ." 
 
 Hardyng, ch. 37, p. 68. 
 
 " Howe this kyng was crowned, in defaute of his elder 
 brother, and after, of pure pytee, crowned his brother agayne." 
 
 Ch. 38, p. 70. 
 
 Elidure " was so full of [all] pytee 
 
 That in all thynge mercy he dyd preserue. . . ." 
 
 His brothers 
 
 " prisoned hym full sore and wrongfullye 
 All in the towre of Troynouaunt for thy." 
 
 Ch. 39, p. 70. 
 
 " Eledour was [kyng all newe made] againe, 
 Thrise crouned . . ." 
 
 Fabyan, p. 28. Archigallo ; p. 29. Gorbonianus or Gor- 
 bomanus. 
 
 Graf ton, I, p. 47. 
 
 " Gorbomannus the first sonne of Morindus." 
 
iO4 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 Stow, p. 12. 
 
 " Gorbomannus, eldest Sonne of Morindus, raigned n 
 yeeres." 
 
 Spenser has compressed the account of the five sons of 
 Morindus and their thirty-three successors into two stanzas, 
 which reproduce the general outline of the story in Geof- 
 frey, and yet show also the influence of the later chroniclers. 
 From the form in the early printed editions of Geoffrey, or 
 more probably from Fabyan's Archigallo and Holinshed's 
 Archigallus, Spenser made the name Archigald. From 
 Fabyan, Grafton, or Stow, or less probably from the one 
 occurrence of the name in the first edition of Holinshed, he 
 took the name Gorboman. The description of Gorboman 
 as " a man of vertuous life," seems due to Holinshed's ad- 
 jective " devout " rather than to Geoffrey's account of the 
 king's justice. According to Kitchin, Spenser's adjective 
 " pitteous " applied to Elidure is the result of Hardyng's 
 statement that he " was so full of all pytee." 60 To this it 
 may be added that the heading of the chapter in Hardyng's 
 chronicle states that Elidure " of pure pytee " crowned his 
 brother. Caxton likewise emphasizes the word pity, in 
 this sense of " evincing pity." If the adjective be under- 
 stood in its other meaning, " fitted to excite pity," one might 
 refer to Hardyng's description of how Elidure's brothers 
 
 " prisoned hym full sore and wrongfullye 
 All in the towre of Troynouant for thy." 
 
 The meaning of " evincing pity," is, however, the more 
 probable, 61 and might easily come from Geoffrey's state- 
 ment that Elidurus was surnamed Pius because of his pity 
 for his brother. 62 The influence of Hardyng, therefore, 
 need not necessarily be assumed, although it is a possibility. 
 Neither is it necessary to assume the influence of Fabyan, 
 
 60 Faerie Queene, Bk. II, ed. Kitchin, p. 227. 
 
 61 See Spenser, Globe ed., Glossary, p. 727. 
 
 62 tf Profiler misericordiam." 
 
COMPARISON IO5 
 
 Graf ton, and Stow, as Geoffrey and the first edition of 
 Holinshed could have furnished Spenser with all his mate- 
 rial. It is significant, however, that except for the descrip- 
 tion of Gorboman the points which seem to show the in- 
 fluence of the later writers are all to be found in more than 
 one chronicle. 
 
 46. He had two sonnes, whose eldest, called Lud, 
 
 Left of his life most famous memory, 
 
 And endlesse moniments of his great good : 
 
 The ruin'd wals he did readifye 
 
 Of Troynovant, gainst force of enimy, 
 
 And built that gate which of his name is hight, 
 
 By which he lyes entombed solemnly. 
 
 He left two sonnes, too young to rule aright, 
 
 Androgeus and Tenantius, pictures of his might. 
 
 G. of M., Ill, 20, p. 44. Hely had three sons. Lud, 
 the eldest, succeeded his father. He was famous for build- 
 ing cities. " Exin gloriosus aedificator urbium existens, 
 renovavit muros Trinovanti et innumerabilibus turribus 
 earn circumcinxit " (//. 4 ff.). He also commanded the 
 citizens to build beautiful houses. The city was named 
 after him. " Defuncto tandem illo, corpus ejus reconditum 
 fuit in praedicta civitate juxta portam illam quae adhuc 
 nomine ejus Parthlud Britanice : 'Saxonice Ludesgata 
 nuncupatur" (II. 15 ff.). He left two young sons, An- 
 drogeus and Tenuantius. 63 
 
 HoL, Hist., pp. 33-34. Helie had three sons: Lud, the 
 eldest, succeeded his father. He repaired many cities, " but 
 specially he delyted most to beautifie & enlarge with build- 
 ings the Citie of Troynouant, which he compassed with a 
 strong wall made of lime and stone, in the best maner 
 fortified with diuerse fayre towers; and in the west part 
 of the same wall he erected a strong gate, which he com- 
 
 63 In the edition of 1508, Tennancius ; in the edition of 1517, Tenan- 
 cius. 
 
io6 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 maunded to be cleped after his name, Luds gate, and so 
 vnto this day it is called Ludgate, the, s, only drowned in 
 y e pronunciation of the word." The city also was named 
 after him. He was buried near Ludgate. He left two 
 sons, Androgeus and Theomancius or Tenancius. Then 
 " sith the two sonnes of Lud were not of age able to 
 gouerne, the rule of the land was committed to Cassibel- 
 lane." 
 
 Hardyng, ch. 41, pp. 7576. Lud built the walls of 
 Troynovant. 
 
 " Androgeus was then his sonne and heyre, 
 (Passyng of sight and luly fay re) 
 Tenancius his yonger sonne, of age 
 Which wer to young to rule the heritage." 
 
 Stow, p. 13. 
 
 "Lud the eldest sonne of Hely, succeeded his father: hee 
 amended his Lawes, and tooke away all vsages that were 
 naught: moreouer, hee repaired the Citty of new Troy with 
 fair buildings and walls : and builded on the West part thereof 
 a strong gate, which vnto this time retaineth the name of 
 him, and is called Ludgate. Finally, hee dyed, leauing after 
 him two sonnes, Androgius, or Auaroius, and Theomantius: 
 who not being of the age to gouerne, their uncle Cassibelane 
 obtained the Crowne. London took the name of Lud, and 
 was called Ludstone, as saith Geffrey" 
 
 In saying that Lud rebuilt the walls of London, Spenser 
 is closer to Geoffrey than to any of the later chroniclers, all 
 of whom, except Stow, agree that he built the walls. Stow 
 says that he " repaired " the city " with fair buildings and 
 walls," but Geoffrey wrote " renovavit muros," which 
 might well be translated by Spenser's words. 
 
 " The ... wals he did re-aedify." 
 
 Therefore Geoffrey seems to have been Spenser's source. 
 The rest of the stanza offers further correspondences in 
 phrasing, and practically repeats Geoffrey's story. There 
 
COMPARISON 107 
 
 is only one important variation. Geoffrey says that Hely 
 had three sons, and Spenser says that he had two. The 
 change may possibly be accounted for by the fact that only 
 two of the sons, Lud and Cassibalane, play a part in later 
 events, and by the additional fact that no third son is men- 
 tioned by Graf ton in his Abridgement, by Lanquet in his 
 Epitome, or by Stow in either Summary or Chronicle. In 
 this change the later chroniclers may have influenced Spen- 
 ser slightly. For the stanza as a whole, however, Geof- 
 frey was apparently the main source. 
 
 47. Whilst they were young, Cassibalane, their Erne, 
 Was by the people chosen in their sted, 
 
 Who on him tooke the roiall Diademe, 
 
 And goodly well long time it governed; 
 
 Till the prowde Romanes him disquieted, 
 
 And warlike Caesar, tenDpted with the name 
 
 Of this sweet Island never conquered, 
 
 And envying the Britons blazed fame, 
 
 (O hideous hunger of dominion!) hither came. 
 
 48. Yet twise they were repulsed backe againe, 
 And twise renforst backe to their ships to fly ; 
 The whiles with blood they all the shore did staine, 
 And the gray Ocean into purple dy: 
 
 Ne had they footing found at last, perdie, 
 
 Had not Androgeus, false to native soyle, 
 
 And envious of Uncles soveraintie, 
 
 Betrayd his countrey unto forreine spoyle. 
 
 Nought els but treason from the first this land did foyle. 
 
 49. So by him Caesar got the victory, 
 Through great bloodshed and many a sad assay, 
 In which himselfe was charged heavily 
 
 Of hardy Nennius, whom he yet did slay, 
 But lost his sword, yet to be scene this day. 
 Thenceforth this land was tributarie made 
 
io8 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 T'ambitious Rome, and did their rule obay, 
 
 Till Arthur all that reckoning defrayd : 
 
 Yet oft the Briton kings against them strongly swayd. 
 
 G. of M., Ill, 20 and IV, i-io, pp. 44 ff. The story is 
 told with much detail. A quarrel which involves the suprem- 
 acy of Cassibelaunus is given as the cause of Androgeus's 
 treachery. In Bk. IV, chapters 3-4, it is said that Nennius 
 attacked Caesar on his first invasion and was wounded so 
 that he died fifteen days later. Caesar's sword remained 
 imbedded in the shield of Nennius, and was used by Nen- 
 nius during the rest of the battle. It was buried with him. 
 The name of the sword was Crocea Mors. 
 
 Hoi., Hist., pp. 34 ff. Holinshed gives a long account 
 which fills twenty-three and a half columns, including, how- 
 ever, four wood-cuts and a chapter heading. He repeats 
 Caesar's story and Geoffrey's, sometimes side by side and 
 sometimes inextricably mingled. He speaks feelingly of 
 "the contrarietie in writers" (/>. 45). He means to show 
 "as reason requireth " what "the Romaine histories write 
 of thinges done here by Emperors, or their Lieutenants 
 . . . ' (p. 45). He tells the story of Nennius briefly 
 (P- 39) > on the authority of the " British hystorie," as the 
 merest incident of the first invasion of Britain. He gives 
 the name of the uncle as Cassibellane. 
 
 Hardyng, chapters 42-44, pp. 76 if. During the reign 
 of Cassibalayn Caesar invaded Britain, " Desyryng sore of 
 it the souerayntee." The story of Neminus is given after 
 the third invasion. 
 
 Mir. for Mag., Julius Casar, st. 26, vol. I, p. 267. Of 
 the Britons it is said, 
 
 " And for their second victory with sports they spend the 
 day." 
 
 St. 32, p. 269. Androgeus sends to Caesar for help: 
 " On this I expedition made the thirde and laste." 
 
COMPARISON 109 
 
 Spenser's account of Cassibalane and of Caesar's in- 
 vasion is, on the whole, up to stanza forty-nine, an accurate 
 summary of Geoffrey's narrative. The death of Nennius, 
 however, is there described as if it occurred in the third in- 
 vasion, though Spenser may not have meant to be so un- 
 derstood, as his " Through great bloodshed and many a sad 
 assay " may refer to all three invasions, instead of to the 
 third exclusively. Yet even if this line were meant to carry 
 the time back to the first invasion, the story of Nennius oc- 
 cupies an odd position, which curiously enough is identical 
 with its position in Hardyng, so that Hardyng seems to 
 have had some influence. 
 
 In spite of its compression of many facts into a small 
 space, this passage is characterized by grace of style, a dis- 
 tinctly rapid, easy method of narration, and an appeal to 
 the emotions. As a result, Spenser adds to the usual story 
 of the sword of Nennius that it is " yet to be seen this day," 
 and ends with an exulting reference to Arthur. For these 
 additions, as for the general character of the narrative, he 
 seems to have had no source or example. We may say, 
 therefore, that Geoffrey was his main source, and that from 
 Hardyng came the only additional influence that we can 
 discover. 
 
 50. Next him Tenantius raignd; then Kimbeline, 
 What time th' eternall Lord in fleshly slime 
 Enwombed was, from wretched Adams line 
 
 To purge away the guilt of sinfull crime. 
 
 O joyous memorie of happy time, 
 
 That heavenly grace so plenteously displayd! 
 
 (O too high ditty for my simple rime!) 
 
 Soone after this the Romanes him warrayd ; 
 
 For that their tribute he refusd to let be payd. 
 
 51. Good Claudius, that next was Emperour, 
 An army brought, and with him batteile fought, 
 In which the king was by a Treachetour 
 
no SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 Disguised slaine, ere any thereof thought : 
 Yet ceased not the bloody fight for ought ; 
 
 G. of M., IV , 11-13, pp. 53-54. Tenuantius ruled, and 
 after him Kymbelinus, his son. He was friendly with the 
 Romans, and freely paid them tribute, which he might well 
 have reftised. In his days Christ was born. Kymbelinus 
 had two sons, Guiderius and Arviragus. The former suc- 
 ceeded him and refused tribute to the Romans. Claudius, 
 who then was Emperor, came against him. Hamo, a gen- 
 eral under Claudius, disguised himself as a Briton, and 
 fought in the British ranks until he had an opportunity to 
 kill Guiderius. 
 
 HoL, Hist. } pp. 45 ff. Theomawtius (or Tenantius) suc- 
 ceeded Cassibellane. Then Cimbeline (Kymbelyne) ruled, 
 and there was peace with Rome. In his reign Christ was 
 born. In the thirteenth year of Theomantius Augustus 
 started to invade Britain because the tribute had not been 
 paid. He was interrupted three . times. " But whether 
 this controuersie which appeareth to fal foorth betwixt the 
 Britaynes and Augustus, was occasioned by Kymbeline 
 or some other Prince of the Britaynes, I have not to 
 avouch: . . . 
 
 " Guiderius y e firste son of Kymbaline (of whome Har- 
 rison sayeth nothing) beganne his raigne in y e seuententh 
 yere after the incarnation of Christ " (p. 47). 
 
 He refused to pay tribute. " This Guiderius being a man 
 of stout courage, gaue occasion of breach of peace betwixt 
 the Britaynes and Romaynes, denying to pay the tribute 
 . . . (/>. 47). The story of Caligula's expedition 
 which ended in gathering cockle-shells is told next, and the 
 story that Dion Cassius gives, according to which Plautius, 
 in the time of Claudius, led the army into Britain and van- 
 quished the sons of Cynobellinus, " for theyr father was 
 dead not very long before" (p. 49). Geoffrey's story is 
 told last, and is brief. 
 
COMPARISON III 
 
 Hardyng, ch. 45, p. Bo. 
 
 " This Kinbelyne reigned fully X yere, 
 
 And ruled this lande in lawe and peace full well, 
 
 And dyed then, as sayth the chronycler, 
 
 That ilke same yere that Christe was (borne w* zele) 
 
 (Of his mother a mayden fayre and wele,) 
 
 For Christen folke by grace then to redeme 
 
 From payne of hell to blysse, as clerkes deme." 
 
 The lines on the birth of Christ that immediately follow 
 the mention of Kimbeline appear to have been suggested 
 by Hardy ng's lines on the same subject. The statement 
 that comes next, namely, that the Romans made war on 
 Kimbeline because he refused to pay tribute, may possibly 
 have some foundation in a sentence in Holinshed, where it 
 is said that the war with Rome in the time of Tenantius was 
 due to the refusal of tribute by " Kymbeline or some other 
 Prince of the Brytaines." More probably, however, these 
 lines, like the following, are due to Spenser's omission of 
 Guiderius, whose story is transferred in its totality to Kim- 
 beline. According to Holinshed, H^rison omitted Gui- 
 derius. Perhaps Harison also transferred the story of 
 Guiderius to Kimbeline and is the source of the passage in 
 Spenser. Certainly, in the face of Holinshed's evidence 
 about Hanson, one hesitates to assume that Spenser has 
 here merely made a mistake. Apart from this possible in- 
 fluence of Harison's Chronologic, the sources of Spenser 
 seem to have been only Geoffrey and Hardyng. 
 
 51, //. 6 ff. For Arvirage his brothers place supplyde 
 Both in his armes and crowne, and by that draught 
 Did drive the Romanes to the weaker syde, 
 
 That they to peace agreed. So all was pacifyde. 
 
 52. Was never king 'more highly magnifide, 
 Nor dredd of Romanes, then was Arvirage; 
 
H2 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 For which the Emperour to him allide 
 
 His daughter Genuiss' in marriage : 
 
 Yet shortly he renounst the vassallage 
 
 Of Rome againe, who hither hastly sent 
 
 Vespasian, that with great spoile and rage 
 
 Forwasted all, till Genuissa gent 
 
 Persuaded him to ceasse, and her lord to relent. 
 
 G. of M., IV, 13-16, pp. 54 ff. Arviragus assumed his 
 brother's arms, and the Britons, unconscious of the death of 
 their king, fought under his leadership until they were vic- 
 torious over the Romans. Peace was made. Arviragus 
 recognized the supremacy of Rome, and received in mar- 
 riage Genuissa, 64 the daughter of Claudius. Afterward he 
 assumed sole power. Vespasianus was sent against him. 
 There was a drawn battle ; then peace was made by Genuissa. 
 Arviragus continued to govern his kingdom peacefully and 
 well. " Fama igitur ejus per totam Europam divulgata, 
 diligebant eum Romani et timebant, ita ut prae onwibus 
 regibus sermo de eo Romae Herd" (ch. 16, //. 25 if., 
 
 P. 57). 
 
 HoL, Hist., pp. 51 if. Arviragus made peace with 
 Claudius on condition that he have Genissa, the daughter 
 of Claudius, in marriage. After relating this story Holins- 
 hed gives evidence against it. He then continues with the 
 revolt of Arviragus, the arrival of Vespasian, and the in- 
 tervention of Genissa, as in Geoffrey. But again he quotes 
 from Latin authors evidence against the story he has just 
 told. 
 
 Hardyng, ch. 46, p. 81. 
 
 " His brothers armis vpon hym self he cast ; 
 And king was then of all ye Great Britain.'* 
 
 Although the opening lines in Spenser's account of 
 Arvirage seem to echo Hardyng's, the rest of the story fol- 
 
 64 In the editions of 1508 and 1517, Gennissa. 
 
OF THE 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF 
 
 COMPARISON 113 
 
 lows Geoffrey closely. Not only is it the same in general 
 outline, but also it shows the influence of Geoffrey in the 
 wording of the reference to Arvirage's reputation. Both 
 Geoffrey and Hardyng seem to have been used by Spenser. 
 
 53. He dide, and him succeeded Marius, 
 
 Who joyd his dayes IN GREAT TRANQUILLITY. 
 
 Then Coyll ; and after him good Lucius, 
 
 That first received Christianity, 
 
 The sacred pledge of Christes Evangely. 
 
 Yet true it is, that long before that day 
 
 Hither came Joseph of Arimathy, 
 
 Who brought with him the holy grayle, they say, 
 
 And preacht the truth ; but since it greatly did decay. 
 
 54. This good king shortly without issew dide, 
 Whereof great trouble in the kingdome grew, 
 That did her selfe in sondry parts divide, 
 And with her powre her owne selfe overthrew, 
 Whilest Romanes daijy did the weake subdew : 
 
 G. of M., IV , 17-20, and V , 1-2, pp. 57 ff. Succession 
 of kings : Marius, who overcame the Picts ; Coillus ; Lucius, 
 who embraced Christianity. Lucius died without issue. 
 Dissension followed his death, and the Roman power was 
 weakened. When this news reached Rome, Severus was 
 sent to subdue the country. 
 
 Hoi., Hist., p. 52 /. In the time of Arviragus Joseph 
 of Aramathia introduced Christianity and preached in Eng- 
 land. There follows an account of the Roman Ostorius, the 
 British Voadicia or Bunduica, and others. 
 
 pp. 66 ff. " Marius, otherwise Meurig or Maue " suc- 
 ceeded his father Arviragus, overcame the Picts, and con- 
 tinued " the residue of his life IN GREAT TRANQUILLITIE." 
 
 pp. 68 ff. A long account of Agricola's government is 
 given. 
 
 pp. 73 ff. Coyllus, Coilus, or Coyll became king. Lu- 
 
H4 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 cius succeeded him, and was the first king to become Chris- 
 tian, although from the days of Joseph of Arimathea there 
 had been men who preached the gospel among the Britains. 
 Lucius died without issue, and dissension followed. 
 
 Hardyng, chapters 47-48, pp. 83 ff. Hardy ng gives a 
 full account of Joseph of Arimathie's coming to England 
 with Vespasian in the time of Arviragus. 
 
 Ch. 48, p. 85. 
 
 " Joseph conuerted this kyng Aruigarus, 
 
 By his prechyng, to knowe y e lawe deuine, 
 
 And baptized hym, as writew hath Neninus . . ." 
 
 Ch. 49, pp. 85-86. Marius gained a victory over the 
 Picts, to commemorate which a red cross was erected in 
 Westmoreland. 
 
 Ch. 50, p. 88. 
 
 " Kyng Maryus kepte y e (realme in lawe &) peace, 
 Full of riches and of prosperyte." 
 
 Ch. si, p. go. 
 
 " For cause he " (Lucius) " had no (ne) heire to kepe the 
 
 lande 
 
 Through all Britayn the barons gan discorde, 
 Vnto the tyme that Romayns toke on hande 
 To chese a prince by there stedfaste accorde." 
 
 Caxton, Ch. 40. 
 
 " This kyng lucye had none heyr of his body bigoten that 
 was afterward grete harme & sorrow to the land / for after 
 this kyng lucyes deth / none of the grete of the land wold 
 suffre an other to be kyng, but lyved in werre / & in debate 
 amonges hem L yere without kyng / but it befell afterward 
 that a grete prince come fro Rome in to this land that me 
 called Seuerye . . ." 
 
 Spenser, in his account of Marius, omitted the war with 
 the Picts which is described by Geoffrey, Holinshed, and 
 
COMPARISON 115 
 
 all the other chroniclers. This is the more surprising as 
 the war ended in a British victory which was commemo- 
 rated by a stone in Westmoreland, just the kind of ma- 
 terial that should have appealed to Spenser. He may have 
 rejected it, however, because in many accounts, such as 
 Caxton's, the king who waged the war is called, not Marius, 
 but Westmer, presumably as a result of Geoffrey's having 
 said that the province of Westmoreland was named from 
 him. Any mention of the war would have suggested to 
 the well-informed reader this troublesome disagreement 
 among authorities. So Spenser, keeping the name of the 
 king as he found it in Geoffrey and Holinshed, simply used 
 Holinshed's words, " in great tranquillity," to describe the 
 whole of the reign, instead of its conclusion. From the 
 phrasing we infer the use of Holinshed at this point. 
 
 In the description of the reign of Lucius the reference 
 to Joseph of Arimathy shows again the influence of Holins- 
 hed, the only writer who speaks of him at this point, al- 
 though reference to him in the reign of Arviragus is com- 
 mon. No where in the chronicles, however, does there 
 seem to be mention of the grail. This Spenser apparently 
 added from the romances. Holinshed, therefore, remains 
 the only chronicler whose influence we can trace in Spen- 
 ser's account of Marius, Coyll, and Lucius. 
 
 54, //. 6 ff. Which seeing, stout Bunduca up arose, 
 And taking armes the Britons to her drew ; 
 
 With whom she marched streight against her foes, 
 And them unwares besides the Severne did enclose. 
 
 55. There she with them a cruell batteill tryde, 
 Not with so good successe as shee deserv'd; 
 By reason that the Captaines on her syde, 
 Corrupted by Paulinus, from her swerv'd : 
 
 Yet, such as were through former flight preserv'd 
 Gathering againe, her Host she did renew, 
 And with fresh corage on the victor servd : 
 
ii6 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 But being all defeated, save a few, 
 
 Rather then fly, or be captiv'd, her selfe she slew. 
 
 56. O famous moniment of womens prayse ! 
 
 Matchable either to Semiramis, 
 
 Whom antique history so high doth rayse, 
 
 Or to Hypsiphil', or to Thomiris. 
 
 Her Host two hundred thousand numbred is : 
 
 Who, whiles good fortune favoured her might, 
 
 Triumphed oft against her enemis : 
 
 And yet, though overcome in haplesse fight, 
 
 Shee triumphed on death, in enimies despight. 
 
 G. of M. The story of Bunduca is not given. 
 
 HoL, Hist., pp. 60 if. Voadicia (also called Bunduica, 
 Boudicia, and Bunuica) lived in the time of Nero, succes- 
 sor to Claudius, and in the time of Arviragus, whose wife 
 she may possibly have been. After she had gained sev- 
 eral victories over the Romans she was met by Paulinus 
 Suetonius and defeated. Then she either died or killed her- 
 self. A marginal note (p. 64) says that, according to 
 Dion, Voadicia's army numbered 230,000. Her first bat- 
 tle was fought at Camalodunum. There was a second en- 
 counter, and then Suetonius returned from Anglesey to 
 London. After leaving London and Verolanium he fought 
 a battle " within straytes " (p. 64). This was the battle in 
 which Voadicia was defeated. 
 
 P- 54- 
 
 " But nowe there resteth a great doubt among writers, where 
 thys Citie or Towne called Camulodunum dyd stand of some 
 and not without good grounde of probable conjectures, gath- 
 ered vpon the aduised consideration of the circumstances of 
 that whych in olde authors is found written of this place, 
 it is thought to be Colchester. But verily by thys place of 
 Tacitus it may seeme rather to be some other towne, situate 
 more Westward than Colchester, sith a colonie of Romaine 
 Souldiers were planted there to bee at hande, for the repress- 
 ing of the vnquiet Silures, whiche by consent of most writers 
 inhabited in South wales, or neere the Welch Marches." 
 
COMPARISON 117 
 
 p. 55. Camulodunum is said to have been certainly near 
 the Thames. 
 
 Stow, pp. 32-33. The story of Bunducia is told vividly 
 on the authority of Dion Cassius. Bunducia, with an army 
 of 230,000 men, captured two cities during the absence of 
 Paulinus. On his return she fought with him and was de- 
 feated. She died of disease. In a single paragraph there 
 follows the account given by Tacitus, according to which 
 Bunducia, after her defeat, poisoned herself. 
 
 Camden, Brit., section Romani in Britannia, pp. 37-46. 
 
 " Britanni, Bunduica regia faemina duce . . ." (p. 38). 
 The revolt is said to have been in the time of Suetonius 
 and Paulinus. The latter defeated Bunduica. 
 
 Spenser's treatment of the story of Bunduca deserves par- 
 ticular attention. In the first place, his mere inclusion of 
 it is significant, as it is non-Galfridian material not incor- 
 porated into the mythical history of Britain until after the 
 time of Hardyng. In the second place, Spenser is ap- 
 parently independent of all his predecessors in choosing the 
 place for inserting this foreign material, and in his method 
 of fusing it with the rest of the narrative. And in the 
 third place, he seems almost equally independent of his 
 predecessors in the details of the story. 
 
 The inclusion of the material is what would naturally be 
 expected. The story rested on good classical authority, 
 Tacitus and Dion Cassius. It was accepted by the best 
 chroniclers contemporary with Spenser, Holinshed and 
 Stow. It was discussed by the antiquarian, Camden. It 
 was a good story in itself, and inasmuch as it glorified a 
 woman it was likely to appeal to Elizabeth. 
 
 The place where the story is inserted was apparently the 
 result of careful study on Spenser's part. Holinshed and 
 other writers who sought for historical accuracy, following 
 the statement that Bunduca was the wife of Arviragus, in- 
 troduced her story just before the reign of Marius, where, 
 
n8 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 however, it contradicted Geoffrey's narrative, according to 
 which Marius immediately succeeded his father Arviragus, 
 and Britain was at peace with Rome. Spenser ingeniously 
 transferred the story to the period of civil dissension and 
 Roman warfare following the death of Lucius, when such a 
 leader as Bunduca might well have arisen. After describ- 
 ing her death he could easily return to Geoffrey's narrative 
 with the account of Severus and Fulgenius. By this ar- 
 rangement, Spenser, without falsifying those portions of 
 Geoffrey's narrative which he kept, contrived to make his 
 own chronicle, in spite of its extraneous material, both plau- 
 sible and coherent. 
 
 The source of Spenser's account of Bunduca remains to 
 be considered. But first we shall do well to notice its gen- 
 eral characteristics. It is not a simple and straightforward 
 account. 'Bunduca takes arms, calls the Britons to her, 
 marches against her foes, surrounds them near the Severne, 
 but in the ensuing battle is defeated because her captains, 
 bribed by Paulinus, desert her. Rallying the remnant 
 of her forces, she fights again, and is again defeated. Then 
 she slays herself. Here, manifestly, with the fifty-fifth 
 stanza, the story of Bunduca should end. The fifty-sev- 
 enth stanza would then follow without a break, and the story 
 as a whole would be coherent and free from contradictions. 
 But the unnecessary fifty-sixth stanza causes trouble. 
 Spenser begins with four lines of apostrophizing in which 
 he compares Bunduca to famous women of ancient times. 
 Then suddenly he drops to the level of commonplace. 
 
 " Her host two hundred thousand numbred is." 
 
 He continues with a reference to Bunduca's many vic- 
 tories, 65 and then vaguely repeats the fact of her death. 
 
 65 On the other two occasions when Spenser mentions Bunduca he 
 refers to her victories. In the Faerie Queene, III, 3, 54, he writes, 
 
 " The bold Bunduca, whose victorious 
 Exployts made Rome to quake." 
 
COMPARISON I IQ 
 
 The account of Bunduca in stanzas fifty-four and fifty-five 
 gave no opportunity for these victories, as Bunduca is there 
 described as fighting only twice and being defeated both 
 times. The fifty-sixth stanza therefore in part contradicts 
 and in part repeats the narrative in the preceding stanzas. 
 
 In a consideration of Spenser's sources we are justified 
 in separating the fifty-sixth stanza from the rest of the story. 
 Its material is sufficiently familiar. The number of Bun- 
 duca's host, 200,000, is probably based on Dion's estimate 
 of 230,000, which is repeated by both Holirished and Stow. 
 All previous versions of the story, so far as we know, rep- 
 resent Bunduca as victorious in her early battles. And 
 finally, the account of her death was so carefully worded 
 that Spenser is not committed either to Dion's statement 
 that she died of disease or to the story in Tacitus that she 
 took poison. Spenser might have based his lines on either 
 version. The material of the stanza as a whole might have 
 come from any of the extant accounts of Bunduca. 
 
 With the material in stanzas fifty-four and fifty-five the 
 case is different. Except for the form of the name, which 
 approximates the Bunducia of Stow and the Bunduica which 
 appears in Camden and as one of the variants in Holins- 
 hed, and for the statement that Bunduca committed suicide, 
 Spenser's story is entirely independent of any known au- 
 thority. Yet in localizing the story in the west instead of 
 the east of England, Spenser may possibly have taken a 
 hint from Holinshed, who suggested, on the evidence of 
 Tacitus, that Camalodunum might not be Colchester, with 
 which it was usually identified, but some place farther west, 
 near Wales. 
 
 In the Ruines of Time (Spenser, Globe ed, p. 490) Verolame is 
 represented as saying, 
 
 " But long ere this, Bunduca, Britonesse, 
 Her mightie hoast against my bulwarkes brought, 
 Bunduca, that victorious conqueresse, 
 That, lifting up her brave heroick thought 
 Bove womens weaknes, with the Romanes fought, 
 Fought, and in field against them thrice prevailed; 
 Yet was she foyld, when as she me assailed." 
 
I2O SPENSER S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 It seems probable, we may conclude, that Spenser in- 
 serted a brief version of the Bunduca story in what seemed 
 to him the most convenient place in Geoffrey's narrative. 
 This version, if not independent, was based on some ac- 
 count as yet undiscovered, although influenced, possi- 
 bly, by Holinshed and Tacitus. Afterward, perhaps 
 when revising, he realized that he had omitted all men- 
 tion of Bunduca's victories and was losing an oppor- 
 tunity to glorify a heroine. He therefore wrote and 
 inserted the fifty-sixth stanza, which he based on material 
 familiar in all accounts of Bunduca. It gave him an oppor- 
 tunity to call the British Queen a " famous moniment of 
 womens prayse," and to make even her death a victory. 
 Meanwhile he forgot what he had previously written or was 
 indifferent to the repetition and the implied contradiction. 
 
 57. Her reliques Fulgent having gathered, 
 Fought with Severus, and him overthrew, 
 Yet in the chace was slaine of them that fled, 
 So made them victors whome he did subdew. 
 
 G. of M., V , 2, pp. 60-6 1. Fulgenius, with the assist- 
 ance of the Picts, fought against Severus, who was killed in 
 the battle. Fulgenius also was mortally wounded. Sev- 
 erus left two sons, Bassianus and Geta. 
 
 HoL, Hist., p. 78. " At length, hearing that one Fulg^wtius 
 as then a leader of the Pictes was entred into the bordures of 
 his countrey on this syde Durham, he" (Severus) " raysed 
 an host of Britaynes and Romans, with the which he marched 
 towards his enimies : and meeting with the said Fulgentius in 
 a place neere vnto Yorke, in the end after sore fighte Seuerus 
 was slayne, when he hadde ruled thys land for the space al- 
 most of fiue yeeres, as before is sayd, and was after buried at 
 Yorke, leauing behinde him two sonnes, the one named Geta, 
 & the other Bassianus." 
 
 Mir. for Mag., Fulgentius, st. 10-13, v l- L PP- 322- 
 323. The Roman force gives way. Fulgent pursues. 
 
COMPARISON 121 
 
 The Romans rally. Fulgent kills Severus, but himself re- 
 ceives a death-wound. 
 
 Spenser, as has been said, returns to Geoffrey's narrative 
 with the account of the conflict between Fulgent and 
 Severus. In a transitional phrase he m ( akes Fulgent the 
 successor to Bunduca, whose " reliques " Fulgent gathers. 
 In the fight between Severus and Fulgent, Spenser intro- 
 duces material not found in Geoffrey, namely, the flight 
 of the Romans and the death of Fulgent in pursuit. This 
 appears to have been based on the full account of the battle 
 in the Mirror for Magistrates, which gives the story of 
 Fulgent's pursuit of the enemy and his being killed when 
 the Romans rallied. Spenser's form of Fulgent's name also 
 shows the influence of the Mirror for Magistrates or the 
 later chronicles. The Mirror for Magistrates seems to 
 have been Spenser's source. 
 
 57, 1. 5 f. Then gan Carausius tirannize anew, 
 And gainst the Romanes bent their proper powre ; 
 
 G. of M., V , 34, pp. 61 ff. Carausius, after the time 
 of the sons of Fulgenius, got a fleet from the Romans to 
 defend the coast of Britain, and then became a pirate, and 
 finally king of the Britons. He attacked the Romans. 
 
 Hoi., Hist., pp. 8 1 ff. Caraussius, after he had van- 
 quished and slain Bassianus, was made king by the Britons. 
 His victory was won by the aid of the Picts, who betrayed 
 Bassianus and came over to him. He was slain on the field 
 of battle by Alectus. 
 
 Later Eutropius is quoted as telling the story that Caraus- 
 sius received charge at Bolein to keep the seas quiet about 
 Britain, France, and Flanders. He kept the profits him- 
 self. There was a plan to punish him, so he revolted and 
 became king of Britain. 
 
 Stow, p. 42. Carausius used the Roman fleet to make 
 himself powerful. The Romans prepared to move against 
 
122 SPENSER S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 him. He " passed out of Gaule into Brytaine, where bring- 
 ing the countrey to his obeysance, he vsurped the robe of 
 an Emperour." 
 
 At this point in the story Spenser omits Bassianus and 
 Geta, perhaps to avoid a disproportion in the narrative as a 
 result of his insertion of Bunduca just before. His account 
 of their successor, Carausius, agrees with Geoffrey's. 
 
 57, //. 7 if. But him Allectus treacherously slew, 
 And tooke on him the robe of Emperoure : 
 Nath'lesse the same enjoyed but short happy howre : 
 
 58. For Asclepiodate him overcame, 
 
 And left inglorious on the vanquisht playne, 
 Without or robe or rag to hide his shame : 
 Then afterwards he in his stead did raigne, 
 But shortly was by Coyll in batteill slaine : 
 
 G. of M., V , 4-6, pp. 62 if. Allectus, sent from Rome, 
 killed Carausius, and " ipsoque inter fecto solium regni sus- 
 cepit " (ch. 4, /. 5). He was killed in battle by Asclepi- 
 odotus, who overcame the Romans under Gallus, and 
 became king. Coel headed an insurrection against As- 
 clepiodotus, killed him, and took his crown. 
 
 Hoi, Hist., p. 82. Alectus was killed by Asclepiodotus, 
 who fought the Romans, became king, and was afterward 
 killed by Coyll or Coilus. 
 
 pp. 83 if. Holinshed gives an oration ascribed to Mamer- 
 tinus in praise of Maximianus. In it occurs the follow- 
 ing : The " ringleader of the vngratious faction " fled and 
 the Romans gained the victory with the loss of scarcely a 
 man. Among the heaps of the dead " the chiefe ringleader 
 of the theeues was founde, who had put off those robes 
 which in his life time he had vsurped & dishonored, so as 
 vneth was he couered wyth one piece of apparell whereby he 
 
COMPARISON 
 
 I2 3 
 
 might be knowen, so neare were his wordes true vttered at 
 the houre of his death, whiche he saw at hand, that he 
 would not haue it understoode howe he was slayn " (p. 
 85 ). A marginal note says, " Alectus f ounde dead. He 
 had dispoyled himselfe of the imperiall robes, bycause he 
 would not be knowen if he chanced to be slayne." 
 
 P. 87. 
 
 " But whether Asclepiodotus came ouer w* that nauie which 
 was rigged on the coasts of Flanders, or with some other, I 
 will not presume to affirme eyther to or fro, bicause in deed 
 Mamertinus maketh no expresse mention either of Alectus, 
 or Asclepiodotus: but notwithstanding it is euident by that 
 which is cowteined in his oration, that not Maximian, but 
 some other of the captains gouerned y* armie, whiche slewe 
 Alectus, so that we may suppose that Asclepiodotus was 
 chieftain ouer some number of ships directed by Maximin- 
 ians 6G appointment to passe ouer into this yle against the 
 same Alectus : and so may this which Mamertinus writeth, 
 agree with the truth of that which we fynd in Eutropiusi" 
 
 Stow, pp. 42-43. Constantius was sent to subdue 
 Britain. He first attacked " the Hollanders . . . and 
 then staying for conuenient winde, hee houered a while on 
 the Sea-coast, and in the meane time Carausius was 
 trayterously slaine by Alectus his familiar friend." Con- 
 stantine 67 landed and burned his ships. " Which when 
 Alectus understood, hee left the shore, and prepared 
 himselfe for battell, with his mercenary barbarous Soul- 
 diours, in which hee was slaine by Asdepwdatus, Lord 
 great Master of the Emperours house. In this fight none 
 of the Romanes perished, but heere all the field was ouer- 
 spred with dead bodies of the enemies, among whom lay 
 Alectus himselfe without any Emperiall ornaments, and 
 scantly knowne." 
 
 * 8 This form, Maximinian, interchanges with Maximian in the edi- 
 tion of 1577, but is corrected to the latter form in the next edition 
 (vol. I, Hist, of Eng., p. 61). 
 
 67 Evidently a mistake for Constantius. It occurs only once. 
 
124 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 Mir. for Mag., Carassus, st. 46, vol. I, p. $&o. 68 
 
 " Alectus then the chiefetayne of the rest, 
 
 Spoyling my friendes, he forst me to the feelde. 
 The daye was come, we both in fight were prest: 
 His trustelesse trayne, did seem to me to yeelde, 
 But al the feeldes with great ambushmentes filde 
 I coulde not flee, Alectus had the day, 
 With his own sworde for breath he made me bray." 
 
 Spenser's account of Allectus follows the authorities later 
 than Geoffrey in phrasing and in the statement that Allectus 
 was found naked on the field of battle. The phrasing shows 
 the influence of Stow, both in " treacherously slew " and in 
 the " tooke on him the robe of Emperoure," which echoes 
 Stow's phrase as regards Carausius, who " vsurped the robe 
 of an Emperour." Beside Stow, there seems to be no au- 
 thority for " treacherously " except possibly the line in the 
 Mirror for Magistrates. 
 
 " His trustelesse trayne did seem to me to yeelde." 
 
 Stow, therefore, appears to have been Spenser's source. 
 But the account of the finding of the body of Allectus seems 
 to have been influenced also by the oration of Mamertinus 
 quoted by Holinshed. In this it is said that the ringleader 
 (identified with Allectus) had put off the imperial! robes 
 " so as vneth was he couered wyth one piece of apparell." 
 Stow says only that among the dead bodies " lay Alectus 
 himselfe, without any imperiall ornaments, and scantly 
 knowne." Holinshed, therefore, as well as Stow, seems to 
 have influenced Spenser in this passage. 
 
 58, //. 6 ff. Who after long debate, since Lucies tyme, 
 Was of the Britons first crownd Soveraine. 
 Then gan this Realme renew her passed prime : 
 He of his name Coylchester built of stone and lime. 
 
 68 This legend is not included in the edition of 1587, but was printed 
 in 1578 under the title, "The Seconde part of the Mirrour for Magis- 
 trates, conteining the falles of the infortunate Princes of this Lande. 
 From the Conquest of Caesar, into the comyng of Duke William the 
 Conqueror." 
 
COMPARISON 125 
 
 59. Which when the Romanes heard, they hither sent 
 
 Constantius, a man of mickle might, 
 
 With whome King Coyll made an agreement, 
 
 And to him gave for wife his daughter bright, 
 
 Fayre Helena, the fairest living wight; 
 
 Who in all godly thewes and goodly praise 
 
 Did far excell, but was most famous hight 
 
 For skil in Music ke of all in her dales, 
 
 As well in curious instruments as cunning laies. 
 
 G. of M. 9 V, 6, p. 64. Coel, Duke of Colchester, killed 
 Asclepiodotus in battle and became king. Constantius, who 
 was sent to reduce Britain, made terms with Coel. Coel 
 died soon after. " Quo defuncto insignivit se Constantius 
 regni diademate; duxitque filiam Coel, cui nomen erat 
 Helena. Pulchritudo ejus provinciates puellas superabat, 
 nee uspiam reperiebatur altera quae in musicis instruments 
 sive in liberalibus artibus ilia doctior censer etur " (II. 18 ff). 
 
 Hoi., Hist., p. 88. Coellus or Coill, earl of Colchester, 
 king of the Britons, made peace with Constantius, and 
 " gaue to Constantius his daughter in manage called 
 Helene, a noble Lady and a lerned. Shortly after king 
 Coell dyed ..." Holinshed doubts the truth of this 
 story. 
 
 F lores Historiarum, I, p. 168. 
 
 " Helenam . . . virginem valde speciosam, artibus- 
 que liberalibus et instruments musicis ad perfectum erudi- 
 tam . . ." 
 
 Ponticus Virunnius, ed. 1585, p. 35. 
 
 " Helena, pulchritudinis inauditae, nee uspiam reperiebatur 
 altera, quae in musicis instrumentis, sive liberalibus artibus 
 doctior ilia censeretur : nam in utraque lingua excellebat, unde 
 extant adhuc carmina quaedam Graeca, quae illius fuisse per- 
 hibentur." 
 
 Hardyng, ch. 58, p. 96. 
 
 " The duke Caire Colun (that hight) Coylus, 
 Which cytee (nowe) this daye Colchester hight, 
 Then crowned was, (that slewe) Asclepiadotus." 
 
126 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 Ch. 59. Hardyng says of Helen, 
 
 " Her father Coyle set her to be excercysed, 
 In philosophye and other scyence clene," 
 
 so that she should be fitted to rule the realm. 
 
 Caxton, ch. 40. 
 
 "tho regned Asclepades in qyete till one of his erles that 
 me callyd Coill made a fayre toune ageynste the kynges wyll / 
 and lete calle the toune colchester after his name wherfor 
 the king was ful wroth and thought destroye therle . . ." 
 
 Ch. 45. " The kynge Coyll yaf his doughter Eleyn to Con- 
 stance, for to haue hyr to his spouse that was both fayr wyse 
 & good, & wel lettred." 
 
 Nauclerus, p. 564. 
 
 " Asclepiodoto interfecto, Coel succedit, qui Coelstriam 
 condidit." 
 
 Chambers, Histoire abregee, p. 22. 
 
 " Coilus septante troisieme Roy de la grande Bretagne, 
 fils du susdit Marius estant nourry a Rome en sa ieunesse, luy 
 donna occasion non seulement de demeurer constant en payant 
 son tribut aux Remains : mais aussi de se porter enuers ses 
 subiects, tant riches que pauures, fort gratieusement, ausquels 
 il faisoit des dons, & presens, selow la qualite d'vn chacun, 
 il feist bastir la ville de Colchester dicte de son nom, ou il 
 est enterre." 
 
 The first part of Spenser's account of Coel differs from 
 Geoffrey's in two points. Spenser says that Coel was the 
 first since Lucius to be crowned king. This directly con- 
 tradicts several of Geoffrey's statements, as for instance, his 
 statement that Asclepiodotus was crowned and that Coel 
 took his crown from him. 69 No authority for Spenser's as- 
 sertion has as yet been discovered. As regards the second 
 point in which he differs from Geoffrey, the case is dif- 
 
 68 G. of M., V, 5-6. 
 
COMPARISON 127 
 
 ferent. For the founding of Colchester by Coel there is 
 authority in Caxton, Nauclerus, and Chambers. Of these 
 three Caxton is the most likely to have been Spenser's 
 source. The first line of Spenser's account of Coel, 
 
 " Who after long debate, since Lucies tyme," 
 
 also shows the influence of Caxton, who wrote, " for after 
 this kyng lucyes deth / none of the grete of the land wold 
 suffre another to be kyng, but lyved in werre / and in de- 
 bate amonges hem L yere without kyng." 70 It is even pos- 
 sible that this passage suggested Spenser's statement that 
 Coel was the first crowned sovereign since the time of Lu- 
 cius. The last part of Spenser's account of Coel follows 
 Geoffrey closely in the description of Helena, and in the 
 reference to her skill in musical instruments gives a detail 
 which can be found only in Geoffrey and in two chronicles 
 which at this point repeat his story almost verbatim, 
 namely, the Flores Historiarum, and the Sex Libri of Pon- 
 ticus Virunnius. At the same time, Spenser even here in 
 one important point follows Caxton, Holinshed, and the 
 other later chroniclers in preference to Geoffrey, by repre- 
 senting Coel as giving Helena to Constantius in marriage, 
 although Geoffrey says that Constantius married her after 
 the death of Coel. In his account of Coel, therefore, as 
 so often before, Spenser seems to base his narrative on 
 Geoffrey's, but modifies it according to the statements made 
 by the later chroniclers, in this case apparently according to 
 those of Caxton in particular. 
 
 60. Of whom he did great Constantine begett, 
 Who afterward was Emiperour of Rome, 
 To which whiles absent he his mind did sett, 
 Octavius here lept into his roome, 
 And it usurped by unrighteous doome : 
 But he his title justifide by might, 
 
 70 Caxton, ch. 40. See p. 114, above. 
 
128 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 Slaying Traherne, and having overcome 
 
 The Romane legion in dreadfull fight. 
 
 So settled he his kingdome, and confirmd his right: 
 
 G. of M., V , 6-8, pp. 64 if. Constantinus, son of Coel 
 and Helena, freed Rome from the tyrant Maxentius, and 
 became Emperor of Rome. Octavius, in Britain, rebelled 
 aginst Rome. Constantinus sent Trahern against him. 
 After severe fighting, Trahern was successful, but later he 
 was slain in ambush, and Octavius recovered the throne. 
 " Regnum autem Britanniae ab illo tempore usque in diem 
 Gratiani et Valentiniani feliciter obtinuit" (ch. 8, //. 35 ft., 
 p. 66.) 
 
 HoL, Hist., pp. 90 if. Holinshed repeats Geoffrey's 
 story, but has additions from Roman authors. Traherne 
 is said to have been slain by an Earl of Britain who bore 
 good will to Octavius. The story of Helen and the cross 
 is told. 
 
 Hardyng, ch. 63, p. 100 /. The miraculous cure of Con- 
 stantyne's leprosy and St. Elin's seeking the cross are both 
 given. After the death of Constantyne, Octavius usurped 
 the throne. 
 
 Spenser reproduces here the narrative of Geoffrey. Al- 
 though the verbal coincidence is by no means exact, the 
 last line in particular seems to have had its source in the 
 Historia. 
 
 61. But wanting yssew male, his daughter deare 
 
 He gave in wedlocke to Maximian, 
 
 And him with her made of his kingdome heyre, 
 
 Who soone by meanes thereof the Empire wan, 
 
 Till murdred by the freends of Gratian. 
 
 Then gan the Hunnes and Picts invade this land, 
 
 During the raigne of Maximinian; 
 
 Who dying left none heire them to withstand, 
 
 But that they overran all parts with easy hand. 
 
COMPARISON 129 
 
 G. of M., V } 9-16, pp. 66 ff. Octavius, having no son, 
 and but one daughter, married her to Maximianus, and 
 made him heir to the throne. Conanus, the nephew of Oc- 
 tavius, who had desired the kingdom for himself, rebelled, 
 was defeated, rebelled again, and was finally reconciled with 
 Maximianus through the intervention of friends. Five 
 years later Maximianus conquered Gaul, settled it with a 
 hundred thousand of the common people of Britain, and 
 made Conanus ruler. He then conquered Germany and 
 made the seat of his empire at Triers. Meanwhile Conanus 
 sent to Britain for wives for his men. Eleven thousand 
 daughters of the nobility and sixty thousand of the women 
 of lower rank were dispatched. They were ship-wrecked 
 and those who escaped drowning fell into the hands of 
 Guanius, king of the Huns, and Melga, king of the Picts, 
 by whom they were murdered. These two kings, by com- 
 mand of Gratianus, were then harrying Germany. When 
 they learned that the fighting men had been withdrawn 
 from Britain they attacked and laid waste the island. 
 Maximianus sent two legions who drove the enemy out. 
 " Interea Maximianus Romae interfectus est ab amicis 
 Gratiani . . ." (1. 43 /., p. 73.) 
 
 HoL, Hist., p. 93. " Maxentius was sonne to Herculeus 
 Maximinianus. 71 Constantine had marryed Fausta the 
 daughter of the sayde Maximinianus. Nowe so it was 
 that Maximinianus immediately after that his son Maxentius 
 hadde taken the rule vpon hym, sought meanes to haue de- 
 posed hym . . ." The name is given later as Her- 
 culeus Maximinus. 
 
 p. 95 /. Heading of chapter, " Maximianus or rather' 
 Maximus." After the death of Octavius, Maximianus be- 
 gan to rule the Britons. " Finally this Maximianus, or as 
 the Romaine histories haue, Maximus, was by the soul- 
 dioures chosen and proclaimed Emperour here in Britayne : 
 although some write that this was done in Spayn." The 
 
 71 In edition 1587 (vol. I, Hist, of Eng., p. 64) this is corrected 
 throughout to Maximianus. See p. 123, above. 
 
130 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 story of the virgins is told, and the death of Maximus is 
 thus described : " In this meane while, Maximus hauing 
 slain the Emperour Gratian at Lyon in France, and after 
 entring into Italy e, was slain himself at Aquileia (after he 
 had gouerned the Britons eight yeares), by the emperour 
 Theodosius, whyche came in ayde of Valentinian, brother 
 to the said emperor Gratian, as in the Abridgement of the 
 histories of Italy ye may fynde recorded." 
 
 Hardyng, ch. 63, p. 104. 
 
 " Maximian the emperoure of Romayn, 
 
 When he had reigned XXXIIII yere, 
 
 By Gracyaws frendes was buried, 72 & layd on bere." 
 
 Before investigating the source of this stanza it is nec- 
 essary to consider the meaning of the last four lines. Is 
 the Maximinian of the seventh line the same as the Max- 
 imian of the second? Professor Child has suggested that 
 Maximinian was " put by oversight for Valentinian." But 
 this would make Valentinian the sovereign who died and 
 left no heirs, whereas that statement seems to refer to 
 Maximian. It is more probable that Maximinian is simply 
 another form of Maximian, and that the line, 
 
 " During the raigne of Maximinian " 
 
 is an expansion of the " then " of the preceding line. This 
 interpretation would agree with the facts in Geoffrey, for 
 according to his story it was during the reign of Maximianus 
 that the Huns and Picts invaded England, and as no heirs 
 of this ruler are mentioned the natural inference is that he 
 left none. The probability in favor of this explanation be- 
 comes a certainty when we note that the two forms of the 
 name are used interchangeably in the first edition of Holins- 
 hed, 73 with which Spenser was undoubtedly familiar. 
 Spenser probably without hesitation used the long form 
 when the metre required it. 
 
 72 slayne. 
 
 siayne. 
 73 See pp. 123 and 129, above. 
 
COMPARISON 131 
 
 Accepting the identity of the names, we find that so much 
 of the story as is given agrees with the Historic, and 
 that the line, " murdred by the freends of Gratian," re- 
 peats Geoffrey's statement. This fact is to be found also 
 in Ponticus Virunnius 75 and in Hardyng, but not in Hol- 
 inshed or in the majority of the other chronicles. Never- 
 theless Holinshed may be assumed to have had some influ- 
 ence, because of the form Maximinian. Holinshed and 
 Geoffrey together, therefore, seem to have been Spenser's 
 sources. 
 
 62. The weary Britons, whose war-hable youth 
 Was by Maximian lately ledd aivay, 
 
 With wretched miseryes and woefull ruth, 
 
 Were to those Pagans made an open pray, 
 
 And daily spectacle of sad decay : 
 
 Whome Romane warres, which now fowr hundred yeares 
 
 And more had wasted, could no whit dismay; 
 
 Til, by consent of Commons and of Peares, 
 
 They crownd the second Constantine with joyous teares. 
 
 63. Who having oft in batteill vanquished 
 Those spoylefull Picts, and swarming Easterlings, 
 Long time in peace his realme established, 
 
 Yet oft annoyd with sondry bordragings, 
 
 Of neighbour Scots, and for rein Scatterlings 
 
 With which the world did in those dayes abound : 
 
 Which to outbarre, with painefull pyonings 
 
 From sea to sea he heapt a mighty mound, 
 
 Which from Alcluid to Panwelt did that border bownd. 
 
 G. of M., V, 16, and VI, 1-5, pp. 72 ff. Maximianus 
 led the young men away. " Abduxerat enim secum Max- 
 imianus (ut praedictum est) omnes bellicosos juvenes qui 
 
 74 The omission of the story of the virgins, like the omission of St. 
 Helena's search for the cross, seems due to a desire to confine the 
 chronicle to matters that directly concern Britain. 
 
 Ed. 1585, p. 41. 
 
132 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 reperiri potuerant : inermesque colonos atque inconsultos 
 reliquerat " (V. 16, //. 34 if., p. 73). The same state- 
 ment is repeated twice later (VI, 2, /. 14, p. 74, and 3, 
 /. 23, p. 76). Gratianus Municeps usurped the crown but 
 was so tyrannous that the common people killed him. Then 
 the Picts and Huns returned from Ireland and brought with 
 them the Scots, Norwegians, and Dacians. Rome was in- 
 duced to send a single legion to the aid of the Britons. 
 The Romans ordered a wall to be built from sea to sea, 
 between Albania and Deira. This was done. Then the 
 Romans withdrew, and the Britons, incapable of self-de- 
 fence, turned for help to Aldroenus of Armorica, a descend- 
 ant of Conanus, and fourth king after him. Aldroenus 
 sent his brother Constantmus, who drove out the enemy and 
 became king. After ten years he was stabbed by a Pict 
 who had taken service under him. 
 
 Hoi., Hist., pp. 96 if. There is a quotation from Gildas 
 in which Maximian is said to have taken with him the 
 youth of Britain. " From thencefoorth Britayne being de- 
 priued of all hir warlyke souldiours and armies, of hir 
 gouernours also, though cruell, and of an huge number of 
 hir youthe (the whiche following the steppes of the fore- 
 sayde tyraunt, neuer retourned home agayne suche as re- 
 mayned beyng vtterly vnskilfull in feats of warre, were trod- 
 den downe by two nations of beyonde the seas, the Scots 
 from the Weast, and the Pictes from the North . . ." 
 The soldiers elected Constantine as their emperor to suc- 
 ceed Gratianus. His eldest son, Constans, was a monk, but 
 he made him " partaker with him in the empire," and sent 
 him with an army to subdue Spain. Constantius slew Con- 
 stantine, and Constans was killed by one of his own men. 
 
 The story returns to Gratian, or Gracianus. He died, 
 and then Guanius and Melga " returned into thys lande with 
 their armies encreased with newe supplyes of menne of 
 warre, as Scottes, Danes, and Norwegians, and destroyed 
 the countrey from side to syde " (/>. 99). The Romans as- 
 sisted the Britons. " But the Romaynes beeing occasioned 
 
COMPARISON 133 
 
 to depart agayne out of the lande, appointed y e Britaynes 
 to make a wall (as had bin made aforetime by the Emperors 
 Adrian, Antoninus & Seuerus) ouerthwart the couwtrey 
 from sea to sea, stretching from Penuelton vnto the Citie 
 of Alclud, whereby the enimies might be stayed from en- 
 tring the lande: but this wall being made of turfe and 
 soddes, rather than with stones, after the departure of the 
 Romanes was easily ouerthrowen by the Scottes & Pictes 
 . . ." (p. 100). Then the Romans came again and 
 built a stone wall in the place where Severus " caused his 
 trench and rampire to be cast." 
 
 p. 102. Constantine, brother to Aldroenus, became king 
 thirty-nine years after the death of Gratian. The time is 
 given on the authority of Fabian. 
 
 pp. 102-108. A digression about the Scots and Picts. 
 
 p. 1 08. Constantinus, brother of Aldroenus, came out 
 of little Britain, conquered the enemy (slaying Guanius) 
 and was crowned king " of great Britain." He had three 
 sons. The eldest, Constantius, he made a monk. He him- 
 self was slain by a Pict. 
 
 p. 109. " Neither the Romaine writers, nor Beda, make 
 any mention of this Constantine, but of the other Constan- 
 tine they write, which immediately after that the vsurper 
 Gracian was dispatched out of the way (as before ye haue 
 heard) was aduaunced to the rule of this land . . ." 
 This was about the year 415, while the brother of Aldroenus 
 was crowned in 433. 
 
 Stow, p. 48. 
 
 " Now the Brytaines building the wall which they were 
 bid to make, not of stones, as they were willed, but of turfe, 
 as hauing none among them that had skill therein, made it so 
 slender, that it serued them to little purpose. This wall they 
 made betweene the two armes or creekes of the sea, many 
 miles long, that where the fence of the water lacked, there 
 by the helpe of the trench they might keepe their countrey 
 from the breaking in of their enimies, of which piece of 
 worke there remaineth euen vnto this day, most assured 
 tokens yet to be scene. This trench beginneth about two 
 
134 
 
 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 miles from the monastery of Abercuring, in a place which in 
 the Picts language is called Penuahill, and in the English is 
 called Panwelt, and running out Westward, is ended by the 
 Citty Alcluith." 
 
 p. 9. Allcuid in Albania. 
 
 Fabyan, p. 52. " This walle, as testyfyeth Policronica, was 
 made of Turuys, and strechid, from Pemiltonne or Penultonne 
 vnto the Cytie of Acliut or Acliud." 
 
 This passage begins with two lines which are practically 
 a translation from Geoffrey's Latin. It continues, how- 
 ever, with a story that is very different from Geoffrey's. 
 Spenser omits all mention of Gratianus Municeps and of 
 the assistance sent to the Britons by the Romans. He has- 
 tens the accession of Constantine, and ascribes to him the 
 building of the wall. All these changes may have resulted 
 from the peculiarities of Holinshed's Chronicles, where the 
 story of Constantine is told before the wall is mentioned. 
 Holinshed's narrative is, at this point, so entangled with 
 discussions about the two Constantines and so confused 
 that Spenser may easily have misunderstood it. Or he may 
 have felt that Holinshed's uncertainty about the facts war- 
 ranted him in taking liberties with them himself. Spen- 
 ser's description of the wall may have been based on Hol- 
 inshed, although here the influence of Stow seems to appear 
 in the name Panwelt. Spenser's Easterlings and " for- 
 rein Scatterlings " are evidently the same people, and cor- 
 respond to the Norwegians and Dacians of Geoffrey and 
 Holinshed. The name " Easterlings " is probably due to 
 Holinshed. 76 Finally, Spenser's reference to the four 
 hundred years of war with the Romans seems to come 
 from the statement of Nennius to the effect that the 
 Romans governed the Britons 409 years. 77 To the making 
 of these two stanzas there went, apparently, material from 
 Geoffrey, Nennius, Holinshed, and Stow. The result is a 
 
 76 See pp. 97-98, above. 
 
 77 Nennius, sect. 28: Six Old English Chronicles, p. 395. 
 
COMPARISON 135 
 
 narrative unlike any of the earlier ones, yet so compounded 
 of familiar facts that the difference almost escapes detec- 
 tion. 
 
 64. Three sones he dying left, all under age ; 
 By meanes whereof their uncle Vortigere 
 Usurpt the crowne during their pupillage ; 
 Which th' Infants tutors gathering to feare, 
 Them closely into Armorick did beare : 
 For dread of whom, and for those Picts annoyes, 
 He sent to Germany straunge aid to reare ; 
 From whence eftsoones arrived here three hoyes 
 Of Saxons, whom he for his safety imployes. 
 
 G. of M., VI, 6-io, pp. 78 if. Constantinus left three 
 sons. The eldest, Constans, was a monk, and the other 
 two, on their father's death, were too young to rule. Vor- 
 tegirnus, their uncle, had Constans crowned. Constans 
 proved incapable, so Vortegirnus, by the aid of Picts whom 
 he had invited into the kingdom, had Constans killed and 
 usurped the crown. Meanwhile those who had charge of 
 the younger sons of Constantinus fled with them into lesser 
 Britain. The Picts, resenting the punishment of their 
 countrymen who had been the tools of Vortegirnus, turned 
 against him. He was also in fear of the two sons of Con- 
 stantinus, who were now grown to man's estate, and were 
 said to be about to return to demand the kingdom which 
 rightfully belonged to them. " Interea applicuerunt tres 
 celoces, quas longas naves dicimus, in partes Cantiae, arma- 
 tis militibus plenae, quibus duo fratres Horsus et Hengistus 
 ducatum praestabant " (ch. 10, //. i ft., p. 81). These men 
 had been chosen by lot to leave Germany because the coun- 
 try had become crowded. 
 
 HoL, Hist., pp. 109 if. Constantius had been made a 
 monk, but nevertheless was crowned and afterward killed. 
 The story follows Geoffrey's. Then Vortigerne dissembled 
 before the people. " Herevppon came it to passe, that when 
 
136 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 the couwsell was assembled to elect a new king, for so much 
 as the other sonnes of king Constantine were not of age suffi- 
 cient to rule, Vortigerne himselfe was chosen . . ." 
 (p. no). Holinshed says (p. in) that Vortigerne sent 
 for the Saxons, but later (p. 112) he refers to the other 
 story of their coming unsummoned. 
 
 Gild&s (Six Old English Chronicles, ed. J. A. Giles, p. 
 310). The councillors of the country, with Gurthrigen, 
 the British king, sent for the Saxons to protedt their king- 
 dom. 
 
 Bede, II, 5 (ed. Plummer, I, p. 90). 
 
 " Hengist . . . inuitatus a Uurtigerno Brittaniam 
 primus intrauit . . ." 
 
 Hardyng, ch. 67, p. 109. 
 
 " Engist and Horsus, dukes of great renoune ; 
 By sort sent out all voyde of Saxonye." 
 
 There follows the story of Thongcastre, the account of 
 Rowena and the wassail, etc. 
 
 Mir. for Mag., Vortigern, st. 20, vol. I, p. 401. 
 
 78 
 
 " For which I sent and did obtayne a bande 
 Of Saxons . . ." 
 
 The story of Constans, the monk who was crowned king, 
 Spenser has omitted, perhaps because in Geoffrey it was 
 crowded with incidents, and in the later chroniclers became 
 confused, was continually a subject for argument, and was 
 often denied, either as a whole or in part. In making the 
 omission Spenser changed the story as little as possible. He 
 retained the statement that Constantinus left three sons, but 
 he said that all three were under age. Presumably all three 
 were taken by their tutors into Armorica. Later, how- 
 ever, we hear only of Ambrose and Uther. The third son 
 has dropped out, No device for brevity could be simpler 
 
 78 Omitted in ed. 1578. 
 
COMPARISON 137 
 
 or less conspicuous. Besides leaving out Constans, Spenser 
 changed the story of the coming of the Saxons to agree 
 with the account in Gildas and Bede, an account which was 
 often repeated in the later chroniclers. The Saxons, in- 
 stead of coming by chance, are invited by Vortigern. As 
 Geoffrey himself represented Vortigern as asking aid of the 
 Picts, this other story must have seemed to be in character. 
 Caxton and Holinshed, to mention two extremes in time 
 among the printed chronicles, accept it, although Holinshed 
 mentions in addition Geoffrey's version. The Mirror for 
 Magistrates follows the altered form. Spenser is therefore 
 in harmony with several later authorities in this part of his 
 story. There is no way to determine which of the possible 
 sources he followed. It is probable, as we have noted in 
 other cases, that he was influenced by the agreement of the 
 chronicles. 
 
 65. Two brethren were their Capitayns, which hight 
 Hengist and Horsus, well approv'd in warre, 
 
 And both of them men of renowmed might ; 
 Who making vantage of their civile Jarre, 
 And of those forreyners which came from farre, 
 Grew great, and got large portions of land, 
 That in the Realme ere long they stronger arre 
 Then they which sought at first their helping hand, 
 And Vortiger have forst the kingdome to aband. 
 
 66. But by the helpe of Vortimere his sonne, 
 He is againe unto his rule restord; 
 
 And Hengist, seeming sad for that was donne, 
 
 Received is to grace and new accord, 
 
 Through his 'faire daughters face and flattring word. 
 
 Soone after which three hundred Lords he slew 
 
 Of British blood, all sitting at his bord ; 
 
 Whose dolefull moniments who list to rew, 
 
 Th' eternall marks of treason may at Stonheng vew. 
 
138 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 G. of M., VI, 10-17, pp. 81 if. Vortegirnus received the 
 Saxons kindly and by their help won a victory over the 
 Picts. He gave land to Hengistus, who used the device of 
 the thong to increase the amount of land he was to receive. 
 Many more Saxons came. Among the first of them was 
 Rowen, daughter of Hengistus. Vortegirnus saw, loved, 
 and secretly married her. Thereafter the power and the 
 arrogance of the Saxons increased to such an extent that 
 the Britons rebelled against Vortegirnus, and made Vorti- 
 merus, his son by an earlier marriage, king. Vortimerus 
 succeeded in driving the heathen out. He was poisoned by 
 Rowen, and Vortegirnus was again restored to the king- 
 dom. Hengistus promptly returned and treacherously, at 
 a banquet, slew 460 of the Britons. He then forced Vor- 
 tegirnus to yield the chief cities of the kingdom to him. 
 Not satisfied with this, he devastated the country far and 
 wide. Vortegirnus fled to Cambria. 
 
 VI, 17 VIII, i, pp. 89 if. Vortegirnus seeks out 
 Merlinus. The prophecy of Merlinus. 
 
 VIII, 9-12, pp. 107 if. To mark the place " ubi con- 
 sules et principes jacebant, quos nefandus Hengistus pro- 
 diderat " (/. 18 /., p. 108), Aurelius, assisted by the ma- 
 gician Merlinus, had the Giant's Dance moved from Kil- 
 laraus, a mountain in Ireland, and set up on the mountain 
 of Ambrius, where the dead lay. 
 
 XL 4, p. 158. These stones are called Stanheng, and are 
 said to be not far from Salisbury. 
 
 HoL, Hist., pp. in if. The Saxons were led by two 
 brothers, Hengist and Horsus. Vortigerne married 
 Rowen, the daughter of Hengist, and was deposed by the 
 Britons. His son Vortimer was made king and afterwards 
 poisoned by Rowen. Vortigerne was restored. The Brit- 
 ons were slaughtered by Hengist at a meeting place on Salis- 
 bury plain, but the number of the slain is not given in this 
 version of the story except in a marginal note in which 
 Geoffrey is quoted as stating the number 460. " William 
 Malmesb. wryteth somewhat otherwise of this taking of 
 
COMPARISON 139 
 
 Wortigerne . . . Hengist ... by a colourable 
 craft procureth his sonne in lawe Wortigerne to come to a 
 banket to his house, wyth three hundred other Brytaynes, 
 and when hee had made them well and warme with often 
 quaffing and emptying of cuppes, and of purpose touched 
 everye of them wyth one bytter taunte or other, they first 
 fell to multiplying of malicious wordes, and after to blowes, 
 so that the Brytaynes were slaine euery mothers sonne 
 . . . The king was captured (p. 118). 
 
 p. 1 1 6. William Malmesbury is quoted as authority for 
 another story. " William Malmes. wryting of this Worti- 
 mer or Guortigerne . . . Guortimer, the sonne of 
 Wortimer (sayth he) . . . setteth his full purpose 
 to dryue them" (the Saxons) "out of the Realme, and 
 kyndleth his father to the like attempt." After being vic- 
 torious, Guortimer died. 
 
 pp. 119 ff. The Pelagian heresy. 
 
 p. 123. " Also for a perpetuall memorie of those Britaynes 
 that were slayne on the playne of Salisburie by the treason of 
 Hengist, he caused stones to bee fetched out of Irelande, and 
 to be set vp in the same place where that slaughter was com- 
 mitted, and called the place Stonheng, whiche name continueth 
 vnto this day." 
 
 William of Malmesbury, p. 1 1 f. " Vortemer filius Worti- 
 gerni, haudquaquam ultra dissimulandum ratus, quod se 
 Britonesque suos Anglorum dolo perverti cerneret, ad expul- 
 sionem eorum mentem intendit, simulque patrem ad idem au- 
 dendum incendit . . . Interea Hengestus . . . gen- 
 erum ad convivium cum trecentis suorum invitat." 
 
 Hardyng, ch. 70, p. 116. After Aurelius Ambrose had 
 killed Engist, 
 
 " The kyng then made a worthy sepulture, 
 
 (With'y e stone hengles,) 79 by Merlins whole aduise 
 
 For all the lordes Brytons hye' 80 nature 
 
 That there were slain in false and cruell wise, 
 
 7Withyn Stonehenge. 
 so of high. 
 
140 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 By false Engest, and his feloes vnwise; 
 
 In remembraunce of his forcasten treason, 
 
 Without cause, or (any els) encheson." 
 
 La^amon, ed. Madden, vol. II, p. 216, /. 15306. 350 
 Britons were slain by Hengist. 
 
 Ill, p. 357. M add en's note. 
 
 ". . . in Alfred of Beverly, in the anonymous Anglo- 
 Norman Brut, in Robert of Brunne, and in the Welsh copies, 
 the number is 360. Nennius reduces it to 300." 
 
 Pierre de Lang toff, p. 108. The number of Britons slain 
 by Hengist was 340. 
 
 Chambers, Histoire abregee, p. 56. Vortigern was 
 taken prisoner, " & trois cens de sa noblesse presque tous 
 tuez par la trahison de Hengistus . ... 
 
 Spenser, in his account of Vortiger, Hengist, and Horsa, 
 makes two changes in Geoffrey's narrative. First, he says 
 that Vortiger was restored to his kingdom by the help of 
 his son, Vortimer, whereas, according to Geoffrey, Vorti- 
 merus was made king instead of his father. Secondly, 
 Spenser says that three hundred Lords were slain by Hen- 
 gist, whereas Geoffrey gives the number as four hundred 
 and sixty. Both of Spenser's statements are authorized 
 by Holinshed, who quotes as his authority William of 
 Malmesbury. This account of Vortimer does not occur 
 elsewhere. But the number of the slaughtered guests is 
 given as three hundred by Nennius and much later by 
 Chambers, and is variously placed between three and four 
 hundred by other writers, although Geoffrey's number is 
 the one most commonly given. We have here, therefore, 
 an unusual situation. Spenser's story differs from Geof- 
 frey's, not to follow the popular story of the later chron- 
 icles, but to reproduce a rare form, in one case, what was 
 to him, perhaps, an unique form. 81 There is a possible 
 
 81 Spenser's reasons for such a change are not obvious. He may 
 
COMPARISON 141 
 
 slight influence from Hardyng in the account of Stone- 
 henge. Except for that Spenser's source may have been 
 Holinshed alone. 82 
 
 67. By this the sonnes of Constantine, which fled, 
 
 Ambrose and Uther, did ripe yeares attayne, 
 
 And, here arriving, strongly challenged 
 
 The crowne which Vortiger did long detayne : 
 
 Who, flying from his guilt, by them was slayne; 
 
 And Hengist eke soon brought to shamefull death. 
 
 Thenceforth Aurelius peaceably did rayne, 
 
 Till that through poyson stopped was his breath; 
 
 So now entombed lies at Stoneheng by the heath. 
 
 G. of M., VIII, 1-14, pp. 1 01 ff. Aurelius Ambrosius 
 and his brother arrived in Britain, invaded Cambria in pur- 
 suit of Vortegirnus, and burned him to death in the tower 
 in which he had taken refuge. They then turned against 
 Hengist, whom they captured and beheaded. They killed 
 the Saxons without mercy. Finally they made a treaty 
 with the Saxons and allowed them to settle on the borders 
 of Scotland. Having reduced his enemies, Aurelius turned 
 his attention to the internal affairs of his kingdom. The 
 Saxons from Germany again invaded the country, but were 
 driven back. They made a second invasion. Eopa, a 
 Saxon, succeeded in poisoning Aurelius. 
 
 have preferred William of Malmesbury as an authority. He may have 
 thought this story of Vortimere reflected more glory on the British 
 kings. He may have found three hundred a number more convenient 
 to poetry than four hundred and sixty. 
 
 82 Spenser's omission of the picturesque incidents of Thong Castle, 
 the drinking of wassail, and Vortigern's marriage to Rowena, is the 
 more remarkable as even the briefest redactions of Geoffrey's story 
 are apt to reproduce these incidents at some length. Spenser must 
 have known them. His statement that the Saxons " got large por- 
 tions of land " recalls the first to those who are familiar with the 
 story, and his reference to the '" faire daughters face and flattring 
 word " which restored Hengist to grace suggests the last. But prac- 
 tically all those parts of the story that throw the Saxons into heroic 
 prominence are omitted, probably for the very reason that they do 
 glorify the Saxons. 
 
142 SPENSER S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 Ch. 1 6, p. 113. Aurelius was buried within the Giant's 
 Dance. 
 
 Hoi, Hist., p. 122. Vortigerne was killed by Aurelius 
 Ambrosius, who became king. Hengist was also defeated 
 and killed. Aurelius Ambrose, according to Geoffrey, died 
 by poison, but according to Polydore Vergil, he died of a 
 wound received in battle. 
 
 This stanza is a very brief, but entirely accurate, sum- 
 mary of Geoffrey's story. 
 
 68. After him Uther, which Pendragon hight, 
 Succeeding 
 
 G. of M., VIII, 17, p. 114. Uther Pendragon, the 
 brother of Aurelius, assumed the throne. 
 
 There is nothing to fix the source of this reference to 
 Uther. It may have been taken from Geoffrey or from any 
 of his followers. 
 
 B. BOOK III, CANTO 3. 
 
 26. " The man, whom heavens have ordaynd to bee 
 The spouse of Britomart, is Arthegall : 
 
 He wonneth in the land of Fayeree, 
 
 Yet is no Fary borne, ne sib at all 
 
 To Elfes, but sprong of seed terrestriall, 
 
 And whylome by false Faries stolne away, 
 
 Whiles yet in infant cradle he did crall ; 
 
 Ne other to himselfe is knowne this day, 
 
 But that he by an Fife was gotten of a Fay : 
 
 27. " But sooth he is the sonne of Gorlois, 
 And brother unto Cador, Cornish king ; 
 And for his warlike feates renowmed is, 
 From where the day out of the sea doth spring, 
 
COMPARISON 143 
 
 Untill the closure of the Evening: 
 
 From thence him, firmely bound with faithfull band, 
 
 To this his native soyle thou backe shalt bring, 
 
 Strongly to ayde his countrey to withstand 
 
 The powre of forreine Paynims which invade thy land. 
 
 28. " Great ayd thereto his mighty puissaunce 
 
 And dreaded name shall give in that sad day; 
 
 Where also proofe of thy prow valiaunce 
 
 Thou then shalt make, t' increase thy lover's pray. 
 
 Long time ye both in armes shall beare great sway, 
 
 Till thy wombes burden thee from them do call, 
 
 And his last fate him from thee take away; 
 
 Too rathe cut off by practise criminall 
 
 Of secrete foes, that him shall make in mischief e fall. 
 
 G. of M., VIII, 19, pp. 115 ff. Gorlois, duke of Corn- 
 wall, had for wife Igerna, with whom Uther Pendragon 
 fell in love. By her Uther Pendragon had a son, Arthur. 
 On the death of Gorlois he married her. 
 
 IX, 1-5, pp. 121 ff. Cador, duke of Cornwall, assisted 
 Arthur against the Saxons. 
 
 IX, 12, /. 36 f., p. 132. 
 
 " Arthgal Cargueitensis, quae Warguit appellatur." 
 
 HoL, Hist., p. 128. Gorolus, or Gorloys, was duke of 
 Cornwall, and had for wife Igwarne or Igerna. 
 
 p. 133. Cador, duke or earl of Cornwall, helped Arthur 
 in his wars against the Saxons and the Scots. 
 
 Brut Tysilio, trans, by Roberts, p. 172. 
 
 " For Cador was the son of Gorlais, earl of Cornwall, by 
 Eigr, Arthur's mother, the daughter of Amlawdd the Great." 
 
 Hardyng, ch. 78, p. 137. 
 
 Both Arthegall and Cador are mentioned in the list of the 
 knights of the Round Table. 
 
144 SPENSER S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 " Arthegall therle of Warwyke (full) courageous, 
 
 ********** 
 
 Cador, the duke that then was of Cornewayle, 
 The kynges brother was (on the syster) syde, 
 Dame Igrene was their mother without fayle . . ." 
 
 These three stanzas make the transition from romance to 
 chronicle material. Arthegall, who is to be the husband of 
 Britomart, is the son of Gorlois, and brother to Cador, king 
 of Cornwall, who is, by inference, another of the sons of 
 Gorlois. Arthegall, therefore, stands in the same relation to 
 Cador that Arthur does both in Hardyng and in the Brut 
 Tysilio. Arthegall, like Arthur, fights against the pagan 
 and is 
 
 " Too rathe cut off by practise criminall 
 Of secrete foes." 
 
 After a fashion, then, Arthegall takes Arthur's place in the 
 chronicle. His name is to be found in Geoffrey's " Arthgal 
 Cargueitensis, quae Warguit appellatur," and in Hardyng's 
 " Arthegall therle of Warwyke," who is mentioned, as is 
 Cador, among the knights of the Round Table. The name 
 likewise appears in the line of British kings, where Arthgallo 
 called by Spenser Archigald is represented as brother 
 to Gorbonianus and a tyrannous ruler. 83 The name, there- 
 fore, Spenser may have taken from Geoffrey or from later 
 writers, but apparently either Hardyng or the Brut Tysilio 
 influenced him in his reference to Cador as a son of Gor- 
 lois. 84 
 
 The prophecy regarding Britomart in the twenty-eighth 
 stanza may have been suggested by the story of Esclara- 
 monde in Huon of Bur deux** 
 
 83 G. of M., Ill, 17, p. 41. 
 
 8 * It is to be noted that Geoffrey does not make this statement even 
 indirectly. 
 
 85 Huon of Burdeux, E. E. T. S., p. 280. When Huon is planning 
 to go to the tourney at Mayence, where he knows an attempt to 
 kill him is to be made, Esclaramonde, his wife, after first trying to 
 dissuade him, offers to go with him. " ' I wyll be armed with shelde 
 
COMPARISON 145 
 
 29. " With thee yet shall he leave, for memory 
 Of his late puissaunce, his ymage dead, 
 
 That living him in all activity 
 
 To thee shall represent. He, from the head 
 
 Of his coosen Constantius, without dread 
 
 Shall take the crowne that was his fathers right, 
 
 And therewith crowne himselfe in th' others stead : 
 
 Then shall he issew forth with dread full might 
 
 Against his Saxon foes in bloody field to fight. 
 
 30. " Like as a Lyon that in drowsie cave 
 Hath long time slept, himselfe so shall he shake ; 
 And comming forth shall spred his banner brave 
 Over the troubled South, that it shall make 
 The warlike Mertians for feare to quake : 
 
 Thrise shall he fight with them, and twise shall win ; 
 But the third time shall fayre accordaunce make : 
 And, if he then with victorie can lin, 
 He shall his dayes with peace bring to his earthly In. 
 
 G. of M. } XI, 4-5, p. 158. Conanus killed Constantinus, 
 his uncle, who had succeeded Arthur, and reigned in his 
 place. He also cast into prison another uncle, who should 
 have succeeded Constantinus, and killed his two sons. Con- 
 stantinus was the son of Cador, duke of Cornwall. 
 
 HoL, Hist., p. I58. 86 Constantine, son of Cador, suc- 
 ceeded his cousin Arthur. Modred's sons claimed the rule, 
 but were overcome in battle. They sought refuge, one in a 
 church in Winchester, the other in a church in London, but 
 they were both slain by Constantine. Constantine himself 
 
 & helme & swerde by my syde, & yf I may mete duke Raoul, I shall 
 gyue hym suche a buffet that I shall stryke hym from his horse, & I 
 am so dyspleased with hym that there is no membre in me but that 
 trembleth for angre. I shall neuer haue joye at my herte tyll I be 
 reuenged of hym.' When Huon herde the duches his wyfe he was 
 wel comforted, & began to laugh, & sayde, 'fayre ladye, I can you 
 grete thanke for your wordes, but ye are to farre gone with chyld to 
 ryde armed; it is a seuen monethes past syn ye were fyrst with 
 chylde.' " 
 
 88 Misprint for 138. 
 
146 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 was slain by a kinsman, Aurelius Conanus. A long ex- 
 tract from Gildas follows. In it appear the words, " of 
 whiche heynous and wicked offence, Constantine the tyran- 
 nicall whelpe of the Lyonesse of Deuonshire is not igno- 
 rant." 
 
 p. 139. Aurelius Conanus imprisoned his uncle, who 
 should have been king, and killed his two sons. Gildas is 
 again quoted. " And thou Lyons whelpe, as sayeth the 
 prophet, Aurelius Conanus what doest thou ? " 
 
 Hardyng, ch. 86, p. 150. 
 
 " He," (Aurelius Conan) " maynteyned aye ciuyle war re and 
 
 debate, 
 
 Bytwene cytees, castelles, and countees, 
 Through al (his) realme, w* mysruled men associate, 
 Whiche was greatly agaynst his royaltees, 
 And but thre yere, he reygned in dignitees ; 
 As God so wolde, of his hye ordynaunce, 
 For wronge lawes maketh shorte gouernaunce." 
 
 Spenser does not say in so many words that on the death 
 of Arthegall Constantine assumed the crown, but such was 
 evidently the case, as Arthegall's son took from Constantine 
 the " crown that was his fathers right." This son, as the 
 father of Vortipore, is to be identified with Geoffrey's 
 Conanus. Constantius is the same as Constantine, who ac- 
 cording to Spenser's story would be cousin to Conan, not 
 uncle, as in Geoffrey. 87 Consequently, Spenser's narrative 
 up to this point proves on close examination practically to 
 parallel Geoffrey's. From Gildas, or more probably from 
 the quotation from Gildas in Holinshed, Spenser draws the 
 figure of speech that compares Arthgallo's son to a lion. 
 The main part of Spenser's story, however, appears to be 
 
 87 Gorlois 
 
 Cador Arthegall 
 
 Constantius Conan 
 
COMPARISON 147 
 
 wholly original, detailed though it is. 88 No authority is 
 known for Conan's wars with the Mertians. On the con- 
 trary, what the chroniclers say of Conan is uncomplimen- 
 tary. A consciousness of this appears in Spenser's con- 
 clusion to the prophecy, which leaves the prosperous end of 
 Conan's reign in doubt. Spenser, then, differs from the 
 known authorities in a part of his account of Conan, but in 
 part reproduces chronicle material, the direct source for 
 which may have been Geoffrey and Holinshed, or Holins- 
 hed alone. 
 
 31. " His sonne, hight Vortipore, shall him succeede 
 
 In kingdome, but not in felicity : 
 
 Yet shall he long time warre with happy speed, 
 
 And with great honour many batteills try ; 
 
 But at the last to th' importunity 
 
 Of froward fortune shall be forst to yield : 
 
 G. of M. f XI, 6, p. 159. Wortiporius succeeded Conanus. 
 He was attacked by the Saxons, but gained a victory over 
 them, " et monarchiam totius regni adeptus, populum 
 quatuor annis gubernavit cum diligentia et pace " 
 
 (n. 3 ff-r 
 
 Hoi., Hist., p. 140 and H/. 89 Vortiporus, son of Conan, 
 succeeded his father, vanquished the Saxons, and ruled four 
 years. He left no issue on his death. A comment from 
 Gildas is added. Holinshed does not believe in the rela- 
 tionship given by Geoffrey of Monmouth and " Matthew of 
 Westminster." He thinks that Conan, Vortiporus, Con- 
 stantius, even Cuneglasus and Maglocunus lived at the same 
 time and governed different parts of the same kingdom. 
 
 Stoiv, />. 56. Of Vortiporus Stow says, " In diuers bat- 
 tels, he discomfited the Saxons." 
 
 88 Spenser's changes may have been due to the fact that Merlin is 
 prophesying to Britomart about her own son by Arthegall. This 
 would tend to make Spenser suppress the unpleasant aspects of Conan's 
 career. 
 
 89 Misprint for 141. 
 
148 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 In making Vortipore less successful than Conan and in 
 the end unfortunate Spenser differs entirely from any 
 known authority. He agrees with Geoffrey only in saying 
 that Vortipore, son of Conan, for a while waged successful 
 war. It almost seems as if Spenser had deliberately trans- 
 ferred the glory of Vortipore 90 to Conan out of consider- 
 ation for the listening Britomart, who was naturally more 
 concerned in her son than in her grandson. 
 
 31, //. 7 ff. " But his sonne Malgo shall full mightily 
 Avenge his fathers losse with speare and shield, 
 
 And his proud foes discomfit in victorious field. 
 
 32. " Behold the man ! and tell me, Britomart, 
 If ay more goodly creature thou didst see? 
 How like a Gyaunt in each manly part 
 Beares he himself e with portly majestee, 
 That one of th' old Heroes seemes to bee ! 
 
 He the six Islands, comprovinciall 
 In auncient times unto great Britainee, 
 Shall to the same reduce, and to him call 
 Their sondry kings to do their homage severall. 
 
 G. of M., XI, 7 , p. 159. 
 
 " Cui successit Malgo omnium fere Britanniae pulcherri- 
 mus . . . Hie etiam totam insulam obtinuit, et sex 
 comprovinciales Oceani insulas, Hyberniam videlicet, atque 
 Islandiam, Godlandiam, Orcades, Norwegian!, Daciam, adjecit 
 dirissimis praeliis potestati suae." 
 
 HoL, Hist., p. I47- 91 Malgo, the nephew of Aurelius 
 Conanus, was handsome and strong. He defended the 
 country against the Saxons and " subdued the out Isles, as 
 Orkeneye and others/' Holinshed adds the account given 
 by Gildas, and continues with the history of the Saxon king- 
 doms. 
 
 90 See Geoffrey, p. 147, above. 
 
 91 Misprint for 141. 
 
COMPARISON 
 
 149 
 
 Laiamon, ed. Madden, III, p. 153, w. 28828-9. 
 
 " He biwun fa londes alle : 
 fa stoden him an honde." 
 
 Brunne, w. 144001. 
 
 " He wan f e ildes ouer al aboute, 
 & of kynges he tok feaute." 
 
 Flores Historiarum, I, p. 278. 
 
 " Eodem anno, defuncto rege Britonum Vortiporio, suc- 
 cessit Malgo, vir pulcherrimus, probitate praeclarus, armis 
 robustus, et supram modum largus; . . . Hie etiam 
 sex comprovinciales occeani insulas potenter subegit." 
 
 Poly chronic on, V, p. 338. No mention of Malgo's con- 
 quests. 
 
 "Robert of Gloucester," w. 4613-16. 
 
 ". . . he wan ek to fis londe 
 pe six yles fat bef aboute & heoldis al an honde. 
 As godlond. & orcadas. & al so yrlonde. 
 Norfweye & denemarch & al so god yslonde." 
 
 Hardyng, ch. 86, p. 151. 
 
 " Malgo nexte hym to the crowne attayned, 
 Feyrest of other that euer was in his daye, 
 All tyranny fully he restreyned, 
 (And conquered holy thryse) 92 of Orkenay, 
 Irelonde, Denmarke, Iselond, and eke Norway; . 
 And (Gotlande also) 93 obeyed his royalte, 
 He was so wyse full of fortunyte. 
 
 " Within his realme was none so large ne strong, 
 Ne none that was in feacte of warre so wise, 
 With swerde or axe to fyght in the thronge, 
 Nor with his speare that had suche exercyse, 
 
 92 He conquered hole the lies. 
 
 93 Scotlande also. 
 
150 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 For to assayle hys fooes, and them suppryse; 
 And defence (also) he had (great keenyng) 94 
 As any prynce euer had (or any kyng)." 95 
 
 Fabyan, p. 84. 
 
 ". . . he by his manhod subdued the iles of Ise- 
 lande, Orchades, or Orkeys, & Norway, with other." 
 
 Graf ton, Part VII, p. 87. Malgo, " as Gaufride sayth, 
 he subdued six Prouynces, that is to say, Ireland, the Isles 
 of the Orcades, Gothland, Iseland, Norway, and Den- 
 marke ..." 
 
 Stow, p. 56. No mention of Malgo's conquests. 
 
 Spenser's statement that Malgo will succeed his father 
 and to avenge him will fight with his foes and overcome 
 them is a natural sequence to the account of Vortipore, and 
 like that, is without foundation in previous chronicles. 
 There is not even authority for making Malgo the son of 
 Vortipore. From this point on, however, Spenser, in his 
 account of Malgo, follows Geoffrey closely. Indeed, the 
 reference to Malgo's conquest of the " six Islands, com- 
 provinciall," is one of the strongest indications of Spenser's 
 use of the original Historia. The word " comprovinciall " 
 is rare. 96 It is not used by the English chronicles who re- 
 produce the Historia material, and so far as I have found 
 appears, outside of Geoffrey's Historia, only in the Flores 
 Historiarum, which Spenser does not seem to have used. 
 In this passage, therefore, Spenser was almost certainly 
 following Geoffrey. The insistence on Malgo's personal 
 beauty and strength may have been suggested by Hardyng. 
 We may conclude, then, that the first part of Spenser's ac- 
 
 94 also cunnyng. 
 
 95 afore euer livynge. 
 
 98 Murray's Dictionary gives only one other instance of the word 
 " comprovincial " in this sense. " 1652, Needham tr. Selden's Mare 
 Cl. 251. King Arthur . . . recover'd six Comprovincial Isles of 
 the Sea (which are the very words of Geofferie of Monmouth)." 
 
COMPARISON 
 
 count of Malgo is independent of the chronicles, and that 
 the last part follows Geoffrey, and perhaps Hardyng. 
 
 33. " All which his sonne Careticus awhile 
 Shall well defend, and Saxons powre suppresse; 
 Untill a straunger king, from unknowne soyle 
 Arriving, him with multitude oppresse; 
 
 G. of M., XI, 8, pp. 159-160. " Malgoni successit 
 Careticus, amator civilium bellorum, invisus Deo et Briton- 
 ibus. Cujus inconstantiam comperientes Saxones, iverunt 
 ad Gormundum regem Africanorum in Hyberniam, in quam 
 maximis navigiis advectus, gentem patriae subjugaverat " 
 (//. i if.). Gormundus came to Britain "quam in una 
 parte mentitae fidei Saxones, in alia vero cives patriae, 
 civilia bella inter se assidue agentes, penitus devastabant " 
 (//. 6 ff.). Gormundus made war on Careticus and after 
 many battles drove him to Cirencester, and then to Wales. 
 
 Hoi., Hist., p. 143. Careticus (or Caretius) was forced 
 into Wales by the Saxons, who " seassed not to pursue the 
 Britons by force and continuall warre, till they had con- 
 strained them for refuge to withdraw into Wales. And as 
 some have written, the Saxons meanyng to make a full con- 
 quest of the lande, sent ouer into Ireland, requiring one 
 Gurmundus a kyng of the Affricanes to come ouer into 
 Britayne to healpe them agaynste the Brytaynes." 
 
 The first two lines of this stanza contain two statements 
 for which Spenser apparently had no authority. Careticus 
 was not the son of Malgo, and he did not conquer the Sax- 
 ons. The account of the coming of the " straunger king," 
 however, agrees with Geoffrey's. At the same time, the 
 fact that this king comes, not from Africa, but from " un- 
 knowne soyle," shows the influence of the doubt expressed 
 at length by Holinshed, and more briefly by Camden. 07 
 
 97 See p. 153, below. 
 
152 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 Spenser's story is therefore in part independent and in part 
 influenced by Holinshed, or perhaps Camden. 
 
 33> # 5 ff- " Great Gormond, having with huge mighti- 
 
 nesse 
 
 Ireland subdewd, and therein fixt his throne, 
 Like a swift Otter, fell through emptinesse, 
 Shall overswim the sea, with many one 
 Of his Norveyses, to assist the Britons fone. 
 
 34. " He in his furie all shall overronne, 
 
 And holy Church with faithlesse handes deface, 
 
 That thy sad people, utterly fordonne, 
 
 Shall to the utmost mountaines fly apace. 
 
 Was never so great waste in any place, 
 
 Nor so fowle outrage doen by living men ; 
 
 For all thy Citties they shall sacke and race, 
 
 And the greene grasse that groweth they shall bren, 
 
 That even the wilde beast shall dy in starved den. 
 
 G. of M., XI, 8, pp. 159-160. Gormundus, king of the 
 Africans, arrived in Ireland with a great fleet and subdued 
 the country. Summoned by the Saxons in England, he 
 aided them against Careticus, who was driven into Wales. 
 " Mox depopulans agros, ignem cumulavit in finitimas 
 quasque civitates: qui non quievit accensus, donee cunctam 
 pene super/idem insulae a man usque ad mare exussit; ita 
 ut cunctae coloniae crebris arietibus, omnesque coloni cum 
 sacerdotibus ecclesiae, mucronibus undique micantibus, ac 
 flammis crepitantibus, simul humi strenerentur " (//. 17 
 ff.). 
 
 Hoi., Hist., pp. 144 ff. The story follows Geoffrey, but 
 does not dwell on the devastation of the country. " After 
 this, the foresayd Gurmonde destroyed thys lande through- 
 out in pitifull wyse, and then deliuered it in possession to 
 the Saxons, the whiche thankfully receiued it." 
 
COMPARISON 153 
 
 Hist, of Ireland, p. 14. 
 " Gurmundus, a notable rouer of the Norwegians . . ." 
 
 p. 1 6. 
 
 ". . . no doubte the same Gurmonde was some 
 Kyng of the Danes, or Norweygians, and not of the Affricanes 
 (as some of our coutreymen name hym). Which errour is 
 soone committed, in takyng one Heathenishe nation for an 
 other, as those haue doone that haue named the Hungarians 
 (when they inuaded Gallia before they were Christians) 
 Sarazins. And so lykewyse might that authour (who so 
 euer he was) whom Geffrey of Monmouth foloweth, fynding 
 Gurmonde written to be a king of the myscreantes, mistake 
 the Norwegians for Affricanes, bicause both those nations 
 were Infidels : and therefore sith haply the Affricanes in the 
 dayes when that Author liued, bare all the brute aboue other 
 Heathenishe .nations then, as the Turkes do nowe, he named 
 them Africanes." 
 
 Camd., Brit., p. 281. " . . .a Gurmundo, nescio 
 quo tyranno Africano. . . . Quis fuit hie Gurmundus 
 plane ignoro." Camden tries to identify him with one 
 Guthrus or Gurmundus, a Dane, about the year 879. 
 
 In speaking of Gormond's " Norveyses " Spenser shows 
 even more clearly than in stanza thirty-three that he rejects 
 Geoffrey's statement that Gurmond was king of the 
 Africans. He seems in this to have been influenced chiefly 
 by the History of Ireland in Holinshed's Chronicles, where 
 Gurmond is called " Kyng of the Danes, or Norweygians." 
 The rest of the story follows Geoffrey closely, particularly 
 in the account of the devastation of Britain, the details of 
 which, so far as we know, Spenser could have found only 
 in the Historia. Spenser's source, then, seems to have been 
 both Geoffrey and Holinshed. 
 
 35. " Whiles thus thy Britons doe in languour pine, 
 Proud Etheldred shall from the North arise, 
 Serving th' ambitious will of Augustine, 
 
154 SPENSER S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 And, passing Dee, with hardy enterprise, 
 
 Shall backe repulse the valiaunt Brockwell twise, 
 
 And Bangor with massacred Martyrs fill, 
 
 But the third time shall rew his foolhardise : 
 
 For Cadwan, pittying his peoples ill, 
 
 Shall stoutly him defeat, and thousand Saxons kill. 
 
 G. of M., XI t 12-13, pp. 161-162. Ethelfridus, king of 
 the Northumbrians, was induced by Ethelbertus, king of 
 Kent, to attack the Britons because of their refusal to ac- 
 cept the authority of Augustine, who had come to preach to 
 the Angles. Ethelfridus defeated Brocmail near Legeces- 
 tria, captured the city, and put to death 200 monks from 
 Bangor. He then marched towards Bangor, but was put 
 to flight by the Britons and lost ten thousand and sixty-six 
 men. Among the leaders of the Britons which are men- 
 tioned is Caduanus, but their commander was Blederic, duke 
 of Cornwall. 
 
 Hoi, Hist., pp. 153 if. Edelferd, Edelfride, or Ethel- 
 ferd, king of the Northumbrians, defeated Edan, king of 
 the Scots. Later he attacked the Britons under Brocmale 
 (or Broemael) near Chester, and killed about 1200 monks 
 from Bangor. Brocmale fled in cowardly fashion. This 
 was after the death of Augustine, and the quarrel was not 
 because of him. " Of which battaile also William Harison 
 telleth another maner of tale, whose wordes though he Hue 
 in our time and his Chronologic bee not yet extant are not 
 to be omitted 98 . . . Athelbright, or Edilfride, king 
 of the Northuwbers, and Ethelbert of Kent, hauing Augus- 
 tine in their copanie, in the .8. yeare after his arriuall, 
 doe make warre . . . and kill 1200. Monkes of the 
 Monasterie of Bangor . . ." From Chester Edel- 
 ferd marched towards Bangor. The Britons were assem- 
 
 98 For this sentence was substituted in the second edition the fol- 
 lowing : " A late chronographer running vpon this matter, and pre- 
 ciselie setting downe his collection, saith that . . ."A marginal 
 note reads, " W. H'arison " (I. Hist, of Eng., p. 104). 
 
COMPARISON 155 
 
 bled under three captains, of whom Cadwane, king of 
 Northwales, was one. They defeated Edelferd. Bede, 
 however, makes no mention of this battle. 
 
 p. 156. According to Holinshed Britain was without 
 any special governor twenty- four years, but he quotes 
 Harison as saying that Cadwan succeeded Careticus im- 
 mediately on the death of the latter. 
 
 Descr. of Br. } p. 64. 
 
 " Their abbaye of Bangor stoode sometime in Englishe 
 Maylor, by hyther and south of the riuer Dee. It is nowe 
 ploughed ground where that house stoode, by the space of 
 a Welch myle (which reacheth vnto a mile and an halfe 
 Englishe) and to thys daye the tillers of the soyle there, doe 
 plowe vp bones as they saye of those monks that were slaine 
 in the quarell of Augustine . . ." 
 
 Brut Tysilio, trans, by Roberts, p. 178 /. The name of 
 the British chieftain is given as Brochwel, and the monks 
 are said to have been killed at Bangor. 
 
 Hardy ng, ch. 90, p. 160. 
 
 " This kyng Cadwan at Wynchester crownd, 
 Was made y e kyng of Britayne & Britons, 
 Agayn whom kyng Ethelfrede y e stound, 
 Warred full sore all the regions 
 Where Brytons were, so did he all religions ; 
 Who Westchester sieged with violence, 
 Wher Brochewall therle made greate defence. 
 
 " But there he slewe Brochewall in batayll, 
 And gatte the towne of Westchester (in) that tyde, 
 Where XII. C. monkes, without fayle, 
 He slew downe right, a lytle there besyde, 
 That came to praye for peace without pride, 
 Fro Banger there in hole procession, 
 That marters wer there by his oppression." 
 
 Afterwards Cadwan met Ethelfrede and made peace with 
 him. 
 
156 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 tf-i 
 
 Descr. of Cambria, by Sir John Price, augmented by 
 Humphry Lloyd, p. XIV f. There is a reference to 
 
 " Brochwel called Brecyfal (as the English chronicle saith) 
 for this Brochwel called Yfgithroc, that is, long toothed, was 
 chosen leader of such as met with Adelred alias Ethelbertus 
 rex Cantiae, and other Angles and Saxons, whom Augustine 
 had moved to make war against the Christian Britains, and 
 these put Brochwel twice to flight, not far from Chester, 
 and cruelly slew 1000 priests and monks of Bangor, with 
 a great number of lay-brethren of the same house . . . 
 
 ' Then this Brochwell retired over Dee, hard by Bangor, 
 and defended the Saxons the passage, till Cadfan King of 
 North Wales . . . came to succour him, and gave the 
 Saxons a sore battle." 
 
 The Breviary of Britayne, Written by Humfrey Lhuyd, 
 Englished by Thomas Twyne, 1573, Fol. 71. 
 
 " He " (Augustine the Monk) " so stirred the hate of the 
 Englishmen against them" (the 2100 monks of "Banchor") 
 "that shortly after ... by Ethelfred ... the 
 Monks which desired peace were most cruelly slaine. And 
 afterward the Britaynes, under the conduct of Brochwell 
 kynge of Powys, were vanquished. Until that at length, be- 
 ing ayded with power from Belthrusius, Duke of Cornwall, 
 Cadwane, kyng of Northwales, Meredoc, kyng of Southwales, 
 and hartned forward by the oration of their most learned 
 Abbot Ounetus, who commanded . . . that everyone 
 should kisse the ground, in remembrance of the Communion 
 of the Body of our Lord, and should take up water in their 
 hands forth of the River Dee and drink it, in commemora- 
 tion of the most sacred Blood of Christ . . . who, hav- 
 ing so communicated they overcame the Saxons in a famous 
 battle and slew of them, as Huntingdon writeth, 1066 and cre- 
 ated Caruanus their kynge in the citie of Legions." 
 
 Graf ton's Abridgment, ed. 1572, p. 19, 548 A. D. 
 
 " In thys time . . . one Ethel f ride, (who was the 
 VIII king of the Saxons that then reigned in this land, for 
 . . . there reigned at one time in this land XXIII kyngs 
 . . . ) had a great battle beside Chester: and at that 
 
 09 Lloyd, Lhuyd and Llwyd are different spellings of the same name. 
 
COMPARISON 157 
 
 time there were together in an abbey called Bangor 2200 
 monks, praying unto God to aid the Britons against the Sax- 
 ons, which Monkes (after Ethel f ride had obtained the victory 
 of the Battail) hee slewe, savyng 50 that hardly escaped." 
 Polichronicon. 
 
 p. 20, 589, A. D. 
 
 " In Briteyne Ethelfridus (or as some write Etheldredus) 
 governed the North Saxons, who made such continual war 
 upon the Britons that it is thought he slew more of them than 
 all the other Saxon kings." 
 
 Graf ton, Chronicle, p. 86. A leader of the Bangor 
 monks at Chester was Bruciuall. 
 
 Stow, p. 56. " Cadwane, Duke of Northwales, was made 
 Soueraigne of the Brytaines, who gaue strong battel to Ethel- 
 fride, king of Northumberland, and forced him to intreat for 
 peace: After which concord being made, they continued all 
 their lifetime louing friends. Hee raigned 22 yeeres." 
 
 In this stanza Spenser's story differs from Geoffrey's in 
 several particulars. Spenser writes, not of Ethelfridus, but 
 of Ethldred, and so uses a form of the name which Graf- 
 ton says " some write." 1 Instead of Brocmail Spenser 
 writes Brockwell, a form that may have come from the 
 Brocwel of the Brut Tysilio, the Brochewall of Hardyng, 
 or the Brochwell (also Brochewel and Brochwel) of Llwyd 
 in both the Description of Cambria and the Breviary of 
 Britayne. 2 Spenser says that the massacre of the monks 
 shall take place at Bangor, not at Legecestria, and so agrees 
 with the local tradition mentioned in Holinshed's Descrip- 
 tion of Britain, with what Grafton seems to say in the 
 Abridgment, 3 and with what the Brut Tysilio actually does 
 
 1 In spite of the discrepancy in the dates which Grafton gives, 
 this Ethelfridus (or Etheldredus) seems to be the same king of 
 Northumberland who warred against Brockwell. 
 
 - Cf. also Brochiual in L?amon's Brut CUT, p. 196, 1. 29,830), 
 Brochiuail in Robert Manning of Brunne (I, 1. 15, 364), and Bruciuall 
 in Grafton's Chronicle (p. 86). 
 
 3 The form of Grafton's story suggests that he was following the 
 usual version, and introduced the variation through carelessness of 
 expression or inaccurate condensation. 
 
158 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 say. Spenser writes that Etheldred shall twice defeat 
 Brockwell, but in the third encounter shall be defeated by 
 Cadwan, a statement which is to be found in the Descrip- 
 tion of Cambria. In this last battle Cadwan shall " thou- 
 sand Saxons kill." So, in the Breviary of Britayne, on the 
 authority of Huntingdon, the number is given as 1066. 
 Finally Spenser speaks of Cadwan as the leader and ruler 
 of the Britons, not merely as one among several leaders. 
 In this he may have followed Hardyng or Stow. There is 
 authority, then, for each of Spenser's variations from 
 Geoffrey, but no one author, as may be seen at a glance, 
 gives more than two. Unless some other possible source 
 be found, we must assume that Spenser used at least Graf- 
 ton's Abridgment, the Description of Cambria, the Breviary 
 of Britayne, and Hardyng's Chronicle or Stow's Annales. 
 Furthermore, for the massacre at Bangor, the most satis- 
 factory source would be the Brut Tysilio, because of the 
 directness of the statement made there. It is possible that 
 Spenser had access to Welsh sources of information, 4 and 
 so knew the Brut Tysilio, or some similar chronicle. Cer- 
 tainly in this stanza he modifies Geoffrey's story to agree 
 with Welsh versions of it. 
 
 36. " But after him, Cadwallin mightily 
 
 On his sonne Edwin all those wrongs shall wreake ; 
 
 Ne shall availe the wicked sorcery 
 
 Of false Pellite his purposes to breake, 
 
 But him shall slay, and on a gallowes bleak 
 
 Shall give th' enchaunter his unhappy hire. 
 
 Then shall the Britons, late dismayd and weake, 
 
 From their long vassalage gin to respire, 
 
 And on their Paynim foes avenge their ranckled ire. 
 
 37. " Ne shall he yet his wrath so mitigate, 
 Till both the sonnes of Edwin he have slayne, 
 Offricke and Osricke, twinnes unfortunate, 
 
 4 Cf. the Welsh words, F. Q., II, 10, 24. 
 
COMPARISON 159 
 
 Both slaine in battaile upon Layburne playne, 
 
 Together with the king of Louthiane, 
 
 Hight Adin, and the king of Orkeny, 
 
 Both joynt partakers of their fatall payne : 
 
 But Penda, fearefull of like desteny, 
 
 Shall yield him selfe his liegeman, and sweare fealty. 
 
 38. " Him shall he make his fatall Instrument 
 T' afflict the other Saxons unsubdewd ; 
 
 He marching forth with fury insolent 
 Against the good king Oswald, who indewd 
 With heavenly powre, and by Angels reskewd, 
 Al holding crosses in their hands on hye, 
 Shall him def eate withouten blood imbrewd : 
 Of which that field, for endlesse memory, 
 Shall Hevenfield be cald to all posterity. 
 
 39. " Whereat Cadwallin wroth shall forth issew, 
 And an huge hoste into Northumber lead, 
 
 With which he godly Oswald shall subdew, 
 And crowne with martiredome his sacred head : 
 Whose brother Oswin, daunted with like dread, 
 With price of silver shall his kingdome buy; 
 And Penda, seeking him adowne to tread, 
 Shall tread adowne, and doe him f owly dye ; 
 But shall with guifts his lord Cadwallin pacify. 
 
 G. of M., XII, 1-13, pp. 163 ff. Caduallo, son of 
 Caduanus, and Edwinus, son of Ethel fridus, shared the 
 kingdom between them, as their fathers had done. Cad- 
 uallo alone wore a crown. He refused his permission when 
 Edwinus wished to be crowned also. In the war that fol- 
 lowed Caduallo was defeated and forced to flee from Brit- 
 ain. His return was prevented by the arts of the magician 
 Pellitus. But Pellitus was killed by Brianus, who in dis- 
 guise approached him in York and thrust him through 
 with an iron-tipped spear. Caduallo then returned. He 
 
160 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 overcame Peanda, king of the Mercians, who was in com- 
 mand of the Saxon force. Peanda became his ally, and 
 they marched against Edwinus. Edwinus was killed in 
 battle at Hevenfeld, together with Offridus his son, and 
 Godboldus, king of the Orkneys (Orcadun). Caduallo 
 then attempted to extirpate the Saxon race. Among those 
 whom he killed were Osricus, Edwin's successor, and his 
 two nephews, who should have reigned after him, and 
 Adanus, king of the Scots. Oswaldus then became king of 
 Northumbria. At Hevenfeld Oswaldus set up a cross and 
 commanded his men to pray. By their faith they gained a 
 victory over Peanda, but afterward Caduallo led an army 
 to the north and Oswaldus was defeated at Burne and 
 killed. Oswius, his brother, made large presents of gold 
 and silver to Caduallo, and was allowed to succeed Oswal- 
 dus. Peanda was permitted to attack him, but was him- 
 self killed. Peace was made by command of Caduallo. 
 
 Hol. y Hist., pp. 163 ff. While the kingdom of Nor- 
 thumberland flourished under Edwin, " Cadwalline, or 
 Cadwallo King of Brytaynes, who succeeded Cadwane," 5 
 rebelled against him. Penda, king of Mercia, instigated 
 the rebellion and assisted in it. In a battle at Hatfield Ed- 
 win and one of his sons, Osfrid, were slain, and their army 
 was defeated. Another son, Edfride, surrendered to 
 Penda and was put to death. Cadwallo and Penda used 
 their power cruelly. After a while Oswalde became king 
 of the Northumbrians, He fought with Cadwallo at 
 " Heuenfield," where before the battle he ordered a cross 
 erected. He put the enemy to flight and followed them to 
 Denisseborne, where Cadwallo was slain. But according to 
 Geoffrey, the next paragraph continues, Cadwallo was not 
 slain at all. 
 
 pp. 165 ff. Cadwallo or Cadwalline's reign is described 
 practically as in Geoffrey of Monmouth. 6 In the battle of 
 
 6 This is not the beginning of a separate section. 
 8 Here, as usually at the beginning of a reign, there is a portrait, 
 a heading, and heavy type in the margin. 
 
COMPARISON l6l 
 
 Hatfield Edwin, Osfride, and Godbolde, the king of the 
 Isles of Orkney, were slain. Penda was overthrown at 
 Heauenfielde by Oswald, but the story of the cross is not 
 given. Cadwallo himselfe pursued Oswald and killed him 
 at Bourne. Osunus succeeded Oswald. Penda, by per- 
 mission, warred against him, although Osunus, " by great 
 gyftes of golde and siluer " had obtained peace. Penda 
 was slain. The account concludes as follows: " . . . 
 but diuers men thinke that much of that Hystorie is but 
 fables, bycause of the dissonance found therein so mani- 
 festly varying both from Beda and other autentike wryters 
 (as before I haue sayde.) " 7 
 
 p. 170. Oswy succeeded his brother Oswalde as king of 
 Northumberland. 
 
 LaZamon, ed. Madden, III, p. 255, //. 31,244-6. 
 
 "per wes Edwine of-slagen 
 And his sunen tweien. 
 per feollen seouen kinges." 
 
 Osric, the youngest son, is mentioned later. 
 
 Stow, p. 56. " Cadwallin, the sonne of Cadwane." Mir. 
 for Mag., I, p. 420. Cadwalline. Graf ton, p. 95, Cad- 
 wallyn. 
 
 These four stanzas follow the general outline of Geof- 
 frey's narrative. The only variations which show the in- 
 fluence of later chroniclers are the forms of the names Cad- 
 wallin and Penda. For the other variations no authority is 
 known. Pellite receives " his unhappy hire " on "a gal- 
 lowes bleak " apparently because of Spenser's predilection 
 for hanging. 8 To the list of those slain in the battle 
 between Edwin and Cadwallin are added the names of those 
 killed afterward a change, it may be, for brevity. The 
 description of the battle of Heavenfield, in which Oswald 
 was victorious, introduces bands of angels with crosses in 
 
 8 See 
 
 . 167. 
 
 note, p. 84, above. 
 
1 62 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 their hands creations, perhaps, of the poet's fancy, based 
 on the story of the cross that Oswald erected on the battle- 
 field. Two points, however, suggest that Spenser may have 
 had authority for at least some of his changes. The first 
 point is the name Laybourne Plain, which Spenser gives to 
 Geoffrey's first battle at Hevenfeld, called by the later chron- 
 iclers Hatfield. Even if we assume that Spenser by mis- 
 take used the name of the battle in which Oswald was killed 
 a supposition which gains some probability from Spen- 
 ser's omission of the name later we must still account for 
 the change from Burne to Laybourne Plain, and admit that 
 it is such a change as we have not found before except when 
 Spenser has been following some definite source. The sec- 
 ond point is this : although we may explain the combina- 
 tion of two lists of the slain as the result of condensation, a 
 similar combination had already been made by Layamon, 
 whose mention of Edwin's " sunen tweien" among the 
 slain is specially noteworthy as a parallel to Spenser's 
 " twinnes unfortunate." If there existed a source that pre- 
 served the LaSamon form of the story, it might account for 
 the change of the name Offridus to Offricke, a change 
 which was clearly made for the sake of agreement with 
 Osricke and for other changes. We must conclude, then, 
 that while the general outline of Spenser's story is suffi- 
 ciently close to Geoffrey's to warrant a belief that Spenser 
 was following Geoffrey, Spenser varied the narrative, in 
 part, perhaps, through the necessity of condensation, but 
 also in part through the probable influence of some source 
 now unknown, and certainly, in the forms Cadwallin and 
 Penda, through the influence of Holinshed or some other 
 of the later chroniclers. 
 
 40. " Then shall Cadwallin die ; and then the raine 
 Of Britons eke with him attonce shall dye ; 
 Ne shall the good Cadwallader, with paine 
 Or powre, be hable it to remedy, 
 
COMPARISON 163 
 
 When the full time, prefixt by destiny, 
 
 Shal be expird of Britons regiment : 
 
 For heven it selfe shall their successe envy, 
 
 And them with plagues and murrins pestilent 
 
 Consume, till all their warlike puissaunce be spent. 
 
 41. " Yet after all these sorrowes, and huge hills 
 
 Of dying people, during eight yeares space, 
 
 Cadwallader, not yielding to his ills, 
 
 From Armoricke, where long in wretched cace 
 
 He liv'd, retourning to his native place, 
 
 Shal be by vision staide from his intent : 
 
 For th' heavens have decreed to displace 
 
 The Britons for their sinnes dew punishment, 
 
 And to the Saxons over-give their government." 
 
 G. of M., XII, 14-18, pp. 173 ff. Caduallo was suc- 
 ceeded by his son Cadwalladrus, who ruled in peace for 
 twelve years. He then fell sick, and civil war broke out. 
 At the same time came famine, followed by pestilence, which 
 broke down the power of the Britons so that they were 
 forced to flee beyond the seas. Cadwalladrus broke into 
 lamentation on his departure, and ascribed the woes of the 
 Britons to the anger of God, whom they had provoked by 
 their impieties. Cadwalladrus took refuge in Armorica, 
 and the Saxons had supreme rule over all Britain. " Ab 
 illo tempore Britonum potestas in insula cessavit : et Angli 
 regnare coeperunt " (ch. 16, //. 1718, p. 174). In course 
 of time Cadwalladrus wished to recover his kingdom, but 
 the loud voice of an angel commanded him to give up his 
 enterprise, because God was not willing that the Britons 
 should reign any longer in Britain. He was also com- 
 manded to make a pilgrimage to Rome. He did so, and in 
 Rome he died. 
 
 Hoi., Hist., p. 183. After a number of pages on Saxon 
 affairs, Holinshed gives a brief account of Cadwallader ac- 
 cording to Geoffrey, but he considers the story a mistake 
 
164 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 due to a confusion with Ceadwalla, king of the West Sax- 
 ons, who did go to Rome and died there. 
 
 Nennius, section 45,, Six Old English Chronicles, p. 405. 
 " And let him that reads understand that the Saxons were 
 victorious, and ruled Britain, not from their superior prowess, 
 but on account of the great sins of the Britons : God so per- 
 mitting it." 
 
 It is difficult to determine what Spenser meant by say- 
 ing that with Cadwallin " the raine of Britons " died. Ap- 
 parently, either by accident or intention, the twelve years of 
 peace with which Cadwallader's reign opened are over- 
 looked, and so the power of the Britons is said to have 
 ended with Cadwallader's predecessor, although he was not 
 the last of the British kings. In other respects Spenser's 
 story is a summary of Geoffrey's. The moralizing of the 
 last three lines may owe something to Nennius, but more 
 probably was developed from Geoffrey's statement that God 
 was not willing that the Britons should reign any longer in 
 Britain. 
 
 52, //. 5 ff. " Ye see that good King Uther now doth 
 
 make 
 
 Strong warre upon the Paynim brethren, hight 
 Octa and Oza, whome hee lately brake 
 Beside Cayr Verolame in victorious fight, 
 That now all Britany doth burne in armes bright." 
 
 G. of M., VIII, 18, pp. 114-115. Octa, the son of Hen- 
 gist, and Eosa his kinsman, were captured by King Uther 
 in a battle on Mount Damen. 
 
 21-23, PP- IJ 8 ff. Octa and Eosa escaped. They gath- 
 ered a force against Uther and were besieged at Verulamius, 
 where they were defeated and killed. 
 
 24, pp. 120-121. The Saxons continued their attacks 
 throughout the kingdom. 
 
 Hoi., Hist, p. 128. Occa or Oca and Ossa were slain 
 
COMPARISON 165 
 
 in battle by Uter " at Saint Albanes (as some write)." 
 Holinshed also gives an account based on Gildas, according 
 to which Occa and Osca are slain at Badon Hill. 
 
 The account of Octa and Oza follows Geoffrey. The 
 name Oza shows a variation not accounted for by the later 
 chroniclers. 
 
 55. " And, that which more then all the rest may sway, 
 Late dayes ensample, which these eyes beheld: 
 
 In the last field before Menevia, 
 
 Which Uther with those forrein Pagans held, 
 
 I saw a Saxon Virgin, the which feld 
 
 Great Ulfin thrise upon the bloody playne ; 
 
 And, had not Carados her hand withheld 
 
 From rash revenge, she had him surely slayne; 
 
 Yet Carados himself e from her escapt with payne." 
 
 56. "Ah! read," (quoth Britomart) "how is she hight? " 
 " Fayre Angela," (quoth she) " men do her call, 
 
 No whit lesse f ayre then terrible in fight : 
 She hath the leading of a Martiall 
 And mightie people, dreaded more then all 
 The other Saxons, which doe, for her sake 
 And love, themselves of her name Angles call. 
 Therefore, faire Infant, her ensample make 
 Unto thy selfe, and equall corage to thee take." 
 
 58, //. 5 if. ... a great pray 
 
 Of Saxon goods; emongst the which was scene 
 
 A goodly Armour, and full rich aray, 
 
 Which long'd to Angela, the Saxon Queene, 
 
 All fretted round with gold, and goodly wel beseene. 
 
 G. of M., VIII, 1 6, pp. 113-4. Pascentius and Gillo- 
 manius, leaders of the Saxons, were killed by Uther in bat- 
 tle near Menevia. Aurelius Ambrosius had recently died. 
 
1 66 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 HoL, Descr. of Brit., p. 2a. The story of Angela is de- 
 nied. Ecbert, about the year 800, named the country 
 " after the name of his Countrie from whence his originall 
 came, neyther Hengist, neyther any Queene named Angla 
 
 Bartholomew, De Proprietatibus rerum, Bk. 15, ch. 14. 
 
 " And longe tyme after y e Saxons wanne the ylonde with 
 many & diuers harde batayles & stronge & theyr ofsprynge 
 had possessyon after them of y e ylonde . . . 
 
 " And therfore they clepyd the ylonde Anglia by y e name 
 of Engelia y e quene, the northyest duke of Saxons doughter 
 yt had y e ylonde in possessyon after many batayles." 
 
 Robert Manning of Brunne, II. 7533-6. 
 
 " Bot )>is lewed m^n sey & synge, 
 & telte Ipat hit was mayden Inge. 
 Wryten of Inge, no clerk may kenne, 
 Bot of Hengiste doughter Ronewenne." 
 
 After giving an account of king Engle, Robert Manning 
 of Brunne continues (//. 14,835-8) : 
 
 " But of Ynge saw y neu^re nought, 
 Neyfer in boke write ne wrought; 
 But lewed men Iper-of speke & crye, 
 & meyntene al-wey vp Ipat lye." 
 
 Higden, Policronicon., Rolls Series, II, p. 4. 
 
 " Deinde a Saxonibus sive Anglis . . . vocata est 
 Anglia; sive ab Angela regina, clarissimi ducis Saxonum filia, 
 quae post multa tempora earn possedit." 
 
 Robert of Gloucester, ed. Hearne, II, Glossary, pp. 731- 
 733. Hearne printed a fragment of a chronicle found writ- 
 ten on vellum and thought to be by John Stow. It was re- 
 printed by Warton, Eng. Poetry, II, pp. 100-102. It in- 
 cludes the following lines : 
 
COMPARISON 167 
 
 " In that tyme wetej> welle, 
 Cam ferst wassayle & drynke hayl 
 In to this londe, with owte wene, 
 purghe a mayde brygh and schene, 
 Sche was cleput mayde ynge, 
 For hur many doth rede & synge 
 Lodyngys gent & free. 
 
 " This lond hath y hadde namys thre. 
 
 Ferst hit was cleput Albyon, 
 
 And syth for Brute Bretayne a non. 
 
 And now ynglond clepyd hit ys, 
 
 Aftir mayde ynge y wysse. 
 
 Thilke ynge, fro Saxone was come." 
 
 The identification of Ynge with Rowena is evident. 
 
 Caxton, Descr. of Eng., ch. i. 
 
 " Thenne Saxons or Englisshmen conquered this lond and 
 called it Anglia that is Englond / Or it is called Anglia of 
 a quene that owid this lande that was named Angela and 
 was a noble dukes doughter of the Saxons/ 
 
 Liber de Hyda, p. 4. 
 
 " Et postmodum in ipsam terram Saxonibus applicantibus 
 ac regnantibus, sive ab Angela regina, clarissimi ducis Saxo- 
 num filia, vocata est Anglia . . ." 
 
 A Short English Chronicle, ed. by J. Gairdner in Three 
 Fifteenth Century Chronicles, pp. 10-11. England is said 
 to have been named by Engest. Then, after an interval, 
 with no apparent feeling of contradiction, England is said 
 to have been named in liter's time for Ingerne, his wife, the 
 mother of Arthur. 
 
 Graf ton's Chronicle, p. 28. 
 
 "But after this, as in this story shall apere, this Realme 
 was conquered and brought in subjection to Straungers dyuers 
 and sundrie tymes, as first after Brute to the Romaynes, then 
 to the Saxons which conquered this land, & called it Anglia 
 (as saith Polichronicon) eyther of Angli, that is to say, 
 
1 68 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 people of Saxony, or of the name of a Queene of this lande 
 that was called Angela." 
 
 Camd., Br. } p. 68. 
 
 " Facessat Angulus filius Humbli, & Angela regina, quos 
 nostrae gentis fuisse conditiores, blaterant inepti." 
 
 For the battle of Menevia, in which Uther fought against 
 the Saxons, Spenser could have found authority in Geof- 
 frey. The rest of the passage recounts the story of the 
 Saxon virgin Angela, 9 whose people, the Angles, were 
 named after her. The story itself, with its interesting ref- 
 erence to Carados, I have failed to find. But the maiden 
 Angela is evidently the Saxon Queen Angela, for whom 
 England was named. 10 To this Angela reference is fre- 
 quently made. Sometimes, as in Holinshed, the story about 
 her is denied. More frequently it is presented as an alterna- 
 tive with some other account of the naming of England. 
 Bartholomew, Caxton, and Grafton give the most vivid 
 and definite versions of her story, and any one of them 
 may have furnished the foundation on which Spenser built 
 his superstructure of imagination. Yet the story may not 
 have been wholly due to Spenser's imagination. We can- 
 not be sure that he did not know some version of the story 
 of Angela more detailed than any which is now known. 
 
 C. BOOK III, CANTO 9. 
 
 Stanzas 41-43 of this canto give an account of the adven- 
 tures of ^Eneas. They include details not to be found in 
 
 9 " This Saxon virgin is, I believe, entirely of Spenser's own feign- 
 ing." Upton, quoted by Professor Child, in his edition of Spenser, 
 II, p. 230. 
 
 10 Geoffrey told at length the story of the Saxon maiden Rowena. 
 This, in the fragment of a chronicle printed by Hearne (see pp. 
 166-7, above), was transferred to "maid ynge," eponymous heroine 
 of England. Robert Manning of Brunne knew the story in this form, 
 but declared that it was false (see p. 166, above). It seems possible 
 that the story of the eponymous Angela, or, as Bartholomew calls 
 her, Engelia, may be connected with this Rowena- Ynge story. 
 
COMPARISON 169 
 
 Geoffrey, and apparently are not based on the brief lines 
 in the Historia I, 3, though perhaps suggested by them. 
 
 48. " For that same Brute, whom much he n did advaunce 
 
 In all his speach, was Sylvius his sonne, 
 
 Whom having slain through luckles arrowes glaunce, 
 
 He fled for feare of that he had misdonne, 
 
 Or els for shame, so fowle reproch to shonne, 
 
 And with him ledd to sea an youthly trayne ; 
 
 Where w r earie wandring they long time did wonne, 
 
 And many fortunes prov'd in th' Ocean niayne, 
 
 And great adventures found, that now were long to sayne. 
 
 G. of M., I, 3. Brutus was the son of Silvius. When 
 he was fifteen years old ". . . comitabatur juvenis 
 patrem in venando, ipsumque inopino ictu sagittae inter- 
 fecit " (p. 5, /. 18 /.). Banished from Italy, Brutus went 
 to Greece. 
 
 Chapters 410. Adventures of Brutus in Greece. 
 
 Chapters 11-15. Brutus, with 324 ships, sailed from 
 Greece. After many adventures he landed in Albion. 
 
 Hoi, Hist., p. 9. 
 
 " This Brute (as the author of the Book (which Geffrey 
 of Monmouth translated) doth affirme, was the sonne of 
 Siluius, the sonne of Ascanius that was sonne of Aeneas the 
 Troian, begotten of his wyfe Creusa, and borne in Troye, 
 before the Citie was destroyed." 
 
 p. 7 (reverse of p. 9, misnumbered). 
 
 " Concerning therfore our Brute, whether his father Julius 
 was sonne to Ascanius, the sonne of Aeneas by his wyfe 
 Creusa, or sonne to Posthumus, called also Ascanius, and 
 sonne to Aeneas by his wyfe Lauinia, wee will not further 
 stande. But this we fiynde, that when he came to the age 
 of .XV. yeares, ... he fortuned eyther by mishap, or 
 by gods prouidence, to strike his father with an arrowe, in 
 
 11 1. e., Mnemon. \ 
 
170 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 shooting at a deere, of which wounde he also dyed. His 
 grandfather . . . hearing of this greate misaduenture 
 that had chaunced to his sonne Siluius, liued not long after, 
 but deceased of very grief e and sorrow (as is to be supposed) 
 which he conceyued therof . . ." 
 
 Brutus went to Greece and from there, after various ad- 
 ventures, to Albion. 
 
 Spenser's story is based on Geoffrey's, but condenses sev- 
 eral chapters into a few lines. The " youthly trayne " that 
 accompanied Brutus from Italy seems to be of Spenser's 
 invention. It probably results from the necessity of fur- 
 nishing Brutus with a company of men to settle Albion. 
 According to Geoffrey, these men were found in Greece. 
 But Spenser, apparently for brevity, has omitted the expedi- 
 tion to Greece. 12 
 
 49. " At last by fatall course they driven were 
 Into an Island spatious and brode, 
 
 The furthest North that did to them appeare : 
 
 Which, after rest, they, seeking farre abrode, 
 
 Found it the fittest soyle for their abode, 
 
 Fruitfull of all thinges fitt for living foode, 
 
 But wholy waste and void of peoples trode, 
 
 Save an huge nation of the Geaunts broode 
 
 That fed on living flesh, and dronck mens vitall blood. 
 
 50. " Whom he, through wearie wars and labours long, 
 Subdewd with losse of many Britons bold : 
 
 In which the great Goemagot of strong 
 
 Corineus, and Coulin of Debon old, 
 
 Were overthrowne and laide on th' earth full cold, 
 
 Which quaked under their so hideous masse, 
 
 A famous history to bee enrold 
 
 In everlasting moniments of brasse, 
 
 That all the antique Worthies merits far did passe. 
 
 12 Cf. Inogene of Italy, in F. Q., II, 10, 13. See p. 52 f, above. 
 
COMPARISON 
 
 G. of M. See p. 42 above, for reference to giants. See 
 p. 48 above for Geomagot 
 
 Hoi., Hist. For giants, see p. 43, above; for Goemagot, 
 see p. 48f., above. 
 
 For a full discussion of the matters treated in these two 
 stanzas, see pp. 42-46, and 4850, above. 
 
 51. " His worke great Troynovant, his worke is eke 
 Faire Lincolne, both renowmed far away; 
 That who from East to West will endlong seeke, 
 Cannot two fairer Cities find this day, 
 Except Cleopolis : so heard I say 
 Old Mnemon. . . ." 
 
 The founding of Troynovant by Brutus is mentioned in 
 Geoffrey's Historia (I, 17), in Holinshed (p. 16), and 
 elsewhere. I have not discovered any authority for Spen- 
 ser's statement that Brutus founded Lincoln also. 
 
VI 
 
 CONCLUSION 
 
 In the previous chapter Spenser's chronicle history ma- 
 terial has been studied with relation to its probable sources, 
 section by section. The results, given, as they are, in a 
 series of detached paragraphs, at first seem confusing and 
 even contradictory, but a rapid review will show that taken 
 together they establish certain facts. 
 
 In passage after passage it is manifest that much of 
 Spenser's chronicle material agrees in detail as well as in 
 general outline with Geoffrey's Historia. This agreement 
 is especially noticeable in the passages which the later chron- 
 iclers contradict, modify, or doubt, because of the evidence 
 of Roman and Saxon historians. Furthermore, in some 
 cases, Spenser's version of the story appears not to be found 
 elsewhere except in Geoffrey, and in other cases Spenser 
 reproduces Geoffrey's phrasing. 
 
 As examples of Spenser's agreement with Geoffrey in 
 details that are not given by other chroniclers it will suf- 
 fice to refer to Spenser's account of the division of Britain 
 among the sons of Brutus, to his mention of the broken 
 treaty of Brennus and Belinus, and to his account of the 
 devastation of Britain by Gormond. But to show Spenser's 
 agreement in phrasing several passages are brought together 
 here, that their significance may be considered more closely. 
 Geoffrey says of Morvidus, Hie nimia probitate famosissi- 
 mus esset, nisi immoderatae crudelitati indulsisset, and 
 Spenser keeps the very turn of the sentence in his account 
 of Morindus, 
 
 " Who, had he not with wrath outrageous 
 And cruell rancour dim'd his valorous 
 And mightie deedes, should matched have the best." 
 
 172 
 
CONCLUSION 173 
 
 Geoffrey says that Lud renewed the walls of London (re- 
 novavit muros), and Spenser says he " did re-sedify " them, 
 although other chroniclers say that he built them instead of 
 re-built them. Geoffrey, describing the reputation of Arvir- 
 agus, writes, diligebant eum Romani et timebant, ita ut 
 prae omnibus regibus sermo de eo Romae Heret, praise 
 which Spenser translates in his 
 
 " Was never king more highly magnifide, 
 Nor dredd of Romanes, then was Arvirage." 
 
 Again Geoffrey speaks of Helena as surpassing other girls 
 in beauty and in knowledge of musical instruments and the 
 liberal arts, while Spenser calls her " the fairest living 
 wight," who 
 
 " was most famous hight 
 For skil in Musicke of all in her daies, 
 As well in curious instruments as cunning laies." 
 
 In Geoffrey, Malgo conquers sex comprovinciales Oceani 
 insulas, and in Spenser, 
 
 " six Islands comprovinciall 
 In auncient times unto great Britainee," 
 
 although the word comprovincial is rare in English. 
 
 An argument based on a negation is always dangerous, 
 particularly when the material under consideration is so 
 often repeated. It would not be safe, therefore, to say 
 that Spenser could have found the words or the details 
 given above nowhere except in the Historia. As a matter 
 of fact, in two cases it is certain that Geoffrey's words were 
 repeated by other writers. In both the Flores Historiarum 
 and the Sex Libri of Ponticus Virunnius we find reference 
 to the musical instruments in which Helena excelled, and 
 in the Flores Historiarum we find also the sex compro- 
 vinciales occeani insulas. But as there is no evidence that 
 Spenser elsewhere used either book, we have no reason to 
 
174 SPENSER S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 assume that he used them in these two passages. The His- 
 toria is the more probable source. Though it be admitted 
 that no single instance cited above is in itself decisive, never- 
 theless the multiplication of examples convinces. 
 
 We have already seen that Spenser's chronicle repro- 
 duces the general outline of Geoffrey's narrative to an ex- 
 tent difficult to account for except on the supposition that 
 Spenser knew the Historia. 1 We have noted also the sig- 
 nificant, though not complete, correspondence in form be- 
 tween Spenser's proper nouns and Geoffrey's. When we 
 now bring these facts into conjunction with the results of 
 the detailed study in Chapter V, remembering, at the same 
 time, that the Historia, the recognized authority for British 
 chronicle history, was accessible both in print and in manu- 
 scripts, we must conclude that Geoffrey's Historia was one 
 of Spenser's immediate sources. 
 
 The moment we grant this, however, we find ourselves 
 face to face with a curious fact. Scarcely a dozen times in 
 < 4- all does Spenser follow Geoffrey's narrative without vary- 
 ing from it, or in some way showing the influence of the 
 later chroniclers; and those few instances are always where 
 he gives only a few lines to a single reign, or summarizes 
 a long story in a single stanza. 2 For the most part even 
 in his briefest passages, and always in his longer and more 
 detailed ones, he varies continually, adding here and chang- 
 ing there, until sometimes all resemblance to the Historia 
 seems for the moment to disappear. 3 
 
 With these variations our chief interest now lies. We 
 ask concerning them, first, from what source they came, and 
 secondly, although we cannot hope to answer this question 
 except conjecturally, on what principles they were chosen. 
 
 For some of these variations I have not succeeded in 
 finding any source. The list is as follows : 
 
 1 See pp. 31-36, above. 
 
 2 See in Bk. II, C 10, st. 9, 11. 6-9; st. 12, 11. 1-5; st. 13; st. 21, 
 11. 3-5; st. 25, 11. 4-5; st. 34, 11. 3-6; st. 57, 11. 5-6; st. 60; st. 67; 
 and in Bk. Ill, C. 3, st. 52, 11. 5-9. 
 
 3 See Bk. Ill, C. 3, st. 35. 
 
CONCLUSION 175 
 
 Book II, Canto 10, 
 
 St. ii. The story of Debon and Coulin; the story of 
 Godmer and Canutus. 
 
 12. The statement that Devonshire was given to Debon, 
 and that Kent was given to Canutus and named after him. 
 
 13. The assumption that Inogene was of Italy, not 
 Greece. 
 
 18-19. The statement that Locrinus was imprisoned by 
 his wife, and that Estrild was not drowned in the Severne 
 with Sabrina but was killed separately. 
 
 21. The name Manild; the number of Ebranck's chil- 
 dren, as many as there were weeks in the year. 
 
 24. The reference to the " moore twixt Elversham and 
 Dell," and the Welsh words for green shield and red shield. 
 
 25. The statement that Cairleon was built by Leill. 
 32. The manner of Cordelia's death. 
 
 34. The imprisonment of Gorbogud by his sons, Ferrex 
 and Porrex. 
 
 41. The conquest of Easterland by Gurgiunt. 
 
 43. The peaceful rest of the body of Morindus, 
 
 46. The number of Hely's sons, two, not three. 
 
 49. The statement that Caesar's sword is " yet to be scene 
 this day." 
 
 50-51. The transference of the adventures of Guiderius 
 to his predecessor Kimbeline. 
 
 54-56. The insertion of the story of Bunduca after the 
 reign of Lucius; the battle of the Severne; the corruption 
 of Bunduca's captains; her second defeat. 
 
 58. The statement that Coel was the first since Lucius to 
 be crowned king. 
 
 63. The building of the wall by Constantine. 
 
 64. The statement that all three sons of Constantine were 
 under age. 
 
 Book III, Canto 3, 
 
 St. 30. Conan's three fights with the Mertians. 
 
 31. The disastrous end of Vortipore's reign; the state- 
 
176 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 ment that Malgo was Vortipore's son and fought to avenge 
 his father. 
 
 33. The statement that Careticus was the son of Malgo, 
 and was at first victorious over the Saxons. 
 
 36-37. The hanging of Pellite ; the name of the battle of 
 Laybourne Plain; the list of those who were killed there; 
 the description of the battle of Hevenfield. 
 
 Book III, Canto 3, 
 
 St. 51. The founding of Lincoln by Brutus. 
 
 Several of these variations from Geoffrey's Historia 
 seem to be sufficiently accounted for without supposing 
 that Spenser followed some source as yet unknown. The 
 name Manild, for instance, may be due to the exigencies 
 of rhyme. The number of Ebranck's children is given in 
 a poetical circumlocution which approximates the number 
 usually given, 50, and the number Caxton gives, 53, as 
 closely, perhaps, as can be expected. The manner of Cor- 
 delia's death might easily have been suggested by the Mir- 
 ror for Magistrates. The statement about Caesar's sword 
 was a natural addition to give a touch of reality. The in- 
 sertion of the story of Bunduca after the reign of Lucius 
 seems explained by the greater smoothness thus secured in 
 the narrative as a whole. The building of the turf wall 
 by Constantine is a statement that might result from the 
 confusion in Holinshed. The assertion that all three sons 
 of the second Constantine were under age is manifestly a 
 device to cover an omission in the story, made partly for 
 the sake of brevity, and partly to avoid disagreeable and 
 disputed material. The changes in the beginning of the 
 part of the chronicle which is told as a prophecy includ- 
 ing not only the variations in stanzas 30 and 31, but also 
 the relationship between consecutive kings are clearly 
 due to the conditions imposed by the story of Britomart 
 in the Faerie Queene. If these variations from the His- 
 toria material should be excluded from the list, few would 
 remain for which we might expect to find a source. 4 Con- 
 
 4 This course of reasoning, however, is not always to be relied on. 
 
CONCLUSION 177 
 
 spicuous among these, however, would be the stories of 
 Godmer and Debon, Coulin and Canutus, and the Welsh 
 words in the account of Brutus Greenshield. 
 
 Far the larger number of Spenser's variations from the =. 
 Historia can be traced directly to a source in one or more 
 of the writers later than Geoffrey. We find indications 
 that Spenser occasionally drew from Caxton, Grafton, 
 Camden, Llwyd, the Tragedy of Gorboduc, and possibly 
 also from Nennius and Warner, and we are sure that he 
 frequently was influenced by Hardyng, Stow, the Mirror 
 for Magistrates, and Holinshed. 5 Two of this last group, 
 Hardyng and the Mirror for Magistrates, were naturally 
 important because of their poetical form and their moral- 
 izing, for although Spenser never directly copied any of the 
 moral reflections in either book, the general tone undoubt- 
 edly influenced him. To Holinshed and Stow, on the con- 
 trary, he must have turned, not from literary, but from 
 historical, interest. In Spenser's time they were the most 
 recent authorities. 
 
 So far as phrasing is concerned, Spenser borrowed little - 
 from his predecessors. We catch only light echoes. 
 Llwyd, the Tragedy of Gorboduc, Warner, Grafton, and 
 the Mirror for Magistrates, each, apparently, furnished a 
 single word or phrase. Camden seems to have suggested 
 the wording in two passages, Stow in four, and Holinshed 
 and Hardyng in eleven each. As to these passages, how- 
 ever, there is room for a difference of opinion, for the re- 
 semblances are seldom sufficiently striking to be insisted 
 upon. It is in the material itself, rather than in the phras- 
 ing, that we see the influence of Spenser's sources. 
 
 When we turn to a consideration of Spenser's way of 
 using the material that he drew from the later chroniclers, 
 we find, first, that the additions to Geoffrey's story, or the 
 
 Several times I have found a source for some statement that at first 
 seemed easily explicable as an independent variation. 
 
 ' 5 Spenser's use of the name Maximinian indicates that he probably 
 followed the first edition of Holinshed. There is no evidence that 
 he used the British chronicle history in the second edition. 
 
178 SPENSER'S BRITISH * CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 changes in it, which found favor in his eyes, are usually 
 those repeated by a number of chronicles. For example, 
 Spenser agreed with the majority in writing that Madan 
 was an evil king, that Bladud visited Greece, that Brennus 
 and Belinus conquered Greece, that Coel gave his daugh- 
 ter Helena in marriage to Constantius, that a wall of turf 
 was made from Alcluid to Panwelt, that Vortiger sent to 
 Germany for aid. Likewise he had the authority of more 
 than one writer for such incidents as the founding of Col- 
 chester by Coel, the finding of the naked body of Alectus, 
 and the massacre of the monks at Bangor. 
 
 We find, secondly, that the direct contrary is sometimes 
 true. Now and then the variations in Spenser's story seem 
 to result from the influence of a single author. We must 
 turn to Stow for a full account of Ebranck and Brutus 
 Greenshield, 6 to Hardyng for a hint that Ymner was of ill 
 repute, to Holinshed for any suggestion of Joseph of 
 Arimathea in an account of the reign of Lucius, to the Mir- 
 ror for Magistrates for the description of the battle in 
 which Fulgent was killed, to Llwyd for the two repulses 
 of Brockwell. In one case, at least, the account of Vor- 
 timer an important change which contradicts practically 
 every other authority, is probably the result of a story re- 
 peated by Holinshed, on the authority of William of 
 Malmesbury, merely as one among several accounts of the 
 events of Vortimer's reign. 
 
 We find, in the third place, that in composing a single 
 passage Spenser often drew from several authorities. He 
 used Geoffrey, Holinshed, and Hardyng in his account of 
 the sons of Brutus. He used Geoffrey, either Grafton or 
 Stow, Holinshed, and possibly Hardyng in his account of 
 the successors of Morindus. He used Geoffrey, Holins- 
 hed, Stow, and apparently Nennius, in his account of the 
 second Constantine. He used Graf ton's Abridgment, the 
 Description of Cambria, the Breviary of Britayne, and 
 
 6 Unless Stow's sources were accessible to Spenser. 
 
CONCLUSION 179 
 
 Hardyng's Chronicle or Stow's Annales, as well as possibly 
 the Brut Tysilio, in his account of Cadwan. 
 
 The reasons which led Spenser to add or to change de- 
 tails in this way are not always obvious. He seems some- 
 times to seek the account most favorable to the Britons. 
 Yet he made Madan an evil ruler in the face of Geoffrey's 
 testimony to the contrary, dwelt on the humiliation of the 
 country during the Roman invasions and the attack of 
 Gormond, and most unnecessarily described Vortipore's 
 reign as disastrous. He was, perhaps, aiming at historical 
 accuracy when he followed the majority of the later writers 
 in preference to Geoffrey, or when he turned to an au- 
 thority older than Geoffrey, as in his account of Vortimer, 
 or when he made use of local tradition, as in locating the 
 fight with Goemagot at Plymouth. Yet no desire for his- 
 torical accuracy led him to depart from the general out- 
 line of Geoffrey's narrative in order to follow Roman or 
 Saxon authorities from the time of Caesar on. He oc- 
 casionally rejected fabulous or marvellous incidents, as 
 when he practically denied that Morindus was eaten by a 
 sea-monster. Yet he kept the stories of Goemagot and 
 Hercules, added those of Godmer and Coulin, and followed 
 Geoffrey in ascribing the hot springs of Bath to the magic 
 of Bladud. In short, Spenser was guided in his choice of 
 material by no set principle. From many sources he chose 
 what pleased his taste or his convenience. With our scanty 
 knowledge of Spenser himself, and with the changed stand- 
 ards of our time, we cannot hope to understand his mo- 
 tives. Although the reader of the present day may not 
 be more interested in an evil Madan or Ymner, or in a 
 peaceful Marius, than in the Madan, Ymner, and Marius 
 of Geoffrey, it is entirely possible that Spenser was. Down 
 to the accession of Uther, at least, we are sure that in 
 Spenser's opinion the chronicle had the element of inter- 
 est, for he clearly indicated it in his description of the ef- 
 fect of the chronicle on Prince Arthur. " Wonder of an- 
 tiquity long stopped his speech," we are told, and he was 
 
180 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 " quite ravisht with delight to heare 
 The royall Ofspring of his native land." 
 
 In addition to this element of interest, which in the end 
 ' remains the chief explanation of Spenser's choice of ma- 
 terial, we note two characteristics that are evident through- 
 . out tffe chronicle. The first is that no statement is made 
 doubtfully. We are not told, " They say," or " So the 
 story runs," and then, " But for the truth of this I will 
 not vouch." We seem always to be dealing with unques- 
 tionable fact. 7 The second characteristic is that the story 
 is told strictly from the British point of view. Incidents 
 in Geoffrey which might tend to distract the attention 
 such, for instance, as the stories of Rowena, the founding 
 of Armorica, the death of the eleven thousand virgins 
 are rigorously excluded. Great skill is shown in keeping 
 the interest always with the successive British rulers, first, 
 through the whole period of the Roman warfare, which 
 never, in Spenser, is felt as a time of Roman supremacy, 
 and secondly, during the period of Saxon warfare. . Al- 
 though three times an interregnum is admitted, once be- 
 fore the reign of Dunwallo, once before that of Bunduca, 
 and once before that of the second Constantine, in each 
 case the attention is fixed immediately on the succeeding 
 British ruler, so that no break in the continuity is felt. 
 A similar effect is secured in the later part of the chronicle 
 by making son succeed father, from Conan to Careticus, 
 by making Cadwan apparently the direct successor to Care- 
 ticus, and by suppressing all mention of rival British or 
 Saxon kings, an omission particularly marked in the 
 stories of Cadwan and Cadwallin. 
 
 With this emphasis on the British point of view and 
 the continuity of British rule we may connect the traces of 
 direct Welsh influence. We note the Welsh words in the 
 account of Brutus Greeneshield, the familiarity with the 
 country suggested by Spenser's reference to the " woody 
 
 7 The chief exceptions are the story of Dioclesian's daughters, II, 
 10, 8, and the reference to the Grail, II, 10, 53. 
 
CONCLUSION l8l 
 
 hills " of Glamorgan even so slight a touch of descrip- 
 tion is rare in the chronicles, the transference of Bun- 
 duca's great battle to the vicinity of the Severn, the state- 
 ment that Cador was son of Gorlois found only in 
 the Brut Tysilio and in Hardyng, and apparently a Welsh 
 tradition, and finally the account of Brockwell and the 
 massacre at Bangor. Slightly different from these, but 
 equally important, is Spenser's reference to the three later 
 Welsh princes, 8 the ultimate, if not the direct, source of 
 which is the Brut of Caradoc of Llancarvan. 
 
 Both the British point of view and the interest in Welsh 
 tradition may be partly accounted for by the Welsh blood 
 of the Tudors. The chronicle, as has been said, was intro- 
 duced in praise of Elizabeth, and the invocations made clear 
 her connection with the British kings. According to 
 Spenser, she was the descendant both of Prince Arthur and 
 of Britomart. The " royall mace " she bore had been 
 handed down to her 
 
 " From mighty kings and conquerors in warre," 
 
 her " father^ and great Grandfathers of old." After the 
 death of Cadwallader, the British rule was at an end. 
 " But the terme," continued Merlin, 
 
 "is limited 
 That in this thraldome Britons shall abide." 
 
 In twice four hundred years, he promises, they shall re- 
 turn to power. The interval shall be brightened by the 
 courage of such men as Rhodoricke the Great, Howell Dha, 
 and Griffith Conan. 
 
 " Tho, when the terme is full accomplishid, 
 There shall a sparke of fire, which hath long-while 
 Been in his ashes raked up and hid, 
 Bee freshly kindled in the fruitfull He 
 Of Mona, where it lurked in exile; 
 
 8 The Faerie Queene, III, 3, 48. 
 
1 82 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 Which shall breake forth into bright burning flame, 
 
 And reach into the house that beares the stile 
 
 Of roiall majesty and soveraine name : 
 
 So shall the Briton blood their crowne agayn reclame." 9 
 
 In short, with the accession of Henry VII., grandson of 
 Owen Tudor, a "Welsh gentleman," the British blood 
 again came to its own. 
 
 As we note these evidences of artistic intention in 
 Spenser's chronicle, the possibility of the existence of a sin- 
 gle version of the British chronicle from which Spenser 
 may have drawn all his material becomes more unlikely. 
 By presupposing such a chronicle history we should only 
 shift the problem of composition back to some unknown 
 writer, whose motives in making such a combination of 
 details from numerous sources would be less comprehen- 
 sible than Spenser's. Versions of the British chronicle 
 which we do not know may have been in Spenser's hands; 
 but there is no reason to suppose that any one of them was 
 the prototype of Spenser's chronicle. 
 
 The conclusions that we have reached as to Spenser's 
 treatment of the British chronicle material agree, on the 
 whole, with what we had reason to expect from our study, 
 first, of his use of the river material in the Faerie Queene, 
 and, second, of his attitude toward historical records as 
 manifested in his View of the Present State of Ireland. 
 In the account of the rivers we found that although Spen- 
 ser depended largely on Holinshed, he continually modified 
 Holinshed's descriptions by introducing material from 
 other sources, and that he added, changed, or reproduced 
 accurately, according to the preference of the moment, with 
 no uniformity of method. From the study of the View of 
 the Present State of Ireland we learned that he found sig- 
 nificance in details that seem trifling to us, and that it 
 was his custom to collect material from every source in 
 order to " gather a likelihood of trueth " and a " probabil- 
 itye of thinges." In both works he showed a habit of mind 
 
 9 The Faerie Queene, III, 3, 48. 
 
CONCLUSION 183 
 
 and a method of work that would naturally result in just 
 such a free combination of material as we seem to have in 
 his British chronicle history. 
 
 It is interesting, finally, to compare these conclusions 
 with those reached by others who have studied Spenser's 
 use of his sources. Mr. R. S. Neil Dodge, in Spenser's 
 Imitations from Ariosto comments thus on the tenth 
 Canto of Book II : 
 
 " Here, as in several other imitations, Spenser directly 
 translates the first few lines, and then drifts into an entirely 
 original rendering of the theme suggested." 
 
 Practically the same is the conclusion of Mr. John R. 
 Macarthur, in The Influence of Huon of Burdeux upon the 
 Faerie Queene. 11 
 
 11 He [Spenser] appears to have borne in mind the details 
 of some episode in. a romance to which he was able to attach 
 an allegorical meaning, but he made use of those details in 
 an absolutely independent manner, re-arranging, omitting, and y 
 adding to suit his purpose." 
 
 Mr. E. A. Greenlaw says that Spenser " is too great and 
 too original to follow slavishly his sources after the man- 
 ner of the mediaeval romancers," 12 and Miss Sawtelle, after 
 noting Spenser's " complete mastery " of classical myth, 
 writes in like fashion: 
 
 " This sense of mastery leads him occasionally to rise su- 
 perior to the strict letter of the original and, while always 
 preserving its spirit, he at times deliberately perverts a myth 
 in order that it may better accord with his immediate purpose ; 
 or, again, he seizes upon some hint from the classics, and 
 constructs a myth of his own . . . Even when Spenser 
 paraphrases long extracts from the classics, he embellishes 
 them with beauties from his own imagination . . ." 
 
 Publ. Mod. Lang. Ass'n, XII, p. 200. 
 
 11 Journal of Ger. Phil. IV, pp. 215-238. 
 
 12 Edwin A. Greenlaw, The Sources of Spenser's "Mother Hubberd's 
 Tale" in Mod. Phil, III, p. 432. 
 
184 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 She adds that occasionally he made mistakes in minor de- 
 tails. 13 
 
 In one respect the results of the present investigation 
 agree with the statements that have just been quoted. 
 Spenser shows freedom in his use of his sources. He re- 
 arranges, omits, and adds details in his chronicle history, 
 even as he did in the material which he drew from Huon 
 of Burdeux. In the section of the chronicle which deals 
 with the kings immediately following Arthur, he even per- 
 verts the story, as, according to Miss Sawtelle, he some- 
 times " deliberately perverts " a classical myth, " in order 
 that it may accord with his immediate purpose." 
 
 On the whole, however, this investigation has brought 
 out a different aspect of Spenser's use of his sources. 
 Spenser's freedom has been seen manifesting itself, not in 
 the invention, but in the selection and combination of de- 
 tails. He does not treat with imaginative freedom a hint 
 from some previous writer. He seldom, if ever, gives an 
 " entirely original rendering of the theme suggested." 14 
 On the contrary, he keeps curiously close to his authorities. 
 First from one author, and then from another, he extracts 
 some minute detail, a peculiar form of a name, an unim- 
 portant variation from the usual form of the story. While 
 apparently following Geoffrey of Monmouth in the main, 
 he also draws from Hardyng, Holinshed, and Stow, and 
 from the Mirror for Magistrates, and to the material gath- 
 ered from these sources he adds now and again statements 
 that he bases on still other authorities. In short, we see 
 Spenser, not solely as a poet, but also as a historian and 
 'Chronicler and as an antiquarian. 
 
 In the Faerie Queene Spenser has described " that old 
 man Eumnestes " who " things past could keep in mem- 
 oree." He was sitting in his chamber, which was all 
 
 13 The Sources of Spenser's Classical Mythology, by Alice Elizabeth 
 Sawtelle, Boston, 1896, p. 8. 
 
 14 A possible exception to this statement is Spenser's treatment of 
 the history of the first few kings after Arthur. It is doubtful if even 
 this could be called " entirely original." 
 
CONCLUSION 185 
 
 " hanged about with rolls 
 And old records from auncient times derivd, 
 Some made in books, some in long parchment scrolls, 
 That were all worm-eaten and full of canker holes. 
 
 " Amidst them all he in a chaire was sett, 
 Tossing and turning them withouten end." 15 
 
 Even so it would seem Spenser himself must have worked. 
 F. Q., II, 9, 57-58. 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 It seems probable that Spenser's chronicle of the British 
 kings was first planned as a separate poem, and, further- 
 more, that material was collected for it and that it was 
 partly written before Spenser decided to include it in the 
 Faerie Queene. 
 
 Such a subject would have appealed to a young poet in 
 Spenser's time. The material was popular. To cast it 
 anew in poetical form would have been a natural ambition, 
 especially as a successful chronicle in verse would have been 
 sure to win praise for its author. 
 
 Similar material, although geographical, not historical, 
 is known to have interested Spenser when he planned the 
 Epithalamion Thamesis. The idea of a chronicle in verse 
 may have been connected with the plan for a poem on Brit- 
 ish rivers. One may have sprung from the other, as a re- 
 sult of the almost universal habit of prefacing a chronicle 
 history with a " Description of England." 
 
 A moment's inspection shows that in Spenser's chronicle 
 as it now stands there is a considerable difference between 
 the first part, which extends to the reign of Uther Pen- 
 dragon, and the second part, which begins with the suc- 
 cessor to Arthur. The first part is, on the whole, a closely 
 knit narrative that aims at an adequate reproduction of the 
 chronicle history material. The poet holds throughout a 
 judicious, historical attitude. He has selected his facts 
 if we may call them so with skill. Even we in these days 
 can find authority for most of them, and Spenser himself, 
 we suspect, could have cited chapter and book for nearly, 
 if not quite, all of them. At the same time Spenser ex- 
 erted himself to give a suitable poetical form to the earlier 
 portions. For instance, Locrinus, the second Brute, Leir, 
 
 187 
 
1 88 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 and Donwallo are described in stanzas that for artistic 
 qualities cannot be matched in the second portion of the 
 chronicle. This second portion, it must be admitted, bears 
 marks of hasty work. The history is falsified to accord 
 with the necessities of the poet, whose interest centered in 
 the romantic figure of Britomart. The more carefully 
 Spenser's sources are studied, the more the investigator 
 will be convinced that in this part of the chronicle, Spen- 
 ser's variations from the usual narrative are due (i) to 
 a desire to adapt his material to the preceding portion of 
 the Faerie Queene, (2) to the need for condensation, and 
 (3) to a comparative indifference to the narrative as his- 
 tory, although at times, as in the account of Brockwell, 
 evidences of research still appear, the result, perhaps, of 
 notes taken at an earlier period. 
 
 If we assume that Spenser planned a separate poem on 
 British chronicle history it will be easy to account for the 
 peculiarities of his chronicle as it has come down to us. 
 For a separate poem he would naturally, have consulted all 
 or most of the authorities which were available, whereas 
 for an episode in a long poem he would more naturally have 
 followed a single authority, or at most a few of the best 
 known chronicles. For a separate poem he would, per- 
 haps, have taken notes to cover the whole period. He 
 would then have begun to compose his poem. The first 
 part would have been carefully written and revised, an- 
 other section would have been blocked out, and then, if the 
 poet wearied of his work, the third part would have been 
 left untouched. Notes and unfinished poem would have 
 been put away together, only to be brought out at a later 
 date to be fitted into the Faerie Queene. Then we should 
 get the elaborate, finished work of the first half of Book II, 
 Canto 10, the slightly more careless composition of the lat- 
 ter part, and the uneven work of Book III, Canto 3, where 
 direct quotation from Geoffrey and work that is based on 
 non-Galfridian authority appear side by side with deliberate 
 distortion of British history. Finally, the few stanzas on 
 
APPENDIX iSQ 
 
 the early life of Brutus (III, 9) seem like a fragment at 
 first rejected, but thriftily saved and worked in later. 
 
 In Spenser's use of the name Maximinian, which he took 
 from the first edition of Holinshed, 1 there is clear proof 
 that the chronicle was written at a comparatively early date, 
 before he had begun to use the second edition, although not 
 necessarily before the inception of the Faerie Queene. As 
 the early part of the chronicle, by the especial elaboration 
 of the material that deals with the legends of rivers, 2 sug- 
 gests that the chronicle was composed while the river ma- 
 terial was fresh in Spenser's mind, the inference is that it 
 is to be grouped with the early Epithalamion Thamesis, 
 which was dependent on the first edition of Holinshed, 
 rather than with the later rendering of the same material, 
 in which Spenser used the second edition. 3 It is notice- 
 able also that throughout the chronicle Spenser speaks as if 
 he were in England, 4 and that when the story touches 
 Irish affairs, as in the account of Gurgiunt (II, 10, 41) 
 and in that of Gormond (III, 3, 33) there is no expansion, 
 although we should expect it from a poet living in Ireland, 
 as Spenser seems to have been when he wrote Book II, 
 Canto 9 of the Faerie Queene. 
 
 More than once Spenser seems to have incorporated in 
 his later work early poems or the material gathered for 
 them. The Epithalamion Thamesis is an undoubted in- 
 stance of this. Mr. J. W. Hales believes that the early 
 Legends and the Court of Cupid are also to be found in the 
 Faerie Queene. 5 Mr. Grosart has a theory that both the 
 Dreames and the Stemmata Dudleiana are preserved in the 
 Ruines of Time? Mr. Philo M. Buck believes that ten 
 
 1 See pp. 123 ff., above. 
 
 2 See p. 58 and p. 60 f., above. 
 
 3 See pp. 12-15, above. 
 
 4 Cf., for instance: "They held this land" (IT, 10, 9); "Brute 
 this Realme unto his rule subdewd " (II, 10, 13); "Caesar, tempted 
 with name Of this sweet Island never conquered " (II, 10, 47) ; 
 "Nought els but treason from the first this land did foyle " (II, 10, 
 48). 
 
 See Spenser, Globe ed., p. XXVII. 
 
 6 Spenser, ed. Grosart, I, p. 94- 
 
190 SPENSER'S BRITISH CHRONICLE HISTORY 
 
 of the eighteen " lost poems " that he enumerates in his 
 paper on " Spenser's Lost Poems" 7 have been worked into 
 later poems. Presumably Mr. Bryskett was not misrepre- 
 senting Spenser when he put into his mouth the statement 
 that Bryskett's translation of the dialogue by Giraldi might 
 " happily fare the better by some mending it may receiue 
 in the perusing, as all writings else may do by the often ex- 
 amination of the same," 8 a statement which suggests 
 that Spenser had a habit of preserving his early work and 
 continually revising it. Indeed, we have Spenser's own 
 words to this effect, for in the letter prefixed to the Foure 
 Hymnes he speaks of those poems as the result of his re- 
 solve to " amend " and " re forme " two hymns composed 
 " in the greener times " of his youth. 9 
 
 The theory that the British chronicle history was first 
 planned as a separate work is not, it must be admitted, sus- 
 ceptible of proof. No reference to such a poem is known 
 to exist. The nature of the subject, however, the char- 
 acteristics of the chronicle as it appears in the Faerie Queene, 
 and Spenser's habit of recasting his poems, taken all three 
 together, create a strong presumption in its favor. 
 
 l. Mod. Lang. Ass'n, XXXIII, 80-99. 
 * Spenser, Globe ed., p. XXXIV. 
 9 Ibid., p. 492. 
 
VITA. 
 
 I, Carrie Anna Harper, daughter of Henry M. Harper 
 and Caroline Bennett, his wife, was born in Charlestown, 
 Massachusetts. My education was begun in the public schools 
 of Boston, and I was prepared for college at the Girl's Latin 
 School of that city. In 1892 I entered Radcliffe College, and 
 in 1896 received the degree of A.B. 
 
 In 1896-97 I held a graduate scholarship in English at 
 Bryn Mawr College and during 1898-99 was Fellow in Eng- 
 lish. In 1898 I received from Radcliffe College the degree 
 of A.M. From 1899 to 1907 I was a teacher of English in the 
 Oilman School for Girls at Cambridge, Massachusetts. Since 
 1907 I have. been Instructor in English Literature at Mount 
 Holyoke College. 
 
 My graduate work was begun at Bryn Mawr College in 
 1896-97, my major subject being English Philology and my 
 minor subjects English Literature and Spanish. At the end 
 of my first year of graduate study at Bryn Mawr College I 
 continued my work during 1897-98 at Radcliffe College. Dur- 
 ing 1898-99 I was again a student at Bryn Mawr College, and 
 in 1906-07 took further courses at Radcliffe College. At 
 Bryn Mawr my graduate work was done under Professor 
 J. D. Bruce and Mr. Hodder, of the English Department, and 
 under Professors Page and De Haan, of the Spanish Depart- 
 ment. At Radcliffe my graduate work was directed by Pro- 
 fessors G. L. Kittredge and F. N. Robinson, of the English 
 Department. Under Professor Kittredge's direction I prepared 
 a paper, "Carados and the Serpent," which was printed in 
 Modern Language Notes in 1898 (Vol. XTII, cols. 4*7-30 . 
 During my years of teaching I wrote, in collaboration with 
 Miss Beulah Marie Dix, a novel, The Beau's Comedy, which 
 was published in 1902. 
 
The accompanying dissertation was presented to the Fac- 
 ulty of Bryn Mawr College in -1908, in fulfilment of a require- 
 ment made of candidates for the degree of Doctor of Philoso- 
 phy. Further information in regard to the circumstances of its 
 composition, as well as acknowledgment of my obligations to 
 those who have assisted in its preparation, will be found in the 
 Preface. 
 
THIS BOOK IS DUF ON THE I- " ~