Originally published in 1864-9, and still a standard reference work, this five-volume collection contains editions of key source texts for medieval English history, focusing mainly on the thirteenth century. Compiled in monasteries over many years, they record local, national and international events in chronological order, sometimes surprisingly briefly and at other times in great detail. The coverage includes aristocratic marriages and deaths, royal visits, conflicts and power struggles, appointments and acquisitions, astronomical observations, natural disasters, crimes and punishments. The editor, Henry Richards Luard (1825-91), an influential Cambridge clergyman and University Administrator, provided introductions to the Latin texts, and sidenotes in English indicating their content. Volume 3 (1866) contains the Annals of Dunstable (Bedfordshire), which briefly cover 1-1200 CE, but are devoted mainly to 1201-97, and of Bermondsey (now part of London), a shorter text covering the period 1042-1432 but derived almost entirely from older sources.
