The Illustrated Chronicles of Matthew Paris : Observations of Thirteenth-century Life

A 'tabloid' monk's chronicle that offers a record of life and events in thirteenth-century England and further afield

A unique record of life and events in the thirteenth century with full-colour reproductions of over a hundred of the original manuscript decorations. 'This, to put it plainly, is a tabloid monk, not a broadsheet monk. In this selection from his writings – a wonderfully relaxed translation from the Latin and French in which Brother Matthew wrote – he comes across, down all those intervening 750 years, as warm, cheerful, lively and violently prejudiced ... a wonderful book.' - Matthew Parris, The Times'Between the bravura set-pieces – chainmail-clad Archbishop Boniface ferociously battering a sub-prior against a pillar, a flood engulfing Winchelsea, the drunken prior of Thetford disembowelled by a Welsh monk – the writer's eye darts to and fro in search of the world's variety. While poison kills the Sultan of Babylon and the King of Scots drops dead mounting his horse, a Norfolk knight is castrated by a lynch mob, relic-hunters cut off St Edmund's right arm and Queen Eleanor buys a dwarf in the Isle of Wight ... Brother Matthew says it all.' - Jonathan Keates, The Observer'... sumptuously illustrated ... a triumph ... Anyone looking for a gift that combines artistic beauty with a fascinating historical text need look no further.' - Nicholas Vincent, Catholic Herald'... splendid ... beautifully illustrated ... a credit to the publishers.' - Contemporary Review'My book of the year.' - The Good Book Guide