WOTR Sources

Annales Rerum Anglicarum (The Annals of the Affairs of England)

Annales Rerum Anglicarum (The Annals of the Affairs of England)

unknown author inaccurate chronology 1450 - 68 not corroborated by another source well informed from Wakefield to March 1461

Bale's Chronicle

1437 - 61 London Lawyer criticises H6 written 1460s

Brut Chronicles (+ English Chronicles/Davies)

chronicles featuring stories including omens (Brutus the founder of England) 1450-61, written under E4 decidedly pro Yorkist (London)

Chronicon Angliae (Giles' Chronicle)

anonymous Latin chronicle written c. 1460 useful up to St Albans 1 critical of 1452 coup (unusual post 1461)

Cade's Manifesto

1450 rebels Mortimer = York's mother's maiden name anti Suffolk pro Henry initial local grievances highlights national failures

The Croyland Chronicle: First Continuation

limited direct knowledge reflects contemporary opinion tolerant of H6 supportive of Yorkist policy

Francesco Coppini, Bishop of Terni

sent by Pope Pius II for peace and crusade recruitment supported Yorkists accompanied Yorkists to Northampton left after Albans 2 lack of real knowledge + subjective

Gregory's Chronicle c. 1461

London 1450-60 1459-61 battles William Gregory was the wealthy Lord Mayor of London 1452 handed over writing to an unknown author southern bias well informed of Cade's and St Albans 2 greater credibility: prominent figure + 'eye witness' insight into mercantile elites' attitudes

John Blacman

H6's confessor wrote 'A Compilation of the Meekness and Good life of King Henry VI' in a moral religious light

Jean du Waurin

Burgundian soldier from noble family strong English interest pro Yorkist leaning good for 1459-61 battles storytelling means mid accuracy OTOH shows contemporary viewpoints

Letters

Paston Plumpton Cely Stonor

Milanese State Papers

semi-official reports from envoys for Duke of Milan reliant on rumour give a sense of concerns + opinions of the moment

Paston Letters

collection of letters between members of Norfolk family letters from London contacts national events e.g. St Albans news + Henry's recovery 1454 insight into public understanding and opinions

Polydore Vergil

Henry VII's historian believed York caused all instability

York's Manifesto 1452

Shrewesbury declaration justifies Dartford coup critical of Somerset not H6

Parliament Rolls

summaries of what government wanted people to know justification of policy decisions assessment of war + diplomacy progress lists of rebels condemned for treason in Acts of Attainder

Somnium Vigilantes

political account defending condemnation of the Yorkists at Devils Nov 1459 likely written by Lancastrian official Sir John Fortescue

John Stow

Elizabethan writer 'A Survey of London' included documents about Cade's

John Whethamstead's Register

abbot at St Albans + one of few monastic chroniclers well connected geographically and personally (Humphrey) eye witness accounts of battles of St Albans potential eye witness to York's claiming throne 1461 buried Somerset, Northumberland + Clifford