WOTR Sources

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