“After reading the Simon de Montfort Society’s excellent paper, The Last Hours of Simon de Montfort, it occurred to me that use might be made of some work that I had done on translating the Guisborough Chronicle prior to writing an article about the Battle of Evesham. This Chronicle is sometimes called the Chronicle of Walter of Hemingburgh or Hemingford (usually in the older books) but is now generally known as the Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough.

I was unable to find an English translation of the Chronicle although it is published in Latin as the Chronicle of Walter of Heminburgh edited by H.C Hamilton in 1848 and as the Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough edited by H. Rothwell in 1957. I had originally made a rough translation of the Rothwell version but, before writing this paper, wished to compare it with the earlier Hamilton one and the translation which follows is largely taken from the Hamilton one, but referring to the other when there were difficulties in interpretation, although the two texts are very similar. I do not claim any great Latin scholarship and am sure that I have made mistakes but I hope that this translation will assist students of these dramatic events until something better comes along!”

~ Tony Spicer

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