Editing Henry of Huntingdon (section)

==Writings==

===''Historia Anglorum''===
[[File:Corpus Christi College ms 280 f.7v.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|The opening page from Book 1 of the ''Historia Anglorum''.]]
Henry's most notable work is the ''Historia Anglorum''.   He was bidden by Bishop Alexander of Lincoln to write a history of England from the earliest period and bringing it to modern times, ending it upon the accession of [[Henry II of England|Henry II]] in 1154.  It was assumed that the first edition was published at the end of 1129 and the second in 1135, at the end of the reign of [[Henry I of England]]. He published new editions as the years went on, the final fifth copy coming down in 1154, supposedly to terminate the History with the death of [[Stephen of England|Stephen]], leaving his history organised into eight books.  There is some evidence that Henry did not intend to stop there, intending to add another book to his series that would cover the events of the first five years of the reign of Henry II. It was never carried out, as Henry of Huntingdon must have been at least seventy years old by the time of the king's accession and died shortly afterwards.<ref>Huntingdon, pp. ix-xvi</ref>

Henry's ear for telling detail is responsible for entertaining touches drawn from current legend and his own fertile imagination. [[C. Warren Hollister]] notes the anecdote of [[Cnut the Great|King Canute]]'s failure to stem the tide by command (see below), and [[Henry I of England|Henry I]]'s ignoring his physician's orders and dining on a "surfeit of [[lamprey]]s", allegedly causing his death.<ref>Hollister, p. 10</ref> Such touches rendered his history popular – there are twenty-five surviving manuscripts – and they embedded his anecdotes firmly into popular history. However, as the bishop's household was with the royal court frequently, it is possible that Henry was an eyewitness for many of the anecdotes he describes. Diana Greenway points out that the details he provides about the royal family are remarkably accurate.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Greenway |first1=Diana |last2=Henry of Huntingdon |title=Historia Anglorum: the history of the English people |date=1996 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |page=liii}}</ref>

''Historia Anglorum'' was first printed by [[Sir Henry Savile]] in 1596 in the historical miscellany ''Rerum Anglicarum Scriptores post Bedam praecipui''.

Henry's sources included:

*[[Bede]], ''[[Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum|Historia Ecclesiastica]]'', for the years up to 731.<ref name=DNB>''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'': Henry</ref>
*''[[Historia Brittonum]]'' (Vatican recension).<ref name=DNB/>
*[[Paul the Deacon]]'s ''Historia Romana'', for Roman emperors, as well as [[Eutropius (historian)|Eutropius]] and [[Aurelius Victor]]<ref name=DNB/>
*The works of [[Saint Jerome]] and [[Gregory the Great]], with which Henry had a passing familiarity.
*Saints' Lives (especially Book 9).<ref name=DNB/>
*Versions of the ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'' similar to C and E. This included the poem on [[Brunanburh]], which he translated into [[Latin]].
*A lost version of the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', which he shared with [[John of Worcester]].<ref name=DNB/> This version contained quite a number of detailed and valuable accounts of battles of the Saxon invasions of Britain which are only preserved in Henry's ''Historia''.
*[[Peter Tudebode|Peter Tudebode's]] ''Historia de Hierosolymitano itinere.''<ref>Runciman, Steven, ''A History of the Crusades, Volume One: The First Crusade and the Foundation of the Kingdom of Jerusalem'', Cambridge University Press, London, 1951, pp. 330, 345</ref>
*[[Old English]] poems, which he translated into Latin. This may include the legend of [[King Canute and the tide]], as well as material on [[Siward, Earl of Northumbria]].<ref name=DNB/>
*[[Old French]] songs, for Norman history.<ref name=DNB/>

==== Manuscripts ====
According to Arnold (1879), some 12 manuscripts preserve the Historia Anglorum<ref>{{Cite book |last=Henry |first=of Huntingdon |url=https://archive.org/details/henriciarchidia00unkngoog |title=Henrici archidiaconi huntendunensis Historia Anglorum |last2=Arnold |first2=Thomas |date=1879 |publisher=London, Longman & co. [etc., etc.] |others=Harvard University |pages=xxxvi}}</ref>

* [[Corpus Christi College, Cambridge|Corpus Christi College ms]] 280 - 12th cent.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 280: Henry of Huntingdon, Historia Anglorum |url=https://parker.stanford.edu/parker/catalog/qf131kj9626 |access-date=2025-03-11 |website=Parker Library On the Web - Spotlight at Stanford |language=en}}</ref>
* Savile - 12th cent.
* [[Bibliothèque nationale de France|BNdF]] 6042 - 12th cent.
* [[Peniarth Manuscripts|Peniarth MS]] 382 - 1196<ref>{{Cite web |title=Historia Anglorum, - National Library of Wales Archives and Manuscripts |url=https://archives.library.wales/index.php/historia-anglorum |access-date=2025-03-11 |website=archives.library.wales}}</ref>
* [[:fr:Bibliothèques_de_Rouen|Bibliothèques de Rouen]] - 13th cent.
* Arundel 48 - 13th cent.
* Lambeth 118 - 13th cent.
* Lambeth 327 - 13th cent.
* Grosvenor - 13th cent.
* [[Advocates Library]] A 5 38 - 13th cent.
* Advocates Library 33 5 4 - 13th cent.
* [[Cambridge University Library]] G. g. II 21 - 13th cent.

===Other works===
As an author, Henry distinguished himself in his youth by writing poetry, comprising eight books of epigrams, eight books on love, and the so-called ''Anglicanus ortus'', eight books on herbs, spices and gems united by a medical theme.<ref name="Black">Henry of Huntingdon. ''Anglicanus ortus: a Verse Herbal of the Twelfth Century'', edited and translated by Winston Black. Toronto, Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, c2012, p. 7.</ref> Of these, two books of epigrams and the eight medical books survive, the latter identified only in modern times.<ref>''Ibid'', p. 9</ref> The ''Anglicanus ortus'' has since been published, books 1–6 (on herbs and spices) as ''Anglicanus ortus: a Verse Herbal of the Twelfth Century'' (Toronto, Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, c2012), and books 7–8 (on gems) as "Henry of Huntingdon's lapidary rediscovered and his ''Anglicanus ortus'' reassembled" (''Mediaeval Studies'', v. 68, 2006, pp.&nbsp;43–87), both edited by Winston Black.<ref>''Ibid'', pp. 8–13, 496.</ref> Henry wrote an [[Epistle]] to [[Henry I of England|Henry I]] on the Succession of foreign kings and emperors up to their own time, and another to a man named Warin that contained an account of the ancient British kings from [[Brutus of Troy|Brute]] to [[Cadwaladr|Cadwaller]]. The information for this account was obtained from a monk while Henry was at the [[Abbey of Bec]], which held the writings of [[Geoffrey of Monmouth]].<ref name=DNB/>

Henry's most notable epistle was a funereal exercise addressed to his recently deceased friend and fellow archdeacon of Lincoln diocese, Walter of Leicester, titled ''De contemptu mundi'' ("On Contempt for the world"), which from internal evidence dates to 1135.<ref name="Black"/><ref>Forester, pp.xi-xii</ref>