A chronicle at large and meere history of the affayres of Englande and kinges of the same deduced from the Creation of the vvorlde, vnto the first habitation of thys islande: and so by contynuance vnto the first yere of the reigne of our most deere and souereigne Lady Queene Elizabeth: collected out of sundry aucthors, whose names are expressed in the next page of this leafe.

To the gentle Reader.

AS I HAVE (WITH MY no little trauayle) collected this History, which I name a Chro∣nicle at large and mere History of the affaires of Englande, for that the same is not intermixed with foreine affayres: so most gentle & louyng Reader, I be∣seche thee take these my said traueyles not only in good part, but also pardon the rudenesse of my stile & lack of learning which I acknowledge, or otherwise the same should haue beene better furnished. But for some in∣struction to the better vnderstanding of mine order ob∣serued in the discourse of this History: I thought best to admonish thee, that forasmuch as this Island of Briteyn (whereof the greater part is now called England) had the same time of creatiō that al the rest of the earth had: therfore I begin this booke at the creation of the world, and so continue the same with the blessed line and issue of Adam by Seth his sonne, vnto our Sauiour Christ. And by the waye, when Brute, as by the testimonie of most aucthors, first entred this Island and named it Bri∣teyne: there beginneth mine History of this Realme, and from thence lyneally I proceede to the reignes of all such as succeeded Brute in state of kings, euen to the tyme of Wylliam the Conquerour, where I begin my second volume, because in the former parte (as maye at large appeere) thys Islande being first inhabited by Brute, was afterwarde conquered by the Romaynes, and then subdued and possessed by the Saxons, & lastly

by the Danes, and so was it neuer in perfect state of go∣uernement, vntill the last conquest of the Normanes, from whence the Histories of times doe more plenti∣fully and plainely appeere. And in the discourse of this Historie, folowing the common opinion of the deuisi∣on of this Islande in three partes made by Brute to hys three sonnes, Locryne, Albanact and Camber, that is to say, of the part nowe called Englande vnto Locryne his eldest sonne, and of that part nowe called Scotlande vnto Albanact his second sonne, and of that part nowe called Wales to Camber hys thirde sonne, of whose name the same part is called to thys day in welshe Cam∣bry. Forasmuch, I say, as before this deuision, this Island of Briteyn was but one entier Isle, therefore professing to write an History of the Princes of this part, now cal∣led Englande: I thought it not meete vtterly to omit Scotland, being a part of this Isle of Briteyn: And ther∣fore in order as the Britones reigned, so I note also the succession of the kings of Scotlande, wherein I doe not professe to write of them any speciall Historie, farther then they had to doe with the kings of this Realme, or the kinges with them, but with a briefe recytall of their kings names & time of their reignes to passe them ouer.

I haue also to admonishe you concerning the num∣bers that stande in the margent of this booke, from the creation of the worlde to the birth of Christ, hauing a lyne stryken betweene them. Those numbers that are aboue the lyne, are the yeres of the worlde from the creation: And those vnder the line, are the yeres before Christ. But after the comming of Christ, then the vp∣permost numbers are the yeres of Christ, and the ne∣thermost

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are the yeres of euery seuerall king, and so it continueth to the ende of the booke.

Here also I must aduertise you that in the computa∣tion of yeres, I folow the accompt of the Hebrues, the which I take to be most true, the which accompt, I haue at large set forth in the. 72. page of my first Volume.

Also in the ende of this booke, ye shall finde an ex∣act table, wherein is expressed not onelye the reigne of euery king of this realme, sithen the time that the City of London hath beene gouerned by Bailifes, Maiors and Shrifes, and the day and yere that they first entred into their seuerall reignes: but also the names of those that then were and euer sithence haue beene Maiors and Shiriefes of London, with the yeres, monethes and dayes of their entrie into their seuerall charge. Also I haue placed in this booke two seuerall Tables, the one in the ende of the first volume, and before the conquest, which I haue deuided into seuen parts, according to the vij. Ages of the world, as may at large appere in the. 72. page of the said Volume as aforesaid, & the other at the end of the second and last volume, that is, from the con∣quest to the reigne of our Souereigne Ladye Queene Elizabeth, the which Tables serue for the readye fyn∣ding of anye name or speciall matter conteyned in the sayde booke, by the letter and order of the Alphabet.

And where I haue in the .xiij. yere of king Henry the first promised to place the maner & order that was first taken for the holding of the Parliament in the time of king Edwarde the thirde. I haue sithen that time for sundry good causes thought meete to omit the same, and therfore I admonishe the Reader not to looke for it.

And here to conclude most gentle Reader, I be∣seeche thee louyngly and fauourablye to iudge and re∣port of mee and my booke, to whose iudgement I most humbly submit the same, and such things as shall seeme to be a misse, or not so well penned and fully set foorth as by a learned and skilfullman the same might haue beene, either fauourably doe thy indeuour to amende the same, or else impute the fault to the diuersitie and variance of Aucthors, among which diffe∣rences, it shall be harde to trie the truth, and thus I bid thee farewell.

Richard Grafton