Thomas Elmham (1364 – in or after 1427[1]) was anEnglish chronicler.
Thomas Elmham was probably born atNorth Elmham inNorfolk. He may have been the Thomas Elmham who was a scholar atKing's Hall, Cambridge from 1389 to 1394.[2] He became aBenedictine monk atCanterbury, and then joining theCluniacs, was prior ofLenton Priory, nearNottingham; he was chaplain toHenry V, whom he may have accompanied toFrance in 1415, and may have been present at theBattle of Agincourt.[3][4]
Elmham wrote a history of themonastery ofSt. Augustine at Canterbury, which was edited byCharles Hardwick for theRolls Series (1858); and aLiber metricus de Henrico V, edited by C. A. Cole in theMemorials of Henry V (1858).[3] As well as this verse life of Henry V, Elmham himself says he wrote a prose biography of the king. The eighteenth-century editor of theVita et Gesta Henrici V,Thomas Hearne, made a claim for Elmham's authorship of that biography but, in fact, it was written in the mid-1430s, long after Elmham's death. The attribution was rejected by the early twentieth century and theVita et Gesta since then has gone by the designation of "Pseudo-Elmham" (this biography was the main source of theVita Henrici Quinti byTito Livio Frulovisi). In the early twentieth century, it was suggested instead that Elmham's prose life could be equated with theGesta Henrici Quinti, which is the best authority for the life of Henry V from his accession to 1416. This work, sometimes referred to as the chaplain's life, and thought by some to have been written by Jean de Bordin, was first published for theEnglish Historical Society by B. Williams (1850).[3] However, the modern editors of theGesta convincingly rejected this attribution to Elmham. In short, the prose life by Thomas Elmham is not known to survive.
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Elmham, Thomas".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 9 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 296–297.| International | |
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