Description

The Deeds of the Kings of the English is an early 12th-century account of the kings of England. Composed by the Anglo-Norman historian and writer William of Malmesbury (b. c. 1095, d. c. 1143), the work was widely read in the Middle Ages in both England and France. This manuscript copy was produced in England in the 12th-century and decorated by the Continental illuminator known as the ‘Simon Master’. He was active on both sides of the Channel and decorated books for Abbot Simon of St Albans (d. 1183). This copy was later owned by Jean Lebègue (b. 1368, d. 1457), a notary and secretary to King Charles VI (r. 1380–1422), before joining the French royal library in the 16th century.

This manuscript was digitised with the support of The Polonsky Foundation.