Gregory's Chronicle

Gregory's Chronicle, the Chronicle of London, or MS Egerton 1995, is the name given to a fifteenth-century English chronicle. It takes its name from its supposed author, William Gregory, who started as a skinner in London and went on to become a London Alderman, Sheriff from 1436 to 1437, and eventually Mayor from 1450 to 1451. The name 'Gregory' for the manuscript is, however, merely a convenience, as its actual authorship is unknown. Indeed, since the chronicle spans the period 1189 to 1470, and William Gregory died in 1467, it is impossible for him to have composed it in its entirety. Other fifteenth-century authors have been proposed, ranging from a contemporary poet to an Ecclesiast, but since even the exact dates of its composition are also debated it has been impossible for historians to definitively attribute the authorship to any known individual.

William Gregory The supposed author of the chronicle, William Gregory, was born in Mildenhall, Suffolk. He married three times, and had two daughters. In London, he trained as a skinner, and sold luxury furs to the household of King Henry VI. He lived in the parish of St Mary Aldermary, and was alderman of Cordwainer ward from 1435 for twenty-six years. He became Sheriff and Mayor in this period. He left bequests to the Skinner's Company in his will.

Contents The manuscript is a quarto volume written on paper in 223 leaves; since it also contains random items not connected to the Chronicle itself (for example, poems and health advice), it was clearly a commonplace book. Still, the majority of the content makes up what has become known as the Chronicle of London, and ranges from the accession of Richard I to the deposition of Edward IV. It has been suggested, in fact, that the level of detail with which it describes the revolt indicates that the author witnessed it first-hand. The chronicler likewise discusses the "trayturly" murder of James I of Scotland in 1437 amidst a discussion of London business, Its authorship was originally attributed to William Gregory by James Gairdner in 1876, in the introduction to Gairdner's edition of the Edgerton manuscript. Gairdner reports thusly:

In a modern note written on a fly-leaf at the end of the book it is said that the author of the Chronicle was one Gregory Skinner (meaning William Gregory of the Skinners' Company) who was Mayor of London in 1451, the thirtieth year of Henry VI. And when we turn to the Chronicle itself the fact seems to be pretty well borne out by what the author himself says in the record of that year.

Gairdner based his conclusion on a 1452/3 entry in the chronicle, in which the author namechecks Gregory as mayor, and the colophon at the end of the paragraph saying that "Gregory Skinner, Mayor of London Anno xxx." Thus, it has been suggested, he drew attention to himself. Only part of Gregory's Chronicle could actually have been written by Gregory, as it continues to 1470, three years after Gregory's own death. Kingsford recognised this dilemma himself, in 1876, but a balance of probabilities "tended to confirm" him in his original diognosis. Even so, out of the numerous medieval chronicles of this period, it is the one which has caused most debate among historians about its authorship. This is generally because, although it continues after Gregory's death, it also appears to have been written in the same neat hand throughout, whilst Jeremy Catto believes that "we can identify no particular individual writer.“ Mary-Rose McLaren summed up the problem facing historians wishing to establish the authorship of the Edgerton MS when she pointed out that, comparing Gregory's chronicle with others of the period, there is more than one mayor named in it, and that in any case, it is not the only one to name Gregory as the mayor of London during that time.