England

And her Eadward Eadgares sunu feng to rice. and þa sona on þam ilcan geare on herfeste æteowde cometa se steorra. and com þa on þam eaftran geare swiðe mycel hungor. and swyðe mænig fealde styrunga geond Angel cyn. [...]

And in this year Edward, Edgar’s son, came to the throne. Soon after, in the same year, at harvest time, the star called a comet appeared. And in the next year came a very great famine, and a great many troubles across England.

Her on þyssum geare wæs se mycla hungor geond Angel cynn swilce nan man ǽr ne ge munde swa grimne. and se flota þæs geares ge wende of þissum earde to Dænemearcon. and litelne fyrst let þet he eft ne com.

In this year there was the great famine across England, so grim that no one remembered one like it. And that year the [Danish] fleet went home from this country to Denmark, but it was not long before it came back.

[...] And on þisum wæs swyðe mycel hungor ofer Engla land. and corn swa dyre swa nan mann ær ne gemunde. swa ꝥ se sester hwætes eode to lx penega. and eac furðor. [...]

And in this year there was a very great famine all over England. Grain was dearer than anyone could remember: a sester of wheat went up to sixty pence, and even more.

On þissum geare man halgode þet mynster æt West mynstre on Cilda mæsse dæg. And se cyng Eadward forðferde on twelfta mæsse æfen. and hine mann bebyrgede on twelftan mæsse dæg. innan þære niwa halgodre circean on Westmynstre. And Harold eorl feng to Engla landes cyne rice. swa swa se cyng hit him ge uðe. and eac men hine þær tó gecuron. and wæs gebletsod to cynge on twelftan mæsse dæg. [...]

In this year the minster at Westminster was consecrated on Holy Innocents’ Day. And King Edward died on the eve of Twelfth Day and was buried on Twelfth Day, in the newly consecrated church at Westminster. And Earl Harold came to the throne of England, as the king had granted it to him, and the people also chose him for it. He was blessed as king on Twelfth Day.

On þissum geare com Harold cyng of Eoferwic to Westmynstre. to þam Eastran þe wæron æfter þam middan wintre þe se cyng forðferde. and wæron þa Eastran on þone dæg xvi kl' Mai. Ða wearð geond eall Engla land swylc tacen on heofenum gesewen swylce nan man ǽr ne geseah. Sume men cwedon ꝥ hit cométa se steorra wære. þone sume men hatað þone fæxedon steorran. and he æteowde ærest on þone æfen Letania Maior. viii kl' Mai. and Swa scan ealle þa seofon niht. [...]

In this year King Harold came from York to Westminster for the Easter after the midwinter when King Edward died. Easter fell that year on April 16. Then a sign was seen in the sky all over England, such as no one had ever seen before. Some people said it was the star called a comet, which some call the long-haired star. It first appeared on April 24, the eve of the Greater Litany, and it shone like this for seven nights.

On þisum geare se arwurða muneca feder and frouer Landfranc arc̃b' gewat of þissū life. ac we hopiað ꝥ he ferde to ꝥ heofanlice rice. Swilce eac gewarð ofer eall Engle land mycel eorð styrunge. on þone dæg iii idus Aug'. and wæs swiðe lætsum gear on corne. and on ælces cynnes wæstmum. swa ꝥ manig men ræpon heora corn onbutan Martines mæssan. and gyt lator.

In this year Archbishop Lanfranc, the honored father and comfort of monks, passed from this life. But we hope that he went to the kingdom of heaven. Also, a great earthquake struck all over England on August 11. And it was a very late year for grain and every kind of crop, so that many people reaped their grain around Martinmas, and even later.

On þis geare wæs se king Heanri on Cristes mæssan on Norhtwic. and on Pasches he weas on Norht hamtune. And on þone lenten tyde þær toforen for bearn se burch on Gleawe ceastre. þa hwile þe þa munecas sungen þære messe. and se dæcne hafde ongunnan þone godspel P'teriens Ih̄c. þa cō se fir on ufen weard þone stepel. and for bearnde ealle þe minstre. and ealle þa gersumes þe þær binnen wæron foruton feawe bec. and iii messe hakeles. þet wes þes dæies viii id' Mr'. And þær æfter þe Tywesdæi æfter Palmes Sunendæi wæs swiðe micel wind on ꝥ dæi xi k' Apr'. þær æfter comen feale tacne wide hwear on Engla land and feole dwild wearen geseogen and geheord. And þes niht viii k' Aug' wæs swiðe micel eorð dyne ofer eal Sumer sete scire and on Gleawe cestre scire. Siððon on þæs dæi vi id' Sept' þet wæs on sc̃e Marie messe dæi. þa wearð swiðe mycel wind frā þa undern dæies to þa swarte nihte. [...] Þær æfter wæron feole scip men on sæ. and on wæter. and sædon ꝥ hi sægon on norð east fir mycel and brad wið þone eorðe. and weax on lengþe up on an to þam wolcne. and se wolcne un dide on fower healfe and faht þær togeanes. swilc hit scolde á cwencen. and se fir weax na þa ma up to þe heouene. Þæt fir hi seagon in ðe dæi rime and læste swa lange ꝥ hit wæs liht ofer eall. þet wæs þæs dæies vii idus Decembr'.

In this year King Henry was at Norwich for Christmas and at Northampton for Easter. Before that, in Lent, the town of Gloucester burned. The monks were singing their mass, and the deacon had begun the Gospel reading “Jesus, passing by,” when the fire caught the top of the tower. It burned the whole minster and all the treasures in it, except a few books and three mass vestments. That was on March 8. After that, on the Tuesday after Palm Sunday, March 22, there was a very great wind. After that many signs appeared far and wide in England, and many uncanny things were seen and heard. On the night of July 25 there was a very great earthquake over all Somerset and Gloucestershire. Then on September 8, the feast of St. Mary, a very great wind blew from morning until black night. After that, many sailors at sea and on inland waters said they had seen a great, broad fire in the northeast, close to the earth. It grew taller and taller, right up to the clouds. The clouds opened on four sides and fought against it, as if to put it out, and the fire grew no higher toward heaven. They saw that fire at daybreak, and it lasted until it was light everywhere. That was on December 7.

[...] Ðes ilces geares wæron fæla un time on Engle lande. on corne and on ealle westme. swa ꝥ betweonen Cristes messe and Candelmesse man sælde ꝥ acer sæd hwæte ꝥ is twegen sed læpas to six scillingas. and ꝥ bærlic ꝥ is þre sed læpas to six scillingas. and ꝥ acer sæd aten ꝥ is feower sed læpas to feower scillingas. Þet wæs forþi ꝥ corn wæs litel. and se penig wæs swa ifel ꝥ se man þa hæfde at an market an pund he ne mihte cysten þærof for nan þing twelfe penegas.

This same year there were many bad harvests in England, of grain and of every crop. Between Christmas and Candlemas the seed for an acre of wheat, that is, two seedlips, sold for six shillings. The seed for an acre of barley, three seedlips, sold for six shillings, and the seed for an acre of oats, four seedlips, for four shillings. That was because grain was scarce. And the penny was so bad that a man who had a pound at a market could not buy twelve pennies’ worth with it for anything.

Ðis gear æfter Cristesmesse on an Mone niht æt þe forme slæp wæs se heouene oðe norð half eall swilc hit wære bærnende fir. swa ꝥ ealle ðe hit sægon wæron swa of færed swa hi næfre ær ne wæron. ꝥ wæs on iii id' Janr'. Ðes ilces geares wæs swa micel orf cwalm swa hit næfre ær ne wæs on manne gemynd ofer eall Engle land. ꝥ wæs on næt and on swin. swa ꝥ on þa tun þa wæs tenn ploges oðer twelfe gangende ne be læf þær noht an. and se man þa heafde twa hundred oðþe ðre hundred swin ne beleaf him noht an. Þær æft' swulten þa henne fugeles. þa scyrte ða flescmete and se ceose and se butere. God hit bete þa his wille beð. [...]

This year, after Christmas, on a Monday night, in the first sleep, the whole northern sky looked as if it were burning fire. Everyone who saw it was more frightened than they had ever been. That was on January 11. This same year there was a cattle plague worse than any in living memory, all over England. It struck cattle and pigs. In a village where ten or twelve plows had been working, not one was left. A man who had had two or three hundred pigs had not one left. After that the hens died. Then meat ran short, and cheese and butter. God mend it, when it is his will.

On þis gær wærd þe king Steph' ded ⁊ bebyried þer his wif ⁊ his sune wæron bebyried æt Faures feld. þæt minstre hi makeden. Þa þe king was ded. þa was þe eorl beionde sæ. ⁊ ne durste nan man don oþer bute god for þe micel eie of hī. Þa he to Engle land cō. þa was he under fangen mid micel wurtscipe. and to king bletcæd in Lundene on þe Sunnen dæi be foren midwint'dæi. and held þær micel curt. [...]

In this year King Stephen died. He was buried at Faversham, where his wife and his son were buried; they had built that minster. When the king died, the earl was overseas. And no one dared to do anything but good, for the great awe of him. When he came to England, he was received with great honor and consecrated king in London on the Sunday before Christmas, and there he held a great court.

E l’Affrica nelle marine, e nelle sue provincie di verso levante, e le rive del nostro Mare tirreno. E venendo di tempo in tempo verso il ponente, comprese la Sardigna, e la Corsica, e l’altre isole di questo mare; e dall’altra parte, ch’è detta Europa, per simigliante modo aggiunse alle parti vicine verso il ponente, volgendosi verso il mezzogiorno con più aspro assalimento che sotto le parti settentrionali. E negli anni di Cristo 1348 ebbe infetta tutta Italia, salvo che la città di Milano, e certi circustanti all’Alpi, che dividono l’Italia dall’Alamagna, ove gravò poco. E in questo medesimo anno cominciò a passare le montagne, e stendersi in Proenza, e in Savoia, e nel Dalfinato, e in Borgogna, e per la marina di Marsilia e d’Acquamorta, e per la Catalogna, e nell’isola di Maiolica, e in Ispagna e in Granata. E nel 1349 ebbe compreso fino nel ponente, le rive del Mare oceano, d’Europa e d’Affrica e d’Irlanda, e l’isola d’Inghilterra e di Scozia, e l’altre isole di ponente, e tutto infra terra con quasi eguale mortalità salvo in Brabante ove poco offese. E nel 1350 premette gli Alamanni, e gli Ungheri, Frigia, Danesmarche, Gotti, e Vandali, e gli altri popoli e nazioni settentrionali.

It took in the coasts of Africa and its eastern lands, and the shores of our Tyrrhenian Sea. Moving westward over time, it took in Sardinia, Corsica, and the other islands of this sea. On the other side, called Europe, it reached the nearby lands to the west in the same way, striking the south more fiercely than the north. In the year of Christ 1348 it had infected all Italy except the city of Milan and some places near the Alps, which divide Italy from Germany; there it weighed lightly. That same year it began to cross the mountains and spread into Provence, Savoy, the Dauphiné, and Burgundy, along the coast at Marseille and Aigues-Mortes, and into Catalonia, the island of Majorca, Spain, and Granada. By 1349 it had reached the shores of the Ocean in the far west, in Europe, Africa, and Ireland, the islands of England and Scotland, and the other western islands. Inland, too, the mortality was almost equal everywhere, except in Brabant, where it did little harm. In 1350 it bore down on the Germans, the Hungarians, Frisia, Denmark, the Goths and Vandals, and the other peoples and nations of the north.

Eodem anno pestis antea inaudita in Angliâ desaeviebat.

That same year a plague never heard of before raged through England.

... fome of cury was compiled of the chef Maister Cokes of kyng Richard the Secunde kyng of .nglond aftir the Conquest. the which was acounted þe best and ryallest vyand of alle csten .ynges and it was compiled by assent and avysement of Maisters and phisik and of philosophie þat dwellid in his court. First it techiþ a man for to make commune potages and commune meetis for howshold as þey shold be made craftly and holsomly. Aftirward it techiþ for to make curious potages & meetes and sotiltees for alle maner of States bothe hye and lowe. And the techyng of the forme of making of potages & of meetes bothe of flessh and of fissh. buth y sette here by noumbre and by ordre. sso þis little table here sewyng wole teche a man with oute taryyng: to fynde what meete þat hym lust for to have.

[This] book of cookery was put together by the head cooks of King Richard the Second, king of England after the Conquest. He was counted the best and most royal lover of fine food of all Christian kings. The book was compiled with the agreement and advice of the masters of medicine and philosophy who lived at his court. First it teaches how to make everyday soups and dishes for a household, made skillfully and wholesomely. Then it teaches how to make fancy soups, dishes and subtleties for people of every rank, high and low. The instructions for making soups and dishes, both of meat and of fish, are set out here by number and in order. So the little table that follows will show you at once how to find whatever dish you want.

Cùm aliquando per curiositatem rescisso sacculo, quem mater ignara vendebat, herbisque et linteis, quæ acu picta, varios præferebant characteres, explicatis, ipsam hoc lucello fraudassem: mater irâ succensa, me loco sacculi Nauclero proprium addixit, ut ipsa pecuniam retineret. Atque is postridiè ex insperato solvens è portu, secundo vento quasi Bergas Nordwegiæ tendebat. Post aliquot dies Boreâ surgente, inter Nordwegiam et Angliam delatus, Daniam petijt, fretumque emensus, cùm haberet literas Episcopi Islandici, tradendas Tychoni Brahe Dano; qui in Insula Wena habitabat, ego verò vehementer ægrotarem ex jactatione et auræ tepore insueto, quippè quatuordecim aunorum adolescens; navi ad littus appulsa me apud piscatorem insulanum exposuit cum literis; et spe reditus factâ, solvit.

Once, out of curiosity, I cut open a bag that my mother was selling without knowing it. I unfolded the herbs and the linen cloths inside, which were embroidered with various characters. So I cheated her of this small profit. My mother flared up in anger. She gave me to the ship’s master as his own, in place of the bag, so that she could keep the money. The next day he set sail unexpectedly with a fair wind, heading, it seemed, for Bergen in Norway. After some days a north wind rose and drove him between Norway and England. He made for Denmark and crossed the strait. He had letters from the bishop of Iceland for Tycho Brahe the Dane, who lived on the island of Hven. I was violently sick from the tossing and from the air, warmer than I was used to, for I was a boy of fourteen. So when the ship came to shore, he left me with a fisherman of the island, along with the letters. He promised to come back and sailed away.

He was a native of this place, & scarce any left alive besids him selfe. He was caried away with diverce others by one Hunt, a mr. of a ship, who thought to sell them for slaves in Spaine; but he got away for England, and was entertained by a marchante in London, & imployed to New-found-land & other parts, & lastly brought hither into these parts by one Mr. Dermer, a gentle-man imployed by Sr. Ferdinando Gorges & others, for discovery, & other designes in these parts.

He was a native of this place, and hardly anyone was left alive besides himself. He had been carried away with several others by one Hunt, a ship's master, who meant to sell them as slaves in Spain. But he got away to England, was taken in by a merchant in London, and was employed in Newfoundland and other parts. At last he was brought back here by one Mr. Dermer, a gentleman employed by Sir Ferdinando Gorges and others for exploration and other plans in these parts.

Wuttáhimneash, Strawberries. Obs: This Berry is the wonder of all the Fruits growing naturally in those parts: it is of itselfe Excellent: so that one of the chiefest Doctors of England was wont to say, that God could have made, but God never did make a better Berry: In some parts where the Natives have planted, I have many times seen as many as would fill a good ship within a few miles compasse: The Indians bruise them in a Morter, and mixe them with meale and make Strawberry bread.

Wuttáhimneash: strawberries. Observation: This berry is the wonder of all the fruits growing naturally in those parts. It is excellent in itself, so that one of the chief doctors of England used to say that God could have made a better berry, but God never did. In some parts where the natives have planted, I have many times seen as many as would fill a good ship within a few miles' range. The Indians bruise them in a mortar and mix them with meal, and make strawberry bread.

Ewáchim neash, Corne. Scannémeneash, Seed Corne. Wompiscannémeneash, White seed-corne. Obs: There be diverse sorts of this Corne, and of the colours: yet all of it either boild in milke, or buttered, if the use of it were knowne and received in England (it is the opinion of some skillfull in physic) it might save many thousand lives in England, occasioned by the binding nature of the English wheat, the Indian Corne keeping the body in a constant moderate loosenesse.

Ewáchim neash: corn. Scannémeneash: seed corn. Wompiscannémeneash: white seed corn. Observation: There are various sorts of this corn, and of various colors. Yet if the use of it, either boiled in milk or buttered, were known and accepted in England, it might save many thousands of lives in England (in the opinion of some skilled in medicine). Those lives are lost through the binding nature of English wheat, while Indian corn keeps the body in a constant, moderate looseness.

Every year thousands undergo this operation, and the French Ambassador says pleasantly, that they take the small-pox here by way of diversion, as they take the waters in others countries. There is no example of any one that has died in it, and you may believe I am well satisfied of the safety of this experiment, since I intend to try it on my dear little son. I am patriot enough to take pains to bring this useful invention into fashion in England, and I should not fail to write to some of our Doctors very particularly about it, if I knew any one of them that I thought had virtue enough to destroy such a considerable branch of their revenue, for the good of mankind. But that distemper is too beneficial to them, not to expose to all their resentment, the hardy wight that should undertake to put an end to it. Perhaps, if I live to return, I may, however, have courage to war with them. Upon this occasion, admire the heroism in the heart of, Your friend, &c. &c.

Every year thousands undergo this operation, and the French ambassador says pleasantly that they take the smallpox here by way of diversion, as they take the waters in other countries. There is no example of anyone that has died in it, and you may believe I am well satisfied of the safety of this experiment, since I intend to try it on my dear little son. I am patriot enough to take pains to bring this useful invention into fashion in England, and I should not fail to write to some of our doctors very particularly about it, if I knew any one of them that I thought had virtue enough to destroy such a considerable branch of their revenue for the good of mankind. But that distemper is too beneficial to them not to expose to all their resentment the hardy wight that should undertake to put an end to it. Perhaps, if I live to return, I may, however, have courage to war with them. Upon this occasion, admire the heroism in the heart of your friend, etc., etc.

What was there lacking about that programme, to make it perfectly irresistible? Nothing, that any finite mind could discover. Paris, England, Scotland, Switzerland, Italy — Garibaldi! The Grecian archipelago! Vesuvius! Constantinople! Smyrna! The Holy Land! Egypt and “our friends the Bermudians!” People in Europe desiring to join the Excursion — contagious sickness to be avoided — boating at the expense of the ship — physician on board — the circuit of the globe to be made if the passengers unanimously desired it — the company to be rigidly selected by a pitiless “Committee on Applications” — the vessel to be as rigidly selected by as pitiless a “Committee on Selecting Steamer.” Human nature could not withstand these bewildering temptations. I hurried to the Treasurer's office and deposited my ten per cent. I rejoiced to know that a few vacant state-rooms were still left. I did avoid a critical personal examination into my character, by that bowelless committee, but I referred to all the people of high standing I could think of in the community who would be least likely to know any thing about me.

What was there lacking about that program, to make it perfectly irresistible? Nothing that any finite mind could discover. Paris, England, Scotland, Switzerland, Italy—Garibaldi! The Grecian archipelago! Vesuvius! Constantinople! Smyrna! The Holy Land! Egypt and “our friends the Bermudians!” People in Europe wanting to join the excursion. Contagious sickness to be avoided. Boating at the expense of the ship. Physician on board. The circuit of the globe to be made if the passengers unanimously desired it. The company to be rigidly selected by a pitiless “Committee on Applications.” The vessel to be as rigidly selected by as pitiless a “Committee on Selecting Steamer.” Human nature could not withstand these bewildering temptations. I hurried to the treasurer's office and deposited my 10 percent. I rejoiced to know that a few vacant staterooms were still left. I did avoid a critical personal examination into my character by that heartless committee. But I named as references all the people of high standing I could think of in the community who would be least likely to know anything about me.