Jones, Evans J., 'An Examination of the Authorship of the Deposition and Death of Richard II attributed to Créton', Speculum 15 (1940), 460-477

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Quick Summary

An important pro-Ricardian account of Richard II’s deposition may have been written by the bishop of St Asaph, not Jean Créton as traditionally thought

  • Bishop Trevor of St Asaph was a master of the French language
  • Trevor may have attributed authorship to Jean Créton to maintain his own anonymity
  • The Metrical History provides a full account of events based on trustworthy sources
Key Conclusion

Evans explores the authorship of the Metrical History, which provides a contemporary account of Richard II’s expedition to Ireland in 1399 and his subsequent deposition. Evans challenges the conclusion reached by P. W. Dillon in 1840 that the text was written by Jean Créton – a ‘valet de chambre’ of the king of France who was sent to Scotland in 1410 to investigate rumours that Richard II had not died in 1399. Instead, Evans argues that authorship is perhaps better attributed to Bishop Trevor of St Asaph. Trevor was a master of the French language and joined the Welsh revolt of Owain Glyn Dwr against Henry IV in 1405.

Content Overview

The Metrical History is a valuable account of Richard II’s deposition. It is a pro-Ricardian source and provides an important counter-narrative to Lancastrian accounts that a favourable to Henry IV. In particular, the text is ‘able to give an exceptionally full and vivid account of the important events which took place in Ireland’ (pp. 460-1). There are three surviving manuscripts of the text, which differ very little: ‘they are all copies, although whether from the same original we cannot now tell’ (p. 466). In arguing the case for authorship by the bishop of St Asaph, Evans suggests that his plan may have been to attribute the story to a person named Créton to maintain his own anonymity (p. 473).

Further Findings

In terms of bias and accuracy, the author of the Metrical History held Richard II in ‘very high esteem’ and ‘spared no pains to cover up the king’s failings’. Yet, the account provided is a full one: ‘Nothing of importance is omitted from the narrative, the events are recorded as the testimony of an eyewitness or of someone who had access to trustworthy sources’ (p. 465). Evans also argues against the findings of M. V. Clarke and V. H. Galbraith in favour of the chronology of events contained in the Metrical History surrounding Richard II’s journey to Wales from Ireland in 1399: Richard did not cross to Wales before 29 July, and was not already a prisoner on 16 August.

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