Chronica Monasterii de Melsa, a Fundatione usque ad Annum 1396

The Cistercian abbey of Meaux in Yorkshire was founded in 1150 as a daughter house of Fountains. Thomas de Burton (d.1437) was bursar in 1394 and abbot from 1396 to 1399. His chronicle survives in two versions: the earlier, finished around 1396, and a revision completed around 1402, to which later additions were made. The work is one of the most important later medieval Cistercian chronicles, providing detailed information about the history and administration of Meaux, as well as local and national historical events. The surviving library catalogue reveals the sources available to Burton, and he drew extensively on the abbey archives. The work is arranged by the rule of each abbot, with subdivisions in each section for local and more general history, arranged by subject matter. Volume 1 contains Burton’s list of abbots, indexes of lands belonging to the abbey, and the history of the period 1150-1235.