John Rous (historian)

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John Rous, as depicted in the Rous Roll (1845 engraving after the original)

John Rous (c. 1411/20 – 24 January 1492)

Brutus to King Henry VII. His historical work is now considered to have "displayed no critical faculty" and to have made credulous the "imaginative embellishments (of) the myths of Geoffrey of Monmouth."[2] However his Rous Roll and Warwick Roll are noted for their historically important illustrations, often credited to Rous's hand but not with certainty.[3]

Origins

Rous was born at Warwick, probably in 1420, though this is uncertain. He was the son of Geoffrey Rous of Warwick, a younger son of Thomas Rous of Brinklow, by his wife Margaret Fyncham, a daughter of Richard Fyncham, both of armigerous gentry families.[4]

Career

He was educated at

Yorkist dynasty. He was chaplain of the chapel of Guy's Cliffe during the reign of King Richard III (1483-1485) and was a canon of the Collegiate Church of St Mary, Warwick
.

Works

Rous Roll

Depiction of King Richard III and his family in the Rous Roll, showing his various heraldic crests and his white boar badge, with the Warwick bear of his wife

He was responsible for creating the "Rous Roll", written during the reign of Richard III (1483–1485), which presents a pro-Yorkist version of contemporary English history. In it he praises Richard as a "good lord" who punished "oppressors of the commons".

Emma Rawghton who lived until 1436.[6]

Warwick Roll

The "Warwick Roll" is a family chronicle of the Beauchamp family, concerned mainly with the life of Richard Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick (1382-1439), a contemporary of Rous.

Historia Regum Angliae

In his Historia Regum Angliae ("History of the Kings of England") Rous was mainly interested in antiquarian details of social life and the development of scholarly institutions. For example in his life of King Henry V (1413-1422) Rous describes that king's educational history and his social projects but omits to mention the Battle of Agincourt, the central event in his reign, merely noting that he "campaigned in France" and was "renowned for his military skills".[7]

Other works

Rous appears to have written a number of other works about Warwickshire local history and histories of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. He also wrote a treatise on giants whom he supposed lived after the Great Flood, but most of these works are now lost.

Death

He died on 24 January 1492, aged 81 according to some sources, and was buried in the Collegiate Church of St Mary, Warwick, to which he bequeathed his library, directing that a special room to house it be built.

References

  1. ^ Orme, Nicholas. "Rous, John (c.1420–1492)". Oxford Dictionary National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  2. ^ Rous, John (1411?-1491) (1897) Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 49.
  3. ISBN 0521581311
    .
  4. ^ Orme
  5. ^ Charles Ross, Richard III, xxii-xxiv.
  6. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/57763
    . Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  7. ^ Anne Curry, The Battle of Agincourt: Sources and Interpretations, Boydell Press, 2000, p.196.

External links

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