The letter from king Edward I to Pope Boniface VIII, dated 1301, is preserved among the Close Rolls in the National Archives. In it Edward gives his version of the history of relations between England and Scotland during a period when this was a thorny issue. Edward believed that the king of England had rights over Scotland while the Pope thought he had jurisdiction over Scotland and repudiated English involvement. The letter gives an account of the early history of Britain reminiscent of that found in Geoffrey of Monmouth.

Æthelweard’s chronicle, in a rugged and distinctive Latin, covers history from Creation down to 975, just before he wrote the work. He bases it largely on the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and parts of his chronicle provide valuableinformation about this Old English work, here in Æthelweard’s Latin translation or paraphrase. Æthelweard was a high-ranking lay leader. He addresses the work to his cousin, Matilda, abbess of Essen in Germany. Here the famous and dramatic story (which also exists in Old English) of prince Cyneheard and king Cynewulf is given, as well as sections on ninth and tenth century history.

This late ninth-century charter provides an example of Latin with orthographical idiosyncrasies at a time when there had been a decline in educational standards, before the reforms of king Alfred took effect. Land is granted by the archbishop of Canterbury to a layman. Criticism of the standard of Latin is somewhat unfair, given that the changes made to Latin syntax and spelling are consistent.