Documents of revolution and reform: Henry of Marchington, the king’s chancery and the chronicle of Burton

Abstract This article aims to demonstrate that much of the information found in the chronicle of Burton for the 1250s was obtained through Henry of Marchington, a clerk working at the royal chancery between 1254 and 1264 at least. Using new evidence from a register produced at Burton in these same years, cross-referenced with that of the chronicle, I argue that the source material for the chronicle, especially documents pertaining to the baronial movement in 1258–9, came to Burton via the clerk. The case of Burton thus offers an unusually precise insight into how a monastic chronicler could obtain information.