Higden, Ranulph or Ralph

Higden, Ranulph or Ralph an English writer of the 14th century, was a Benedictine monk of the monastery of St. Werberg, in Cheshire, who died at a very advanced age in 1367 according to Bale, or in 1373 according to Pits. His Polychronicon, a chronicle of events from the Creation to A.D. 1357, was written originally in Latin, and translated into English in 1387 by John of Trevisa. From this translation Caxton made his version, and, continuing in an eighth book the Chronicle to 1460, published the whole under the title of The: Polycronycon, conteynag the Barngqes and Dedes of many Times, in eight Books, etc. (1482, fol.). Trevisa's translation "contains many rare words and expressions, and is one of the earliest specimens of English prose." The first volume of a new edition (containing also a translation by an unknown writer of the 15th century), edited by C. Babington, B.D., appeared in 1865. The Polychronicon is frequently cited by English historians. Bale published the part relating to the Britons and Saxons in his Scriptores Quindecim, etc. (Oxford, 1691). Some have assigned the authorship of the Chester Mysteries (1382) to Higden, but on doubtful grounds. — Bale, Illust. Maj. Brit. Script. Summe.; Pits, De illust. An Script.; Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Géneralé, 24, 656; Herzog, Real-Encyclop. 6, 83; Westminster Review, July, 1865, p. 128. (J.W. M.)