Historiography is difficult, because the people who write histories are not just fallible human beings who make mistakes, but they have all the particular weaknesses and failings of human beings. They might be pushing an agenda, they might be trying to hide their own biases, they may favour “what should have happened” over “what actually happened” … or they could just be lazy. On Substack Notes, Medieval Realms shares an example from last century:
Ancient historians were not limited to mere evidence (not part of Medieval Realms’ original post).
Some of you may have noticed I tend to question popular narratives of medieval battles. I’m not trying to score cheap points, but it is a fact that the evidence often fails to match up. The following is another example.
In November 1294 a series of revolts were raging in Wales. Two battles were supposedly fought, at Denbigh and Builth.
The battle at Builth comes from John Morris, writing circa 1900. He was a grammar school teacher and academic historian, whose best-known work is The Welsh Wars of Edward I. This was the first study to make thorough use of contemporary records held in the Public Record Office.
In his book, Morris wrote:
John Giffard organised a relieving force of ten knights, twenty troopers and forty light horse, who made five attempts to cut their way through to the castle [at Builth], and were finally successful about November 12.
In his footnotes, Morris quoted the attached document. I recently had this translated. The preamble reads:
Account of John Giffard, constable of the castle of Builth, of the wages and expenses made by him in the custody of the said castle and in the capture of various rebels and thieves in those parts.
This is followed by a set of expenses, totalling £65 10 shillings 8 pence.
There is no mention of Giffard having to cut his way through Welsh siege lines, or anything so dramatic. He was being paid to garrison Builth and deal with “various rebels and thieves”.
Obviously, it is no easy task to extract medieval documents and compare them to modern accounts. But we should make the effort, where possible.
