Richard of Cirencester

Richard Of Cirencester (so called from his birthplace, in Gloucestershire, England) — in Latin Ricardus Corinensis — was born in the first half of the 14th century. Nothing is known of his family or circumstances. In 1350 he entered the Benedictine monastery of St. Peter, Westminster (whence he is sometimes called the "Monk of Westminster"), and remained there the rest of his life. His leisure was devoted to the study of British and Anglo-Saxon history and antiquities. In the prosecution of these studies Richard is said to have visited numerous libraries and ecclesiastical establishments in England, and it is certain that in 1391 he obtained a license from his abbot to visit Rome. He died in 1401 or 1402. The work to which he owes his celebrity is his De Situ Britannioe, a treatise on the ancient state of Great Britain. This work was brought to light by Dr. Charles J. Bertram, professor of English at Copenhagen (1747), who sent a transcript of it, together with a copy of the map, to Dr. Stukeley, the celebrated antiquarian. From this transcript Dr.. Stukeley published an analysis of the work, with the itinerary (1757, 4to; London, 1809): — Historia ab Hengista ad Annum 1348: — Tractatus super Symbolum Majus et Minus: — and Liber de Offciis Ecclesiasticis.