Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 43.djvu/213

 extract from the Register of Caius College kindly made by Mr. J. Venn; Boase and Courtney's Bibliotheca Cornubiensis (where a full bibliography is given); Gent. Mag. 1818 ii. 78, 1848 i. 149.]

PARIS, MATTHEW (d. 1259), historian and monk, took the religious habit at St. Albans on St. Agnes's day, 21 Jan. 1217. He was then, it may be surmised, about seventeen years old. He had doubtless received his early education in the convent school. His surname, which was not uncommon in England in the thirteenth century, was probably inherited. St. Albans was at that time a place of art and learning, and the writing of history was specially encouraged there. [q. v.] had endowed the scriptorium and increased the library, which received further additions under his successors; the vessels and ornaments of rare workmanship given to the convent encouraged the monks to follow artistic pursuits, while the wealth of the monastery enabled them to spend much on the adornment of their house and its books and other furniture. Abbot Simon (d. 1183) was an ardent lover of books, and kept two or three first-rate scribes continually at work in his chamber copying a large number of valuable works with minute care; he repaired the scriptorium, re-endowed it, made rules for its government, and ordained that his successors should always maintain a special scribe (Gesta Abbatum, i. 192). [q. v.] held this office after his recall from the priory of Belvoir, becoming the historiographer of the house. By his time the convent had a chronicle of England of its own, compiled about the beginning of the century, possibly by Abbot John de Cella (d. 1214) (Chronica Majora, ii. Preface, p. xi); it began with the Creation, and ended with 1188 (ib. p. 336). During Matthew's early years at St. Albans, Wendover was engaged in revising this chronicle and compiling and composing an addition to it. Matthew became expert in writing, which he perhaps learnt under a foreign teacher, in drawing, painting, and, it is said by Walsingham, in working gold and silver (Gesta Abbatum, i. 395). He was extremely diligent, and no doubt afforded much help to Wendover and in the work of the scriptorium generally. When Wendover died in 1236 (Chronica Majora, vi. Additamenta, p. 274), Matthew succeeded to his office, and carried on the ‘Chronica Majora,’ which had been brought down by Wendover to the summer of 1235 (ib. iii. 327 n.;, ii. 303). He performed his task in a different way from that adopted by any English chronicler before him, keeping his eye on the affairs of the civilised world generally, and spending much pains in gathering information from all quarters. St. Albans was visited by kings and all manner of great persons, and he took care to make every such visit an opportunity for adding to his knowledge, and gaining some fresh material with which to enliven or enrich his chronicle. Nor was he content merely to hear what others told him. He moved about, was a traveller, and saw things for himself; he attended great ceremonies, and visited the court. The value of his work was recognised, and men of the highest rank were glad to tell him of events in which they were personally concerned, and were anxious to secure a favourable notice of their doings in his chronicle.

He tells us that he was present when, on the day of the translation of St. Edward, 13 Oct. 1247, Henry III carried with his own hands the holy blood from St. Paul's to Westminster. During the ceremonies of the day the king while on his throne saw and recognised him, called him to him, and, having made him sit on a step of the throne, asked him if he had seen and would remember all that had passed, and further earnestly requested him to write a full and detailed account of the whole affair in his book. Henry also invited him and the three brethren who accompanied him to dinner (Chronica Majora, iv. 644). Soon after this Matthew was called upon to visit Norway. The abbey of St. Benet Holm, on the island of Niderholm, in the province of Trondhjem, fell into trouble through the misconduct of its abbot, who, in 1240, deserted his house, and, having taken the seal of the chapter with him, borrowed money by affixing it to deeds for the sale or mortgage of the possessions of the convent. After his death the prior Clement came to St. Albans, probably in 1246, with a sum of three hundred marks, and carrying a letter from Hacon IV, requesting Matthew Paris to assist in freeing the abbey from its debts. Matthew accordingly bought up the bonds of the convent that were in the hands of the Caorsin money-lenders in London, and thus set right the worldly affairs of the abbey. In spiritual matters it was still in an unsatisfactory state, and the cardinal-bishop of Sabina, who was in Norway in June 1247, advised the monks to apply to the pope to appoint some one to reform their house. The new abbot followed his advice, and Innocent IV having told him and the prior that they might name the man whom they would prefer to be sent to them, they asked for Matthew, both because they had already had proof of his prudence and fidelity, and because