Hoveden

Hoveden, Roger of, an English chronicler of the 12th century who is thought to have been born at Howden in Yorkshire. He appears to have studied law, and to have become a member of the court of Henry II., whom he accompanied to France. The king sent him on a diplomatic mission to Scotland, and also employed him to negotiate with the abbeys at Reading with regard to filling vacant abbacies. In 1189 Roger was Justice Itinerant in the northern counties, and is thought to have retired into private life at the king's death, and to have written his history at this period, and possibly at Howden. He divides his work into two parts, the first dealing with events prior to Henry II.'s accession, and the second carrying the history down to the year 1201. Much of his work is an adaptation from earlier chronicles, but the record of the last ten years in his history is entirely original.