HOVEDON, Roger of, an old English chronicler, was in all probability born at Howden, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, and was possibly a member of a family which had taken its name from the place. The date neither of his birth nor his death is known, and the first notice we have of him is as being sent in 1174 by Henry II., on whom he was in attendance in France, to endeavour to induce the lords of Galloway to withdraw from their allegiance to the king of Scotland. He appears to have been recommended to the notice of Henry from his knowledge of law, and to have occupied a place in his household. It has been conjectured, but without much evidence, that he was a student of Oxford; and the ascription to him of a volume of lectures is also without ground to support it. From the interest manifested in his history regarding the dispute between Archbishop Roger of York and Bishop Hugh of Durham in regard to synodal fees, it has been supposed that he himself held for some time the living of Howden, but this is likewise wholly devoid of direct corroboration. In 1175 he was employed by Henry in the delicate mission of inducing the monastic houses to send deputations to Woodstock for the purpose of choosing their rulers. In 1189, the last year of Henry’s reign, he was appointed a justice itinerant for the forests in Northumberland, Cumberland, and Yorkshire; and it is probable that after Henry’s death he retired to Howden, since from the number of his references to Yorkshire disputes it is evident that he must have been living in that county during the time that he compiled the latter portion of his Chronicle. As the Chronicle closes abruptly in 1201, it is probable that he did not live long beyond that date....