MANNING, Robert, commonly known as Robert of Brunne, a monk of the priory of Brunne or Bourne in Lincolnshire, wrote in the beginning of the reign of Edward III. a metrical history of England from the landing of the imaginary Brute to the end of the reign of Edward I. The work has no independent historical value; it professedly follows Peter of Langtoft’s Chronicle from the Anglo-Saxon or “Inglis” invasion downwards, and Wace for the previous “British” story. It is a lively narrative, written “not for the lered bot for the lewed,” and it has a certain interest as a landmark, not only in the history of the English language, but also in the history of national sentiment. Manning is warm in praise of the deeds and the character of Edward I., “Edward of Inglond,” although he deplores the Norman Conquest as a “bondage,” and says concerning the death of Harold that “our freedom that day for ever took the leave.” The old monk is our first avowedly “popular” historian. He wrote for the entertainment of men who knew neither Latin nor French, and in his prologue comments humorously on the “quaint English” and subtle rhymes of his predecessors, claiming for himself purity of language and simplicity of metre. A passage in this prologue has often been quoted as bearing on the authorship of the romance of Sir Tristram. Manning also translated William of Waddington’s Manuel des Pechiez under the title of Handlying Synne, in 1303, and is plausibly conjectured to be the author of Medy-taeyuns of the Soper of oure Lorde Ihesu i translated from Bonaventura’s Vita Christi. He is not a bald rhymester, but uses language with skill and effect, and in some places where he departs from his originals shows genuine poetical rapture.