AUTHORITIES.--The relation of Matthew Paris's work to those of John de Cella and Roger of Wendover may best be studied in H. R. Luard's edition of the _Chronica majora_ (7 vols., Rolls series, 1872-1883), which contains valuable prefaces. The _Historia_ _Anglorum sive historia minor_ (1067-1253) has been edited by F. Madden (3 vols., Rolls series, 1866-1869). Matthew Paris is often confused with "Matthew of Westminster," the reputed author of the _Flores historiarum_ edited by H. R. Luard (3 vols., Rolls series, 1890). This work, compiled by various hands, is an edition of Matthew Paris, with continuations extending to 1326. Matthew Paris also wrote a life of Edmund Rich (q.v.), which is probably the work printed in W. Wallace's _St Edmund of Canterbury_ (London, 1893) pp. 543-588, though this is attributed by the editor to the monk Eustace; _Vitae abbatum S Albani_ (up to 1225) which have been edited by W. Watts (1640, &c.); and (possibly) the _Abbreviatio chronicorum_ (1000-1255), edited by F. Madden, in the third volume of the _Historia Anglorum_. On the value of Matthew as an historian see F. Liebermann in G. H. Pertz's _Scriptores_ xxviii. pp. 74-106; A. Jessopp's _Studies by a Recluse_ (London, 1893); H. Plehn's _Politische Character Matheus Parisiensis_ (Leipzig, 1897). (H. W. C. D.) MATTHEW OF WESTMINSTER, the name of an imaginary person who was long regarded as the author of the _Flores Historiarum_. The error was first discovered in 1826 by Sir F. Palgrave, who said that Matthew was "a phantom who never existed," and later the truth of this statement was completely proved by H. R. Luard. The name appears to have been taken from that of Matthew of Paris, from whose _Chronica majora_ the earlier part of the work was mainly copied, and from Westminster, the abbey in which the work was partially written. The _Flores historiarum_ is a Latin chronicle dealing with English history from the creation to 1326, although some of the earlier manuscripts end at 1306; it was compiled by various persons, and written partly at St Albans and partly at Westminster. The part from 1306 to 1326 was written by Robert of Reading (d. 1325) and another Westminster monk. Except for parts dealing with the reign of Edward I. its value is not great. It was first printed by Matthew Parker, archbishop of Canterbury, in 1567, and the best edition is the one edited with introduction by H. R. Luard for the Rolls series (London, 1890). It has been translated into English by C. D. Yonge (London, 1853). See Luard's introduction, and C. Bémont in the _Revue critique d'histoire_ (Paris, 1891).