=Thomas of Eccleston=, the earliest historian of the Franciscan Order in England, was probably a native of Lancashire[1306]. All that is known of him is contained in his Chronicle. He was an inmate of the London Convent when William of Nottingham was minister (1240-1250), and speaks from his own experience of the poverty and hard fare of the brethren there[1307]. He was a student at Oxford in the lifetime of Grostete, whether before or after the latter became bishop is not clear[1308]. He knew the earliest converts to the Order in England, and enjoyed the intimacy of William of Nottingham[1309]. His history is dedicated to Friar Simon of Esseby--perhaps Ashby in Norfolk or Lincolnshire[1310]. In the preface he states that he had been collecting and arranging materials for twenty-five years, and explains his object in writing. ‘Every upright man ought to judge his life by the examples of better men, because examples strike home more directly than the words of reason.’ Other Orders have lives of their holy brethren; this Chronicle is intended similarly to edify the Franciscans by giving them some account of those who have sacrificed their all to enter the Order and observe the Rule of St. Francis[1311]. From this point of view, chronology was of little importance, and there is scarcely a date in the whole book. It is impossible to give the exact date at which the Chronicle was finished; the deaths of William of Nottingham and of Innocent IV are mentioned[1312]; and the work was probably not completed before 1260. It is certainly the narrative of a contemporary, often of an eye-witness, and, apart from the manifest sincerity of the author, the accuracy of the details can in some instances be tested by independent and trustworthy authority. To take one example; Eccleston’s account of the reception of the friars at Cambridge (pp. 17, 18) may be compared with the following entry in Close Roll 22 Hen. III, m. 12, (June 15 1238): Rex ballivis suis de Cantebr’ salutem. Sciatis quod concessimus fratribus Minoribus de Cantebr’ domum illam cum pertinenciis in Cantebr’ que fuit Magistri Benjamin Judei et quam prius vobis concesseramus ad Gayolam nostram (_or_ vestram) inde faciendam, ad clausum domorum predictorum fratrum dilatandum, salvis domino feodi serviciis et redditibus ei inde debitis. Et idem vobis precipimus quod eisdem fratribus de domo predicta plenam saisinam habere faciatis. The following MSS. of the Chronicle ‘_De adventu Fratrum Minorum in Angliam_’ are extant, all dating from the early fourteenth century. (1) A mutilated MS. in the Chapter Library at York; Brewer’s text for the earlier portion of the Chronicle is founded on this. (2) Brit. Mus.: Cotton Nero A ix was used by Brewer as the guide for the later part: this MS. begins with _Collatio IX_ (i.e. _Collatio VIII_ in the York MS.).