Chapter 1 describes the use of Arthurian material in English political thought alongside documentary practices that attempt to construct an empire which includes Scotland, beginning with the Scottish succession crisis (1286–92) and extending to the Wars of the Roses. These practices had lasting effects, as their citation of legendary figures such as King Arthur opened an abundance of chronicle and romance material to argument. Historiographical and literary texts such as John Hardyng’s Chronicle, the Alliterative Morte Arthure, the Awntyrs off Arthur, and Thomas Malory’s Le Morte Darthur responded to this invocation of real and legendary history. While some simply repeat and extend governmental aspirations, others, such as the Morte Arthure and Awntyrs, question English imperial kingship and disrupt acts of sovereign recognition through recognition scenes. Ultimately, however, no medieval English author could imagine an alternative to the antagonism of sovereignty discourse, highlighting the problematic relationship of politics to precedent.

This concluding chapter ‘History in Print from Caxton to 1543’ examines the various forms in which historical writing was represented in early print. It begins by considering William Caxton’s various contributions and their places in his larger publishing strategies. It examines those works that he published that reflect earlier, manuscript traditions of historical writing, including the prose Brut and the Polychronicon, and the ways in which these were modified as they developed a new print tradition. The chapter goes on to assess the emergence of new forms of history that began to be developed by print in the early sixteenth century, including the emergence of print as a means for swift response to contemporary events and finally the appearance, in 1543, the first appearance in print of John Hardyng’s fifteenth-century verse chronicle, the publication of which was combined with contemporary prose historical writings.