John de Taxster

John de Taxster, sometimes erroneously called Taxter or Taxston, was a 13th century English chronicler in England, of whose life nothing is known except that he was professed as a Benedictine at Bury St. Edmunds Abbey in the county of Suffolk, England on November 20, 1244 until his death. It is probable that he died in or about 1265, when his chronicle ceases.

His work, which in the earlier part is compiled from Florence of Worcester, William of Malmesbury, and Ralph de Diceto, begins with the creation of the world. The value of the chronicle arises from Taxster's account of his own times. His description of contemporary events was subsequently used by John de Everisden, Johannes de Oxenedes, and Bartholomew Cotton. This part of his work has accordingly attracted more attention, and his chronicle for the period 1258-1263 was printed by H. R. Luard in his edition of Cotton (Rolls Series).

Taxster's chronicle as a whole has never been printed, and exists only in two Manuscripts, one in the British Museum (Cott., Julius, A. 1.), the other in the College of Arms (Arundelian Manuscript, 6). A faulty Manuscript for the years 1173-1265 was printed in 1849 for the English Historical Society, and passages relating to German affairs have been included by Pertz in "Mon. Germ. Hist.: Script.", XXVIII.

Bibliography

*"John de Taxster: Chronica Abbreviata" (down to 1265). Ed.