ABSTRACT
Robert Mannyng describes himself as belonging to Bourne (Brunne), in Lincolnshire. He was born not later than the year 1283 and studied at Cambridge (ca. 1298–1302). In 1302 he became a canon of the Gilbertine order at Sempringham priory (six miles from Bourne) and in 1303 began the writing of Handling Sin. In his prologue written in 1317 or later, which is reprinted below, he tells us that he lived in the priory for fifteen years. The only other definite information we have about him is that he completed his Story of England in 1338 at the Gilbertine priory of Sixhills, also in Lincolnshire. Mannyng may also be the author of an adaptation (ca. 1300–25) of the Latin Meditations on the Life of Christ, ascribed to St. Bonaventura. In any case, his fame rests secure on his two major poems.
