PARDOE, JULIA (1806-1862)

—Novelist and miscellaneous writer, b. at Beverley, showed an early bias towards literature, and became a voluminous and versatile writer, producing in addition to her lively and well-written novels many books of travel, and others dealing with historical subjects. She was a keen observer, and her Oriental travels had given her an accurate and deep knowledge of the peoples and manners of the East. Among her books are The City of the Sultan (1836), Romance of the Harem , You sand and One Days , Louis XIV. and the Court of France , Court of Francis I. , etc. PARIS, MATTHEW ( c. 1195-1259). —Chronicler, entered in 1217 the Benedictine Monastery of St. Albans, and continued the work of Roger de Wend over ( q.v. ) as chronicler of the monastery. In 1248 he went on the invitation of Hacon King of Norway to reform the Abbey of St. Benet Holm. In this he was succe ful, and on his return to England enjoyed the favour of Henry III., who conversed familiarly with him, and imparted information as to matters of state, which constitutes a valuable element in his histories. He had a high reputation for piety and learning, was a patriotic English man, and resisted the encroachments of Rome. His chief work is Hist or i a Major , from the Conquest until 1259. In it he embodied the Flores Hist or i arum of his predece or Roger, and the original part is a bold and vigorous narrative of the period (1235-59). He also wrote Hist or i a Minor and Hist or i a Anglorum , a summary of the events (1200-1250).