have been at least seventy years old by the time of the king's accession and died shortly afterwards. Henry's ear for telling detail is responsible for entertaining touches drawn from current legend and his own fertile imagination. C. Warren Hollister notes the anecdote of King Canute's failure to stem the tide by command and Henry I's ignoring his physician's orders to dine on lampreys. Such touches rendered his history popular – there are twenty-five surviving manuscripts – and they embedded his anecdotes firmly into popular history. However, as the bishop's household was with the royal court frequently, it is possible that Henry was an eyewitness for many of the anecdotes he describes. Diana Greenway points out that the details he provides about the royal family are remarkably accurate. Historia Anglorum was first printed by Sir Henry Savile in 1596 in the historical miscellany Rerum Anglicarum Scriptores post Bedam praecipui. Henry's sources included: Bede, Historia Ecclesiastica, for the years up to 731. Historia Brittonum (Vatican recension). Paul the Deacon's Historia Romana, for Roman emperors, as well as Eutropius and Aurelius Victor The works of Saint Jerome and Gregory the Great, with which Henry had a passing familiarity. Saints' Lives (especially Book 9). Versions of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle similar to C and E. This included the poem on Brunanburh, which he translated into Latin. A lost version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, which he shared with John of Worcester. This version contained quite a number of detailed and valuable accounts of battles of the Saxon invasions of Britain which are only preserved in Henry's Historia. Peter Tudebode's Historia de Hierosolymitano itinere. Old English poems, which he translated into Latin. This may include the legend of King Canute and the waves, as well as material on Siward, Earl of Northumbria. Old French songs, for Norman history. Other works As an author, Henry distinguished himself in his youth by writing poetry, comprising eight books of epigrams, eight books on love, and the so-called Anglicanus ortus, eight books on herbs, spices and gems united by a medical theme. Of these, two books of epigrams and the eight medical books survive, the latter identified only in modern times. The Anglicanus ortus has since been published, books 1–6 (on herbs and spices) as Anglicanus ortus: a Verse Herbal of the Twelfth Century (Toronto, Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, c2012), and books 7–8 (on gems) as "Henry of Huntingdon's