• Lifetime: c1529 - 1580
• Born: He was born in about the year 1529
• Family connections : He was the son a Cheshire family who were wealthy enough to ensure that he was well educated
• Died: Raphael Holinshed died c1580
• Accomplishments and Achievements or why Raphael Holinshed was famous: Author of Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland

Raphael Holinshed
The timeline and biography of Raphael Holinshed contains interesting information, facts & the history about the life of this Medieval person of historical importance:

• 1529: Born in Cheshire
• 1560: Moved to London
• 1560: Worked as a translator for Reginald Wolfe, who was preparing a universal history of the world based on many of John Leland's works
• The work was to be known as a "Universal Cosmography of the whole world, and therewith also certain particular histories of every known nation." It was to be embellished with maps and illustrations
• William Harrison was to employed to assist Holinshed who worked on the narrative histories and acted as general editor
• 1573: Death of Reginald Wolfe but his book was never finished
• 1573 - 1577: Holinshed continues the work started by Wolfe but reduces the extent of the history to Britain. Holinshed compiled the Historie of England. The Description of Scotland was a “simple translation” made by William Harrison. The Description of Ireland was the work of two Jesuits, Richard Stanyhurst and Edmund Campion
• 1577: Raphael Holinshed publishes his "Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland."
• 1577: The book was dedicated to Sir William Cecil, Lord Burghley
• c1580: Raphael Holinshed died

Raphael Holinshed - Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland
The "Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland," known by his name, cover a long period of English history, beginning with a "Description" of Britain from the earliest times, and carried on until the reign of Elizabeth. The work was of great service to William Shakespeare, who drew from it much of the material for his historical plays. The first edition, published in 1577, was succeeded in 1587 by another, in which the "Chronicles" were continued by John Hooker and others. An edition appeared in 1807, in the foreword to which the "Chronicles" are described as containing "the most curious and authentic account of the manners and customs of our island in the reign of Henry VIII. and Elizabeth". Owing to the great scope of this work, it is impossible to convey an impression of the whole, which is best represented by means of selected examples of the chronicler's method. Being the work of so many different authors, the literary quality of the "Chronicles" naturally varies; but the learning and research they show make them an invaluable aid to the study of the manners and customs of early England.