HOLINGSDED, RALPH, or RAFAEL, was one of the humble but uſeful claſs of hiſtorians called chronologers. He was educated at Cambridge, according to Biſhop Tanner, and became A. M. in the year 1544. The nature and extent of his education, as well as his profeſſion, are involved in uncertainty. It ſeems probable, however, that he was ſeward to Thomas Burdett, Eſq. of Bomcote in Warwickſhire, where he died about the year 1580. He has given name to a compilation of chronicles of Engliſh hiſtory from the earlieſt times, the firſt edition of which was publiſhed at London in 1577, in two volumes folio, and the ſecond edition in three volumes, was printed about ſeven years after his death, brought down to 1586. This work, according to the teſtimony of Holingſhed himſelf, was begun by the advice of Reginald Wolfe, printer to Queen Elizabeth. Part of it was compiled by himſelf, but he received conſiderable aſſiſtance from William Harriſon, John Hooker, Abraham Fleming, Francis Thynne, and ſome others. It was continued by John Stowe after the death of Holingſhed. Some parts of the firſt edition were altered in the ſecond and third, becauſe they gave offence to Queen Elizabeth and the miniſtry, who laid many reſtrictions on the liberty of the preſs. The firſt edition of conſequence is both ſcarce and valuable; but the ſuppreſſed ſheets were afterwards printed by themſelves. The chronicles of Holingſhed, although conſidered as both tedious and vulgar, contain many important facts, which tend to illuſtrate the cuſtoms and manners of remote periods.