HOLINSHEDE, or HOLINGSHEDE, RAPHAEL, author of the Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland, flourished in the sixteenth century. He seems to have been educated at one or other of the greater universities, and to have taken orders in the church; but the only fact in his history known with tolerable certainty is that he died in 1580. In the chronicle called by his name he bore a leading, but not an undivided share, as he received important aid from Stow, the antiquary; Harrison, a clergyman; Hooker, an uncle of the divine of that name; and Francis Boterville, a man of great learning, especially in antiquarian matters. Holinshe's share in the work comprised the history of England up to the date of the Norman Conquest, and from the Norman Conquest down to the year 1577, at which date the first edition of the Chronicle was published. The notice of Elizabeth's reign contained matter so offensive to her and her court that in the second edition, which appeared in 1587, some of the sheets were cancelled altogether. In subsequent reprints, however, these have been restored. The history of Scotland, incorporated by Holinshe in his Chronicle, is for the most part a translation from the Latin of Hector Boece, and is interesting as having furnished Shakespeare with the groundwork of his tragedy of Macbeth. The Chronicle, from being the work of so many different hands, presents, of course, great varieties of literary quality. Its real value depends on its learning and research, which have made it an invaluable aid to all who have since undertaken to illustrate the early annals of England.