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.