William of Malmesbury

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Stained-glass window showing William, installed in Malmesbury Abbey in 1928 in memory of Rev. Canon C. D. H. McMillan, vicar of Malmesbury from 1907 to 1919

William of Malmesbury (

patristic, and earlier medieval times as well as in the writings of his own contemporaries. Indeed William may well have been the most learned man in twelfth-century Western Europe."[1]

William was born about 1095 or 1096[2] in Wiltshire, England. His father was Norman and his mother English.[3] He spent his whole life in England and his adult life as a monk at Malmesbury Abbey in Wiltshire.[4]

Biography

Though the education William received at Malmesbury Abbey included a smattering of

moral philosophy and history were the subjects to which he devoted the most attention. The earliest fact which he records of his career is that he assisted Abbot Godfrey (1081–1105) in collecting a library for the use of the community,[5] and the evidence shows that Malmesbury had first-hand knowledge of at least four hundred works by two hundred-odd authors.[6] During the course of his studies, he amassed a collection of medieval histories, which inspired in him the idea for a popular account of English history modelled on the Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (Ecclesiastical History of the English People) of Bede.[5] William's obvious respect for Bede is apparent even within the preface of his Gesta Regum Anglorum,[7]
where he professes his admiration for the man.

In fulfilment of this idea, William completed in 1125

Robert, Earl of Gloucester. This "second edition" of the Gesta Regum, "disclosing in his second thoughts the mellowing of age",[9]
is now considered one of the great histories of England.

William wrote of William the Conqueror in Historia Anglorum:

He was of just stature, extraordinary[10] corpulence, fierce countenance; his forehead was bare of hair; of such great strength of arm that it was often a matter of surprise, that no one was able to draw his bow, which himself could bend when his horse was in full gallop; he was majestic whether sitting or standing, although the protuberance of his belly deformed his royal person; of excellent health so that he was never confined with any dangerous disorder, except at the last; so given to the pleasures of the chase, that as I have before said, ejecting the inhabitants, he let a space of many miles grow desolate that, when at liberty from other avocations, he might there pursue his pleasures. His anxiety for money is the only thing on which he can deservedly be blamed. This he sought all opportunities of scraping together, he cared not how; he would say and do some things and indeed almost anything, unbecoming to such great majesty, where the hope of money allured him. I have here no excuse whatever to offer, unless it be, as one has said, that of necessity he must fear many, whom many fear.[11]

Malmesbury Abbey in Wiltshire, completed in 1180; it remains in use as the parish church of Malmesbury.

William's first edition of the book was followed by the Gesta Pontificum Anglorum (Deeds of the English Bishops) in 1125. For this vivid descriptive history of abbeys and bishoprics, dwelling upon the lives of the English prelates saints, notably the learned wonder-working Aldhelm, abbot of Malmesbury, William travelled widely in England. He stayed at Glastonbury Abbey for a time, composing On the Antiquity of the Glastonbury Church for his friend, the abbot Henry of Blois who was also the Bishop of Winchester. (Among the first works to mention SS Fagan and Deruvian, its present form is notably marred by anachronistic forgeries and additions.)[citation needed]

At a point before the onset of

Empress Matilda.[5]

Beginning about 1140, William continued his chronicles with the Historia Novella, or "modern history", a three-book chronicle that ran from 1128 to 1142, including important accounts of the Anarchy of King Stephen's reign. This work breaks off with an unfulfilled promise that it would be continued: presumably William died before he could redeem his pledge.[5][12] William also wrote a history of his abbey and several saints' lives.[13]

Significance

William is considered by many, including

Wulfstan, Bishop of Worcester
, is thought to derive from a first-hand account from Coleman, a contemporary of Wulfstan. William merely translated the document from Old English into Latin. William's works are still considered invaluable and, despite these shortcomings, he remains one of the most celebrated English chroniclers of the twelfth century.

William's descriptions of religious communities, even though they "resort to the

Nunnaminster, and Wilton, give insights into the lives of nuns in England during the central Middle Ages. He observed their practices, which included their obedience to their leaders' directives, their care for and veneration of relics, their organization and participation in their practices of prayer and intercessions on the behalf of those in and out of their communities, and their reputations among the laity and their peers in other religious communities. His extensive travels throughout England also allowed him to compare the communities he studied and to accuracy assess these communities' "size, wealth, vibrancy, and rigor".[15] According to medieval scholar and historian Katie Ann-Marie Bugyis, "He was clearly impressed by the practices of the women's monasteries he visited. By his telling, their sanctity and zeal equaled, if not surpassed, those of their male counterparts".[15]

Works

Unprinted extant works

Among these are:

The manuscripts of these works are to be found partly in the British Library, partly in the Bodleian Library.[16]

Lost works

  • A Vita Sancti Patricii and Miracle Sancti Benigni are mentioned in the prologue to the book on Glastonbury
  • A metrical life of St Ælfgyfu is quoted in the Gesta pontificum
  • Chronica tribus libellis are mentioned in the prologue to the Historia novella, and a fragment of them is apparently preserved in the British Library Lansdowne manuscripts 436.
  • John Leland gave extracts from an Itinerarium Johannis abbatis, describing the journey of Abbot of Malmesbury John to Rome in 1140 (Leland, Collectanea, iii. 272).[16]

Notes

  1. ISBN 978-0-300-14372-0
    .
  2. ^ discusses the evidence for his age and thus his birth year
  3. doi:10.1484/J.JML.1.102101
    .
  4. doi:10.1017/S0022046900065659
    .
  5. ^ a b c d e Davis 1911, p. 675.
  6. ^ Thomson 1987:197–207.
  7. ^ William (of Malmesbury) (1847). Chronicle of the Kings of England: From the earliest period to the reign of King Stephen. H. G. Bohn. pp. 175 ff. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
  8. ^ Hollister 2001:4,
  9. ^ Hollister 2001:4.
  10. ^ William of Malmesbury, Chronicle of the Kings of England, ed. Giles, London 1847, p.308
  11. ^ Quoted in James Westfall Thompson and Edgar Nathanael Johnson, An Introduction to Medieval Europe, 1300–1500 (1937) p. 440
  12. ^ "William of Malmesbury Critical Essays - eNotes.com". eNotes. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  13. ^ "William of Malmesbury". British Library. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  14. ISBN 978-2-503-54250-8
    .
  15. ^
    ISBN 978-0-19-085128-6
    .
  16. ^ a b Davis 1911, p. 676.

References

Further reading

External links

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