William the Breton
William the Breton (c. 1165 – c. 1225),
William the Breton was, as his name indicates, born in
His works are the Philippide and the Gesta Philippi H. regis Francorum. The former, a classicizing Latin epic poem in 12 books and composed in three redactions, gives some very interesting details about Philip Augustus and his time, including some information about military matters, and shows that William was an excellent
In its final form the Gesta is an epitome of the work of Rigord, who wrote a life of Philip Augustus from 1179 to 1206, and an original continuation by William himself from 1207 to 1220. In both works William speaks in very laudatory terms of the king; but his writings are valuable because he had personal knowledge of many of the facts which he relates. He also wrote a poem, Karlotis, dedicated to Charlot, which is lost.[1]
William's works were edited with an introduction by
References
- ^ a b c d public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "William the Breton". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 675. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
- ^ Stringer, Gregory (2010). "Book 1 of William the Breton's "Philippide": A translation". University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. Retrieved 31 July 2020.