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William of Newburgh Historian, b. at Bridlington, Yorkshire, 1136; d. at Newburgh, Yorkshire, 1198, where he went as a boy to the small and recently-founded Augustinian priory. There he remained to the end as an Augustinian canon. There is no evidence that he travelled, and hardly anything is known of what was probably a very … Continue reading “William of Newburgh”

William of Nangis (GUILHELMUS). A medieval chronicler, who takes his name from the City of Nancy, France. All that is known of him is that he was a Benedictine monk and lived in the thirteenth century in the Abbey of Saint-Denis at Paris. According to some scholars he died before 22 July, 1300; according to … Continue reading “William of Nangis”

William of Moerbeke Scholar, Orientalist, philosopher, and one of the most distinguished men of letters of the thirteenth century, born about 1215; died in 1286. He held intellectual intercourse with the philosopher Thomas Aquinas, the mathematician John Campanus, the naturalist physician Witelo, and the astronomer Henri Bate of Mechlin. In turn he resided at the … Continue reading “William of Moerbeke”

William of Modena a Roman Catholic bishop of the 13th century, was sent by pope Honorius III as a legate to Livonia about 1224. He was of great service to both the natives and their recent conquerors, the Germans, by exhorting the one to bear the yoke in submission, and charging the other to lay … Continue reading “William of Modena”

William of Malmesbury Born 30 November, about 1090; died about 1143. He was educated at Malmesbury, where he became a monk. From his youth he showed a special bent towards history, “Thence it came that not being satisfied with the writing of old I began to write myself”. By 1125 he had completed his two … Continue reading “William of Malmesbury”

William of Maleval, Saint (or ST. WILLIAM THE GREAT). Died 10 February, 1157; beatified in 1202. His life, written by his disciple Albert, who lived with him during his last year at Maleval, has been lost. The life by Theodobald, or Thibault, given by the Bollandists is unreliable, having been interpolated with the lives of … Continue reading “William of Maleval, Saint”

William of Jumiges (Surnamed CALCULUS.) Benedictine historian of the eleventh century. Practically nothing seems to be known of his life except that he was apparently a Norman by birth and became a monk at the royal abbey of Jumièges, in Normandy, where he died about 1090. His only claim to fame consists in his “Historia … Continue reading “William of Jumièges”

William of Gellone, Saint Born 755; died 28 May, c. 812; was the second count of Toulouse, having attained that dignity in 790. He is by some writers also given the title of Duke of Aquitaine. This saint is the hero of the ninth-century “Roman de Guillame au court nez”, but the story of his … Continue reading “William of Gellone, Saint”

William of Ebelholt, Saint (Also called WILLIAM OF PARIS and WILLIAM OF THE PARACLETE.) Died on Easter Sunday, 1203, and was buried at Ebelholt. He was educated by his uncle Hugh, forty-second Abbot of St-Germain-des-Pres at Paris; and having been ordained subdeacon received a canonry in the Church of Ste-Geneviève-du-Mont. His exemplary life did not … Continue reading “William of Ebelholt, Saint”

William of Digulleville (DEGULLEVILLE). A French poet of the fourteenth century. Nothing is known of his life, except that he was a monk in the celebrated Cistercian abbey of Chalis. Three allegorical poems are attributed to him with some certainty: “Pélerinage de vie humaine”, a description of a journey to Paradise, composed between 1330 and … Continue reading “William of Digulleville”