William of Malmesbury

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 (Latin: Willelmus Malmesbiriensis; c. 1095 – c. 1143) was the foremost English historian of the 12th century. He has been ranked among the most talented English historians since Bede.^{[citation needed]} Modern historian C. Warren Hollister described him as "a gifted historical scholar and an omnivorous reader, impressively well versed in the literature of classical, 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]

^ Hollister, C. Warren (1 October 2008). Henry I. Yale University Press. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-300-14372-0.
^ discusses the evidence for his age and thus his birth year
^ Winterbottom, Michael (2010). "William of Malmesbury and the Normans". The Journal of Medieval Latin. 20: 70–77. doi:10.1484/J.JML.1.102101.
^ Rodney Thomson, William of Malmesbury, 1987 is the full-length study; see also Farmer, Hugh (1962). "William of Malmesbury's Life and Works". The Journal of Ecclesiastical History. 13 (1): 39–54. doi:10.1017/S0022046900065659.

[Hollister2008-1] Hollister, C. Warren (1 October 2008). Henry I. Yale University Press. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-300-14372-0.

[2] scusses the evidence for his age and thus his birth year

[3] Winterbottom, Michael (2010). "William of Malmesbury and the Normans". The Journal of Medieval Latin. 20: 70–77. doi:10.1484/J.JML.1.102101.

[4] Rodney Thomson, William of Malmesbury, 1987 is the full-length study; see also Farmer, Hugh (1962). "William of Malmesbury's Life and Works". The Journal of Ecclesiastical History. 13 (1): 39–54. doi:10.1017/S0022046900065659.

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