RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
William of Champeaux William of Norwich
Aneponymo philosopho (Strasburg, 1567); glossary on the Timeus of Plato, preserved in manuscript; a commentary on the De consolatione philosophic of Boétius, preserved only in manuscript. The authenticity of other works attributed to William is not beyond question. (R. SEEBERG.) Brsuiograpny: Hist. littéraire de la France, vol. xii.; A. Charma, Guillaume de Conches, Paris, 1857; B. Hauréau, Singularités historiques et littéraires, ib. 1861; C. Prantl, Geschichte der Logik tm Abendland, ii. 127 sqq., Leipsic, 1861; C. Werner, Die Kosmologie . .. des Mittelalters mit... Beziehung auf Wilhelm von Conches, in the Sitzungsberichte of the Vienna Academy, philosophicalhistorical class, Ixxy (1873), 309-403; H. Reuter, Geschichte der Aufklirung im Mittelalter, ii. 6 sqq., Berlin, 1877; O. Zéckler, Geschichte der Beziehwngen zwischen Theologie und Naturwissenschaft, i. 411-412, Giitersloh, 1877; R. L. Poole, Illustrations of the Hist. of Medieval Thought, pp. 124 sqq., London, 1884; DNB, Ixi. 355-356; KL, xii. 1599-1602.
WILLIAM OF HIRSCHAU. See Hirscuav.
WILLIAM OF MALMESBURY: English historian; b. in the south or the west of England about 1090; d. at Malmesbury (38 m. n.w. of Salisbury) after 1142. He was brought up from childhood in Malmesbury Abbey, became a monk there, also librarian and precentor, and in all probability spent his whole life in that abbey except for a possible brief period during which he may have lived at Glastonbury. He became interested at an early age in the study of history; the perusal of the story of other nations made him dissatisfied with what was accessible on his own, and so he was led to the composition of the works on the history of England which have made his name famous. His principal works are Gesta regum Anglorum, with its sequel Historia novella, and Gesta pontificum Anglorum. The first writing of the first and third of these was finished by 1125, but between 1135 and 1140 he twice revised the first. The Gesta regum Anglorum begins at the beginning of English history, and in the revised form comes down to 1127-28. The materials have value from two points of view—as a “‘step forward in the working out of historiography,” and in the “‘illustrations of character and of the foreign relations” of the period. Much of anecdote is interspersed, showing the writer’s power as a narrator, but not adding to the historical worth of his work. The Historia novella continues the work just characterized, bringing it down to 1142, and holds a high place as a source for the history of the reign of Stephen. The Gesta pontificum Anglorum is also of high importance, being a basis for the early ecclesiastical history of England. Other works are: Vita S. Dunstani; Vita S. Wulfstani; De antiquitate Glanstoniensis ecclesie; and collections of historical and legal material still extant in manuscript.
BrsyriocRapuy: The two editions of the Gesta regum Anglorum and Historia novella which are of importance are by W. Stubbs, in the Rolls Series, 2 vols., London, 1887— 1889, and by T. D. Hardy, for the English Historical Society, 2 vols., London, 1840; the prefaces and prolegomena to both these editions are of value for the life, and that of Stubbs for the inclusion of minor works or of selections from minor works of William. English translations of the Gesta are by J. Sharpe, The History of the Kings of England ..., London, 1815; J. A. Giles, in Bohn's Antiquarian Library, ib. 1847; and by J. Stevenson, Church Historians of England, vol. iii., part 1, ib. 1854. Of the Gesta pontificum the best ed. is that by N. E. 8. A. Hamilton in the Rolls Series, London, 1870, based on the
author’s autograph. The Vita S. Dunstani, ed. W. Stubbs, is in Memorials of St. Dunstan, Rolls Series, London, 1874.
For the life and estimate of the works the reader is referred first of all to the prefaces of the editions named above. Consult further: W. de Gray Birch, Life and
Writings of William of Malmesbury, London, 1874; T.
Wright, Biographia Britannica literaria, ii. 134-142, ib.
1846; Kate Norgate, England under the Angevin Kings,
i. 183-193, ib. 1887; DNB, \xi. 351-354; Gross, Sources,
consult Index; Potthast, Wegweiser, pp. 557-558; Lich-
tenberger, HSR, v. 788-789; KL, xii. 1611-12.
WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH: English historian; b. at Bridlington (37 m. n.e. of York) between Dec. 26, 1135, and Dec. 25, 1136; d. at Newburgh (near Coxwold, 16 m. n. of York) after May, 1198. He was educated as an Augustinian oblate at Newburgh, where he ultimately became canon and spent his life. He was the author of a commentary on the Song of Solomon (preserved in manuscript at Cambridge), three sermons (ed. with the following by T. Hearne, Oxford, 1719), and especially of Historia rerum Anglicarum (ed. T. Hearne, 3 vols., Oxford, 1719; H.C. Hamilton, for the English Historical Society, 2 vols., London, 1856; and R. Howlett, in Chronicles of the Reigns of Stephen, Henry II., and Richard I., i. 1-408, ii. 409-583, in Rolls Series, 2 vols., London, 1884-85; Eng. transl. by J. Stevenson, in Church Historians of England, vol. iv., part 2, 297-672, London, 1856). The latter work, which has established William’s fame as the first critical historian of Europe, was begun probably in 1196. It depends for its material upon Simeon of Durham, Henry of Huntingdon, and other earlier chroniclers, but displays excellence of judgment, good taste, and force and elegance of style. The period covered is 1066-1198. While the work is not exact either in dates or in statements of fact, it is noteworthy as being philosophical, and especially as so leading in criticism as to warrant Freeman’s calling the author the ‘father of historical criticism.”’ This last characteristic is exemplified by the criticism of Geoffry of Monmouth. (H. Boumer.) BrstiocRaPHy: Consult the prolegomena or prefaces to the
editions named above, particularly that of Howlett;
T. Wright, Biographia Britannica literaria, ii. 407-410,
London, 1846; DNB, lxi. 360-363 (excellent); Gross,
Sources, p. 298; Potthast, Wegweiser, p. 559; KL, xii.
1613-14,
WILLIAM OF NORWICH: According to tradition, the victim of a ritual murder committed by Jews; b. probably at Haveringland (9 m. n. of Norwich), Norfolk, Feb. 2, 1132 or 1133; murdered in Norwich Mar., 1144. When eight years old, he was apprenticed to a skinner at Norwich who came in frequent commercial relations with local Jews. According to tradition, the child was enticed away Mar. 20, 1144 (the Monday in Holy Week) by a man alleging himself to be the cook of the archdeacon of Norwich, was seen to enter the house of a Jew, and was there murdered, the body being kept in the house, despite the fact that it was Passover tide, until Good Friday, when it was hung by stealth on a tree near the city. The corpse was found on Easter Eve, and was buried the following Monday without religious rites. On Tuesday it was identified, and a priest of the city accused the Jews of the murder. The belief of both clergy and laity was long divided on the question, but ultimately, through the influence of William Turbe, who became
William of Occam Williams