Malmesbury Williamof

Malmesbury, William of, was an English historian of the 12th century. He was of mixed blood, but his sympathies were Norman. He became a member of the Benedictine Abbey of Malmesbury, and helped Abbot Godefrey make the first library. He became librarian, and precentor, but declined the abbacy. Robert of Gloucester was his friend, and the chronicler was naturally a partisan of Matilda. His chief works are Gesta, Begum Anglorum, continued in Historia Novella, and Gesta Pontificum Anglorum. Many of his works are unprinted, and others lost.