Literature: William of Malmesbury

c. 1090 - c. 1143

An English chronicler who became a monk in the monastery at Malmesbury and, in due course, became librarian and precentor. He took part in the council at Winchester in 1141 against King Stephen.

His Gesta Regum Anglorum provides a lively history of the Kings of England from the Saxon invasion until 1126, and the Historia Novella brings down the narrative to 1142. His Gesta Pontificum is an ecclesiastical history of the bishops and chief monasteries of England to 1123. Other works are an account of the church at Glastonbury and lives of Saint Dunstan and Saint Wulfstan.