William of Poitiers

William of Poitiers (French: Guillaume de Poitiers, William of Potiers engl. ) (* Around 1020 in Les Préaux in Pont- Audemer, † 1090 ) was a Norman chronicler.

William of Poitiers comes from an influential Norman family, was a soldier before he graduated from the spiritual studies in Poitiers. After his return to Normandy, he was chaplain of Duke William II and Archdeacon in Lisieux, and stood out among his brothers by his knowledge out. In the short biography that is dedicated to him Orderic Vitalis in his Historia ecclesiastica, it is said that he was also a poet.

William of Poitiers is the author of a eulogy in the style of Sallust on the Duke, the Gesta Guillelmi II Dukes Normannorum, which he wrote 1071-1077. The part that remained, the beginning and the end are lost, covers the period 1047-1068. Although little credibility when it comes to affairs in England, the Gesta Guillelmi provides details about the life of William the Conqueror. One can find a detailed description of the preparation of the Norman Conquest of England, the Battle of Hastings and its consequences. Orderic Vitalis served here for its history of Normandy.

William's sister was abbess of the Abbey of Saint -Léger in Les Préaux.

Work

• Gesta Guillelmi II Dukes Normannorum - Histoire de Guillaume the Conqueror. Clermont- Ferrand, Paleo 2004. ISBN 2-84909-055-7
• The Gesta Guillelmi of William of Poitiers. Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1998. ISBN 0-19-820553-8 ( Gesta Guillelmi in modern English )