author
of Jumièges William
An early Norman chronicler, this Benedictine monk left one of the key contemporary accounts of the world around the Norman Conquest. His writing helps bring 11th-century Normandy—and the rise of William the Conqueror—into focus.
1 Audiobook
Histoire des ducs de Normandie, suivie de: Vie de Guillaume le Conquérant
by of Jumièges William, Pictaviensis Gulielmus
About the author
Little is known for certain about this medieval author beyond what can be gathered from his own work, but he is generally identified as a Benedictine monk of Jumièges Abbey in Normandy who wrote in the 11th century. He was a near-contemporary of the events surrounding the Norman Conquest and is one of the earliest writers to describe that period.
He is best known for the Gesta Normannorum Ducum (Deeds of the Norman Dukes), a Latin chronicle tracing the history of Normandy's rulers. The work became an important source for later medieval historians and remains valuable for readers interested in how the Normans understood their own past.
Because so much about his life remains uncertain, his reputation rests mainly on the strength of his chronicle: clear in purpose, close to the politics of his age, and central to the story of Normandy and England in the 11th century.