WILLIAM OF MALMESBURY. - Benedictine historian (baptismal name G. Somerset) of Malmesbury Abbey in Wiltshire, where he also served as librarian; born c. 1090; still attested in 1143; thereafter his traces vanish. He is the leading English historian of the 12th century.
His output is considerable. Noteworthy works include: Regalium sive De rebus gestis regum Anglorum, covering the years 449–1127; Historiae novellae libri tres, from 1127 to 1143; De gestis Pontificum Anglorum, up to 1125; Vita s. Dunstani episcopi; Liber de antiquitate Ecclesiae Glastonensis, etc. Many other works remain unpublished.
Editions: the De rebus gestis regum Anglorum, the Historiae novellae and the first four books of the De gestis Pontificum Anglorum were published by Henry Savile in London in 1596 and in Frankfurt in 1601; the fifth book of the De gestis Pontificum and the Vita s. Dunstani appeared in vol. 11 of Anglia sacra, London 1691, by H. Wharton, and in vol. 12 of the Scriptorum Anglorum Sylloges, Oxford 1691, edited by Thomas Gale, who also included the Liber de antiquitate Ecclesiae Glastonensis. More recent editions are PL 179, 955–1772 and W. Stubbs, 2 vols., London 1887–89.