GUGLIELMO DI NEWBURGH

GUGLIELMO of NEWBURGH. - English ecclesiastic and chronicler, also called G. parvus (little), b. in 1136 at Bridlington (county of York), and d. at Newburgh near Coxwold about the end of the 12th century or the beginning of the following one.

He entered the Regular Canons of Newburgh while still a boy. Already old, about 1196 he began his Historia rerum Anglicarum (also called Hist. Anglicana), a work in 5 books covering the period 1066-1198 and which, although often inaccurate in its chronology and based on otherwise known sources, is of particular importance especially for the reign of Henry II. The information is generally reliable, given the trustworthiness of the sources used. On account of his impartiality and the keen insight with which he considers and judges human events, G. deserves a notable place among the historians of the 12th century. Three sermons are also attributed to him.

BIBL.: editions: The best edition of the Hist. rer. Anglic. is by R. Howlett in Chronicles of the reigns of Stephen etc., with the continuation by an anonymous author to 1298, taken from the Annales Furnesiones, I, London 1884, pp. 3-408; II, ibid. 1885, pp. 415-500; R. Pauli, introduction and partial edition in MGH, Scriptores, XXVII, pp. 221-48. Sermons: ed. Th. Acarne Scriptores hist. Anglic., XI, Oxford 1719. Studies: H. E. Salzer, William of N., in The english historical review, 22 (1907), pp. 510-14; R. Jancke, Guilelmus Neubrigensis. Ein pragmatischer Geschichtsschreiber des 12. Jahrh., in Jenaer historische Arbeiten, ed. A. Cartellieri und W. Judeich, I, Bonn 1912. Stanislao Majarelli
Cite this article

“GUGLIELMO DI NEWBURGH.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. VI (1951), p. 751. Azione Romana digital edition, https://azioneromana.com/article/guglielmo-di-newburgh.