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 WILLIAM

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WILLIAM

preserve its popularity through the Middle Ages. His chief works have been printed by Migne, but the Rolls Series includes the critical edition.

Sharpe, introduction to translation of Gesta Regum (London, 1815) ; Birch, Life and Writings of William ,of Malmesbury in Trans, of Soc. of Lit., X, new series: Hamilton, introduction to Gesta Pontificum in R. S. (London, 1870); Stubbs, preface to Gesta Regum in R. S. (London, 1887-9); Norqate in Did. Nat. Biog., with list of his works, whether published or still in MS.

Edwin Burton.

William of Moerbeke, scholar, OrientaUst, phi- losopher, and one of the most distinguished men of let- ters of the thirteenth century, b. about 1215; d. in 1286. He held intellectual intercourse with the philosopher Thomas Aquinas, the mathematician John Campanus, the naturalist physician Witelo, and the astronomer Henri Bate of Mechhn. In turn he resided at the pontifical court of Viterbo (1268), appeared at the Council of Lyons (1274), and from 1277 until his death occupied the See of Corinth. At the request of Thomas Aquinas he undertook a complete translation of the works of Aristotle or, for some portions, a revision of existing translations, and it is noteworthy that he was the first translator of the "PoUtics" (c. 1260). The ancient catalogue of Dominican works published by Denifle (Arch. f. Litteratur u. Kirchen- gesch. d. Mittelalters, II, 226) states: that "he trans- lated all the books of natural and moral philosophy from Greek into Latin, as did Brother Thomas, like- wise the books of Proclus and certain others." Henry of Hervodia asserts that these translations were classic in the fourteenth century ; they are literal (rfe verho ad verbum) and faithful, and although without ele- gance are valuable. Petrus Victorius, a sixteenth- century philologist, praises them highly, and Suse- mihl, who has pubUshed a critical edition of the Greek text of the "Pohtics", sought to do service even to philologists by adding the translation of William of Moerbeke. The Flemish Dominican translated not only Aristotle but also mathematical treatises (nota- bly the "Catoptrics" of Hero of Alexandria and the treatises of Archimedes), commentaries of Simplicius on the Categories of Aristotle and on the "De ccelo", and especially the "Theological Elements" of Pro- clus (the translation is dated Viterbo, 18 May, 1268). Several other of Proclus's works no longer exist save in the Latin versions of William of Moerbeke, which makes the latter more valuable. The same may be said of a treatise of Ptolemy's, likewise translated by the Belgian Dominican, the Greek text of which exists only in fragments. The "Theological Elements" of Proclus together with the "Book of Causes", which compiles them, constitute the fundamental source of the Neo-Platonic inspirations of the thirteenth cen- tury, so that WiUiam exercised a real influence on the Neo-Platonic movement, which appeared sporadically in the philosophy of the thirteenth century. The PoUsh physician Witelo, whose curious personality has been made known by M. Baeumker, wrote his "Per- spectives" at the instance of Brother Wilham of Moerbeke, the lover of truth (veritati.'i amntori), to whom he dedicated the treatise. Witelo was one of the authorized representatives of Neo-Platonism. It was likewise to William that Henri Bate dedicated his "Astrolabe". Wilham of Moerbeke thus appears as a mind of high culture and exten.sive relations, a forerunner of humanism, who studied all his life and encouraged others in the path of knowledge.

Mandonnet, Siger de Brabant el VAverroisme latin (2nd ed., Louvain, 1910). 9, II, 1.3-15; Wiluam of Tocco in Life of St. Thomas Aquinas, Ada SS., 1, 663; Bernard Orinnvis. Arrh.

Liu. u. Kirchgesh. Mill., II, 226; He.vhy of !!■ " ' ■'■■■r ,h-

rebus memorabilibus, ed. Potthast (1851* "in.

Aristotelis PoHticorum libri VIII cum trati ■/■

Moerbeka (Leipzig, 1872); De Wni.F, Hist. «

Belgique, 48 sq.; Idem, Hist, de la philosophy il ..i.

(1912), 292; Baecmker, Witelo, ein Philosoph und Xalurforsclier des XIII. Jahr. (MUnster, 1908), 127.

M. De Wulf.

William of Nangis (Guilhelmcs), a medieval chronicler, who takes his name from the City of Nancy, France. All that is known of him is that he was a Benedictine monk and Uved in the thirteenth century in the Abbey of Saint-Denis at Paris. Ac- cording to some scholars he died before 22 July, 1300; according to others not until after 1303. A chronicle by him exists, extending from the creation to the year 1300, but which before the year 1113 has httle inde- pendent value, as up to this point it depends com- pletely upon the chronicle of Sigbertus of Gemblours. Even for the succeeding period it is only of subordi- nate importance. After William's death the chronicle was continued to 1340 by an unknown monk of Saint- Denis, and was then carried to 1368 by Johannes of Venette. The best edition is that of Hercule Geraud issued under the title: "Chronique latine de G. de Nangis de 1113 ^ 1300 avec les continuations de cette chronique de 1300 h 1368" (2 vols., Paris, 1843). WiUiam wrote a brief summary of the chronicle, which included the years 845-1300, and is called "Chronicon abbreviatum regum Francorum". Re- cently Delisle seems to have found the original of this compendium in the Vatican Library-; before this dis- covery it was only known in a French translation (Chronique abr^gee) made by the author himself. William also wrote the biographies of three kings: the "Gesta Ludovici VIII, Francorum regis", the "Gesta Ludovici IX", and the "Gesta Philippi III sive Audacis, regis Franciae", ed. by A. Duchesne in the "Historiae Francorum: Scriptores cotptanei" (5 vols., Paris). The exhaustive researches of Hermann Brosien pubUshed in the "Neues Archiv fiir altere deutsche Geschichte", IV (1879), 426-509, show that the two latter biographies, like the chronicle, can be traced back to another author, to the chronicle of the monk Primatus, and are only enlarged by long ex- tracts from Geoffrey of Beaulieu and Gilo de Reims. The "Gesta Ludovici IX", however, seems to have been used in common. with Primatus, an earlier authority. Patricius Schlager.

William of Newburgh, historian, b. at Brid- lington, Yorkshire, 1130; d. at Newburgh, Yorkshire, 1198, where he went as a lioy to the small and re- cently-founded Augustinian priory. There he re- mained to the end as an Augustinian canon. There is no evidence that he travelled, and hardly anything is known of what was probably a very uneventful life. It would appear that he WTOte his history within a short period of his death; if this was the case he must have long been preparing his materials. His "Historia rerum anglic.arum" opens with a short introductory sketch of the reigns of the Con- queror and his sons, followed by a fuller account of that of Stephen. The main purpose of the writer was to produce a philosophical commentary on the history of his own times, and books II-V cover the period 1154-98. They are more than a mere chron- icle; they form a real history in which the connexion of events is traced, a proper spn.se of jiroportion ob- served, and men and their actions judged from an intelligent and indejiendcnt jjoint of \-iew.

\\'illiam of Newburgh, with his contemporary Roger of Hoveden, belongs to the northern school of historians, who can-ied on the ixdmirable traditions of the Venerable Bede. This was a .spirit very un- like that which insi)ired Geoffrey of Monmouth's mythical "Historj- of the British Kings" with its tales of King .\rthur, and WiUiam attacks Geoffrey and his legends with great indignation, calling the l:itlcr "impudent and shameless lies". This striking Ulustriitiiin of his historic integrity won for him from IrtiiiiiiiMhc title of "the father of historical criti- cism", :md the compliment is not ;dtogether un- deserved. Living in a remote Yorkshire monastery WiUiam could not have had an intimate first-hand