Robert of Torigni

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Robert of Torigni was a Norman monk and chronicler. He was born at Torigni-sur-Vire in central Normandy, at an unknown date. Entered the monastery of Le Bec in 1128. Became prior there in c. 1149. Elected abbot of Mont-Saint-Michel in 1154. Died on 23 or 24 June (29 May) 1186.

Robert was an "avid reader" and collected religious and "profane" books. As prior and abbot, he was far more involved in the outside world than either of the two co-authors of the Gesta Normannorum Ducum, Orderic Vitalis and William of Jumièges. Robert's revision of the GND dates from 1139 and was his first substantial work. He wrote additions and appendices to the Chronicle of Sigebert of Gembloux, covering the period A.D. 385-1100; and the GND is a continuation of Sigebert, extending from 1100 to 1186. It is for continental affairs between 1154 to 1170 that his information is valuable.

[edit] Sources

• Encyclopædia Britannica, fourteenth edition, in the public domain.

• The Gesta Normannorum Ducum of William of Jumièges, Orderic Vitalis and Robert of Torigni, edited and translated by Elisabeth M. C. Van Houts, Clarendon Press Oxford, 1995.