Monk of Malmesbury

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The Monk of Malmesbury is the supposed author of a chronicle among the Cottonian manuscripts in the British Museum.^[1]

The authorship is uncertain, and the work in question is said by some to be only a copy of a chronicle written by Alfred of Beverley in the twelfth century, while others claim it is almost entirely based on that of Geoffrey of Monmouth. It is a priceless compilation, describing English history from the invasion of the Saxons to the year 1129.

Because the manuscript bears the name Godridus de Malmesburg, it was originally believed that it was written by Godfrey of Malmesburg, a native of Jumièges, who became Abbot of Malmesbury in 1081.^[2] Godfrey was regarded as a man of literary tastes because he founded the abbey's library, but his authorship of the manuscript was disproved, apart from its identity with Alfred of Beverly, by the fact that his death took place in or before 1107, when Edulf became the abbot. Indeed it is likely that the signature merely indicates owership. It is said that a fifteenth century Italian writer, Baptista Fulgosus, included the work of Gotfredus Anglus Historicus among the authorities he had consulted.

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This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913.