William the Breton (c. 1165 – c. 1225),French chronicler and poet, was a contemporary and dependent ofFrench king Philip Augustus for whom he served in diplomatic missions and for whom he wrote aLatin prose chronicle and a Latin epic poem.
William the Breton was, as his name indicates, born inBrittany, probably in the town ofSaint-Pol-de-Léon. He was educated atMantes and at theUniversity of Paris. William gained the status of "Master" and was recorded by his contemporaryGiles of Paris as one of the fifteen sages ofParis of his day. Later, he became chaplain to the French king Philip Augustus, who employed him on diplomatic errands, and entrusted him with the education of his natural son,Pierre Charlot. William is supposed to have been present at theBattle of Bouvines in 1214.[1]
His works are thePhilippide and theGesta Philippi H. regis Francorum. The former, a classicizing Latin epic poem in 12 books and composed in three redactions, gives some very interesting details about Philip Augustus and his time, including some information about military matters, and shows that William was an excellentLatin scholar.[1]
In its final form theGesta is anepitome of the work ofRigord, who wrote a life of Philip Augustus from 1179 to 1206, and an original continuation by William himself from 1207 to 1220. In both works William speaks in very laudatory terms of the king; but his writings are valuable because he had personal knowledge of many of the facts which he relates. He also wrote a poem,Karlotis, dedicated to Charlot, which is lost.[1]
William's works were edited with an introduction byHenri Delaborde asŒuvres de Rigord et de Guillaume le Breton (Paris, 1882–1885), and were translated into French byFrançois Guizot inCollection des mémoires relatifs a l'histoire de France, tomes xi and xii (Paris, 1823–1835). See Delaborde's introduction, andAuguste Molinier,Les Sources de l'histoire de France, tome iii (Paris, 1903).[1] Book I of thePhilippide, along with relevant selections of theGesta, was translated into English by Gregory P. Stringer.[2]
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "William the Breton".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 675.