Master Wace, his chronicle of the Norman conquest from the Roman de Rou / translated with notes and ill. by Edgar Taylor.

  • Wace, approximately 1100-approximately 1175.
Date:
1837
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Master Wace, his chronicle of the Norman conquest from the Roman de Rou / translated with notes and ill. by Edgar Taylor. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    we are told, from the archives of that church, that he held the office nineteen years. We learn from him, however, that he did not consider his reward equal to his desert ; and he dwells on further pro- mises, which would have been more acceptable if followed by performance. His chronicle (which he says he wrote in 1160) continues down to 11063 and ends in apparent ill humour at Benoit de Sainte-More’s being employed upon a similar task. His concluding words are, Ci faut li livre maistre Wace, Qu’ in velt avant fere—s’in face ! He is reported to have died in England as late as 1184, He certainly wrote after 1173, for his ascend- ing chronicle of the dukes of Normandy speaks of events which occurred in that year. The earlier portions of his chronicle, like the pages of Ordericus Vitalis, teem with wonders. His principal sources of these materials were Dudo de St. Quintin, and William of Jumieges. But, as M. Guizot observes in vindication of the latter, the re- proach is certainly not, that having truth and error within his reach he selected the latter, but that with no choice about the matter he used the only materials that were in his power. When he reached the era of the conqueror, more complete and au- thentic information was within his reach; and the perusal of this later portion of his work will perhaps leave no unfavorable impression as to the judgment and fidelity with which he has used his materials, especially with regard to the narrative of the great