William the Trouvère

William (né Adgar; fl. 1150–1200), later called William the Trouvère, was an English poet. He translated tales from the Latin Miracles of the Virgin into Anglo-Norman verse.

Works

William was first called Adgar but became more commonly known as William. Working at the instance of one Gregory, his friend, he translated over forty tales into octosyllabic Anglo-Norman verse, from the Latin collection of Miracles of the Virgin which he found in the almarie or bookcase of St. Paul's. His collection of some forty-nine tales, entitled Gracial, was dedicated to one Maud, "dame Mahaut", most likely the abbess of Barking (c. 1175–1195) who was a bastard of Henry II.

See also

• Cantigas de Santa Maria
• The Miracles of Our Lady
• Trouvère

Sources

• Hunt, Tony (2004). "Adgar [William] (fl. 1150x1200), Anglo-Norman translator". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/29473. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

Attribution:

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Bateson, Mary (1900). "William the Trouvère". In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 61. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 364.

Further reading

• Ibáñez Rodríguez, Miguel (1997–1998). «Le Gracial de Adgar y los Milagros de Nuestra Señora de Gonzalo de Berceo. Estudio comparativo». C.I.F., XXIII–XXIV. pp. 163–183.
• Kunstmann, Pierre, ed. (1982). Adgar: Le Gracial. Ottawa: Editions de l'Université d'Ottawa.
• Kuntsmann, Pierre (2017). "Adgar (The Gracial)". In Echard, Sian; Rouse, Robert (eds.). The Encyclopedia of Medieval Literature in Britain. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 238, 1292–1293. doi:10.1002/9781118396957.wbemlb133.
• Legge, Mary Dominica (1963). Anglo-Norman Literature and Its Background. Oxford: Clarendon Press. pp. 187–191.
• Mussafia, A. (1887). "Studien zu mittelalterlichen Marienlegenden". In Kaiserliche Academie der Wissenschaften, Sitzungsbericht (Phil. Hist. Classe), vol. cxiii, no. 2. Vienna. p. 917.
• Vollmöller, Karl (1883). "Die Adgarlegenden". In Romane Forschungen. Vol. 1. Erlangen: Andreas Deichert. p. 183.
• Ward, Henry Leigh Douglas (1893). Catalogue of Romances in the Department of Manuscripts in the British Museum. Vol. 2. London: Longmans & Co.; Asher & Co.; Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co.; The Oxford University Press. p. 592.
• Wright, Thomas (1846). "William the Trouvere". In Biographia Britannica Literaria. Vol. 2: Anglo-Norman Period. London: John W. Parker. pp. 464–465.