William of Malmesbury

William of Malmesbury (born about 1095, died about 1143) was an English monk and historian, often regarded as the most learned English historian since Bede. Of mixed English and Norman parentage, he spent his life at Malmesbury Abbey in Wiltshire, where he was librarian, and traveled to other monasteries to consult their books and records. His Deeds of the Kings of the English, dedicated to Robert, Earl of Gloucester, covers English history from the Anglo-Saxon settlement to his own day; the Deeds of the Bishops of the English and the Historia Novella, on the civil war under Stephen, complete his major work.