William of Malmesbury: Saints' Lives (Oxford Medieval Texts)

This volume presents the hagiographical writings of the Benedictine monk, historian, and scholar, William of Malmesbury (c.1095-c.1143): his Lives of Wulfstan and Dunstan, which survive complete, and those of Patrick, Benignus, and Indract, which exist now only as fragments. Only the Life of Wulfstan has been translated before; the fragments are edited here for the first time, and for the first time an assessment is offered of William as hagiographer, and of the relationship between his historical and hagiographical output. For Wulfstan II, bishop of Worcester 1062-95, William's Life is the main primary source. The other Lives, written for the monks of Glastonbury, shed important light on William's use of his sources, and on the local cult of these saints.