Présentation de l'éditeur
Viii OEDEEICUS YITALIS. exhibits, if not in the same degree, at least the same kind of superiority over the writers of his own age; which is the more remarkable in his case, because no external circumstances, no advantages of position, contributed to rouse or sustain the activity of his mind. A simple monk, buried in the depths of the most secluded forests of Normandy, his own genius, his instinctive ardour for acquiring information, the patience with which he pursued his researches, supplied the incentives and the opportunities for collecting materials for his vast undertaking. Ordericus was born in England on the fifteenth of February, 1075, at A ttingham,1 on the banks of the Severn, the residence of his father Odelirius, a native of Orleans, who, at the time of the Norman conquest, was a follower of Roger de Montgomery, afterwards created Earl of Shrewsbury, to whose household he continued to be attached in the character of one of his council. Ordericus received the name of his godfather, a Saxon priest and curate of the parish, who both baptized him and undertook the office of sponsor. At the age of five years, Ordericus was sent to school at Shrewsbury, where he learnt reading, grammar, and the chants used in the church, under a master whose name was Siegward. It would appear that his own father was a man of some learning, a clerk, and a priest, for at that time, particularly in England, priests were not absolutely forbidden to marry. But a more perfect state of life was known, and Odelirius, who was now become a widower, thought it his duty not only to renounce himself all worldly attachments, but to withdraw from them his eldest son Ordericus, then ten years old. He therefore devoted him as well as himself to the religious life, and retired to a monastery in Great Britain. Shortly afterwards, however, his mind became disturbed by the obstacles which
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Présentation de l'éditeur
This is a history of the early church in England and Normandy, both before and after the Norman Conquest under William the Conqueror. From the preface: “There is a peculiar advantage in studying English history from such a point of view, during a period when many of its most eminent characters were playing a distinguished part in both countries. England was surrendering to the invaders her broad acres and free institutions, and the churches and monasteries were being filled and remodelled by Norman ecclesiastics, while she was adopting the feudal tenures, the rules of chivalry, and the habits and manners of the conquerors, and their magnificent architecture was employed in raising stately cathedrals, abbeys, and castles in all quarters. On these subjects, and others connected with the changes then taking place in the social and dynastic system of England, Ordericus was better qualified to throw strong light than any English historian of the time. The advanced stages of his education, and almost all the associations of his maturer life were foreign. His family ties had been somewhat rudely severed, and he was torn from his native country at an age when it would hardly fail to leave some impression on so intelligent a mind; and it appears from several passages in his work that he fondly cherished recollections of it in the land of the stranger. What thus remained of English feeling probably contributed, in combination with his natural honesty and simplicity of character, to the general impartiality of his narrative of English affairs, and the sympathy he betrays for the sufferings of his countrymen and their patriotic struggles against Norman usurpation.”
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