| English Folklore: William of Newburgh |
A monk at Newburgh Priory (Yorkshire), William wrote a chronicle covering the period from 1066 to 1197. He was a careful historian, rejecting the ‘idle lies’ of Geoffrey of Mon-mouth concerning Arthur and Merlin. He included accounts of some vampire-like undead (on the authority of reputable clerics who claimed first-hand knowledge) and the legend of Willy Howe. The History of William of Newburgh translated by Joseph Stevenson (1856) has been reissued in paperback (1996).
| 5min Related Video: William of Newburgh |
| Columbia Encyclopedia: William of Newburgh |
Bibliography
See the translation of the history by J. Stevenson in his Church Historians of England, Vol. IV (1856).
| The Vampire Book: William of Newburgh |
William of Newburgh, twelfth-century British chronicler of vampire incidents, was born in Bridlington. As a youth he moved to a priory of Augustinian Canons at Newburgh, Yorkshire. He became a canon and remained at Newburgh for the rest of his life. His talents were noticed by his superiors, who urged him to devote his time to his scholarly pursuits, especially literature. He emerged as a precursor of modern historical criticism and strongly denounced the inclusion of obvious myth in historical treatises. William's magnum opus, the Historia Rerum Anglicarum, also known as the Chronicles, was completed near the end of his life. Chapters 32-34 related a number of stories of contemporary revenants, which William had collected during his adult years. These stories, such as the account of the Alnwick Castle vampire and the Melrose Abbey vampire, have been cited repeatedly as evidence of a vampire lore existing in the British Isles in ancient times. While not describing vampires as such, the stories do recount visitation by the dead, some of whom were reported to act in a manner similar to that of the Slavic vampire and some of whom were handled in much the same manner as vampires in eastern Europe.
William was careful in his reporting and was aware of the skepticism that would greet the stories even in his own day. Thus he concluded,
William died at Newburgh in 1198 (or 1208).
Glut, Donald F. True Vampires of History. New York: HC Publications, 1971. 191 pp.
Summers, Montague. The Vampire in Europe. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1929. 329 pp. Reprint. New Hyde Park, NY: University Books, 1961. 329 pp.
| Wikipedia: William of Newburgh |
William of Newburgh or Newbury (from Latin: Guillelmus Neubrigensis; 1136? – 1198?), also known as William Parvus, was a 12th century English historian and Augustinian canon from Bridlington, Yorkshire.
His major work was Historia rerum Anglicarum or Historia de rebus anglicis ("History of English Affairs"), a history of England from 1066 to 1198. The work is valued by historians for detailing The Anarchy under Stephen of England. It is written in an engaging fashion and still readable to this day, containing many fascinating stories and glimpses in to 12th-century life. He is a major source for stories of Medieval revenants, those souls who return from the dead, and the only source for the bishop-pirate Wimund.
The nineteenth-century historian Edward Augustus Freeman expressed the now-outdated opinion that William was "the father of historical criticism"1. Newburgh saw his own work as being based on reliable sources, unlike Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the British Kings, of which Newburgh was critical, saying "only a person ignorant of ancient history would have any doubt about how shamelessly and impudently he lies in almost everything".2 He criticized Geoffrey for writing a history that conflicted with the accounts found in the writing of Bede.
Because belief in souls returning from the dead was common in the 12th century, Newburghs Historia briefly recounts stories he heard about revenants, as does the work of Walter Map, his southern contemporary. Although they form a minor part in each work, these folklore accounts have attracted attention within occultism.3 He also described the arrival of green children from "St. Martin's Land" (I.27) and other mysterious, wondrous occurrences. While he says that these have an apparent signification, he does not explain what that meaning might be.
He also composed a lengthy Marian exposition on the Song of Songs and three sermons on liturgical texts and Saint Alban.
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
 | The Vampire of Berwick |
| The Green Children |
| the undead |
 | Is Newburgh Theological seminary accredited? Read answer... |
| How many people died in Newburgh new york? Read answer... |
| How many miles is Newburgh NY from Manhattan? Read answer... |
 | Is Pennsylvania near Newburgh NY? |
| Who was john armstrong in the Newburgh address? |
| Is there a train from Manhattan to Newburgh? |
Copyrights:
 |
 | English Folklore. A Dictionary of English Folklore. Copyright © 2000, 2003 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. Read more |
 |
| Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/. Read more |
 |
| The Vampire Book. The Vampire Book. 1999 ©Visible Ink Press. All rights reserved. Read more |
 |
| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "William of Newburgh". Read more |
