WILLIAM OF MALMESBURY'S POLYHISTOR: THE WORK OF A HISTORIAN, AN ANTIQUARIAN, OR A RAMBLING RACONTEUR?

William of Malmesbury is usually thought of as one of the really great historians and writers of the twelfth century CE. However, if he is viewed from the perspective of his collection of extracts from classical and early Christian sources, known as his Polyhistor, he appears in quite a different light, as one who extracts odd passages from his sources without much rhyme or reason and to little apparent purpose. This paper examines his selections in the Polyhistor closely and comes to the conclusion that there is another side to this great writer, whereby he can be seen as a rambling raconteur, with little control or purpose to his textual wanderings.