Gesta Pontificum Anglorum

The Gesta Pontificum Anglorum (Latin for "Deeds of the Bishops of the English"), originally known as De Gestis Pontificum Anglorum ("On the Deeds of the Bishops of the English") and sometimes anglicized as The History or The Chronicle of the English Bishops, is an ecclesiastical history of England written by William of Malmesbury in the early 12th century. It covers the period from the arrival of St Augustine in AD 597 until the time it was written.^[1] Work on it was begun before Matilda's death in 1118^[2] and the first version of the work was completed in about 1125. William drew upon extensive research, first-hand experience and a number of sources to produce the work. It is unusual for a medieval work of history, even compared to William's other works, in that its contents are so logically structured.^[3] The History of the English Bishops is one of the most important sources regarding the ecclesiastical history of England for the period after the death of Bede.^[4]

One of William's themes in the Gesta Pontificum Anglorum, as in his Gesta Regum Anglorum, is that the Normans' invasion and conquest of England saved the English and rescued their civilization from the barbarities of the native English and restored England to the Latin culture of the continent. One aspect of this theme was William's reluctance to give Anglo-Saxon names in their native form, instead Latinizing them.^[5]

The History of the English Bishops enjoyed reasonable success and was known in England during the next century, although its popularity paled besides that of its companion work, the Chronicle of the Kings of England, which within William's lifetime was known not only in England, but in Flanders, France and Normandy.^[6] It became the basis of a number of later works dealing with ecclesiastical history, including those written at Durham, Bury St Edmunds and Worcester.^[7]