Life
All that we know about Guernes is what he tells us, directly or indirectly, through his sole text, Vie de Saint Thomas Becket. He was born in the little French town of Pont-Sainte-Maxence, and was a wandering Christian cleric with good command of Latin. Shortly after Thomas Becket's death in 1170 Guernes set out to compose a vernacular-French, biographical poem of Becket's life. He completed his first draft in 1172, working from Europe, but it was stolen before he could correct it. This first draft was compiled only from secondary sources and drew mainly on an earlier biography by Edward Grim, who witnessed Becket's Death first hand and was wounded trying to save him. Guernes immediately started working on a second draft and, being a wandering cleric, left Europe to interview the eye witnesses of Becket's death in the Canterbury area. Guernes completed the text, in 1174, drawing primarily on Edward Grim and William of Canterbury, and consulting Benedict of Peterborough and William Fitzstephen. Although Guernes did not personally know Becket, he tells us he saw him numerous times riding against the French.
Read more about this topic: Guernes De Pont-Sainte-Maxence
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