Gilles Li Muisis (or Le Muiset) (c. 1272 – 15 October 1352) was a French chronicler and poet. Li Muisis was probably born at
Tournai
Tournai or Tournay ( ; ; nl, Doornik ; pcd, Tornai; wa, Tornè ; la, Tornacum) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It lies southwest of Brussels on the river Scheldt. Tournai is part of Euromet ...
, and in 1289 entered the
Benedictine
, image = Medalla San Benito.PNG
, caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal
, abbreviation = OSB
, formation =
, motto = (English: 'Pray and Work')
, foun ...
abbey of
St Martin in his native city, becoming
prior
Prior (or prioress) is an ecclesiastical title for a superior in some religious orders. The word is derived from the Latin for "earlier" or "first". Its earlier generic usage referred to any monastic superior. In abbeys, a prior would be l ...
of this house in 1327 and
abbot
Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...
four years later. He only secured the latter position after a contest with a competitor, but he appears to have been a wise ruler of the abbey.
Gilles wrote two Latin chronicles, ''Chronicon majus'' and ''Chronicon minus'', dealing with the history of the world, spanning from its creation up to 1349. This work, which was expanded by another writer to encompass 1352, is valuable for containing the history of northern
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
and
Flanders
Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...
in the first half of the 14th century. It is published by J. J. de Smet in the ''Corpus chronicorum Flandriae.'' Gilles also wrote some French poems, ''Poesies de Gilles Li Muisis'', which have been published by Baron
Kervyn de Lettenhove.
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilles Li Muisis
1270s births
1352 deaths
French poets
French Benedictines
French male poets