Nigel de Longchamps, also known as ''Nigel Witeker'', (fl. c. 1190, died c. 1200), ''Neel de Longchamps'', or ''Nigel of Canterbury'', was an

Anglo-Norman Anglo-Norman may refer to: *Anglo-Normans, the medieval ruling class in England following the Norman conquest of 1066 * Anglo-Norman language **Anglo-Norman literature * Anglo-Norman England, or Norman England, the period in English history from 10 ...

satirist This is an incomplete list of writers, cartoonists and others known for involvement in satire – humorous social criticism. They are grouped by era and listed by year of birth. Included is a list of modern satires. Under Contemporary, 1930-1960 ...

and poet of the late twelfth century, writing in Latin. He is known to have been a monk of

Christ Church, Canterbury Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England. It forms part of a World Heritage Site. It is the cathedral of the Archbishop of Canterbury, currently Justin Welby, leader of the Ch ...

, from 1186 to 1193, and perhaps earlier (he claims to have met

Thomas Becket Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), was an English nobleman who served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then ...

, killed in 1170).

Works

Speculum stultorum

He is the author of the ''

Speculum stultorum The term speculum, Latin for "mirror", and its plural specula, may refer to: * ''Speculum'' (butterfly), a skipper butterfly genus in the tribe Erynnini * ''Speculum'' (journal), a journal of medieval studies published by the Medieval Academy of ...

'' (

A Mirror of Fools A, or a, is the first Letter (alphabet), letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name ...

), a satire in Latin elegiac verse on the clergy and society in general. The hero is Burnellus, or Brunellus, a foolish ass, who goes in search of a means of lengthening his

tail The tail is the section at the rear end of certain kinds of animals’ bodies; in general, the term refers to a distinct, flexible appendage to the torso. It is the part of the body that corresponds roughly to the sacrum and coccyx in mammals, r ...

. Brunellus first visits

Salernum Salerno (, , ; nap, label= Salernitano, Saliernë, ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' in Campania (southwestern Italy) and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after ...

to obtain drugs for this purpose. However, he loses these when attacked by a

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

monk with dogs. He then goes to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

to study, but makes no progress there, being unable to remember the city's name after eight years of study. He then decides to join a

religious order A religious order is a lineage of communities and organizations of people who live in some way set apart from society in accordance with their specific religious devotion, usually characterized by the principles of its founder's religious practi ...

, but instead founds a new one by taking the easiest parts from the rules of other orders. Finally, his master recaptures him. The poem was immensely popular for centuries. Under the title "Daun Burnel the Asse" it is mentioned by

Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for '' The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He w ...

in his

Canterbury Tales ''The Canterbury Tales'' ( enm, Tales of Caunterbury) is a collection of twenty-four stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. It is widely regarded as Chaucer's ''magnum opus' ...

, in the Nun's Priest's Tale.

Other works

Many other short Latin poems from a thirteenth-century manuscript are attributed to him, along with a prose treatise, ''Contra Curiales et Officinales Clericos''. This treatise is an affectionate reproof to

William Longchamp William de Longchamp (died 1197) was a medieval Lord Chancellor, Chief Justiciar, and Bishop of Ely in England. Born to a humble family in Normandy, he owed his advancement to royal favour. Although contemporary writers accused Longchamp's fa ...

the Chancellor, in his role as

Bishop of Ely The Bishop of Ely is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Ely in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese roughly covers the county of Cambridgeshire (with the exception of the Soke of Peterborough), together with a section of nort ...

. Wireker takes his intimate friend (possibly a relative) to task for attempting to combine Church with State.

Bibliography

*''Miracles of the Virgin; Tract on Abuses'', ed. and trans. Jan M. Ziolkowski and Ronald E. Pepin,

Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library The Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library (est. 2010) is a series of books published by Harvard University Press in collaboration with the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection. It presents editions of texts originally written in medieval Lati ...

75 (Cambridge, MA, 2022) – facing-page Latin text and English translation * ''A Mirror for Fools: The Book of Burnel the Ass'', trans. John H. Mozley (Oxford, 1961) – English translation *''Speculum Stultorum'', ed. John H. Mozley and Robert R. Raymo (Berkeley, 1960) – critical edition of the Latin text * ''The Book of Daun Burnel the Ass: Nigellus Wireker's Speculum Stultorum'', trans. Graydon W. Regenos (Austin, 1959) – English translation * Ward, ''Catalogue of Romances'' (London, 1883–93) * Wright, ''The Anglo-Latin Satirical Poets'' (London, 1874)

Notes

External links

*
Image from ''Speculum Stultorum''
From The College of Physicians of Philadelphia Digital Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Longchamps, Nigel de Medieval Latin poets 12th-century English poets 12th-century Latin writers Nigel (satirist) Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown English male poets Anglo-Normans