William Grisaunt, also called William English ( fl. 1350), was an English physician. Grisaunt as a young man taught philosophy at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, and in 1299 was either fellow or student of

Merton College Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, ch ...

. He incurred the suspicion of having practised magic, and when of mature age left England and studied medicine at Montpelier. He afterwards settled at Marseilles, where he acquired great fame as a physician; he is said in his practice to have paid special attention to the nature and cause of the disease and to the constitution of the patient. Grisaunt is commonly stated to have been the father of Grimoald or Grimoard (1309-1370), abbot of St. Victor at Marseilles, who became pope as

Urban V Pope Urban V ( la, Urbanus V; 1310 – 19 December 1370), born Guillaume de Grimoard, was the head of the Catholic Church from 28 September 1362 until his death in December 1370 and was also a member of the Order of Saint Benedict. He was the on ...

in 1362. In a contemporary chronicle (Chr. Angliæ ab anno 1328 usque ad annum 1388, p. 52, Rolls Ser.) Urban, who is there called Gillerinus, is said to have been the son of an Englishman. But his latest biographer (Magnan, Histoire d'Urbain V see also Bower, Lives of the Popes, vii. 3, and Fleury, Hist. Eccl. xx. 201) makes him son of William Grimoard, lord of Grisac in Gevaudin, who died in 1366, aged 99, and there are extant grants of

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and

Charles V of France Charles V (21 January 1338 – 16 September 1380), called the Wise (french: le Sage; la, Sapiens), was King of France from 1364 to his death in 1380. His reign marked an early high point for France during the Hundred Years' War, with his armi ...

to this William Grimoard in which he is styled father of the pope (see Albanes, La Famille de Grimoard, p. 53). Anglic Grimoard, Urban's brother, whom Godwin called Grimoaldus de Grisant, was made by him

bishop of Avignon The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Avignon (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Avenionensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse d'Avignon'') is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. The diocese exercises jurisdiction over the terr ...

and cardinal

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(Bower, vii. 3, and Chron. Angliæ, p. 53). According to Godwin, Anglic Grimoard is the cardinal John Anglicus, who was admitted

dean of York Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

11 November 1366, and was deprived by the pope 1 May 1381 (Le Neve, Fasti, iii. 123). Bale and Pits, following Boston of Bury, ascribe the following works to Grisaunt: * ‘Speculum Astrologiæ.’ *‘De Qualitatibus Astrorum.’ *‘De Magnitudine Solis.’ *‘De Quadratura Circuli.’ *‘De Motu Capitis.’ Of all these they give the first words, but they are not now known to exist. They also add: *‘De Significatione Astrorum.’ *‘De Causa Ignorantiæ.’ *‘De Judicio Patientis.’ *‘De Urina non Visa,’ inc. ‘Ne ignorantiæ vel potius invidiæ;’ a treatise with this title is extant in manuscript at Hertford College, Oxford (Coxe, Cat. Cod. MSS. Coll. Oxon. Aul. B. Mariæ Magdalenæ, ii. 3, f. 39). The treatise in Cotton. MS. Vitellius C. iii. to which Tanner refers is in a hand of the early twelfth century, and therefore cannot be Grisaunt's.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grisaunt, William Alumni of Merton College, Oxford 14th-century English medical doctors English emigrants to France 14th-century English writers