William of Nassyngton (died 1354) was an English clerical administrator and translator from

Nassington Nassington is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population was 670 people, increasing to 827 at the 2011 Census The River Nene runs along the eastern side of the parish. The ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

Poet

William of Nassyngton is the author of the

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English ...

poem Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in ...

'' Speculum Vitae'' (The Mirror of Life), which was written in the middle to late 14th century. The poem consists of a commentary on the

Lord's Prayer The Lord's Prayer, also called the Our Father or Pater Noster, is a central Christian prayer which Jesus taught as the way to pray. Two versions of this prayer are recorded in the gospels: a longer form within the Sermon on the Mount in the Gosp ...

, 16,000 lines long. It covers analysis of the

Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ ...

, the Creed, the divine and cardinal virtues, the gifts of the Holy Ghost, the

seven deadly sins The seven deadly sins, also known as the capital vices or cardinal sins, is a grouping and classification of vices within Christian teachings. Although they are not directly mentioned in the Bible, there are parallels with the seven things ...

, the Beatitudes, and the heavenly rewards. It derives in part from a French work in prose: ''Somme le roi'', dated 1279.

Life

William of Nassyngton came from a family of ecclesiastical administrators from

. He was a master of law by 1327 or 1328. He held several church appointments in the

Diocese of Exeter The Diocese of Exeter is a Church of England diocese covering the county of Devon. It is one of the largest dioceses in England. The Cathedral Church of St Peter in Exeter is the seat of the diocesan Bishop of Exeter. It is part of the Provinc ...

in the 1330s, under Bishop

John Grandisson The '' John Grandisson Triptych'', displaying on two small escutcheons the arms of Bishop Grandisson. British Museum John de Grandisson (1292 – 16 July 1369), also spelt Grandison, was Bishop of Exeter, in Devon, England, from 1327 to his deat ...

, and later in the

Diocese of York The Diocese of York is an administrative division of the Church of England, part of the Province of York. It covers the city of York, the eastern part of North Yorkshire, and most of the East Riding of Yorkshire. The diocese is headed by the ...

in the 1340s, under Archbishop

William Zouche William de la Zouche (1299–1352) was Lord Treasurer of England and served as Archbishop of York from 1342 until his death. Origins He was the youngest son of Sir Roger de la Zouche (d.1302) of Lubbesthorpe in Leicestershire (younger brother ...

. He died in 1354, probably of

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pe ...

References

1354 deaths Middle English poets 14th-century English writers 14th-century English people 14th-century English poets Year of birth unknown {{England-poet-stub