Geoffroy du Breuil of Vigeois was a 12th-century French chronicler, trained at 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 Saint-Martial The Abbey of Saint Martial (french: Abbaye Saint-Martial, Limoges; Limousin: ''Abadiá de Sent Marçau de Limòtges'') was a monastery in Limoges, France, founded in 848 and dissolved in 1791. The buildings were razed at the beginning of the 19t ...

of Limoges, the site of a great early library. Geoffroy became abbot at

Vigeois Vigeois (; oc, Visoas) is a commune in the Corrèze department in central France. Vigeois station has rail connections to Brive-la-Gaillarde, Uzerche and Limoges. Population Notable residents *Henri Cueco, painter. See also *Communes of ...

(1170–1184) where he composed his ''Chroniques'' which trace in detail some great local families, often Geoffroy's forebears and kin, while relating events happening from 994 to 1184: the fiery convulsive sickness, (actually ergotism from a fungus or ergot of wheat), the preparations for the

First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic r ...

, reports of combats in the Holy Land, the spread of

Cathar Catharism (; from the grc, καθαροί, katharoi, "the pure ones") was a Christian dualist or Gnostic movement between the 12th and 14th centuries which thrived in Southern Europe, particularly in northern Italy and southern France. Follo ...

beliefs (writing in 1181, he was the first to use the term ''Albigensians''), all the while unconsciously revealing the preoccupations and manners of the times.

Bibliography

*Geoffrey of Vigeois. "Chronica Gaufredi coenobitae monasterii D. Martialis Lemovicensis, ac prioris Vosiensis coenobii." In: * ''La chronique de Geoffroi de Breuil, prieur de Vigeois'', éd. Pierre Botineau et Jean-Loup Lemaître, trad. Bernadette Barrière, mise en forme et annotations, Stéphane Lafaye, Jean-Marie Allard, Jean-François Boyer, Robert Chanaud, Catherine Faure, Luc Ferrand, Évelyne Proust, Christian Rémy et Étienne Rouziès, Paris, éditions de Boccard, 2021 (Société de l’Histoire de France).

External links

History of the Romanesque Abbey of Vigeois (French)His chronicle, in Latin, on Gallica
{{DEFAULTSORT:Breuil, Geoffroy du French Benedictines French chroniclers French abbots 12th-century French historians 12th-century French Roman Catholic priests Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown French male writers 12th-century Latin writers