BAUDRY

baudry, or balderich, of bourgueil (1046 or 1047-1130), archbishop of dol, historian and poet, was born at meung-sur-loire, where he passed his early days. educated at meung and at angers, he entered the benedictine abbey of bourgueil, and in 1079 became abbot of this place, but his time was devoted to literary pursuits rather than to his official duties. having failed to secure the bishopric of orleans in 1097, he became archbishop of dol in 1107, and went to rome for his pallium in 1108. the bishopric of dol had been raised to the rank of an archbishopric during the 10th century by nomenoe, king of brittany, but this step had been objected to by the archbishops of tours. consequently the position of the see was somewhat ambiguous, and baudry is referred to both as archbishop and as bishop of dol. he appears to have striven earnestly to do something for the education of the ignorant inhabitants of brittany but his efforts were not very successful, and he soon abandoned the task. in 1116 he attended the lateran council, and in 1119 the council of reims, after which he paid a visit of two years' duration to england. returning to france he neglected the affairs of his diocese, and passed his time mainly at st samson-sur-risle in normandy. he died on the 5th or 7th of january 1130. baudry wrote a number of latin poems of very indifferent quality. the most important of these, from the historical point of view, have been published in the _historiae francorum scriptores_, tome iv., edited by a. duchesne (paris 1639-1649). baudry's prose works are more important. the best known of these is his _historiae hierosolymitance_, a history of the first crusade from 1095 to 1099. this is a history in four books, the material for which was mainly drawn from the anonymous _gesta francorum_, but some valuable information has been added by baudry. it was very popular during the middle ages, and was used by ordericus vitalis for his _historiae ecclesiasticae_; by william, archbishop of tyre, for his _belli sacri historia_; and by vincent of beauvais for his _speculum historiale_. the best edition is that by c. thurot, which appears in the _recueil des historiens des croisades_, tome iv. (paris, 1841-1887), other works probably by baudry are _epistola ad fiscannenses monachos_, a description of the monastery of fecamp; _vita roberti de arbrissello; vita s. hugonis archiepiscopi rothomagensis; translatio capitis gemeticum et miracula s. valentini martyris; relatio de scuto et gladio_, a history of the arms of st. michael; and _vita s. samsonis dolensis episcopi_. other writings which on very doubtful authority have been attributed to baudry are _acta s. valeriani martyris trenorchii; de visitatione infirmorum; vita s. maglorii dolensis episcopi et vita s. maclovii, alectensis episcopi; de revelatione abbatum fiscannensium_; and _confirmatio bonorum monasterii s. florentii_. many of these are published by j.p. migne in the _patrologia latina_, tomes 160, 162 and 166 (paris 1844). see _histoire litteraire de la france_, tome xi. (paris, 1865-1869); h. von sybel, _geschichte des ersten kreuzzuges_ (leipzig, 1881); a. thurot, "etudes critiques sur les historiens de la premiere croisade; baudri de bourgueil" in the _revue historique_ (paris, 1876).