Goscelin

Goscelin of Saint-Bertin (or Goscelin of Canterbury) was a Benedictine hagiographical writer. His date of birth is unknown, but it cannot have been later than the early 1040s. He was a Fleming or Brabantian by birth and became a monk of St Bertin's at Saint-Omer before travelling to England to take up a position in the household of Herman, Bishop of Ramsbury (1058–78). During his time in England, he stayed at many monasteries and wherever he went collected materials for his numerous hagiographies of English saints.

According to William of Malmesbury, Goscelin was a monk of St Bertin's. On the other hand, as the author of the Vita Amalbergae virginis, written before 1062, Goscelin appears to be very well informed about the hagiographic tradition in Flanders and Brabant, more especially traditions related to Saint Peter's Abbey of Ghent. He probably stayed there at some time before 1062.

According to William of Malmesbury, Goscelin arrived in England with Herman, bishop of Sherborne, who arrived in 1058. But, William of Malmesbury mistakenly claims that this was the year in which Herman became bishop of Sherborne, an appointment he did not take up until the death of Sherborne's resident bishop AElfwold in 1062-65. It is doubtful, therefore, that his information about Goscelin's arrival is reliable. In fact, Goscelin states, himself, in his Liber confortatorius, that 'he first came to the bishop' at Potterne or Canning (in Wiltshire), implying that he did not travel to England in his company, but joined him there instead. It used to be thought that he arrived before the Norman Conquest, but there is no evidence for this supposition, although it is possible.

Goscelin's patron and companion was Herman, Bishop of Sherborne. He functioned as secretary to the bishop and as chaplain to the nuns of Wilton Abbey. His fortunes took a turn for the worse when Bishop Herman died in 1078 and was succeeded by Osmund of Sées, whom Goscelin in his Liber confortatorius describes as a "king who knew not Joseph". In the early 1080s, he was at Peterborough. Later, he wrote hagiography for the monastic communities of Ely, Barking, Ramsey, and St Augustine's, Canterbury, among other places.

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