——. Exposé sur le Cantique des cantiques, ed. Jean M. Déchanet, trans. Pierre Dumontier. Paris:
Cerf, 1962.
——. The Mirror of Faith, trans. Thomas X.Davis. Kalamazoo: Cistercian, 1979.
——. Lettre aux frères de Mont-Dieu (Lettre d’Or), ed. and trans. Jean M.Déchanet. Paris: Cerf,
1975.
Bell, David N. The Image and Likeness: The Augustinian Spirituality of William of Saint-Thierry.
Kalamazoo: Cistercian, 1984.
Déchanet, Jean M. William of Saint-Thierry: The Man and His Work. Spencer: Cistercian, 1972.
WILLIAM OF SENS
(late 12th c.). French builder hired to rebuild the east end of Canterbury cathedral after
the fire of 1174. According to the chronicle of the Canterbury monk Gervais, which is the
only surviving year-by-year description of a medieval architectural project, William spent
five years working at Canterbury and would have continued had he not been injured in a
fall from the scaffolding in the crossing. Using an intermediary, he was able to direct the
works until the end of the building season in 1179 but then had to give up the project to
someone who could be on hand at every phase of the building, an En-glishman named
William. Although his name indicates he was born in Sens, there is no evidence that
William ever worked there. His style and the details of his design suggest that he came to
Canterbury from somewhere in northern France, probably the Arras-Valenciennes region.
William W.Clark
Gervais. The Architectural History of Canterbury Cathedral, trans. R.W.Willis. London, 1845.
Bony, Jean. “French Influences on the Origins of English Gothic Architecture.” Journal of the
Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 12(1940):1–15.
WILLIAM OF VOLPIANO
(William of Saint-Bénigne of Dijon; 962–1031). Born into the high aristocracy in Lom-
bardy, William of Volpiano preferred the monastic life to the ecclesiastical career
prepared for him and went north to Cluny (987). Abbot Maiolus soon sent him to Saint-
Bénigne in Dijon to reform that venerable but undisciplined house (989). He quickly
established his talents as an effective if severe reformer, attracting the interest of dukes
and kings. He reformed Fécamp (1006) and Jumièges (1015) for Richard of Normandy
and Saint-Germain-des-Prés for Robert II the Pious, and founded Fruttuaria (1003) on
family property. His monasteries had schools attached that accepted anyone, no matter
how poor. After Odilo of Cluny (whom he allegedly “discovered” and sent on to Maiolus
as a successor), he founded and reformed more monasteries and priories than anyone of
his generation.
Medieval france: an encyclopedia 1852