Wace was born on the Norman-owned island of Jersey, around 1110 and spelled his name variously as Gace, Gasse or Guace, and never prefixed by the “Robert” supplied by a nineteenth-century critic. At some early stage he was taken to Caen and taught Latin, preparatory to entering the Church; he then studied in the Île de France. He tells us he completed the Roman de Brut in 1155; three Bayeux chapter documents, of 1169, 1165-1205 and 1174, refer to him (as ” magister” and “canon”), and he refers in the Roman de Rou to the 1174 siege of Rouen. In the Rou Young King Henry is always presented as a living person; as he dies in 1183, Wace’s death must have preceded his. For

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First published 30 March 2001

Citation: Weiss, Judith. "Wace". The Literary Encyclopedia. 30 March 2001.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4565, accessed 20 November 2009.]