Who was Wace, and which two verse chronicles did he write?
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Wace (c. 1100–after 1174) was a prominent Anglo-Norman author and poet. He is best known for composing two significant verse chronicles that chronicled the histories of the Britons and the Normans:12
- Roman de Brut (1155): A romanticized, octosyllabic paraphrase of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia regum Britanniae. It traces the history of Britain from its legendary founder, Brutus the Trojan, and is notable for introducing elements such as the Round Table, which helped popularize Arthurian legends.1
- Roman de Rou (1160–74): A history of the Norman dukes, beginning with Rollo the Viking and extending to Robert II Curthose. Commissioned by Henry II of England, the work was left unfinished after the king transferred his patronage to another writer.1
Wace’s literary contributions were influential, with his stylistic approach in the Brut impacting later verse romances and inspiring direct imitations, such as the English poem Brut by Lawamon.1