EADMER (EDMER): Monk of Canterbury; b. probably c. 1060; d. at Canterbury Jan. 13, 1124 (7). He first appears as the close companion of Anaelm after the latter became archbishop of Canterbury (1093); according to William of Malmeabury, Anselm esteemed him so highly that he never rose from bed without Eadmer's command. After Anaelm's death he continued associated with Archbishop Ralph, and, in 1120, was chosen by king Alexander of Scotland for the archbishopric of St. Andrews, but, owing to the bitter rivalry between Canterbury and the northern see, was never consecrated. Eadmer is one of the beat of early English historians; he avoids trivial details and is uncommonly incredulous for his time concerning alleged miracles; his style is good and approaches classical models. His Historic novorum or "History of his own Times," in six books, extends practically from the Conquest to 1122; it treats especially matters connected with the Church, which he remarks he had been accustomed to note from early childhood, and recounts the deeds of the two archbishops with whom he was connected; it shows strong national feeling and asserts the rights and privileges of the English Church. The beat edition is by M. Rule in the Rolls Series (no. 81, 1884). Besides minor works he wrote lives of Ansehn (ed. Rule in the Rolls Series, ut sup.); Dunstan; Bregwin, archbishop of Canterbury, 759-783; Oswald, archbishop of York (the last three in Wharton, Anglia sacra, ii., London, 1691), and Wilfrid of York (ed. J. Rains in The Historians of the Church of York, i., Rolls Series, no. 73). His collected works are in MPL, clix. 345 sqq., atld extracts are in MGH, Script., xiii. (188I), 139-148.
Bibliography: William of Malmesbury, Gesta pontiRcum Anglorum, ed. N. E. 8. A. Hamilton, in Rolls Series, No. 52, London, 1870: T. Wright, Biographia Brits»nim Zateraria, Anglo-Saxon period, ib. 1842; J. Collier, Eccl. Hist., vol. ii., ib. 1845; P. laveQeY. Eadmer, Paris, 1892: DNB, xvi. 309-310.
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