Gilles Li Muisis (or Le Muiset) (c. 1272 – 15 October 1352) was a French chronicler and poet. Li Muisis was probably born at

Tournai Tournai or Tournay ( ; ; nl, Doornik ; pcd, Tornai; wa, Tornè ; la, Tornacum) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It lies southwest of Brussels on the river Scheldt. Tournai is part of Eurome ...

, and in 1289 entered the

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

abbey of St Martin in his native city, becoming

prior Prior (or prioress) is an ecclesiastical title for a superior in some religious orders. The word is derived from the Latin for "earlier" or "first". Its earlier generic usage referred to any monastic superior. In abbeys, a prior would be low ...

of this house in 1327 and

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. Th ...

four years later. He only secured the latter position after a contest with a competitor, but he appears to have been a wise ruler of the abbey. Gilles wrote two Latin chronicles, ''Chronicon majus'' and ''Chronicon minus'', dealing with the history of the world, spanning from its creation up to 1349. This work, which was expanded by another writer to encompass 1352, is valuable for containing the history of northern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...

in the first half of the 14th century. It is published by J. J. de Smet in the ''Corpus chronicorum Flandriae.'' Gilles also wrote some French poems, ''Poesies de Gilles Li Muisis'', which have been published by Baron

Kervyn de Lettenhove Joseph-Marie-Bruno-Constantin, Baron Kervyn de Lettenhove (17 August 1817 – 3 April 1891) was a Belgian historian and politician. He was a member of the Catholic Constitutional party and sat in the Belgian Chamber of People's Representatives, B ...

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gilles Li Muisis 1270s births 1352 deaths French poets French Benedictines French male poets