The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Wace
(ws) (KEY) , c.11001174, Norman-French poet of Jersey. King Henry II made him canon of Bayeux. His Roman de Brut (1155) is a long, rhymed chronicle of British history based on the Historia of Geoffrey of Monmouth. Waces account is much more personal, vigorous, and dramatic than Geoffreys. The Brut of Layamon is an English adaptation of Waces chronicle; both were important in the development of the Arthurian legend. Waces Roman de Rou is a chronicle of the dukes of Normandy and contains a famous description of the battle of Hastings.