ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

William of Malmesbury

William of Malmesbury was a man who lived a very long time ago, in a place called England. He was born almost 1000 years ago, which is a really long time, even longer than your great-great-grandparents!

William was a very smart man who loved books and studying history. He lived in a time called the Middle Ages, when there were very few books and not a lot of people who could read or write. But William was lucky because he was able to go to school and learn a lot of things that most people didn't know.

One of the things that William loved to study was the history of England. He would read books and talk to people who knew things about the past, and then he would write down what he learned. He wrote about kings and queens, wars and battles, and all kinds of important events.

But one of the things that made William really special was that he didn't just write about facts and dates. He also wrote about stories and legends, like the story of King Arthur and his knights. William loved to tell these stories and make them come alive for his readers.

William of Malmesbury was a very famous writer, and people still read his books today. He helped us learn a lot about the past, and he showed us that history can be really interesting and exciting, just like a storybook!