Lambert of Hersfeld
c.1025-c.1085. Benedictine abbot. He took Benedictine orders at the abbey of Hersfeld in 1058. Sympathy with the Cluny reforms and opposition to Emperor Henry IV precipitated his move to the abbey of Hasungen, where he became abbot in 1081. His reputation rests on a number of historical writings, more notable for their polished Latin style than for their accuracy. Annales, the most significant, chronicles world history from Creation to 1077. Only Lambert's extensive treatment of the period 1069-77 is original work. Until the mid-nineteenth century, when von Ranke tempered this judgment, Lambert was widely regarded as a highly credible medieval historian.