Jordan Fantosme

Who was Jordan Fantosme?

Jordan Fantosme was an Anglo-Norman historian, chronicler, and trouvère. He was a cleric and probably the spiritual chancellor of the Diocese of Winchester. His major work is an Anglo-Norman verse chronicle of the war between Henry II of England and his son Henry the Young King and William I of Scotland in 1173–1174. As literature, it stands, according to its latest editor, "absolutely first class".

It has been conjectured that Fantosme was an Italian who came to England in the train of Henry of Blois. A few lines from his poem suggests that he was Scoto-Norman, but this may have been inserted for the sake of the minstrels who would be reciting the piece. On the other hand, Fantosme may have simply identified with his adopted country, he referred to messengers of William, who were also subjects of the Young King, as noz. Considering his evident knowledge and skill in the Anglo-Norman language, the most likely hypothesis is that he was Anglo-Norman.

Fantosme was in fact a partisan of Henry II, though his work has been noted for its impartiality and admired for its detail and vigour.