Milo Crispin facts for kids

Milo Crispin (who likely died around 1149) was a special kind of leader at a monastery called Abbey of Bec. He was the cantor, which means he was in charge of the music and singing for the monks. Milo Crispin wrote important stories about five of the monastery's leaders, known as abbots. These leaders included famous figures like Lanfranc, who later became the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Milo Crispin's Life and Writings

Milo Crispin wrote detailed stories about the lives of the abbots of Bec Abbey. His story about Lanfranc, a very important abbot, was published in a famous collection of old writings called the Acta Sanctorum. This collection was put together by a group of historians known as the Bollandists. He also wrote about other abbots like Gulielmus de Bellomonte, Boso, Theobaldus, and Letardus. Some of these stories were shorter summaries, but they all helped to record the history of the abbey.

Milo Crispin was quite old when he wrote these stories. In one of his writings about Lanfranc, he mentioned something he heard St. Anselm say. Since St. Anselm passed away in 1109, and another abbot Milo wrote about, Letardus, didn't die until 1149, this shows that Milo Crispin was involved with the monastery for more than 40 years! This long period of service shows how dedicated he was to his religious life and to recording the history of Bec Abbey.

His Family Background

Milo Crispin came from a well-known and respected family called Crispin. The family's name, "Crispin," came from an ancestor named Gislebert, who was given the name because of his curly hair. Many members of the Crispin family were important and helped the Abbey of Bec a lot by giving them money and support.

Two people from his family became monks at Bec Abbey. One was Gilbert Crispin, who later became the leader (Abbot) of Westminster Abbey. Gilbert wrote a story about St. Herluin, who was the person who started Bec Abbey and was its very first abbot. Milo Crispin was Gilbert's brother. We don't know much about Milo's life beyond his writings, and the exact year he died is also not known for sure.

Sources

• Catholic Encyclopedia article

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain:  "^{article name needed}". Catholic Encyclopedia. (1913). New York: Robert Appleton.