fl. 1220s-1240s

English encyclopedist whose De proprietatibus rerum (1240) was the first important European reference work of the medieval period. The volume contained extensive information on the natural sciences, and included references to the work of Aristotle (384-322 B.C.), Hippocrates (c. 460-c. 377 B.C.), and other influential figures of the ancient world, as well as contemporary Arab, Jewish, and European scholars. Included in the book were extensive discussions of plant and animal life, as well as information on minerals. De proprietatibus rerum was later translated into a number of European languages, and appeared in more than 14 print editions before 1500.