Editing Wace (section)

==Life==
All that is known of Wace's life comes from autobiographical references in his poems. He neglected to mention his birthdate; some time between 1099 and 1111 is the most commonly accepted period for his birth.

The name ''Wace'', used in Jersey until the 16th century, appears to have been his only name; [[surname]]s were not universally used at that time. It was quite a common first name in the [[Duchy of Normandy]], derived from the [[Indo-European]] personal name ''Wasso''. The spelling and the pronunciation of this name were rendered different ways in the texts, according to the place where the copyists were from. In the various versions of the ''Roman de Rou'', his name appears five times as ''Wace'', then ''Gace'' (once), ''Vace, Vacce, Vaicce'' (three times all together).<ref>René Lepelley, ''Guillaume le duc, Guillaume le roi'' : extraits du '''Roman de Rou''' de Wace, Centre de publication de l'Université de Caen, Caen, 1987, p. 15.</ref> Until the 11th century, the ''w'' spelling corresponded to the pronunciation [w] (like in English) in Northern Normandy (including the Channel Islands), but it shifted to [v] in the 12th century.<ref>Lepelley 15</ref> South to an [[isogloss]] corresponding more or less to the [[Joret line]], [w] had been turned to [gw] and later [g] (like in common French). Today the name survives as the patronymic surname ''Vasse'' in Normandy and in the North of France<ref>Repartition of ''Vasse'' in France (according to the number of births) In the south of France, it is probably an unrelated name [http://www.geopatronyme.com/cgi-bin/carte/nomcarte.cgi?nom=Vasse&image.x=0&image.y=0]</ref> and ''Gasse'' further south (including also Normandy).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.geopatronyme.com/cgi-bin/carte/nomcarte.cgi?nom=Gasse&image.x=0&image.y=0|title=Nom de famille en France: popularité, origine, étymologie, état-civil, généalogie}}</ref>

His name is pronounced {{IPAc-en|w|ei|s}} (rhyming with 'place') or {{IPAc-en|w|æ|z}} ('waz').<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/wace|title=WACE definition and meaning &#124; Collins English Dictionary}}</ref><ref>Farina, W. (2010:89). ''Chretien de Troyes and the Dawn of Arthurian Romance''. Ukraine: McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers.</ref>

It is speculated that he may have been of aristocratic origin, as he was sent to [[Caen]] to be educated, which would have been virtually impossible for most. His detailed writing on maritime matters may have stemmed from his island upbringing.

Around 1130 Wace returned to Caen and took ecclesiastical work, possibly as a teacher.<ref>[http://user.itl.net/~geraint/wace.html Maistre Wace]</ref>

The date of Wace's death is uncertain.  The most recent event described in the ''Roman de Rou'' may be dated to 1174.  In the ''Rou'', Wace also mentions [[Henry the Young King]] as living.  The latter lived until 1183, which means that Wace probably did not revise the ''Rou'' after that date.