(A.D. 1157.)
[Roman Martyrology. Authority:--His Life, by his friend and
disciple, Albert, in whose arms he died. Several modern writers have
confused S. William of Maleval with S. William of Mariemont, and
even with S. William I., Duke of Aquitaine, and S. William IX., Duke
of Guienne, who died 1137.]
Nothing is known of the birth of this saint, or of his early life, on
which he preserved an impenetrable secrecy. It is said that he made a
pilgrimage to S. Jago of Compostella, but even this is uncertain, as
S. William of Guienne, his contemporary, is known to have made this
expedition, and it is quite possible that the act of one S. William
has been transferred to the other.
In the year 1153, there appeared in Tuscany a man, who sought to hide
himself from the eyes of his fellow-men. The islet of Lupocavio, in
the district of Pisa, seemed to him to answer his desire; there he
constructed a small habitation, and remained there. His edifying
example attracted several persons to him, who settled near his cell,
and undertook to follow his rule of life. But their fervour soon
cooled down, and their undisciplined manners obliged him to withdraw
from his solitude, and retire to Monte Prunio, where he hoped to be
alone with his God, and where he erected in a dense wood, a hut of
boughs, and thatched it with leaves and fern. He was soon joined by
idle vagrants, who, under the pretence of a religious life, attempted
to impose on the charity of pious persons. S. William soon discovered
that these men were actuated by no religious vocation, and their
hypocrisy drove him again from his resting-place. He was, indeed,
compulsorily ejected by these miscreants, who could ill bear his
sanctity subsisting as a reproach upon their irregularities. He then
returned to the island of Lupocavio, but not finding his former
associates there disposed to receive him, he fixed his habitation in a
desert valley, called at that time "The stable of Rhodes," but since
known as "the bad valley," Maleval. It was situated in the territory
of Sienna, about a league distant from Castigline, Pescara, and
Buriano. It was in 1155, that he hid himself in this solitude, having
at first only a hole in the earth, in which he could shelter from the
inclemency of the weather, till the Lord of Buriano, taking compassion
on him, built a little cell for his lodging. For four months he lived
only on roots and herbs, having no other companions than the wild
beasts; but, in the beginning of the year 1156, he received a
disciple, named Albert, who wrote the account of the close of his
life. The saint practised surprising austerities; thrice in the week
he took only very little bread, and wine much diluted; on the other
days he took bread, and herbs and water. He wore sackcloth next his
skin, and slept on the bare ground. He was endowed with the gift of
prophecy, of which Albert had himself experience, for when the saint
was dying, and his disciple was lamenting that he should be left
alone, S. William bade him be of good cheer, for God would give him a
companion shortly. This seemed so improbable, that Albert could not
trust it; but going forth from the cell shortly after, he met a man,
named Raynald, a physician, who had come to renounce the world and
place himself under the direction of the pious hermit. Albert, fearing
that the death of the saint might make him change his purpose, cast
himself at his feet, and implored him to come and make his profession
before the dying saint at once. Raynald did so, and Albert submitted
himself to the direction of his new companion on the death of his
first master. S. William died in the arms of Albert, after having
received the last sacraments from a priest of Castigline, who had been
warned of the illness of the hermit.
Raynald and Albert buried S. William in his little garden. After his
death they preserved the spirit of penitence and mortification with
which he had inspired them during his life, and they endeavoured to
follow his maxims as their rule of life; and thus originated the Order
of the Guillemites, which rapidly spread from Italy, through France,
the Low Countries, and Germany. At first they followed the institutes
of S. William only, and fasted almost perpetually, and walked
barefoot. But Pope Gregory IX. moderated their great austerities,
allowed them to be shod, and required them to follow the rule of S.
Benedict.