Nicholas of Bray

{{Short description|French clergyman and poet}}

Nicholas of Bray (or Nicolas de Brai{{efn|In French, his toponymic may also be spelled de Bray or de Braye. In Latin, he is Nicolaus (or Nicholaus) Braviacensis, Braiacensis or de Braia.[https://data.bnf.fr/fr/13485790/nicolas_de_bray/ Nicolas de Bray] at BnF Data.}}) was a French clergyman and poet who wrote a Latin epic on the deeds of King Louis VIII of France (1223–1226), the Gesta Ludovici VIII.

Nicholas is probably to be identified with the Nicholas who is recorded as the dean of the collegiate chapter in Bray-sur-Seine in 1202. He dedicated the Gesta to William of Auvergne, bishop of Paris (1228–1249).Auguste Molinier, [http://www.persee.fr/doc/shf_0000-0000_1903_num_3_1_919_t1_0013_0000_2 "2256. Nicolas de Bray"], Les Sources de l'histoire de France: Des origines aux guerres d'Italie (1494). III. Les Capétiens, 1180–1328 (Paris: A. Picard et fils, 1903), p. 13. The only copy of the Gesta today is a copy made by André Duchesne in the 17th century.

The Gesta is 1,870 lines long, but is incomplete as it stands. It centres around the siege of La Rochelle in 1224 and the siege of Avignon in 1226. One line suggests that he was present at Avignon.François Guizot, [https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k94606h/f396.item "Notice sur Nicholas de Bray"], Collection compléte des mémoires relatifs à l'histoire de France (Paris: J.-L.-J. Brière, 1825), pp. 387–388. Nicholas imitates Ovid's Metamorphoses, introducing thereby much classical mythology, but still contains some useful information for the historian. On the whole, the Gesta reveals more about mores and customs than historical events.