![]() William of Baskerville alludes both to the fictional Sherlock Holmes and the 14th century English Franciscan friar and scholastic philosopher and theologian William of Ockham. We are informed near the end of the book that William had died earlier during a Plague in Europe. William also worries the abbot will summon officials of the Inquisition should the mystery remain unsolved.įollowing the events of The Name of the Rose, Adso and William part ways, with Adso relating the tale before his death. William is reluctantly drawn in by the intellectual challenge and his desire to disprove fears of a demonic culprit. After a string of unexpected deaths the abbot seeks help from William, who is renowned for his deductive powers, to investigate the deaths. The abbey boasts a famed scriptorium where scribes copy, translate or illuminate books. This abbey is being used as an embassy between Pope John XXII, and the Friars Minor, who are suspected of heresy. In 1327, William and Adso travel to a Benedictine monastery in Northern Italy to attend a theological disputation between the Franciscans and Papal emissaries on the poverty of Christ. Though he departed from his role as an inquisitor, his torture and the death of the accused remain fresh in his mind. Despite his appeals to the Pope, William was imprisoned and tortured until he recanted, in turn leading to the translator's death by burning at the stake. The accusations of heresy stemmed from the man's translation of a Greek book that contradicted the scriptures. In one of his most consequential cases, William refused to condemn a man on charges of heresy, despite the demands of the inquisitor Bernardo Gui. In numerous cases Willam decided the accused was innocent. Years before the main events of the novel, as an inquisitor, Brother William presided at some trials in England and Italy, where he distinguished himself by his perspicacity along with great humility. The Name of the Rose is itself a recounting of events as experienced by Adso of Melk, a Benedictine novice (a Franciscan one in the 1986 film adaptation) who travelled under William's protection. William of Baskerville ( Italian: Guglielmo da Baskerville, pronounced ) is a fictional Franciscan friar from the 1980 historical mystery novel The Name of the Rose ( Il nome della rosa) by Umberto Eco. ![]() Fictional character William of Baskerville
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