Montaigu, Guillaume De

Montaigu, Guillaume de a French ecclesiastic, was born in the latter part of the 12th century. He was at first prior of Clairvaux, subsequently abbot of LaFerte, then of Citeaux. Gregory IX employed him in a very important negotiation. In 1229 he was sent to reconcile the kings of France and England, who were on the point of going to war. Montaigu first went to the king of France, calmed his resentment, and afterwards was similarly successful with the king of England, and consequently the impending war did not take place. Different letters of Gregory IX, published in the Annales des Citeaux, inform us that the court of Rome intrusted to Guillaume's sagacity the regulation of many other affairs of less general interest. In 1239, as he was proceeding to the Council of Rome, he fell into the hands of Frederick II, was taken captive, and loaded with chains. Towards the close of his life Montaigu abdicated the government of Citeaux, withdrew to the monastery of Clairvaux, and there died in the garb of a simple monk, May 19, 1246. See Annales Cistercienses, volume 4, passim; Hist. Litter. de la France, 18:358; Gallics Christiana, volume 4, col. 995. — Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Gezerale, 36:72.