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294 IGNATIUS BRADY will certainly commence with Vau- or Vo, and contain one r and ll - we should seek to establish his birthplace. He himself attests that he is a Breton, at least by a bit of humor on Brittany 14 , a passing reference or two to Dinan and Vannes 1 5, and a much more explicit citation of Alanus Brito noster 16 • Contemporary and later records constantly speak of him as a Breton who entered the Franciscan Order at Dinan 17 • We can forthwith conclude that his native town is in the neighborhood of Dinan. Were there a Rouillon in Brittany, our search would be simplified 18 • There is little reason to propose Vaurouaut, which has nothing in common etymologically with Vallis Rouillonis, and should indeed be spelled Vaurouault 19 • Though this village is close to Dinan, a more likely hamlet would be either le Vau-Ruelland or, I should judge, le Vau-Ruellan (since no d ever appears in William's name) 20 • The latter, we should point out, is almost the form under which William is listed among the Sententiarii of Paris in September 1429: Guillermus de Valle Reullon 2 1, and not too removed from the de Valle Rullain found the following year 22 • That he came from a country hamlet seems borne out by his knowledge of and interest in various forms of wheat and their validity as matter for the Eucharist 23 • Until further evidence is forthcoming, we propose to accept le Vau-Ruellan, or simply Vauruellan 24 , as William's place of origin. His date of birth is unknown, but as will be evident from the studies and teaching he undertook before being assigned to Paris in 1427, it must have been between 1390 and 1394. 14 Liber de anima III, xvi: Brutum aestimavit totum mundum ipse brutus (Averroes) sed non Brito (Med.Stud. 11[1949] 291). 15 In IV Sent., d.8, a.l, Venetiis 1496, f.240b; and d.21, a.3, f.262d. 16 In his Vademecum, Padua c. 1485, f.41v. 17 For example, Trithemius, op. cit.; P. RIDOLFI, op. cit.; GONZAGA, De ortgme seraph. religionis franciscanae, Romae 1587, 674; the obituary of Chateauroux (cf. below, n.25) and of Dinan (below, n.119). 1s The only Rouillon I have found is in the diocese of Mans, the medieval Roulonnium; cf. L.H. CoTTINEAU, Repertoire topo-bibliographique des abbayes et prieures II, Macon 1937, col. 2553. 19 There are really two places in Cotes-du-Nord that bear this name: Vaurouault (com– mune de Brusvily, arrond. Dinan, canton Dinan west) and le Vau-Rouault (commune de Pleherel, arrond. Dinan, canton Matignon). Cf. Nomenclature des hameaux, ecarts, lieux-dits des Cotes-du-Nord (Institut Nat. de la Statistique et des etudes economiques) 1953, list 021, 179. 20 Nomenclature, list 203: le Vau-Ruelland, commune Ploeuc, arrond. St.-Brieuc, canton Ploeuc (1 menage, 3 inhabit.); list 346: le Vau-Rue!lan, commune Tredaniel, arrond. St.– Brieuc, canton Moncontour (2 menages, 11 inhabitants). 21 Chartul.Univ.Paris IV, n.2330 (p.485). 22 Ibid., n.2348 (p.498). 2s In IV Sent., d.11, a.3, f.247d. Quoted in full by Barth. ROTH, O.F.M., Franz van May– ronis O.F.M. (Franz. Forschungen, 3), Werl 1936, 569. 24 Thus OGEE, Diet. historique de Bretagne II, Rennes 21853, 913, under Tredaniel.