BENEDICT, abbot of Peterborough, was educated at Oxford, became a monk in the monastery of Christ Church in Canterbury, and was some time afterwards chosen prior by the members of that society. Although he had been a great admirer of Archbishop Becket, and wrote a life of that prelate, he was so much esteemed by Henry II., that, by the influence of that prince, he was elected abbot of Peterborough A.D. 1177. He assisted at the coronation of Richard I. in 1189, and was appointed keeper of the great seal in 1191. But he did not long enjoy this high dignity, as he died on Michaelmas day 1193. Besides his life of Archbishop Becket, he composed a History of Henry II. and Richard I., from 1170 to 1192. A beautiful edition of this work was published at Oxford, in two volumes, by Mr Hearne, A.D. 1735.