William of Coventry (called Claudius Conversus; fl. c. 1340–1360) was an English Carmelite friar and historian. He wrote on the history of Carmelites and other subjects.^[1]

William was born at Coventry, and became a Carmelite. He must have been a lay brother of the order there, since if he was lame, as the name Claudius indicates, he could not have been ordained.^[1] Bale possessed copies of works by him on the history of the Carmelites.^[2] Three of Coventry's historical works, written either c. 1340 or c. 1360, survive in the form of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century transcripts.^[3][1] Bale ascribes to him also an Elucidarium Fidei, which occurs in many manuscripts,^[4] and has been printed as the work of Anselm. It has been also ascribed to Honorius of Autun, Guibert Novigentinus, and even Augustine. Bale ascribes to William Carmina Diversa.^[5]

• Whitefriars, Coventry

• Jotischky, Andrew (2004). "Coventry, William [called Claudius Conversus] (fl. c. 1340/1360), Carmelite friar and historian". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/29485. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

Attribution:

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Bateson, Mary (1900). "William of Coventry". In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 61. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 377–378.

• Bale, John (1557–1559). Scriptorvm illustriũ Maioris Brytannie̜ … Catalogus. Basel: Ioannem Oporinum. pp. 461–462.
• Staring, Adrianus (1989). Medieval Carmelite Heritage. Rome: Institutum Carmelitanum. pp. 182, 267.
• Villiers, C. de S. E. de (1752). Bibliotheca Carmelitana. Vol. 1. Orléans: M. Couret de Villeneuve & Joannes Rouzeau. pp. 596–597.