Though the education William received at Malmesbury Abbey included a smattering of logic and physics, moral philosophy and history were the subjects to which he devoted the most attention. The earliest fact which he records of his career is that he assisted Abbot Godfrey (1081–1105) in collecting a library for the use of the community, and the evidence shows that Malmesbury had first-hand knowledge of at least four hundred works by two hundred-odd authors. During the course of his studies, he amassed a collection of medieval histories, which inspired in him the idea for a popular account of English history modelled on the "Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum" ("Ecclesiastical History of the English People") of Bede. William's obvious respect for Bede is apparent even within the preface of his "Gesta Regum Anglorum", where he professes his admiration for the man.