During the last decades of the 13th century -from ca. 1280- and until shortly after the middle of the 14th century -c. 1360-, the cloister of the cathedral of Pamplona and its dependencies functioned as an artistic focus of the first order, in which a series of works of discreet dimensions, but of great quality, comparable to the best European achievements, were carried out. The emergence of this creative center was the result of the confluence of a series of artists -architects, sculptors and painters- of high level, coming from different European territories. Thus, the first master builder of the cloister and its initiator, the architect and perhaps sculptor Miguel, mentioned in a document of 1286, possibly came from the north of France, the region around Paris. For his part, the anonymous sculptor known as the master of the tympanum of the Amparo, author of this element and of several cloister carvings, and the painter Juan Oliver, creator of the Passion mural that presided over the refectory, probably came from the south of France. Such origins are understandable, given the close ties of all subject - geographic, political and religious, etc. - existing between Navarre and the neighboring country, but the presence of an artist from England seems much more unusual, and yet this must have been the case with Guillermo Inglés, as his name proves and the analysis of his work corroborates.

Unfortunately, no Navarrese document quotation it. The news of his existence has come to us through two receipts of the file of the cathedral of Huesca, dated September and November 1338, and written the first in Latin and the second in Aragonese romance, in which he is mentioned as master builder of the Huesca cathedral. Their text is very similar, so we will only include the second: Let it be manifest to all, as I, master Gyllem Inglés, master builder of the work of the Sie d'Uesca, grant that I receive quaranta et hueyto solidos jaccenses por raçon de dos kafices de trigo que me diestes de aquel trigo que la dicta prebostria me à a dar d'est present anno. On this basis, specialists attributed to him the main doorway of the Aragonese cathedral. Recently it has also been associated with the north and west galleries of the cloister.

But, before his arrival in Huesca, he would have passed through Pamplona, where he was involved in the construction of the cathedral cloister complex, in which he was responsible for the direction of the second phase of work (ca. 1320-1330). During this stage, the western half of the north wing, the entire west wing and the initial sections of the south wing with the basin temple, as well as the three portals located in this area, those of the Amparo -except for the tympanum-, Arcedianato and Refectory -except for a part of the tympanum- were built. In addition, improvements were made to the eastern gallery, built in the previous phase, specifically the covering of the façade with its parapet and the group of the Adoration of the kings; certainly, in this one, the sculptures were carved by another artist, Jacques Perut -who left his signature on the pedestal of the Virgin-, but it is probable that Inglés made the canopy that covers it. The conference room - known as the Barbazana chapel - was also completed with the construction of the vault and the gallery of arches that crowns the exterior.

The attribution to Guillermo Inglés of these works is based on their concomitance with the works of Huesca, among which some stand out for their special relevance.

In the case of the cloister, we could mention the employment a subject of pillars and sashes characterized by the presence of a double interpenetrated beading on the front, also used in the Aragonese cloister, a particularly significant coincidence because of the unusual nature of this feature. But there is also the appearance at the top of the tracery of the tracery of the windows of the west wing and of the mural panels flanking the Amparo door of a motif based on a scalloped quadrilobular inscribed in a circle, identical to the one on the gable crowning the back of the doorway in Huesca.

For its part, the Amparo door, like the one in the cathedral of Huesca, is presided over by a statue of the Virgin and Child sheltered by an elaborate architectural canopy, although in Pamplona it is located in the mullion and in Huesca in the tympanum. In addition, the sculptures are similar in the features and hair of Mary, and in the posture of Jesus, the nudity of his torso, and the employment an extension of the maternal veil to cover the legs, a very rare detail. In turn, the canopies are similar in their exceptional complexity and richness, as they are authentic miniature versions of temple headboards, although the formula is not identical.

As for the doors of the Archdeaconry and the Refectory, in the case of the former the scene of the Apparition of Christ to the Magdalene is almost identical to that of the Aragonese doorway and in the latter the head of the sculpture of the Church of the jambs is very similar to that of the Virgin that presides over the tympanum of Huesca.

But the work of Guillermo Inglés in Pamplona was not limited to the cathedral; he also worked in the nearby parish church of San Saturnino, for which he carved the statues of the titular, which is very similar to the carvings of several bishops of the archivolt dedicated to the saints of the façade of the church of Huesca, and of Santiago, whose head is very similar to that of Christ of the Apparition to the Magdalene of the door of the Arcedianato.

One of the most striking aspects of this artist is undoubtedly his British origin, attested by his name, William English, but also perceptible in the analysis of his works. Especially in the vault of eight-pointed tercelets that he used both in the canopy that protects the figure of the Virgin of the Epiphany group and in the chapter conference room , since it is a typology of English creation, unknown in Spain, but frequently used in insular chapters, such as those of the abbey of Westminster (ca. 1253) and the cathedrals of Salisbury (ca. 1275) and Southwell (1290).

The identity between both Structures, the canopy and the vault of the chapter conference room , leads us to hypothesize that the former was conceived as a small-scale model of the roof designed by the architect for the chapter conference room , intended to be shown to the commissioners -bishop and chapter- to convince them of the merits of the new formula.   

Another argument in favor of the British origin of the master would be his fondness for the green man motif , which is repeated up to four times in elements of the Pamplona cathedral related to him: once on the lower face of the lintel of the Amparo door and three times in the chapter conference room . It is a fairly generalized motif, but England seems to be the country where it was most widespread, particularly in the chapter rooms, such as the one in Southwell Cathedral, already mentioned in relation to the vault of the Navarre chapter.

But our artist did not come directly to Navarre from England, but rather her trajectory was somewhat more complex, as she previously passed through two important French cities, Bordeaux and Rouen, taking the opportunity to visit their cathedrals, core topic monuments of Gothic architecture, then in full constructive effervescence. The passage through Bordeaux is logical, since in those years it was in the hands of the English and its port was the usual place of entrance in France of the British, from where they moved to other places. It is more problematic to justify the move to Rouen, since it is not on the route from Bordeaux to Pamplona, but implied a retreat to the north. The explanation perhaps lies in the influence that the Rouen cathedral exerted on the Bordeaux cathedral and in the knowledge that English had of this fact, which would lead him to desire to know such a source of inspiration.

His contacts with these works are attested by the perceptible parallels between them and his works in Pamplona -and Aragon-.

With respect to the cathedral of Bordeaux, we find that the tracery of some of the windows of the north gallery of the cathedral cloister of Navarre culminates in a star motif inscribed in a circumference very similar to the one we can see in the windows of the north aisle of the choir of the cathedral of Bordeaux (ca. 1325). In addition, both in the Amparo door of Pamplona and in the main door of the cathedral of Huesca, the scenes that decorate the bases of the jambs have frames based on star-shaped quadrilobules arranged vertically and inscribed in squares, identical to those of their equivalents in the doorway of the southern transept of the cathedral of Bordeaux (ca. 1315). Finally, it should be noted that both the door of the Refectory and the door of the north transept of the cathedral of Bordeaux, the door of the Arrows (ca. 1315-1330), depict the Last Supper on the lintel and a group of prophets on the archivolts, the former being particularly important because of the infrequent use of the topic in doorways.

Specialists have also noted significant coincidences between the sculptures of ecclesiastics in the spills of this Bordeaux door and the statues of St. James and St. Saturnine in the Pamplona parish dedicated to the latter: monumentality, slightly bent legs with projection of the knee and foot forward and a general air of severity and elegance.

As for Rouen, the most remarkable parallels are between the Amparo door and that of the Booksellers (ca.1281-1300) of the Norman cathedral. In both the mural panels that flank them are decorated with blind tracery and on the back the openings are finished with gables bordered with leaves and also filled with tracery, formulas unheard of in the Navarrese and even Hispanic context, although the latter will be repeated by Inglés himself in the doorway of the cathedral of Huesca.