Hamo Hythe

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Hamo Hythe funerary monument in Rochester Cathedral

Hamo Hythe (also Hethe ) OSB (* around 1270 in Hythe ; † after May 1357) was an English religious. He was Bishop of Rochester from 1317 until his resignation in 1352 .

Origin and advancement as a clergyman

Hamo Hythe was a son of Gilbert and Alice Noble from Hythe in Kent , after which he was named. He later founded a hospital on the site of his parents' house . He had at least two brothers, John and William († 1328). Around 1302 Hythe made his profession as a Benedictine . In 1307 he became chaplain to Bishop Thomas Wouldham of Rochester. After the resignation of Prior John Greenstreet in May 1314, Hythe became the new Prior of Rochester Cathedral . However, he had several opponents who moved Archbishop Walter Reynolds of Canterbury to visit the Cathedral Priory. However, Hythe's appointment was not reversed.

Elected Bishop of Rochester

After the death of Bishop Wouldham, the cathedral priory monks elected Hythe as the new bishop of the Diocese of Rochester on March 18, 1317 . Pope John XXII. however, declared on March 19 that he was claiming the right to appoint Giovanni di Puzzuoli , the chaplain of Queen Isabelle of England, as the new bishop. First, the cardinals Gaucelin and Luca Fieschi , who served as papal legates in England, should decide the dispute. Then in 1318 the Pope decided that the Curia in Avignon should decide on the occupation of the diocese. As a result, Hythe had to travel to Avignon himself in early 1319 to represent his claim. Allegedly Hythe did not want to pay bribes to the cardinals there, but in fact he did at least pay money to Cardinal Guillaume Teste . The English King Edward II tried to influence the decision in favor of his candidate Puzzuoli. On July 21, 1319, the election of Hythe was finally confirmed by the Curia, and on August 26, he was ordained bishop in Avignon. He then returned to England. On December 2, Archbishop Reynolds gave him the Spiritualia and on December 5, the king gave him the diocesan temporalia . On January 13, 1320, Hythe was enthroned in Rochester. At that time he was heavily in debt and had to pay 1450 florins to the curia, which he did by February 1321. But even after his enthronement, Hythe led a bitter dispute with the Archbishop over the amount of the reimbursement of the income from the Temporalien, which had been administered by Archbishop Reynolds after the death of Bishop Wouldham.

Political activity during the reign of Edward II.

Although Hythe had a good relationship with Edward II as a bishop, he held back politically. But he was evidently well informed about the situation at the royal court and about the political situation, as the Historia Roffensis written by William de Dene , one of Hythe's officials, makes clear. Because of his often compromised health and the relative poverty of his diocese, Hythe apologized when he was offered diplomatic missions. However, he devoted a lot of time to expanding his episcopal residences, particularly in Halling and Trottiscliffe in northern Kent. In contrast to several other bishops, he openly distrusted the barons who rebelled against the king in the Despenser War from 1321 , especially Bartholomew de Badlesmere , a baron from Kent he thought was a liar. The king was able to put down the rebellion in 1322, and Hythe continued to support the policies of Edward II for the next few years. When Queen Isabelle refused to return to England from a diplomatic mission in France in 1325 in protest against the influence of the Despensers on the king, Hythe advised 1326 the king to divorce the queen. The king now feared an invasion of his opponents, and in the event of an invasion Hythe was to assist the Earl of Norfolk in raising troops in Essex and Hertfordshire . When the queen actually landed in England in September 1326 with Roger Mortimer , other supporters and an army to overthrow the king, the reign of Edward II quickly collapsed. Hythe was in London in October where rioting and looting broke out. He refused to accompany both Bishop John Stratford of Winchester and Archbishop Reynolds, both of whom wished to go to Isabelle as intermediaries. Reynolds finally fled London with horses from Hythe, who then had to flee London on foot.

Activity under Edward III.

During a parliament on January 13, 1327, Hythe rejected the deposition of Edward II and a little later was one of the four prelates who refused to accept the new King Edward III. To pledge allegiance. However, he attended his coronation on February 2nd. He is said to have campaigned for the coronation oath to include the addition that the king had to swear to comply with laws passed by the community of the empire. But Hythe soon came to terms with the new government. He met King and Queen Isabelle on pilgrimage to Canterbury during Lent in 1327, and refused to support the new Archbishop Simon Mepham when he rushed to support the opponents of the new ruler Mortimer. But when Mortimer urged him to become a member of the Council of State in June 1329, Hythe refused. During Lent in 1330, he refused to tax the clergy in favor of the government. After the young king overthrew Mortimer in a coup d'état in October 1330, Hythe supposedly could have become royal treasurer in 1332 , but he was reluctant to pay the cost. When the king in 1333 a campaign to Scotland led, Hythe presented in the Cinque Ports , a squad for the defense of the coasts. Even during the early years of the Hundred Years War he was involved in the organization of the coastal defense. However, he continued to avoid taking on political offices and limited himself to the administration of his diocese and building work.

Rochester Cathedral expanded under Hythe

Activity as bishop

During Hythe's tenure, the new crossing tower of Rochester Cathedral was built and the transepts were vaulted. Several times there was an argument between him and the monks of the cathedral priory. When Archbishop Mepham made a visit to the cathedral priory in 1329, Hythe was accused of not preaching, but being impatient and irascible. However, when numerous other prelates turned to the curia with complaints about Mepham in 1332, Hythe supported the archbishop. After Mepham's death in 1333, Hythe made one of his rare trips. He traveled to France and handed the pallium to the new Archbishop John Stratford, returning from Avignon , in Rue . From 1331 Hythe had a violent dispute with Bishop William Airmyn of Norwich, which was not settled until his death in 1336.

Resignation and death

In 1352 at the latest, Hythe resigned from office for health reasons. He was succeeded by John Sheppey , whom Hythe had selected in 1333 as the new prior of the cathedral priory. At Sheppey's request, Hythe received an annual pension of £ 40 from the Curia from June 1353 onwards. Hythe's year of death is unknown; he was last mentioned in May 1357.

literature

  • Charles Johnson (Ed.): Registrum Hamonis Hethe diocesis Roffensis: AD 1319-1352. ( The register of Hamo de Hethe, bishop of Rochester, 1319-52 ), 2 vol., University Press, Oxford 1948.
  • Roy Martin Haines: The episcopate of a Benedictine monk: Hamo de Hethe, bishop of Rochester . In: Revue Bénédictine , 102 (1992), pp. 192-207.

Web links

Commons : Hamo de Hythe  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Kathleen Edwards: The social origins and provenance of the English bishops during the reign of Edward II . In: Transactions of the Royal Historical Society , 9 (1959), p. 66.
  2. ↑ Seymour Phillips: Edward II . New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7 , pp. 394.
  3. ↑ Seymour Phillips: Edward II . New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7 , pp. 497.
  4. ↑ Seymour Phillips: Edward II . New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7 , p. 396
  5. ↑ Seymour Phillips: Edward II . New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7 , p. 391.
  6. ↑ Natalie Fryde: The tyranny and fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-521-54806-3 , p. 183.
  7. ↑ Natalie Fryde: The tyranny and fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-521-54806-3 , p. 193.
  8. ↑ Seymour Phillips: Edward II . New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7 , pp. 536.
  9. ^ Rochester Cathedral: A Brief History. Retrieved September 20, 2018 .
predecessor Office successor
Thomas Wouldham Bishop of Rochester
1317-1352 		John Sheppey
personal data
SURNAME Hythe, Hamo
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hethe, Hamo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English religious, Bishop of Rochester
DATE OF BIRTH around 1270
PLACE OF BIRTH Hythe (Kent)
DATE OF DEATH after May 1357