Hugh de Nonant

Hugh de Nonant († March 27, 1198 in Le Bec Abbey ) was an Anglo-Norman clergyman. From 1185 he was bishop of the English diocese of Coventry .

Origin and education

Hugh de Nonant came from a Norman family to which several clergy came from. His maternal uncle was Bishop Arnulf von Lisieux . With him Nonant was brought up to be a clergyman, and this also procured him a first benefice in La Chapelle-Hareng near Thibouville . Probably also from his uncle Nonant received further benefices in the region of Gacé near Nonant in the later Calvados department , after which he received his nickname. These offices included the deacon of Gacé, a benefice in Croisilles and the archdeacon of Lisieux . For further training Nonant was apparently sent to Canterbury , where he presumably acquired his legal and rhetorical knowledge.

Rise to Bishop of Coventry

1164 Nonant belonged to the retinue of Archbishop Thomas Becket of Canterbury, with whom he went into exile due to his dispute with King Henry II . In 1170, however, Nonant was in the service of the king, whose friend and confidante he became. It is said that Nonant succeeded Walter de Coutance as Archdeacon of Oxford when he became Bishop of Lincoln in 1183. On the other hand, Nonant had resigned his office as archdeacon of Lisieux before 1181. Since there is no evidence that Nonant was actually an archdeacon of Oxford, he was likely mistaken for John de Coutances , a nephew of Walter de Coutances, who was appointed archdeacon of Oxford by his uncle as treasurer of the Diocese of Lisieux . In 1184 the king sent Nonant as an envoy to Pope Lucius III. , in which he should campaign in favor of the Saxon Duke Heinrich the Lion , a son-in-law of the king. His mission was successful, and probably as a reward he was nominated in January 1185 as a candidate for the office of Bishop of Coventry.

Advisor and envoy in the service of Heinrich II.

Although he was elected bishop in 1185, Nonant continued to serve primarily as a royal envoy for the next several years. This led to the fact that he was only ordained bishop almost three years after his election. In 1186 the king sent him again to Rome, where he was supposed to get the Pope's permission to have the youngest son of the king, John, crowned King of Ireland. The Pope appointed him papal legate , and Nonant returned to England with Cardinal Deacon Ottaviano di Paoli . They reached Dover on Christmas Eve 1186 , and via Canterbury they reached London on the New Year. Archbishop Baldwin of Canterbury immediately protested to the king against Nonant's office as legate . Baldwin found himself in a heated argument with his cathedral priory over the establishment of a collegiate monastery in Hackington , and he felt the appointment of a papal legate to England as an interference with his authority as Primate of England. Baldwin managed to get the king to delay the appointment of Nonant as a legate. After Nonant, together with the Bishops John of Norwich and William of Worcester, had tried in vain to mediate in the dispute between Baldwin and his cathedral priory, he accompanied the king to France in February 1187. He is mentioned in France on January 1, 1188, after which he returned to England on January 30, 1188, together with Archbishop Baldwin, who finally consecrated him as bishop in Lambeth on January 31, 1188 . On February 11, 1188, Nonant took part in the council meeting in Geddington , where he stood up in favor of Baldwin against the monks of the cathedral priory of Canterbury. In March he traveled to France again, where from July 1188 he again belonged to Henry II's entourage. In June 1189 he was still part of the royal entourage at the negotiations in La Ferté-Bernard , and he was probably with the king when he died on July 6th. On the orders of Heinrich's son and heir Richard I , Nonant returned to England in August. There he took part in Richard's coronation at Westminster Abbey and on September 15, 1189 in the council of Pipewell , where the king was preparing his crusade .

Bishop under Richard I.

Conflict with Coventry Cathedral Priory

During this time there was a heated argument between Nonant and the monks of his cathedral priory in Coventry . Like Archbishop Baldwin and numerous other English bishops, he considered a cathedral priory occupied by monks to be anachronistic. It is believed that on October 9, 1189, a violent argument broke out between the bishop and the monks at the cathedral priory. The bishop urged probably without permission in the exam one. In the following argument, the bishop was probably injured while the prior fled. When the priory was stormed, the monastery documents and parts of the buildings were destroyed and the remaining monks were driven away. On October 22, 1189, Nonant complained to a bishops' meeting in Westminster about the resistance of the monks, and he even prophesied to the king that within two months not a single monk would live in an English cathedral priory. Allegedly, Nonant is said to have offered the king 300 marks if he would approve of his attack on the cathedral priory. Instead of the cathedral priory, he founded a collegiate foundation for secular canons in Coventry . The community of monks of the cathedral priory probably remained, because it is mentioned in a court hearing in 1194. Even before Nonant's death, the collegiate foundation was dissolved again in January 1197.

Sheriff against canon law

King Richard sold numerous offices to finance his crusade. Bishop Nonant was sheriff of Warwickshire , Leicestershire and Staffordshire for 200 marks . As bishop he was not allowed to exercise these profitable secular offices according to the regulations of the Third Lateran Council , which led to an open dispute with Archbishop Baldwin of Canterbury. King Richard left England in late 1189. After his departure, a power struggle quickly broke out between Bishops William de Longchamp and Hugh de Puiset , who had been appointed by the king to be justiciar . The king, who was still in Normandy , then called a royal council for February 2, 1190. Nonant was one of the large group of bishops who accompanied the two justiciare to the council meeting in Normandy. Archbishop Baldwin, who himself wanted to take part in the crusade, called a church council meeting in Westminster for February 19. Then he traveled to Normandy on March 6th. In Rouen , he deposed Nonant as bishop, if he did not renounce his sheriff's office. Nonant then declared in letters to the king and the archbishop that he would resign from office. Archbishop Baldwin then informed Bishop Richard Fitz Nigel of London, who had remained in England , that Nonant would resign, otherwise he would be deposed as bishop. Nevertheless, Nonant did not seem to keep his promise and, as bishop, retained his offices as sheriff.

Opponent of William de Longchamp

At that time Nonant had a good relationship with Bishop William de Longchamp, who had succeeded in ousting Hugh de Puiset as Justiciar. At a council meeting in Westminster on October 13, 1190, the bishops of Nonant supported the action against the monks of his cathedral priory, who were actually expelled on Christmas Eve 1190. By the autumn of 1191, however, there was a crisis in England. Johann Ohneland , Count of Mortain and younger brother of King Richard, tried to seize power as his brother's potential heir to the throne while he was away. There was a power struggle with the Justiciar, which had almost led to an armed conflict. It was only when the king sent Archbishop Walter de Coutances of Rouen back to England with full powers that the danger of civil war was averted. Geoffrey , a half-brother of the king and Archbishop of York, also tried to expand his influence. When Archbishop Geoffrey was translating from Normandy to England, he was arrested in Dover at Longchamp's behest. Nonant brought news of Geoffrey's capture to Johann Ohneland in Lancaster at the end of September and urged him to act. Johann took advantage of this opportunity to take action against Longchamp, who was unpopular with the barons. The capture of Geoffrey has now been compared to the martyrdom of Thomas Becket, whereupon the magnates and bishops who remained in England allied against the Justiciar Longchamp. Nonant was now firmly on the side of Johann Ohneland. Apparently he also served as his advisor, attending the October 5th meeting of the magnates in Reading , from which Longchamp stayed away for fear of attack. There he translated King Richard's letter, written in Latin and brought by Walter de Coutances, into French so that the secular magnates could understand it. In the letter, the King authorized Coutances to take over the reign on an equal footing with Longchamp. The next day, a Sunday, Nonant and two other bishops visited Longchamp in Windsor Castle and tried unsuccessfully to persuade him to meet with Johann and the other magnates. After failing, the bishops excommunicated all those who had raised their hands against Archbishop Geoffrey of York during a mass. When it became known the following day that Longchamp had fled to London, Johann Ohneland and the bishops moved to London via Staines on the advice of Nonant . On the way there there was a brief skirmish with the entourage of Longchamp. When Longchamp appeared for the council meeting on October 10th, it was Nonant who spoke first. During the meeting, Longchamp had to resign from his position as legal advisor and was ousted. Nonant then traveled to Canterbury, where on November 27, 1191 he attended the election of Reginald fitz Jocelin as successor to Archbishop Baldwin, who died during the Crusade.

Against his former ally Longchamp, Nonant began a campaign to finally discredit him. He claimed that Longchamp escaped Dover disguised as a prostitute. His disguise is said to have previously been uncovered by a seaman who had spoken to him. After Longchamp fled England, he excommunicated Nonant and his other adversaries, which was simply ignored in England.

Activity after the return of King Richard

When Nonant learned of King Richard's imprisonment in Germany, he is said to have immediately collected money to support the king before he traveled to Germany. But on the way to Germany he is said to have been robbed. In Germany he met the king, but quickly returned to France. Because of his previous support for Johann Ohneland and his opposition to Longchamp, his relationship with the king was strained, and the treacherous behavior of his brother Robert Brito , who had refused to serve as a hostage for the king, made the relationship even more difficult. Soon after his return to England, Richard issued an order on March 31, 1194 that Nonant should answer for his misconduct as bishop and sheriff. For the high sum of 5,000 marks he was able to buy the king's grace, but his brother Robert Brito remained in captivity in Dover, where he died. Allegedly, Nonant is said to never have returned to England during Richard's reign, but to have stayed in France. According to several documents in which he installed clergy in his diocese, he was in England between 1193 and 1196. In the winter of 1196 to 1197 he is mentioned as a witness at court hearings at Westminster, and the settlement that Archbishop Hubert Walter made with the Canterbury Cathedral Priory between March 25 and May 31, 1197 for the establishment of a collegiate foundation in Lambeth was made by sealed with him. In mid-July 1197 Nonant was back in Normandy, where he died on Good Friday 1198 after a serious illness.

Although Nonant was only active as an ordained bishop for three years and was mainly politically active, quite a number of documents have been received from him that concern the interests of his diocese. Apart from his conflict with the cathedral priory, there is no apparent aversion to the religious orders in these documents. He is mistakenly ascribed rules for Lichfield Cathedral . After the dissolution of his collegiate foundation in Coventry, the cathedral priory was re-established there in January 1198. Fatally ill, Nonant, like numerous Norman nobles in the 11th and 12th centuries, entered the Benedictine order and therefore died in monastic robes in the Abbey of Le Bec .

Others

Nonant's letters and speeches were famous at the time. His expulsion of the monks of the cathedral chapter with the words To hell with the monks or the persecution of Longchamp to London to buy winter clothes have been mentioned in popular words and in contemporary chronicles. His description of Longchamp's escape from Dover in women's clothing shows pure venom and has been copied many times.

Web links

• MJ Franklin: Nonant, Hugh de (d. 1198). In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , from the earliest times to the year 2000 (ODNB). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861411-X , ( oxforddnb.com license required ), as of 2004

Individual evidence

1. ^ John Gillingham: Richard I. Yale University Press, New Haven 1999. ISBN 0-300-09404-3 , p. 269.

predecessor	Office	successor
Gerard Pucelle	Bishop of Coventry 1185–1198	Geoffrey de Muschamp