John de Pontoise

John de Pontoise (also John de Pontissara ) (* around 1240; † December 4, 1304 in Wolvesey Castle ) was an English clergyman. From 1282 he was Bishop of Winchester . Unlike Archbishop Robert Winchelsey and other bishops of his day, he was a loyal supporter of King Edward I.

Origin and studies

John de Pontoise is believed to have come from an Anglo-Norman family originally from the northern French city of Pontoise . He probably studied first at Oxford before continuing his studies at the University of Bologna . As early as 1262 he had the English King Heinrich III as a lawyer . represented at the French royal court. By 1270 he had obtained the title of Doctor of Roman Law when he was asked by the citizens of Modena to teach in the city for a year.

Rise to Bishop of Winchester

Already during his studies Pontoise received the rectorate of Welwick in Holderness as well as at least two other benefices in Yorkshire . So that he could take advantage of these benefits at the same time, he received a papal dispensation in 1264 . As a young clergyman, he and his mother Joan also received the Eastington estate on the Isle of Purbeck from Christchurch Priory in Twyneham for lifelong use. In May 1274 he was a canon at the cathedral of Exeter and in December 1274 the archdeacon of Exeter, in addition he was in 1275 rector of the Diocese of Exeter belonging Tawstock . Shortly afterwards he was sent to the Curia in Rome as a representative of the Canterbury Church Province , where he apparently stayed for a long time. In 1277 he served there as an attorney for Walter of Bronescombe , Bishop of Exeter, and from 1279 to 1282 as an attorney for Archbishop John Pecham . Before 1281 he was appointed papal chaplain , and after no successor could be found for Nicholas of Ely , Bishop of Winchester, who died in 1280, in two controversial elections , Pontoise, who was still in Rome, was elected by Pope Martin IV on June 9, 1282 . Appointed Bishop of the Diocese of Winchester . Among other things, King Edward I had tried to have his Chancellor Robert Burnell elected bishop of the rich diocese, but the election was not recognized by the Pope. Pontoise was ordained bishop before June 15, 1282 by Cardinal Latino Malabranca Orsini , Bishop of Ostia. Then he returned to England. On August 1, he swore obedience to Archbishop John Pecham, after which the diocesan temporalities were given to him on August 11 . In September 1282 he was enthroned in Winchester Cathedral .

Bishop of Winchester

Service to the king

Initially, Pontoise worked closely with Archbishop John Pecham, while the King added that he had been appointed bishop in place of his chancellor. But Pontoise soon managed to win Edward I's trust. As a lawyer and because of his good knowledge of the work of the papal curia, he became an important representative of the king. In 1285 he served as a representative at the French royal court and from 1287 to 1289 accompanied the king to Gascony, which belonged to the king . On his return to England, he and Chancellor Burnell led the legal proceedings against the royal ministers who were accused of abusing their offices during the king's absence. During the Franco-English War , from 1296 to 1298, he conducted peace negotiations with France and Pope Boniface VIII . In 1299 he led further negotiations in France and from 1300 to 1301 again in Rome and Paris before he was able to negotiate a final peace treaty in Paris in 1303 . Due to his work for both the king and the pope, he served together with Bishop Oliver Sutton of Lincoln from 1291 to 1292 as the collector of the controversial tithe that Pope Nicholas IV had imposed on the English clergy to finance another crusade by Edward I. .

Activity as bishop

Despite his frequent absence in the service of the king, Pontoise regularly took care of the administration of his diocese, to which he regularly returned during his stays in England. 1301 he founded in Winchester that the holy Elizabeth of Hungary dedicated to St. Elizabeth College for the training of priests. The oldest record of the Bishops of Winchester has survived from Pontoise's tenure . According to these documents, he took care of both the cathedral priory and the other monasteries and parishes of his diocese, but the register also contains documents that prove his service to the crown and his political relations with the French royal court and the curia. Because of his close contact with the king, Pontoise also had numerous opponents. As a bishop he was in sharp contrast to Archbishop Robert Winchelsey , who stubbornly defended the interests of the Church against interference by the Crown. This led to Pope Boniface VIII in 1297 making the diocese of Winchester exempt from the Archdiocese of Canterbury , which meant that Pontoise was no longer under the spiritual supervision of Winchelsey. After his death, he was accused of neglecting the episcopal possessions in an anonymously written report sent to Rome. Nevertheless, he is said to have managed to have amassed a large fortune. These claims cannot be substantiated, but they cannot be ruled out entirely.

Pontoise was buried in Winchester Cathedral. He must have supported Oxford University while he was still alive. In his will he donated 200 marks , which could be given as a loan to lecturers and students in Oxford.

Web links

• JH Denton: Pontoise, John de (c.1240-1304). 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

predecessor	Office	successor
Nicholas of Ely	Bishop of Winchester 1282-1304	Henry Woodlock