John of Fountains

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The ruins of Fountains Abbey, which were continued under Abbot John

John of Fountains († May 6, 1225 ) was an English prelate who was abbot of Fountains Abbey and then bishop of the Diocese of Ely .

Abbot of Fountains Abbey

Nothing is known about the origins and life of John before he became abbot of the Cistercian Abbey of Fountains Abbey , after which he was later named. On December 13, 1211 he was appointed Abbot of Fountains by the Bishop of Down at Melrose Abbey . Little is known about his tenure in Fountains Abbey, under him the construction of the monastery church continued. The General Chapter of the Cistercian Order commissioned him in 1212 to carry out a visitation in the Norwegian Lyse Monastery , which was a subsidiary of Fountains Abbey . Obviously he ignored this invitation. In 1214 he was to travel again to Lysi with the abbot of Kirkstead Abbey to investigate grievances there. 1219 he should on behalf of Pope Honorius III. together with Archbishop Stephen Langton of Canterbury and Bishop William of Cornhill of Coventry examine the life and reported miracles of Bishop Hugo of Lincoln in preparation for his canonization .

Elected Bishop of Ely

His contact with Archbishop Langton may have influenced his election as Bishop of Ely . There was a controversial election there in 1215, when the monks of the cathedral priory first elected Geoffrey de Burgh , the brother of the powerful justiciary Hubert de Burgh, as the new bishop. In a second election, however, Master Robert of York was chosen, who had been a confidante of the late Bishop Eustace . Although Robert was never ordained bishop, he apparently held the office of bishop for several years until the Pope invalidated both elections in May 1219. The Pope instructed his legate Pandulf and Archbishop Langton and Bishop Richard Poore of Salisbury to nominate a new candidate for the office of bishop. On January 16, 1220, they reported to the Pope that they had agreed on Abbot John of Fountains, to whom the temporalities were handed over on January 20, 1220 . On March 8, 1220, John was ordained bishop in London by Archbishop Langton and enthroned as bishop on March 15 in Ely .

Acting as Bishop of Ely

In 1221, John, along with Bishop Richard Poore, was to investigate the Durham Cathedral Priory's complaints about Bishop Richard Marsh . John's experience in preparing for the canonization of Hugo von Lincoln led to his appointment in 1223 as head of a commission to investigate the miracles attributed to William of York . This led to the canonization of Wilhelm in 1227. Politically, however, he was hardly active as a bishop. Several times he had to defend the privileges and rights of his diocese against the sheriff of Cambridgeshire . In 1223 he was a member of an English embassy to France, and he was one of the many landowners in Central England who were enemies with Falkes de Bréauté , a former favorite of King John Ohneland . When Falkes rebelled against the king in 1224, this is probably why Bishop John was present at the siege of Bedford Castle on July 20, 1224 . On February 11, 1225 he testified with the renewed recognition of the Magna Carta by the young King Henry III.

Allegedly, John was popular as a bishop, and it appears that Ely had a period of economic growth under him. He confirmed the donations of his predecessors to the monks of the cathedral priory, in addition he gave them the rights to the churches of Witchford and Meldreth . He left his liturgical vestments in his will to the cathedral priory and was buried in Ely Cathedral.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ David Carpenter: The minority of Henry III. University of California Press, Berkeley 1990. ISBN 0-520-07239-1 , p. 334
predecessor Office successor
Robert of York Bishop of Ely
1220-1225 		Geoffrey de Burgh
personal data
SURNAME John of Fountains
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English prelate
DATE OF BIRTH 12th Century
DATE OF DEATH May 6, 1225