Sewal de Bovill

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sewal de Bovill's grave in York Minster

Sewal de Bovill (also Sewallus de Bowill ) († May 10, 1258 ) was an English clergyman. From 1256 he was Archbishop of York .

Ascent to bishop

Sewal de Bovill's origins are unknown, he was probably an illegitimate son. He studied at Oxford , where Edmund of Abingdon was his teacher. In 1236 he received benefices as canons in York and Southwell . Bovill received a doctorate in theology and became Chancellor of Oxford University before 1244 . He was later extolled for his erudition, but only a short text of his works has survived. From 1245 to 1248 he was Archdeacon of York. In 1248 he became dean of York Minster . When Archbishop Walter de Gray died in 1255 , the Cathedral Chapter elected Sewal as the new Archbishop of York. King Henry III however, because of Sewal's illegitimate birth, refused to approve the election. The cathedral chapter then turned to Pope Alexander IV on October 1, 1255 , who finally issued a dispensation for the illegitimate birth and confirmed the election. In return, the Pope claimed the right to appoint a new dean to succeed Sewal. On May 4, 1256, the king gave up his opposition to the election of Seval, who was ordained archbishop on July 23, 1256 by Bishop Walter de Cantilupe of Worcester. Thus, the election of Sewal as bishop, as in other elections before, was successful despite the initial resistance of the king.

Archbishop of York

No register of his documents has survived from Sewal's short term of office . In 1257 the Pope named Jordan , who came from Italy, as the new dean of York Minster. Sewal refused to appoint it, after which he was excommunicated by the Pope and suspended as archbishop. Because of his resistance to the Pope, Sewal became extremely popular in York. Eventually Godfrey de Ludham was installed as the new dean while Jordan was resigned to a pension. The excommunication and suspension were lifted with this compromise.

Sewal encouraged the worship of his former teacher, the now canonized Edmund of Abingdon. In March 1257 he was given permission to make a pilgrimage to his shrine in the Pontigny monastery in France, but it is unknown whether he still made this trip. On July 20, 1257, the king instructed him in the dispute between the Scottish King Alexander III. and to mediate its barons. 1257 is also incorrectly given as Sewal's year of death. After his death he was buried in York Minster.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ David M. Smith: Ludham, Godfrey de (d. 1265). 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
  2. ↑ Walter Mohr: Studies on the intellectual and rule history of the Middle Ages . Steiner, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-515-07834-7 , p. 250
  3. ^ David M. Smith: Ludham, Godfrey de (d. 1265). 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
Walter de Gray Archbishop of York
1255–1258 		Godfrey de Ludham
personal data
SURNAME Sewal de Bovill
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sewallus de Bowill
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English clergyman, Archbishop of York
DATE OF BIRTH 12th century or 13th century
DATE OF DEATH May 10, 1258