Thomas Cobham (Bishop)

Thomas Cobham (* around 1265; † August 27, 1327 ) was an English diplomat and clergyman. From 1317 he was Bishop of Worcester .

origin

Thomas Cobham was the sixth son of John Cobham († 1300) and his wife, a daughter of Sir Robert Septvans . His father was a landowner with properties in Cobham and Cooling , Kent . There is no reliable information about his youth, but from 1284 he received an annual pension of five  marks from the Cathedral Priory of Canterbury . Allegedly he taught as a Regius at three universities. First he taught the liberal arts at the University of Paris before he taught canon law at the University of Oxford and later in Cambridge in 1292 . Before 1314 he obtained a doctorate in theology at Cambridge .

Service as an English diplomat

Cobham entered the service of the crown as a civil servant and diplomat and was primarily entrusted with negotiations with France and with matters relating to Gascony in southwest France, which belonged to the English kings . From 1305 to 1306 he was on behalf of Edward I as envoy to the papal curia . Edward II commissioned him in December 1309 to examine the armistice with France, for which he should then report to parliament in February 1310 . In November 1310 he was sent with other envoys to Gascony, where he stayed until the spring of 1311. As the king's lawyer, he was supposed to examine laws for Gascony in April 1311 and report them to the Privy Council . On May 20, 1311 he was supposed to travel to Paris for negotiations, and in the further course of the year he was to negotiate with French delegates in Montreuil together with Gilbert Peche . He was supposed to demand compensation for English merchants who had suffered losses due to armistice violations. During the crisis following the illicit return of the royal favorite Piers Gaveston , Cobham was one of the king's advisers in York in February 1312 , but on April 10 he traveled from London to France to excuse the English king, whose vassal service was the French king had requested. On June 4, 1312 Cobham returned to England. After Gaveston's execution by opposition barons, Edward II sent Cobham to France in August 1312, along with Henry de Beaumont and the Earl of Pembroke to seek support for Edward II from the French king. In the autumn of 1312, an experienced diplomat, Cobham was allowed to negotiate directly with France over Gascony. In February 1313 he was again in Paris as the English ambassador.

Advancement as a clergyman

Cobham received numerous benefits for his services . He received his first office in 1288 from Archbishop Pecham in Hollingbourne in Kent. In 1306 he received a dispensation so that in addition to his offices as rector of Hollingbourne, Boxley , Hackney and Rotherfield, he could also be canons at the cathedrals of St Paul's in London , Hereford and Wells . Before 1301 he was Archdeacon of Lewes and in 1312 Precentor of York Minster . Despite this large number of spiritual offices, he had only been ordained a subdeacon until 1317 . In late May or early June 1313, Cobham was elected the new Archbishop of Canterbury by the monks of Canterbury Cathedral Priory . He was apparently a compromise candidate and was chosen mainly because of his origin from the ecclesiastical province of Canterbury . At the time, Cobham was still in Paris with Edward II, where he accepted the election on June 8th. However, the king hesitated to agree, and when a delegation of monks traveled to the Curia in Avignon , they learned that Pope Clement V had decided on April 27 to appoint the next Archbishop of Canterbury himself. On October 1, 1313, he canceled the election of Cobham and instead appointed Walter Reynolds , a confidante of the king, as the new archbishop. The rejection of Cobham was criticized by contemporary chroniclers, but in view of the difficult relationship between the late Archbishop Winchelsey and the king, the Pope was apparently anxious to end the dispute by appointing an archbishop agreeable to the king.

Bishop of Worcester

Political activity as a bishop

The failed election as archbishop ended Cobham's activity as a diplomat in the service of the crown. As compensation, the Pope appointed Cobham Bishop of the Diocese of Worcester on March 31, 1317, apparently through the active sponsorship of Archbishop Reynolds . On May 22, 1317 he was ordained bishop in Avignon and on November 20 the temporalities of the diocese were given to him . As bishop Cobham tried, together with the other English bishops, to mediate between the king and the Earl of Lancaster, who was at war with them. The beginning of April 1318 was in Leicester, where negotiations between the bishops and some negotiating barons with Lancaster were probably taking place. In June 1318 he was one of the nine bishops who witnessed the outcome of the negotiations that led to the Treaty of Leake , concluded on August 9th . Cobham testified with the agreement and was a member of the permanent council of state formed under this agreement. After the Parliament of October 1320 in Westminster he reported in a letter to the Curia about his assessment of the political situation in England. The King would have been very active in the discussions during Parliament, and Cobham believed that Edward II would now, after the reconciliation with Lancaster, deal with the day-to-day affairs of government. Cobham soon realized his misjudgment when the greed for possessions and power of the royal favorite Hugh le Despenser led to the conflict with the Marcher Lords , the so-called Despenser War . Worcester was also sacked during the Civil War and the shrine of Saint Oswald in the cathedral was desecrated. Through the mediation of several bishops, an agreement was reached between the king and the rebels in London in July. Cobham was in London at the time, but he did not appear to have played a role in the negotiations. In the negotiations, the king had to consent to Hugh le Despenser and his father of the same name being banished from England. From autumn the king took military action against the rebels, while the Despensers returned to England. The king tried to get the bishops to meet at St Paul's Cathedral in December 1321 to approve the return of the Despensers. In his response to the invitation, Cobham replied that, given the time of year, he would not make it to London for the meeting in time, and in general he was in favor of the despensers being debated not only by the bishops but also by a parliament. The king succeeded in 1322 in defeating the rebels completely. The bishops, whom he accused of supporting the rebels, were not under royal jurisdiction, but the king confiscated the temporalities of several bishops. In 1324 Cobham campaigned in vain on behalf of the bishops whose estates had been confiscated, and in November 1324 he was among the bishops who met with papal envoys in London to discuss peace in the war with France .

Cobham still held onto the rule of Edward II, even after Queen Isabelle landed with an army in England in September 1326 to overthrow the rule of the king. The ailing Cobham then traveled to London to attend a meeting of the bishops there and to try to reconcile Edward II with his wife Isabelle. To this end, he wanted to be treated by a doctor in London and to push for the continuation of trials at the royal court and the spiritual court for Canterbury. He also wanted to fulfill a vow and make a pilgrimage to the shrine of Thomas Becket in Canterbury. However, since the King had already fled London, negotiations did not take place and Cobham could not travel to Canterbury because of his pain. He asked his friend, Adam Orleton, Bishop of Hereford, to apologize to the Queen, offered her the use of his London town house and hoped that a parliament would soon restore political order. He stayed in London and on October 26, 1326 was one of the bishops who met fearfully in Lambeth in view of the unrest in the city . Due to his illness, he played no active role in the events that followed and in the overthrow of the government of Edward II.

Spiritual activity

Because of his political activities, Cobham did not arrive in Worcester until March 1319, two years after his appointment as bishop. On October 28, 1319, he was enthroned in Worcester Cathedral . As bishop he diligently and conscientiously administered his diocese. In November 1319 he made a first visit to his diocese. Most of the visits were done by officials, but Cobham personally visited many monasteries. The visitation was not yet completed in 1321 when he had to travel to Scotland to negotiate with King Robert I by order of the king . As bishop, he ordained most of the priesthood himself in his diocese. When he had to appoint a representative because of illness in December 1323, he was only his second representative at ordinations. After a long and serious illness, he probably died in Hartlebury . While he was still alive, he provided money to build a meeting house for Oxford University that was adjacent to the University Church of St Mary the Virgin to the north . The house was to house its library, but to cover the additional construction costs, Cobham's executor had to sell the books to Adam Brome , Provost of Oriel College . Cobham bequeathed his mess utensils and vestments to Worcester Cathedral, where he was also buried.

rating

Cobham was a capable diplomat and a good civil servant, but not a power-conscious politician. Despite his diplomatic and political experience, he did not have the political importance of Bishops Adam Orleton and John Stratford during the political crises during the reign of Edward II .

Web links

• Roy Martin Haines: Cobham, Thomas (c. 1265-1327). 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 Robert Maddicott: Thomas of Lancaster, 1307-1322. A Study in the Reign of Edward II. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1970, p. 133.
2. ^ Robert John Wright: The Church and the English Crown, 1305-1334: a study based on the Register of Archbishop Walter Reynolds . Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, Toronto 1980, ISBN 0-88844-048-0 , p. 95.
3. ↑ John Robert Maddicott: Thomas of Lancaster, 1307-1322. A Study in the Reign of Edward II. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1970, p. 215.
4. ↑ John Robert Maddicott: Thomas of Lancaster, 1307-1322. A Study in the Reign of Edward II. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1970, p. 257.
5. ^ Roy Martin Haines: The church and politics in fourteenth-century England: the career of Adam Orleton, c.1275-1345 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1978, ISBN 0-511-56025-7 , p. 132.
6. ^ Roy Martin Haines: The church and politics in fourteenth-century England: the career of Adam Orleton, c.1275-1345 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1978, ISBN 0-511-56025-7 , p. 124.
7. ^ Roy Martin Haines: Cobham, Thomas (c. 1265-1327). 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 Maidstone	Bishop of Worcester 1317-1327	Adam Orleton