Urban (bishop)

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Urban (also Gwrgan ) († before October 9, 1134 ) was a Welsh clergyman. From 1107 he was Bishop of Glamorgan . Urban tried to expand the area of ​​his diocese beyond the area of ​​the Glamorgan rule, but failed. However, he succeeded in maintaining the area of ​​the now diocese of Llandaff , and in consolidating the borders.

Origin and promotion to bishop

It is not clear whether Urban was English or Welsh. Of his four known brothers, two had a Welsh name and two had a Norman name. Before becoming a bishop, he was a priest in Worcester , but he also had close links with the spiritual community in Llancarfan, Welsh . Urban served the Southeast Welsh Bishop Herewald as archdeacon and was apparently familiar with the specifics of the Welsh Church in the region. After Herewald died in 1104, the diocese, the center of which was Glamorgan, initially remained vacant . When the English King Henry I reached an agreement with Archbishop Anselm of Canterbury in 1107 on the right to occupy the English dioceses, Urban was one of the first bishops to be proposed by the king. He was also the first bishop installed in Wales by the Norman conquerors . The Norman barons of Glamorgan had apparently not influenced the election of bishops, but Anselm was probably asked by clergy from the region to ordain Urban bishop. Urban was ordained bishop by Anselm on August 11, 1107 and became the first Welsh bishop to pledge obedience to the English archbishop .

Llandaff Cathedral begun by Urban

Activity as bishop

Consolidation of the diocese

Urban regularly participated in provincial synods and often in the ordination of new bishops. Occasionally he was also at the court of Henry I in England or in Normandy . He initially called himself Bishop of Glamorgan , but Urban claimed an area for his diocese that was larger than this rule. First, he turned against the Norman nobles and settlers who, during the Norman conquest of Wales, had taken advantage of the weakness of Urban’s ancient predecessor, Herewald, and brought land that the Church claimed under their control. Even during the first few years of Urban’s tenure, the Normans had occupied land and founded churches and monasteries that were under their control rather than the supervision of the bishop. Urban now resolutely defended the church property and reclaimed unjustly occupied territories, which led to conflicts with the Norman barons Brian FitzCount , Bernard de Neufmarché and especially with Earl Robert of Gloucester .

Conflict with the neighboring dioceses of Hereford and St David's

Urban's second concern was his claim to areas belonging to the Dioceses of Hereford and St David's . To confirm his claim, he sought support from provincial synods and the curia . In 1119 he traveled to France, where Pope Calixt II listened benevolently in Soissons and during the third council on Reims Urban's concerns. From that year onwards, Urban’s Diocese was increasingly referred to as the Diocese of Llandaff. Calixt II turned to the Norman barons in Glamorgan and tried to convince them to return the occupied property of the diocese. To this end, he turned to the administrators of the vacant Diocese of Hereford, so that the Diocese of Llandaff received the claimed Archenfield , and to Bishop Bernard of St David's, so that Ystrad Tywi , Gower , Cydweli and Cantref Bychan should fall to Llandaff. Urban renewed his claims in these areas in 1125 at the Council of London chaired by the papal legate Giovanni da Crema , cardinal priest of San Crisogono . Then Giovanni da Crema visited the diocese of Llandaff in 1125, making him the first papal legate to visit a Welsh diocese. The cardinal confirmed that the diocese was impoverished by the loss of the lands and praised the construction of the Llandaff Cathedral , which Urban began around 1120 and which would become the center of his diocese. The old, small church of Llandaff was dedicated to the Welsh Saint Euddogwy . Urban expanded the patronage of the new cathedral to include that of Simon Peter , with which he wanted to signal his commitment to the Roman Church, as well as the Welsh saints Teilo and Dyfrig . Dyfrig was especially revered in parts of Herefordshire, and Teilo in West Wales. With these two patronages, Urban reaffirmed his extended territorial claims. In 1126, Urban achieved success in the conflict with the Norman barons when, in 1126 in the presence of the king at Woodstock, he made an agreement with Robert of Gloucester. In this the rights of the bishop were precisely described and delimited from the rights of the barons. In 1127 Urban renewed his territorial claims without success at another council in London.

Further disputes over the area of ​​the diocese, trips to Rome and death

In 1128 Urban traveled to Rome to again represent his claims before the Curia. The new Pope Honorius II was also initially inclined to uphold Urban’s claims. Urban's opponent, Bishop Richard de Capella of Hereford, had died the previous year, and Bishop Bernard of St David's had not gone to Rome, so the Curia eventually upheld Urban's claims. After Urban's departure, however, Bishop Bernard appeared in Rome in April 1129. He was able to refute Urban accusations against him, so that Urban now had to defend himself. His friends in Rome warned him that things would turn out badly for his concerns, and the new Pope Innocent II , who had also been well-disposed to him at the beginning, was increasingly critical of his claims. Urban's opponents complained that the Diocese of Hereford had been disadvantaged as the Curia decided the dispute only after the death of Bishop Richard de Capella and before the appointment of Bishop Robert de Bethune . As a result, the concessions that the curia had made to Urban were revoked. Urban was now to answer to the fourth council of Reims in 1131. However, while Bernard of St David's was attending the council, an illness prevented Urban from attending. The Pope then referred the dispute to several English clergy who were to decide it. These ultimately rejected Urban’s claims. As a result, Urban began another trip to Rome in 1134, during which he died.

The cover of the Liber Landavensis , the Book of Llandaff completed under Urban

Others

Urban had the final version of the Book of Llandaff drawn up. This collection of historical texts contains many proofs of ownership of the diocese of Llandaff, which, however, had already been expanded and partly inflated in previous versions. Urban used this as legitimation for his own claims. Nicholas ap Gwrgan , who became Bishop of Llandaff in 1148, is sometimes referred to as the son of Urban, but this is not documented.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Rees R. Davies: The Age of Conquest. Wales 1063-1415. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1991, ISBN 0-19-820198-2 , p. 40
  2. ^ David Walker: Medieval Wales . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1990, ISBN 0-521-31153-5 , p. 69
  3. ^ Rees R. Davies: The Age of Conquest. Wales 1063-1415. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1991, ISBN 0-19-820198-2 , p. 179
  4. ^ David Walker: Medieval Wales . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1990. ISBN 0-521-31153-5 , p. 69
  5. ^ David Walker: Medieval Wales . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1990. ISBN 0-521-31153-5 , p. 70
  6. ^ Rees R. Davies: The Age of Conquest. Wales 1063-1415. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1991, ISBN 0-19-820198-2 , p. 192
  7. ^ David Walker: Medieval Wales . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1990. ISBN 0-521-31153-5 , p. 70
predecessor Office successor
Herewald Bishop of Llandaff
1140–1148 		Uthred
personal data
SURNAME Urban
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gwrgan
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Welsh clergyman, Bishop of Llandaff
DATE OF BIRTH 11th century
DATE OF DEATH before October 9, 1134