Walter Haselshaw

Walter Haselshaw (also Hestelshagh ) († December 11, 1308 ) was an English clergyman. From 1302 he was Bishop of Bath and Wells . He was a conscientious cleric, ready to reform, who on the other hand defended the traditions and rights of his diocese against the influence of popes and kings.

origin

Haselshaw probably came from the small village of Helshaw near Eaton in Shropshire and came from a gentry family with little land holdings. In his later life, as a vassal of Theobald de Verdon, 1st Baron Verdon , he probably owned land near his place of birth. He felt a lifelong bond with his family and supported several of his relatives in the course of his spiritual career.

Advancement as a clergyman

Little is known about the beginning of his career as a clergyman, except that he did not attend university. For the first time he is in 1283 as a canon of the Cathedral of Wells mentioned when he the cathedral chapter before King I. Eduard represented. Before 1286 he became Archdeacon of Wells and in late 1295 he was elected Dean of the Cathedral Chapter to succeed William Burnell . The choice of the experienced clergyman, Haselshaw, corresponded to the applicable canon law , while his predecessor as dean had been a notorious beneficiary and probably received the office mainly because of his kinship to the chancellor and former bishop Robert Burnell . Haselshaw also performed his office as dean conscientiously. During his tenure, reforms were implemented both in the administration of the cathedral chapter and in the conduct of church services. The administrative reforms included a regulation on the safekeeping of the documents of the cathedral chapter. The liturgical reforms included a regulation as to which liturgical colors should be worn for which divine services. Haselshaw made sure that the applicable rules for the solemn holding of services in the cathedral were also observed. With this he tried to increase the dignity and priority of the cathedral. In 1297 and 1298, new rules were enacted for the cathedral choir and for the staff employed at the cathedral, with which the cathedral chapter tried to influence the lives of the choir members and staff outside of the services. Haselshaw was certainly involved in the planning for the construction of the Cathedral's Lady Chapel .

The Lady Chapel of Wells Cathedral, designed from Haselshaw's tenure as dean

Bishop of Bath and Wells

After the death of Bishop William March Haselshaw was elected on August 7, 1302 as the new bishop of the Diocese of Bath and Wells . His election was probably due to his previous good work as dean, although he was the only dean of Wells Cathedral to be elected bishop of the diocese during the Middle Ages. Remarkably, he was apparently elected freely, while at that time the English kings or the popes often had considerable influence on the elections of bishops. Also, unlike many other bishops of his time, Haselshaw had not studied. On September 12, 1302, Haselshaw was given the diocesan temporalities and on November 4, he was ordained bishop in Canterbury . As bishop, he was careful to preserve the independence of the diocese and the two chapters of Bath and Wells Cathedral . He resisted the bestowal of offices and benefices at Wells Cathedral by the popes, although they put him under pressure. Haselshaw is said to have said that a Pope should never assign offices to Wells Cathedral. This attitude must have pleased the English kings. Unlike many bishops, he played no political role, except that he raised and kept funds to finance a planned crusade. But he resisted attempts to entrust members of the mendicant orders with the duties of secular clergy. Otherwise, he was mainly concerned with the affairs of Wells Cathedral and less with other matters of his diocese. He not only granted new privileges to Wells Cathedral but also to Bath , so that he was fondly remembered there too.

After his death he was buried under a large bream in Wells Cathedral, making him one of the few clergymen who received such a funerary monument. Due to the negligence of his executor , his register of documents has not been preserved.

Web links

• David Gary Shaw: Haselshaw, Walter (d.1308). 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. ^ Kathleen Edwards: The social origins and provenance of the English bishops during the reign of Edward II . In: Transactions of the Royal Historical Society , 9 (1959), p. 59.
2. ↑ Jane Fawcett: Historic Floors , Taylor & Francis, London 2007, ISBN 978-1-136-39856-8 , p. 34.

predecessor	Office	successor
William March	Bishop of Bath and Wells 1302-1308	John Droxford