William of Bourges

Wilhelm von Bourges (also Wilhelm von Donjeon , French Guillaume de Bourges , Guillaume du Donjon and Guillaume Berruyer , Latin Guilelmus Bituricensis , * around 1150 in Arthel ( Nièvre ); † January 10, 1209 in Bourges ) was a French prelate and Archbishop of Bourges from 1200 until his death . Before that he was canon in Soissons and Notre-Dame de Paris , entered the order of Grandmont and some time later switched to the Cistercians .

He was on May 17, 1218 by Pope Honorius III. canonized. He is considered the patron saint of gunsmiths and the University of Paris . His feast day is January 10th.

Life

William of Donjeon was born around 1150 at Arthel Castle into the family of the Counts of Nevers . He was related to the Courtenay family, Mathilde von Courtenay was his niece.

He was brought up in Soissons under the supervision of his maternal uncle Pierre, who was archdeacon there, and canon there and later in Paris . He decided to retire to a monastery and entered the Order of Grandmont . Around 1180 he switched to the Cistercians . He became prior of Pontigny , then abbot of Fontaine-Saint-Jean ( Diocese of Soissons ) and Chaalis ( Diocese of Senlis ).

In 1200, after the death of Henri de Sully, Archbishop of Bourges († September 11, 1199), the canons of Bourges, who could not agree on a successor, asked Eudes de Sully , Bishop of Paris , to name a candidate that the King of France would also accept. Sully suggested Guillaume du Donjon, who was appointed by Philip August .

The new archbishop became very popular in his diocese because of his piety and humility. He supported Pope Innocent III. against King Philipp August, who had offended his wife Ingeborg of Denmark in 1193 .

At the Pope's request, he preached for the Albigensian Crusade and was preparing to leave when he fell ill and died. When miracles occurred at his grave, his successor Girard de Cros applied to the Pope for canonization in 1210, again in 1212 and 1215, now with the support of Adhémar VIII, Prior of Grandmont and the Cistercian Order. 1217 ordered the new Pope Honorius III. an investigation into Wilhelm's life and miracles and finally canonized him on May 17, 1218.

His body was buried in a shrine behind the main altar of Bourges Cathedral. The influx of pilgrims made his tomb one of the most important until the end of the Middle Ages; the cult decreased in the 15th century, in the 16th century its bones were burned and scattered by Protestants during the wars of religion.

The also canonized Archbishop (1232–1260) Philippe Berruyer was his nephew.

origin

The origin of Wilhelm is not clearly established.

Thaumas gives (1689) as Wilhelm's parents Baudoin de Corbeil dit de Beauvais (attested in 1111) and Eustache, daughter of Ferry de Châtillon et de Camtesse, who married a second time after Baudoin's death and was still alive in 1140 - which was the birth of Wilhelm around 1120 suggests. Among the Wilhelm siblings are:

• Baudoin de Corbeil, dit du Donjon, testified in 1142
• Guy de Corbeil, you dit Donjon, 1217 uncle of Robert de Courtenay called
• Eustache (according to other sources Helvis du Donjon), who married Renaud Sire de Courtenay et de Montargis before 1147 - her daughter Elisabeth / Isabeau de Courtenay in turn married Peter I of Courtenay , a younger son of King Louis the Fat ; Isabeau and Pierre are the grandparents of Mathilde von Courtenay , who afterwards is not a niece, but a grandniece of Wilhelm.

According to Thaumas, Baudoin also had a brother Ferry de Corbeil dit de Beauvais, who is attested with Baudoin in 1111.

Pattou, however, sees Wilhelm as the son of Ferry V. (de Corbeil), † 1180, and grandson of Ferry IV. (De Corbeil), † 1156, and a sister of Baudouin VI. de Beauvais - which supports the birth of Wilhelm around 1150. Ferry V. was married twice; the names of his wives are not known. In addition, Pattou places him in a Corbeil line of the confusing Le Riche family. Wilhelm comes from Ferry's second marriage, among his half-brothers are:

• Baudouin (de Corbeil), † 1205, who married Amicie de Breteuil († 1226), the daughter of Valéran III. Comte de Breteuil and Alix (or Adèle) de Dreux, who in turn was the only child of Robert the Great from his second marriage, the fifth son of King Louis the Fat
• Geoffroy du Donjon , † 1202, the 11th Grand Master of the Order of St. John .
• Pierre, † 1232, whose son Jean d'Yerres was married to Clémence (and not Mathilde) de Courtenay

A relationship between Wilhelm von Bourges and Philipp Berruyer is not shown in either source.

swell

• Gaspard Thaumas de la Thaumassière , Histoire de Berry, 1689, pp. 309-311
• Saint Guillaume de Bourges, in: Encyclopédie Larousse online
• Wilhelm von Donjean, in: Ökumenisches Heiligenlexikon , online
• Article Acta Sanctorum : Wilhelm von Donjeon, from the Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints - online , accessed on September 26, 2018
• Marie-Jeanne Boistard, Vies et mémoire de Guillaume de Donjon, archevêque de Bourges, Saint Guillaume
• Etienne Pattou, Les Le Riche: ascension d'une famille à travers ses alliances sous les premiers Capétiens, 2003, last revised 2017, page 4, online

literature

• Wilhelm Kohl :  Wilhelm von Donjeon. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 13, Bautz, Herzberg 1998, ISBN 3-88309-072-7 , Sp. 1235-1236.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints; Boistard: * around 1160, Larousse: * around 1120
2. ↑ She donated a stained glass window to the Cathedral of Bourges in honor of St. Wilhelm, her uncle
3. ↑ The Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints gives more precise dates: Monk in Grandmont, 1167 in Pontigny, 1184 Abbot in Fontjean, 1187 Abbot in Chaalis
4. ↑ See House of France-Courtenay
5. ↑ cf. House France-Dreux - not listed there as it is an extract

predecessor	Office	successor
Henri de Sully	Archbishop of Bourges 1200–1209	Girard de Cros