William de Longchamp

William de Longchamp (French: Guillaume de Longchamps ; † January 28 or 31, 1197 in Poitiers ) was an Anglo-Norman clergyman. As the son of a little knight, he became a confidante of King Richard the Lionheart , who had him elected Bishop of Ely . Longchamp served the king as a diplomat and rose as justiciar and chancellor of England to the highest secular offices. Longchamp is thus one of the New Men who rose in the service of the Angevin kings . However, through his offices he made numerous enemies. Although he came from Normandy , which belonged to the English king , he was probably the first Norman to be reviled as a foreigner by the nobility after the Norman conquest of England .

origin

He came from a lower Norman aristocratic family that had its origins in the municipality of Longchamps ( Dép: Eure ). His parents were the knight Hugues de Longchamps and his wife Eva, who probably came from the Lacy family .

William de Longchamp was a son of Hugues de Longchamp . The information about the family is contradicting itself. According to one information, she came from the Longchamps, according to other information, Longchamps was probably born near Argentan in Normandy, where his father administered the rule of Conches as a vassal of King Henry II . In addition, his father owned land in Herefordshire, England . The name of William de Longchamp's mother is unknown, but her father was probably a vassal of Hugh de Lacy , as she brought a Lacy fief in England into the marriage. Several of Longchamp's siblings followed him to England. His brother Stephan became steward of the royal household and took part in the Third Crusade . As justiciar, Longchamp appointed his brothers Osbert and Henry as sheriffs . Robert de Longchamp became prior of Ely and eventually of St Mary's monastery in York . His sister Richeut married Matthew de Clere , whom Longchamp appointed constable of Dover Castle . His sister Melisend also followed him to England, as did a nephew and niece, both of whom he married well. Another brother was probably the knight Étienne de Longchamps .

Longchamp's relatively low origins were rated unusually negatively by many chroniclers. They repeated the assertion made by Bishop Hugh de Nonant of Coventry that Longchamp was the grandson of a small farmer from the Beauvais area who had fled to Normandy.

Rise to Bishop of Ely

Longchamp had a considerable education and was considered a cultivated clergyman. His friends included prominent poets such as Nigel of Canterbury and Peter von Blois . Around 1185 he wrote the work Practica Legum et decretorum , a treatise on the application of Roman and canon law in the Angevin Empire . His career began in the service of Geoffrey , an illegitimate son of King Henry II, when he was Archdeacon of Rouen . He later joined Geoffrey's half-brother Richard as Chancellor when he was Count of Poitou. When Richard became King of England in 1189, he made Longchamp his royal chancellor , for which Longchamp had to pay a fee of £ 3,000. In return, Longchamp increased the fees he charged as Chancellor for the sealing of documents. During the council meeting at Pipewell Abbey in September 1189, King Richard gave four episcopal seats to longtime officials of his. Longchamp became bishop of the Diocese of Ely . He was ordained bishop on December 31, 1189, and enthronement on January 6, 1190 .

Justiciar of England

Appointment as justiciar

Before King Richard set out on the Third Crusade a little later, he appointed William de Mandeville, Earl of Essex and Bishop Hugh de Puiset as Justiciaren, who were to lead the government of England during his absence. After Mandeville died unexpectedly in December 1189, Richard appointed William de Longchamp as his successor. In mid-March 1190, the king changed the responsibilities of the two justiciare during the council meeting in Nonancourt in Normandy. Instead of continuing to share government responsibility, the King named Longchamp Chief Justiciar of England, while Hugh de Puiset's jurisdiction was limited to northern England north of the Humber . Since Longchamp was also chancellor and held the royal seal, he was effectively appointed regent of England during the king's absence . In order to strengthen his authority, the king made him responsible for a number of important castles.

Government of England

In the late spring of 1190 Longchamp returned to England from France to take over government. Pope Clement III appointed him for this purpose . on June 5th as papal legate for England, so that he could also claim the leadership of the English clergy. However, King Richard had neglected to specify Hugh du Puiset's duties. Longchamp took advantage of this. He took over the control of the treasury alone, almost completely excluded Puiset from the government and finally compelled him to hand over the royal castles he held to him.

Longchamp began his reign energetically as justiciar and chancellor. As a legate, he presided over a Church council meeting in Gloucester on August 1 and one in Westminster on October 13 . After the pogrom against the Jewish population had broken out in York , Longchamp restored order there. In the summer of 1190 he convened court hearings which he himself presided over at Westminster. To do this, he undertook a campaign against Rhys ap Gruffydd , the most powerful of the South Welsh princes. Longchamp's goal was to raise as much money as possible to support the king's crusade. So, for example, he hired an officer to collect the enormous tax bill from a Jewish moneylender named Aaron from Lincoln . As Chancellor, he had the exact date stated on documents for the first time and introduced the pluralis majestatis in royal documents , probably following the model of the papal chancellery .

Although Longchamp was undoubtedly a capable steward, he made many enemies. As a foreigner from Normandy from a small family, he traveled with a large retinue through England, which annoyed the English barons. In addition, he is said not to have mastered the English language and to have treated the English and the barons arrogantly. As a foreigner from Normandy, which at that time was already perceived as foreign, and because of his role as a ruthless collector of money for the king's crusade, he was unpopular even with the other bishops. He is said to have disregarded other high-ranking officials, instead he filled numerous offices with his own confidants. So he appointed new sheriffs in twelve counties until the fall of 1191 . Among them were his brothers Henry , who became sheriff of Herefordshire , and his Osbert , who became sheriff of Yorkshire, and later of Norfolk and Suffolk . So soon numerous rumors arose about his private life, according to which he should have been homosexual.

Power struggle with Johann Ohneland

Longchamp's greatest challenge, however, was Johann Ohneland , Count of Mortain, the younger brother of King Richard. He owned extensive estates in England, but his brother had forbidden him to come to England while he was away. In 1191, however, he came to England against this ban. He declared himself the prospective heir to the throne of his brother, who had remained childless until now, and took advantage of the barons' discontent to weaken Longchamp's authority and to gain power and influence himself. A point of contention between John and Longchamp was the election of a new Archbishop of Canterbury after news of Archbishop Baldwin's death before Acre reached England. Longchamp speculated to apply for election as head of the English Church himself, but Johann refused. Ultimately, the decisive question was who was allowed to control the royal castles. Some of them were within Johann's possessions but were held by Longchamp administrators. In 1191 Longchamp began to recruit foreign mercenaries to reinforce the castles' crews. In view of the complaints from England that reached King Richard, he decided to act. From Sicily , where he had wintered on the way to Palestine , he sent Walter de Coutances , the Archbishop of Rouen, back to England in the late spring of 1191 . In one letter he ordered Longchamp and the other members of the government to coordinate with Coutances, and in a second letter he authorized Coutances to use the same powers as Longchamp if necessary. This lost to with the death of Pope Clement III. on March 20, 1191 his position as papal legate.

When Gerard de Canville , who had acquired the office of Sheriff of Lincolnshire and the administration of the royal Lincoln Castle from King Richard , paid homage to Johann Ohneland, Longchamp answered this challenge with a siege of Lincoln Castle. Johann then occupied the royal castles of Nottingham and Tickhill and called on Longchamp to end the siege of Lincoln Castle. Walter de Coutances immediately began mediating to prevent a civil war. Both Longchamp and Johann appeared at the end of April with a large number of armed supporters for the negotiations, but eventually agreed to resolve the conflict peacefully. At a council meeting on July 28, 1191 in Winchester it was agreed that Gerard de Canville could keep the administration of Lincoln Castle, but that Johann surrendered the other castles that he had occupied. In return, Longchamp promised to support Johann's claim to the throne if King Richard died without heirs.

Fall and escape from England

A little later there was another crisis. Geoffrey of York , the half-brother of King Richard and John Ohneland and former employer Longchamps, wanted to translate from France to England to take up his office as Archbishop of York. However, Richard had forbidden him to travel to England while he was away. Longchamp therefore ordered the Sussex Sheriff to arrest Geoffrey on his arrival in England. The constable of Dover Castle , a brother-in-law of Longchamp, had the archbishop drift from the church of St Martin's Priory , where he had fled after his landing. Johann took advantage of this scandal. He called a large council meeting in Marlborough , where he accused Longchamp of having broken the peace agreed in Winchester. The council decided that Longchamp should come to Loddon Bridge , a bridge over the Loddon between Reading and Windsor , on October 5th . There he was supposed to meet Johann Ohneland. Longchamp, fearing a trap, reluctantly agreed. At Loddon Bridge, Coutances announced the contents of King Richard's second letter. He accused Longchamp of never having agreed his policy with him. Longchamp then returned to London. Fearing that Johann might occupy the City of London , he ordered the citizens to close the gates. The latter did not comply and insulted Longchamp as a traitor. Longchamp then fled to the Tower of London , where he surrendered after three days, given his hopeless situation. Johann had also come to London with numerous magnates , where Geoffrey of York and Bishop Hugh de Nonant of Coventry brought numerous accusations against Longchamp at a council meeting. Longchamp also appeared before the council on October 10, 1191, claiming that Geoffrey of York had been seized without his knowledge. He is ready to use all of his fortune for the king. Still, the council demanded that he resign from government. When he did not comply with this request, the council, led by Coutances, declared Longchamp to be deposed as legal advisor. To do this, he had to hand over the royal castles he held. In his place, Johann Ohneland was appointed head of government and administrator of the royal castles, but Coutances took over the actual government. Although he was forbidden from leaving England, Longchamp went to Dover. There he wanted to cross over to France in disguise, but was caught. The reports of his disguise vary, either he wanted to flee in monk robes or in women's clothes. According to Hugh de Nonant, he was even approached by a seaman in the harbor while wearing the clothes of a prostitute. Although the reports differ, the escape in disguise made Longchamp completely ridiculous. Finally, on October 29, 1191, he sailed from England to Flanders.

Failure of the attempt to return to England

Longchamp traveled from Flanders to Paris and finally to Normandy. He sent a messenger to Palestine to present his point of view to King Richard, and in November 1191 he turned to the new Pope Celestine III. He confirmed Longchamp as his legate for England in December. Longchamp turned now in a letter to Bishop Hugo von Lincoln , in which he demanded his recognition as legate and the excommunication of his opponents, which was ignored by Coutances and the bishops. When he interdicted his English diocese of Ely and excommunicated the judges of the Court of Exchequer , Coutances considered the diocese of Ely vacant. He had the estates of the diocese occupied, the income of which now fell to the crown, and, as Archbishop of Rouen , excommunicated Longchamp if he was to stay in Normandy. In the next year the Queen Mother Eleanor of Aquitaine was able to convince both Longchamp and Coutances to withdraw their respective excommunications. In addition, Longchamp received his income from his estates again as Bishop of Ely. In March 1192 he returned to England to exercise his office as papal legate. He landed in Dover, where his sister gave him refuge as the wife of the Constable of Dover Castle. He demanded a fair trial about his removal from his position as justiciar, but he apparently also tried to bribe Johann Ohneland's support. He announced at a large council that Longchamp had offered him £ 700. Longchamp then had to leave England on April 3. In February 1194, a council meeting of the Church in Westminster decided to ask the Pope to remove Longchamp from his position as legate, and it did so.

Contribution to the release of Richard I.

When Richard the Lionheart was captured in Germany on his way back from the crusade in December 1192, Longchamp supported him in the negotiations for his release. In the spring of 1193 Longchamp returned to England with a letter from the king. After initially being turned away by the monks of Bury St Edmunds , he went to St Albans , where a large council had met. There he delivered the letter to Richard's mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine. The letter contained a copy of the contract between Richard and the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI. about the ransom. To this end, the king ordered the assembly that a number of English nobles should accompany Longchamp back to Germany, where they should be held hostage instead of the king. As the bearer of these messages, Longchamp again incurred the displeasure of the barons. He immediately left England and returned to Richard. At the end of June 1193 he accompanied Richard to Worms , where the amount of the ransom was negotiated again. From there, the king sent him on July 9th together with William Bruyere to Mantes to see King Philip II of France, with whom they extended the armistice between England and France. In France they learned of John's planned betrayal of his brother Richard, who wanted to ally himself with Philip II. They told Richard about his brother's betrayal and tried to mediate, but Johann nevertheless joined the French king. Longchamp then returned to Germany and belonged together with Richard's mother, Walter de Coutances and Savaric FitzGeldewin , Bishop of Bath, to the English delegation to which the Emperor handed King Richard on February 2, 1194.

Renewed chancellor and envoy of the king

After Richard's release, Longchamp continued to enjoy the king's favor. He took over the office of royal chancellor again and served the king in Normandy, but no longer in England. Richard again gave him the income from the Honor of Eye in England, and for a small fee of 10 marks he was sheriff of Essex and Hertfordshire until 1196. On July 23, 1194 he negotiated the armistice of Tillières with France for Richard . In July and November 1195 he traveled again as an envoy to the court of Emperor Heinrich VI. In January 1197 he was on the way to Rome with Bishop Philip of Poitou . There he was supposed to represent the king's position in front of the curia in the dispute between King Richard and Archbishop Coutances over the building of Château Gaillard . Longchamps died probably on January 28th, maybe also on January 31st in Poitiers . He was buried in the Le Pin monastery .

literature

• David Balfour: Origins of the Longchamp Family , In: Medieval Prosopography 18 (1997), p. 90

Web links

• Ralph V. Turner: Longchamp, William de (d. 1197). 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. ^ Powicke & Fryde: Handbook of British Chronology. Second Edition, London, 1961, p. 223
2. ^ Oxford DNB
3. ^ John T. Appleby: Johann "Ohneland". King of England . Riederer, Stuttgart 1965, p. 47
4. ↑ Wilfred L. Warren: King John . University of California Press, Berkeley, 1978. ISBN 0-520-03610-7 , p. 41
5. ^ John T. Appleby: Johann "Ohneland". King of England . Riederer, Stuttgart 1965, p. 57
6. ↑ Wilfred L. Warren: King John . University of California Press, Berkeley, 1978. ISBN 0-520-03610-7 , p. 43
7. ^ John T. Appleby: Johann "Ohneland". King of England . Riederer, Stuttgart 1965, p. 65

predecessor	Office	successor
Geoffrey Ridel	Bishop of Ely 1189–1197	Eustace
Geoffrey of York	Lord Chancellor of England 1189–1197	Eustace
Hugh de Puiset	Chief Justiciar of England 1189–1191	Walter de Coutances