William Fitzherbert

Saint William with Pope Zoelestin and an unknown prelate. Late medieval stained glass in York Minster

William Fitzherbert (also William of York or German  Wilhelm von York ) (* after 1090; † June 8, 1154 in York ) was an Anglo-Norman clergyman. He was Archbishop of York and is venerated as a saint by the Catholic Church . His name day is June 8th . William was unfortunate that at the time of his election royal authority in England was weakened by the War of Succession . In addition, he had influential opponents in the cathedral chapter of York, who received strong support from the Cistercians . The Cistercian Order quickly gained in importance and prestige and achieved that a Pope belonging to the order even deposed William as ordained Archbishop of York. Although William was later reinstated as archbishop, he died shortly after his return to York.

origin

William Fitzherbert is considered the illegitimate son of Herbert of Winchester and his lover Emma . His father is said to have been an illegitimate son of Count Herbert II of Maine and his mother an illegitimate daughter of Count Stephan II of Blois . His mother would have been a half-sister of the future King Stephen of Blois . However, there is no evidence to support this traditional claim, and based on the current state of research, this parentage is doubtful. William was more likely born in the 1090s as the younger son of Herbert of Winchester. His mother was not of the Blois family, but was probably the daughter of Hunger fitz Odin , named in the Domesday Book of 1086 as the tenant of Broad Windsor , Dorset . Whether his father was the illegitimate son of Herbert II of Maine cannot be proven. But he was certainly a landowner from Hampshire , who was named under King William Rufus as a treasurer of Winchester and after 1100 also as treasurer, but was only of local importance. Between 1109 and 1112 Herbert and his son Herbert of the same name, as vassals of Archbishop Thomas II of York, owned Londesborough , Towthorpe , Weaverthorpe , Helperthorpe , Luttons Ambo and other estates in Yorkshire and Gloucestershire . Herbert of Winchester is no longer clearly named after 1111, possibly he was H. the Chamberlain , who tried to kill King Henry I in 1118 and was mutilated as a punishment .

Advancement as a clergyman

William became treasurer of York Minster no later than 1114, just a few years after his family had acquired Yorkshire estates . The office of Archdeacon of the East Riding of Yorkshire was associated with this office . William gave the cathedral chapter the rights to the church of Nether Wallop and the chapel of Grateley in Hampshire and that of Market Weighton in Yorkshire. Together with his brother Herbert, with the consent of Archbishop Thurstan , he handed over the church of Weaverthorpe to the Augustinian Canons Nostell Priory . In 1121 King Heinrich I confirmed this donation. Probably in 1129 or 1130 William was allowed to inherit, probably after the death of his brother Herbert. As treasurer, he confirmed numerous documents from Archbishop Thurstan. In a document from King Stephen mentioned between 1136 and 1139 , he is referred to as a royal chaplain .

Archbishop of York

Election as archbishop

After the death of Archbishop Thurstan in early 1140, the Archdiocese of York initially remained vacant . The cathedral chapter chose Waldef († 1159), the prior of Kirkham, as the first candidate . However, since this had close ties to the warring Scotland , the election was not recognized. The choice then fell on Henri de Sully , a nephew of King Stephen and Bishop Henry of Winchester . However, Henry did not want to give up his post as Abbot of Fécamp , so the Pope canceled the election. Now William seemed to many to be a suitable candidate for the office of Archbishop. He had long been associated with the Archdiocese of York and had a good relationship with the king. On the other hand, he was considered to be the very lazy son of a nobleman with very lax moral ideas. Nevertheless, he was elected archbishop in January 1141. William, Count of Aumale and Earl of York , a confidante of the king, was present at the election. Allegedly, he conveyed the king's order to the chapter to elect William. Nevertheless, the archdeacons, especially Osbert de Bayeux , a nephew of the late Thurstan, as well as Walter of London and the Precentor, voted against the election of Williams. When Archdeacon Walter of London declared the election void, he was arrested and imprisoned by Earl William. Shortly before King Stephen was captured during the war of succession, known as anarchy , he confirmed the election of William on February 2, 1141 in Lincoln .

Opposition to the election

While there had been no resistance within the cathedral chapter to the first two candidates for the election of the archbishop, Waldef and Henri de Sully, an influential group now voted against the election of William Fitzherbert. In addition to other potential candidates who had refused to support William, several canons found him simply unsuitable for the office. In their rejection his opponents were supported by the Augustinian canons in Yorkshire, but above all by the Cistercian order , which had only recently established its first branches in Yorkshire. According to the provisions of the Second Lateran Council of 1139, the monks and canons of dioceses had a say in the appointment of bishops. Above all the abbots of the Cistercian abbeys of Rievaulx and Fountains as well as the priors of the Augustinians donated Kirkham and Guisborough rejected the choice of Williams. They criticized the king's influence, but also Williams' lack of chastity, and turned to the papal legate Henry de Blois, the bishop of Winchester. The archdeacon Walter of London and Ailred († 1167), who later became the abbot of Rievaulx, even traveled to Rome and appealed to the curia against the election. Together with William, the Precentor, Abbot William of Rievaulx, Abbot Richard of Fountains, Prior Waldef of Kirkham and Prior Cuthbert of Guisborough, they protested on March 7, 1143 against the election of William Fitzherbert, whom they now also accused of simony . Their main argument, however, was the interference with and influencing of the election by the king.

Pope Innocent II then instructed Bishops Henry de Blois of Winchester and Robert de Bethune of Hereford to decide on the objection. He instructed them that William , the Dean of York, should swear that the election of bishops had complied with canon law and was not influenced by the king. Should the dean take this oath, William Fitzherbert could be ordained bishop. In addition, William himself should swear that the other allegations against him would not apply. In September 1143, Bishop Henry de Blois held court in Winchester . The Dean of York had been elected Bishop of Durham three months earlier and was therefore unable to take part in the negotiations. William Fitzherbert, on the other hand, was able to justify himself, and his oath that the allegations were false was reinforced by the abbots of St Mary’s monasteries in York and Whitby . Thereupon Bishop Henry ordained William on September 26, 1143 in Winchester as bishop.

Activity as archbishop

Little is known of William's work as archbishop. He affirmed the privileges his predecessor Thurstan Beverley Minster had given and an agreement between Bridlington Priory and Canon Serlo of York for a tithe . During a diocesan synod in York, Shrewsbury Abbey monks complained about their church in Kirkham , Lancashire. In the Diocese of Durham he tried to mediate after William Cumin had the election of William de Ste. Barbe, the former dean of York. On October 18, 1144, William Fitzherbert enthroned William de Ste. Barbe as the new Bishop of Durham.

The ruins of Fountains Abbey, whose abbots were among the main opponents of William Fitzherbert

Conflict with the Cistercians and deposition of Williams

However, the influential Cistercian abbot Bernhard von Clairvaux continued to fight against Williams' recognition as archbishop because he thought he was corrupt. He succeeded in getting his confidante, Henry Murdac from northern England , elected as the new abbot of Fountains Abbey. This continued the resistance to the recognition of the Williams election. However , the conflict was prolonged by the rapid successive deaths of Popes Innocent II and Celestine II . The next Pope, Lucius II, ignored Bernhard's complaints and sent Cardinal Imar of Tusculum to England to deliver the papal pallium to William Fitzherbert . William failed to meet the cardinal , and a little later the news reached England that Lucius II had died on February 15, 1145. With that, Cardinal Imar's mandate had expired. The new Pope Eugene III. belonged to the Cistercian order and was a friend of Bernhard von Clairvaux. He ordered William Fitzherbert to Rome, where he was to answer. In order to raise the cost of this trip, William allegedly had to sell parts of York's cathedral treasure. In Rome , the Pope suspended William from his office until the former Dean of York had taken the oath required by Pope Innocent II on the legality of the election. William was forced to wait and withdrew to Sicily . In Yorkshire, supporters attacked Williams Fountains Abbey and burned parts of the complex. When this news reached Rome, the Pope deposed William as Archbishop on March 21, 1147. Henry Murdac was elected to succeed him. The citizens of York disagreed with William's removal and temporarily denied Murdac access to York.

Remnant of the shrine of William Fitzherbert

Reinstatement and death

William then returned to England, where he lived withdrawn and modest in Winchester Cathedral Priory. However, when his opponents Eugene III, Bernhard von Clairvaux and Henry Murdac died within a few months in 1153, William traveled again to Rome in autumn 1153. There the new Pope Anastasius IV reinstated him as archbishop. Then William returned to England. He first visited Winchester and then the Cistercian Abbey of Meaux . There he made a donation in favor of Fountains Abbey as reparation for the raid of 1146, in addition he confirmed the foundations that Henry Murdac had made in favor of Meaux. In May 1154 he reached York. After giving mass in York Minster on June 1, 1154, he fell ill and died a week later. He was buried in York Minster. It was rumored that Williams' altar wine had been poisoned and one of his chaplains, Symphorian , charged Archdeacon Osbert de Bayeux of the murder. The case was referred by the royal court to an ecclesiastical court and ultimately to the Curia in Rome for decision. No judgment has come down to us, but Osbert was removed from office before 1158 and lost his priesthood.

William crosses the Ouse. Medieval sculpture

Aftermath

After Thomas Becket, an archbishop of Canterbury, was canonized, Williams' successors as archbishops competing with Canterbury promoted the canonization of William. Although only the circumstances of his death and less his life spoke for a canonization, but in 1227 he was by Pope Honorius III. officially elevated to saint. One of the legends that arose around him is the legend of the collapse of the bridge over the Ouse on his return to York in 1254. The bridge is said to have collapsed under the weight of his numerous supporters, but miraculously, thanks to a prayer of Williams, there were no deaths. In 1284, his bones were transferred to a shrine that was placed behind the high altar of York Minster and became the center of his local worship. During the Reformation , the shrine was destroyed in the 16th century. An early 15th century window in York Minster's choir contains numerous stained glass from the life of William Fitzherbert.

literature

• Dom David Knowles: The case of Saint William of York . In: Cambridge Historical Journal , 5 (1935-7), pp. 162-177 and 212-214
• RL Poole: The appointment and deprivation of St William, archbishop of York . In: English Historical Review 45 (1930), pp. 273-281
• CH Talbot: New documents in the case of St William of York. In: Cambridge Historical Journal , 10 (1950-52), pp. 1-15
• D. Baker: Viri religiosi and the York election dispute . In: Studies in Church History , 7 (1971), pp. 87-100
• Christopher Norton: St. William of York . York Medieval Press, Woodbridge 2006. ISBN 1-903153-17-4
• Wilhelm Kohl:  Wilhelm Fitzherbert. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 13, Bautz, Herzberg 1998, ISBN 3-88309-072-7 , Sp. 1298-1300.

Web links

Commons : William of York  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

• Janet Burton: William of York (d.1154). 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
• Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints: Wilhelm Fitzherbert

Individual evidence

1. ^ Stadler's complete dictionary of saints: Wilhelm (William) Fitzherbert (von York). Retrieved January 3, 2017 . 
2. ^ Sarah Brown, A Stained Glass Walk in York Minster, p. 7. Retrieved January 3, 2017 . 

predecessor	Office	successor
Thurstan	Archbishop of York 1143–1147	Henry Murdac
Henry Murdac	Archbishop of York 1153–1154	Roger de Pont l'Évêque