William Button (Bishop, † 1274)

William Button (also William Button II ; William Bitton or William of Bitton ) († December 4, 1274 ) was an English clergyman. From 1267 he was Bishop of Bath and Wells . He is not to be confused with his uncle William Button , who was also Bishop of Bath and Wells from 1247 to 1264.

Ascent to bishop

William Button was a son of Sir Adam Bitton from Bitton in Gloucestershire . His brother Thomas Bitton later became Bishop of Exeter . His uncle John Button († around 1273) was dean of Wells Cathedral , and through the promotion of his same name uncle William, Bishop of Bath and Wells, he was early Vicar of Congresbury , whose church between the cathedral chapter was controversial and the bishop. His uncle later promoted him to Archdeacon of Wells . In February 1267, Bitton was elected to succeed Walter Giffard , who was also related to him , after he had become Archbishop of York . On March 4th, the temporalities of the Diocese of Bath and Wells were given to him.

Bishop of Bath and Wells

In 1269 Button took part in a church council meeting at which the bishops objected to the taxation of the dioceses by King Henry III. raised. Together with the other suffragan bishops of the ecclesiastical province of Canterbury he defended in 1271 an attempt by the Priors of Canterbury Cathedral , while the vacancy of the archbishopric as Metropolitan spiritual authority over the suffragan to claim. Otherwise, Button hardly played a role politically, but mainly dealt with the administration of his diocese.

Button himself was considered genuinely pious. In contrast to many other bishops of his time, he had an unusually good relationship with his cathedral chapter, which is why, unlike his uncle of the same name in Wells, he remained in good memory. During his tenure, choral music in the cathedral reached a high standard. Button supported the canons when they drafted new statutes for the cathedral chapter in 1270. To this end, he handed over other possessions to the cathedral chapter. From the income of the Church of Dinder , Button donated another canon position for the cathedral. He also donated several mass grants , including one for his uncle William. To this end, he promoted his brother Thomas, who became Archdeacon of Wells in 1268. He was buried in the south aisle of Wells Cathedral.

Aftermath

After his death, Button had a reputation for holiness and his grave became a pilgrimage destination where several miracles are said to have occurred. However, it was never officially canonized . His worship waned towards the end of the 15th century, but John Leland still reported the worship of Buttons in Wells in the 1530s or 1540s.

literature

• William Hunt: Button, William (d.1264) , in: Dictionary of National Biography . Volume VIII . Macmillan, Smith, Elder & Co., London and New York 1886, p. 101

Web links

• David Gary Shaw: Button, William (d. 1274). 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

predecessor	Office	successor
Walter Giffard	Bishop of Bath and Wells 1267–1274	Robert Burnell