William de Ste Mère-Église

Coat of arms of Bishop William de Ste Mère-Église

William de Ste Mère-Église (also William de Sanctae Mariae Ecclesia or of St. Mary's Church ) († around March 27, 1224 in St Osyth Abbey , Essex ) was an Anglo-Norman official in the service of the English kings and bishop of the English diocese of London .

origin

William was named after Sainte-Mère-Église , a ducal estate in Normandy , from which he and his mother received a royal pension in 1195. His ancestry is uncertain, perhaps he was related to William de Redvers, 5th Earl of Devon . However, his family was very important to William. He married four of his female relatives in England, and he obtained three relatives, presumably with him, as canons at St Paul's Cathedral in London.

Advancement in the service of Heinrich II.

Presumably William was trained as a clergyman, although he probably did not attend university since he was never designated as a master's . Before 1182 he entered the service of King Henry II of England , where he worked in the treasury before 1183. In the last years of Henry II's reign he became one of the king's most trusted officials and was even allowed to testify to royal letters. As an influential civil servant, he was given real estate and ecclesiastical benefices, including a benefice at Lincoln Cathedral . In addition, the king rewarded him with the lucrative office of dean of the collegiate church of Mortain in Normandy.

In the service of Richard the Lionheart

William remained in the king's service until Heinrich's death on July 6, 1189. Two months later he accompanied the new King Richard to England, who had previously fallen out with his father. Richard soon gave him benefices at York Minster and St Paul's Cathedral, as well as the prestigious office of Dean of St Martin's-le-Grand Collegiate Church in London. William continued to serve in the royal treasury during the following months. He probably took a crusade vow, but he accompanied Richard on his crusade only to Vézelay , where he separated from the king on July 4, 1190. What he did over the next three years is unknown. He is only mentioned at the end of March 1193 when he visited the king who was captured from the crusade on his return journey in Germany. There he met Bishop Hubert Walter , who was returning from the crusade and with whom he returned to England. William brought the letter to the king, in which he proposed Hubert Walter as the new Archbishop of Canterbury . After Hubert Walter was elected Archbishop, he appointed William Archdeacon of Wiltshire , which also gave him a benefice at Salisbury Cathedral .

In a letter from the king, William is referred to as a clerk. If he really worked in the royal chancellery, it was only for a short time, because shortly afterwards he was involved in collecting the enormous ransom that had to be paid for Richard's release. He traveled to Germany two or maybe even three times and finally belonged to the retinue of the released king in March 1194 when he returned to England. William stayed with the king until he traveled to his French possessions in May 1194. He was now one of the most important officials of Hubert Walter, who meanwhile served as Chief Justiciar of the King. From 1194 to 1195 he administered the southern English fiefdom, which Johann Ohneland , the king's brother, had to give up after his failed rebellion. In addition, William served as one of the two judges who dealt with the legal cases of the English Jewish moneylenders. As a judge he participated once in 1194, occasionally in 1195 and regularly in 1196 at the court. In the years that followed, however, he was rarely mentioned as a judge at the court. His main task remained the treasury, where he served as a highly respected official. As a reward, King Richard finally nominated him as Bishop of London . The king ordered that the election of bishops be held on December 7, 1198 at the royal court in Normandy. On May 23, 1199, William made his promise of obedience to Archbishop Hubert Walter and was subsequently ordained bishop in the presence of thirteen other bishops at St Katherine's Chapel in Westminster .

Bishop under King John

Further service as an official and advisor to the king

By this time Richard was already dead. William took part as bishop on May 27, 1199 at the coronation of King John , in whose service he soon entered. He soon became one of the king's most important advisers, who also sent him as ambassador to Germany in 1204 and to Scotland in 1205. In addition, William served in the treasury, certified royal letters and checked documents to see whether they should be confirmed by the king. Numerous royal documents were attested by him. The king, with whom William was in high favor, thanked him with numerous gifts to him and to his diocese.

Acting as Bishop of London

As bishop, William took part in a council of the ecclesiastical province of Canterbury on September 19 , which Archbishop Hubert Walter had called to Westminster. He was able to raise the rank of Bishop of London when he received papal confirmation that the Bishop of London held the office of Dean for the ecclesiastical province of Canterbury. During the absence or illness of the Archbishop of Canterbury, he ordained three new bishops, including in 1203 William de Blois , Bishop of Lincoln and in 1206 Jocelin of Wells , Bishop of Bath. In 1200 he blessed the newly elected abbot of Westminster Abbey as bishop . Apparently he also managed the administration of his diocese himself, since no senior official is known from his term of office. He had a good relationship with his cathedral chapter, even with Peter von Blois , the archdeacon of London, who presented William his treatise De amicitia Christiana . Pope Innocent III appointed him several times. appointed judge for church disputes.

Role in the dispute between Pope and King

After the death of Archbishop Hubert Walter in 1205, there was a bitter dispute between King John and Pope Innocent over the choice of a successor. As a trusted official to the king and respected bishop, William stood between the two camps until in 1207 the Pope, along with Bishops Eustace of Ely and Mauger of Worcester, commissioned him to impose the interdict on England if the king continued not to elect Stephen Langton would accept as the new archbishop. After nearly eight months of unsuccessful negotiations, the three bishops, all of whom had previously served as royal officials, reluctantly announced the imposition of the interdict on March 24, 1208. They then fled to France. The enraged King had the properties of the Diocese of London confiscated. In the summer of 1208 and twice in 1209 William traveled to England for new negotiations, which, however, also remained unsuccessful. Thereupon the Pope excommunicated the king in November 1209. Nevertheless, the king did not give in, which is why William had to remain in exile with almost all the other English bishops. In 1212 he traveled to Rome with Archbishop Stephen Langton and Bishop Eustace of Ely, ostensibly to convince the Pope to allow the French king to invade England to protect the English Church. In the face of pressure from the Church, John finally submitted to the Pope, and on July 16, 1213, William and the other exiled bishops were able to return to England.

Role in the war of the barons

After an unsuccessful campaign in France in 1214, the English barons threatened to revolt against the king. In order to anticipate this, on March 4, 1215, Johann made a vow of crusade in front of Bishop William in St. Paul's Cathedral in order to stand as a crusader under the protection of the church. Nevertheless, in June 1215 the king had to make far-reaching concessions in the Magna Carta to the aristocratic opposition. Bishop William was one of the counselors who advised the king to recognize the Magna Carta. In July 1215, William was one of the eight bishops who attended a meeting of the king with representatives of the barons at Oxford when it came to the execution of the provisions of the Magna Carta. However, where William stayed during the subsequent First War of the Barons against the King is uncertain. Possibly he took part in the fourth Lateran Council , because on September 29, 1215 he was in France with two other prelates who were traveling to Rome for the council. However, in October 1216 and April 1217 he was apparently in his English diocese, where he resided at Coggeshall Abbey . On the other hand, after the death of John in October 1216, he did not take part in the coronation of his son Henry and the first large council meeting under the new king in November 1216 in Gloucester . Only after the Peace of Lambeth , which ended the Barons' War, did William reappear politically. On his advice, William Marshal , regent for the minor king, reaffirmed the Magna Carta on November 6, 1217 in St Paul's Cathedral. Shortly thereafter, Bishop William was present when the royal treasury was re-established, and also when the new royal seal was introduced in 1218.

Resignation and death

William continued to serve in royal administration for the next three years. On April 25, 1220, he testified to a royal charter, and on October 5, he was asked by the Regency Council to negotiate with the Welsh prince Llywelyn from Iorwerth . Due to his old age, he asked the Pope shortly afterwards to remove him from his office as bishop. On January 25 or 26, 1221 he was released from his office by the papal legate Pandulf , but was allowed to continue to hold the title of bishop. In addition, he received £ 100 a year from the diocese's income for his maintenance. He also kept the administration of Colchester Castle , which had been entrusted to him by the Regency Council in 1218, until at least December 1223. Some time after his resignation he became an Augustinian canon in the Abbey of St Osyth on the east coast of Essex. There he had a chapel built in which he wanted to be buried. He probably died on March 27, 1224 and was buried in St Osyth the next day.

The chronicler Giraldus Cambrensis , who at times denounced him as confidante and assistant to the unpopular King John, paid tribute to him on his death as an important bishop who had successfully campaigned for the rights of the Church and who, due to his old age, resigned from his office with humility be.

literature

• Ralph V. Turner: William de Sainte-Mère-Église, bishop of London. In: Men raised from the dust. Administrative service and upward mobility in Angevin England . University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia 1988. ISBN 0-8122-8129-2 , pp. 20-34

Web links

• Fred A. Cazel, Jr: Ste Mère-Église, William de (d. 1224). 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
Richard Fitz Nigel	Bishop of London 1198–1221	Eustace de Fauconberg