William of St Calais

William of St. Calais, Bishop of Durham, 11th century illumination

William of St Calais (also William of St Carilef ) (* around 1030; † January 2, 1096 in Windsor ) was a Norman clergyman. He was one of the leading advisors to the English kings Wilhelm I and Wilhelm II. From 1080 he was Bishop of Durham .

origin

William of St Calais came from Normandy . His family presumably included several clergymen who held positions of influence in the diocese of Bayeux . He received his training under Bishop Odo , the half-brother of Duke Wilhelm .

Rise to Bishop of Durham

William entered the Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Calais in Maine, France , as a monk . He was considered well-read in religious and ancient literature and as deeply religious, but not as fanatical as Lanfrank von Bec . In Saint-Calais, William rose to prior before he was elected abbot of the monastery of Saint Vincent-des-Prés at Le Mans . Through these two offices he probably acquired extensive knowledge of canon law .

The Maine with Le Mans was conquered in 1063 by Duke Wilhelm II of Normandy. As Abbot of Saint Vincent-des-Prés, William came into contact with the Duke, who was also King of England from 1066. King William valued the abbot's counsel, and after Walcher , the previous Bishop of Durham and Earl of Northumbria, was assassinated, on November 9, 1080, he appointed William as the new Bishop of Durham. Northumbria , on the border with hostile Scotland , was a troubled region at that time, in which there had been several revolts against the Norman conquerors . By entrusting the administration of the region to a Maine monk, the king proves that he trusted William of St Calais completely.

Bishop of Durham

Confidante of William the Conqueror

As a result, William became one of the king's closest advisers, for whom he attested numerous documents. He also took over the execution of numerous administrative tasks for the king, so that he practically performed the office of justiciar . His greatest achievement in this regard was undoubtedly the organization of the land holdings that were necessary to compile the Domesday Book of 1086. Apparently most of the Domesday Book was drawn up in the diocese of Durham's writing rooms. In addition, William succeeded in pacifying the region around Durham and beginning the church reform of his diocese.

A page of the Domesday Book, which William of St Calais played a key role in creating

Church reforms in Durham

As a bishop, William had several major problems to solve. When he became Bishop of Durham, the servants of St Cuthbert , secular, often married clergymen, had a strong position there. William referred to the old monastic tradition of Lindisfarne when in 1083 he replaced the servants of St Cuthbert with English monks whom his predecessor Walcher had already brought to the north of England to revitalize the Monkwearmouth-Jarrow monastery . Following the example of Archbishop Lanfranc of Canterbury, William wanted to be both Bishop of Durham and Abbot of the Cathedral Priory. To this end, he appointed the prior of the cathedral priory to be his archdeacon , so that he was not only his deputy in the priory, but also in the diocese. To strengthen his monastery, he made contact with numerous other English monasteries, but also with the abbeys of Fécamp and Caen in Normandy and with Saint-Calais in Maine, as evidenced by the Durham Liber vitae . Together with Prior Turgot and King Malcolm III. of Scotland he laid the foundation stone for the new cathedral of Durham on August 11, 1093 . Williams' union of diocese and monastery did not prove itself, however, and fell apart again under his successors. Since he had not issued any written rules for the administration of the cathedral priory, his successors as bishop had a long-lasting conflict with the monks. Finally, his successors had to allow the monks a free choice of their prior, their own property and their own income.

Consolidation of the secular power of the Bishops of Durham

In addition to a poorly organized church in his diocese, Williams' position in the border region with Scotland was generally uncertain. In addition to the hostile Scots, Roger de Montbray , the Anglo-Norman Earl of Northumbria, was a rival of William. To the Scottish King Malcolm III. William, however, was able to build friendly relationships. As a result, as a bishop, he had greater spiritual influence over the royal family. Nevertheless, in May 1091, when William was in exile in Normandy, Malcolm attacked Durham. In autumn 1093 William escorted the Scottish king to King William Rufus in Gloucester , but in November 1093 another Scottish raid took place. However, King Malcolm was ambushed by Roger de Montbray, in which he was killed. William and King Wilhelm Rufus now supported the claim to the throne of Malcolm's sons Duncan and Edgar . William, however, continued to have a tense relationship with Robert de Montbray. When he rebelled against King Wilhelm Rufus in 1095, William supported the king in suppressing the rebellion. In the summer of 1095, Roger de Montbray was captured. After the threat of Scottish raids had already been averted with the death of King Malcolm, William was now able to assert himself against Roger de Montbray.

Participation in the failed rebellion of 1088

After the death of King Wilhelm I, the Conqueror, in 1087, his younger son Wilhelm Rufus followed him as King in England. However, after the eldest king's son Robert Curthose had seized Normandy and Maine and Odo von Bayeux , the half-brother of William the Conqueror, was released again and became Earl of Kent again, the loyalty of many Anglo-Norman barons began to waver. When Odo von Bayeux began to collect supporters for an overthrow of Wilhelm Rufus in favor of his older brother Robert Curthose, William of St Calais will also have reconsidered his position. As Odo's former protégé, he would have preferred Robert Curthose to be king, and as an experienced diplomat and administrator he was sure to be in contact with him. King Wilhelm Rufus feared an uprising and moved with his house troops and his supporters to Sussex and Kent , where he wanted to repel an invasion by Robert Curthose. William of St Calais initially accompanied him with seven knights, but then sat down to Durham on the grounds that he wanted to gather reinforcements. This behavior was certainly very suspicious, especially since he did not return to the king. Wilhelm Rufus was able to put down this rebellion of 1088. Then William of St Calais had to swear to him that he had never violated his loyalty to Rufus and never wanted to support the rebellion. William claimed that he had only been in contact with Odo of Bayeux to uncover the conspiracy and to inform the king. But he refused to submit to the king's mercy and stubbornly insisted on his portrayal, even when he was obviously convicted as a supporter of the rebellion. The angry king therefore ordered the confiscation of William's goods on March 12, 1088. Nevertheless, he did not come to Old Sarum until November 2nd, after he had negotiated safe conduct , where he faced the charges against him before the king and the court .

The court case of 1088

The trial against William of St Calais lasted only a day. He was accused of having broken his oath of allegiance as a baron, which is why the temples of his diocese were to remain confiscated as a punishment . Until the end of the hearing, however, William was of the opinion that, as a bishop, he would not have to answer to the court, but only to a spiritual court according to canon law . He therefore demanded his transfer to such a court in a legally impeccable manner, and apparently he really believed that this argument was superior to Archbishop Lanfranc, who represented the position of the king. But both the king and the archbishop replied that he was not charged as bishop but as baron and vassal because he was undoubtedly a secular fief. In addition, the court would not only consist of secular barons, but also of bishops and abbots and was thus empowered to judge him. There was no apparent sympathy among those present for the defendant, who had apparently first been in contact with the rebels and then abandoned the king in the face of danger. When William of St Calais realized that he could not win the case, he appealed to the papal curia to rule on him. The royal court agreed but sentenced him to surrender his fiefs including Durham Castle . William stubbornly complied, but eventually he bowed to the king's pressure. After Durham was surrendered, he presumably traveled to Normandy in December. There Robert Curthose welcomed him warmly to his court. Contrary to his announcement, William did not travel to the Pope, but stayed with Robert Curthose, whose chief adviser he became.

Aerial view of Durham Cathedral begun by William of St Calais

Return to England

In February 1091 Wilhelm Rufus attacked Normandy and his brother Robert. A little later, negotiations between the two brothers began. William of St Calais was involved both in the preliminary negotiations and in the subsequent peace negotiations. In these, the two brothers granted a respective amnesty for the supporters of their opponent. As a result, William got his English fief back. Together with Robert Curthose and Wilhelm Rufus, who undertook a joint campaign to Scotland, he moved back into Durham on September 11, 1191.

Supporter of Wilhelm Rufus

Thereafter, St Calais remained one of the most loyal vassals of Wilhelm Rufus, but he was unable to regain the previous trust. He supported the king when he had disagreements with Archbishop Anselm of Canterbury . From February 25 to 27, 1094 Anselm had to answer to the court in Rockingham in Northamptonshire . William served as the bishops' representative against their archbishop. Anselm wanted to receive the pallium from Pope Urban II , but it was not recognized by the king. No clear winner emerged from the process, but in the end Anselm was able to enforce his claim. This was the fault of the King William of St Calais and his reputation was further damaged by the whole process.

At Christmas 1095 William was at the royal court at Windsor Castle , where his adversary Roger de Montbray was to be convicted of his rebellion. William collapsed on Christmas Day and died a few days later. According to his request, he was buried on January 16, 1096 in the chapter house of Durham Cathedral.

Symeon of Durham , who probably belonged as a monk to the cathedral priory of Durham, wrote an apparently highly glossed biography of William of St Calais under Williams' successor Ranulf Flambard .

literature

• P. Chaplais: William of Saint-Calais and the Domesday survey . In: JC Holt: Domesday studies: papers read at the novocentenary conference of the Royal Historical Society and the Institute of British Geographers, Winchester 1986 . Boydell, Woodbridge 1987, ISBN 0-85115-477-8 , pp. 65-77 ( preview in Google book search)

Web links

• Frank Barlow: St Calais, William of (c.1030-1096). 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
William Walcher	Bishop of Durham 1080-1096	Ranulf Flambard