William Courtenay

 
American Theater Guide:

William [Leonard] Courtenay

Courtenay, William [Leonard] (1875–1933), actor. Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, he made his stage debut with a traveling company that was playing Portland, Maine, in 1891. After seasons under the aegis of Richard Mansfield, Daniel, then Charles Frohman, Courtenay became leading man to Virginia Harned, whom he later married, and toured with in Iris, Camille, and The Light That Lies in a Woman's Eyes. He scored his first major success as Walter Corbin in Mrs. Leffingwell's Boots (1905), followed by the Duke of Charmerace in Arséne Lupin (1909), Stephen Baird in Ready Money (1912), and Bishop Armstron in Romance. He began another long run as Stephen Denby in Under Cover (1914), then turned to a wartime spy melodrama, Under Fire (1915). After playing the tramp in Pals First (1917) and Matt Peasley in Cappy Ricks (1919), a series of less successful plays followed until he enjoyed one final run as the vamped husband Tom Burton in David Belasco's controversial production of The Harem (1924). His last appearance was as Governor Hazleton in the gangster melodrama The Inside Story (1932). Courtenay was essentially a matinee idol, but one of the handsomest and most durable. Oliver Morosco felt “he had all the requisites of a star. His voice was perfectly modulated and his poise admirable. He knew how to reach a climax, how to put over comedy, and his intonations and transitions of speech were perfect.” Women who came to gape cared little if critics such as Walter Prichard Eaton considered him “sing‐song and artificial,” capable only of “playing himself.”

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British History: William Courtenay

Courtenay, William (c.1342-96). Archbishop of Canterbury. Courtenay's aristocratic connections carried him rapidly up the ladder of preferment. Of the Devon family, he graduated in law at Oxford and was chancellor in 1367. In 1370, he became bishop of Hereford, transferring to London in 1375. His tenure there saw the Peasants' Revolt, in which Simon Sudbury, the archbishop of Canterbury, was murdered. Courtenay replaced him and for a short while held the great seal as chancellor. His relations with the young king, Richard II, were turbulent. In 1385 they quarrelled violently when Courtenay attempted to rebuke him for his wild way of life, yet the archbishop supported the statute of Praemunire (1393), which curbed papal authority.

 
Columbia Encyclopedia: Courtenay, William
(kôrt') , c.1342–1396, English prelate, archbishop of Canterbury (1381–96). He was important for his condemnation of the doctrines of Wyclif and for suppressing the Lollards.
 
Wikipedia: William Courtenay


William Courtenay

Archbishop of Canterbury

Enthroned July 30, 1381
Ended July 31, 1396
Predecessor Simon Sudbury
Successor Thomas Arundel
Died July 31, 1396
Buried Canterbury Cathedral

William Courtenay (c. 1342July 31, 1396), English prelate, was Archbishop of Canterbury, having previously been Bishop of Hereford and Bishop of London.

Life

He was a younger son of Hugh de Courtenay, 10th Earl of Devon (d. 1377), and through his mother Margaret, daughter of Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford, was a great-grandson of Edward I.

Being a native of the west of England he was educated at Stapledon Hall, Oxford, and after graduating in law was chosen chancellor of the university in 1367. Courtenay's ecclesiastical and political career began about the same time. Having been made prebendary of Exeter, of Wells and of York, he was consecrated bishop of Hereford on March 17 1370,[1] was translated to the see of London on September 12, 1375,[2] and became Archbishop of Canterbury on July 30, 1381, succeeding Simon of Sudbury in both these latter positions.[3]

As a politician the period of his activity coincides with the years of Edward III’s dotage, and with practically the whole of Richard II's reign. From the first he ranged himself among the opponents of John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster; he was a firm upholder of the rights of the English Church, and was always eager to root out Lollardry. In 1373 he declared in convocation that he would not contribute to a subsidy until the evils from which the church suffered were removed; in 1375 he incurred the displeasure of the king by publishing a papal bull against the Florentines; and in 1377 his decided action during the quarrel between John of Gaunt and William of Wykeham ended in a temporary triumph for the bishop.

Wycliffe was another cause of difference between Lancaster and Courtenay. In 1377 the reformer appeared before Archbishop Sudbury and Courtenay, when an altercation between the duke and the bishop led to the dispersal of the court, and during the ensuing riot Lancaster probably owed his safety to the good offices of his foe. Having meanwhile become archbishop of Canterbury Courtenay summoned a council, or synod, in London, which condemned the opinions of Wycliffe; he then attacked the Lollards at Oxford, and urged the bishops to imprison heretics.

He was for a short time chancellor of England during 1381,[4] and in January 1382 he officiated at the marriage of Richard II with Anne of Bohemia, afterwards crowning the queen. In 1382 the archbishop’s visitation led to disputes with the bishops of Exeter and Salisbury, and Courtenay was only partially able to enforce the payment of a special tax to meet his expenses on this occasion. During his concluding years the archbishop appears to have upheld the papal authority in England, although not to the injury of the English Church.

He protested against the confirmation of the statute of provisors in 1390, and he was successful in slightly modifying the statute of praemunire in 1393. Disliking the extravagance of Richard II he publicly reproved the king, and after an angry scene the royal threats drove him for a time into Devon. In 1386 he was one of the commissioners appointed to reform the kingdom and the royal household, and in 1387 he arranged a peace between Richard and his enemies under Thomas of Woodstock, duke of Gloucester. Courtenay died at Maidstone on July 31 1396,[3] and was buried towards the east end of the choir in Canterbury cathedral.

Notes

  1. ^ Powicke Handbook of British Chronology p. 230
  2. ^ Powicke Handbook of British Chronology p. 240
  3. ^ a b Powicke Handbook of British Chronology p. 211
  4. ^ Powicke Handbook of British Chronology p. 84

References

  • Hook, Walter Farquhar, Lives of the Archbishops of Canterbury, vol. iv. (London, 1860—1876)
  • Powicke, F. Maurice and E. B. Fryde Handbook of British Chronology 2nd. ed. London:Royal Historical Society 1961
  • Stubbs, William, Constitutional History, vols. ii. and iii. (Oxford, 1895—1896).

See also

External links


Political offices
Preceded by
'Hugh Segrave
(Keeper of the Great Seal)'
Lord Chancellor
1381
Succeeded by
The Lord Scrope of Bolton
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
Lewis de Charleton
Bishop of Hereford
1370–1375
Succeeded by
John Gilbert
Preceded by
Simon Sudbury
Bishop of London
1375–1381
Succeeded by
Robert Braybrooke
Preceded by
Simon Sudbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
1381–1396
Succeeded by
Thomas Arundel
Academic offices
Preceded by
Adam de Toneworth
Chancellor of the University of Oxford
1367–1369
Succeeded by
Adam de Toneworth


Persondata
NAME Courtenay, William
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Bishop of London, Bishop of Hereford, Lord Chancellor, Archbishop of Canterbury
DATE OF BIRTH
PLACE OF BIRTH
DATE OF DEATH July 31, 1396
PLACE OF DEATH Maidstone


 
 

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American Theater Guide. The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. Copyright © 2004 by Oxford University Press, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
British History. A Dictionary of British History. Copyright © 2001, 2004 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "William Courtenay" Read more

 

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