| 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. 1342 – July 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
- ^ Powicke Handbook of British Chronology p.
230
- ^ Powicke Handbook of British Chronology p.
240
- ^ a b Powicke Handbook of British Chronology p. 211
- ^ 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
| 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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