9 September 1381 A.D. William Courtney—77th Bishop of London Translated to Archbishopric of Canterbury; Chancellor of Oxford; Vicious Anti-Wycliffite & Anti-Lollard
9 September 1381
A.D. William
Courtney—77th Bishop of London Translated to Archbishopric of
Canterbury; Chancellor of Oxford;
Vicious Anti-Wycliffite & Anti-Lollard; Convenes the “Earthquake Synod;” Urged Bishops Imprison Lollards or Those with
English Bibles; Officiated at Marriage of King Richard II; Translated from
Hereford to London See; Appointed and Received Temporalites 2 Dec 1375; Lord
Chancellor (Aug-Dec 1381); Buried in Canterbury
William Courtenay
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free encyclopedia
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The Most Reverend
William Courtenay |
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Appointed
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30 July 1381
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Installed
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unknown
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Term ended
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31 July 1396
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Predecessor
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Successor
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Other posts
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Orders
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Consecration
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17 March 1370
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Personal
details
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Died
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31 July 1396
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Buried
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Canterbury Cathedral
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Denomination
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William Courtenay (c. 1342 – 31 July 1396) was Archbishop of Canterbury, having previously been Bishop of Hereford and Bishop of London.
Contents
Early life and education
Courtenay 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. He was said to have been born at the family's
estate at Exminster.[1]
Being a native of the west of
England, Courtenay 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.
Career
Having been made prebendary of
Exeter, of Wells and of York, he was consecrated bishop of Hereford on 17 March
1370,[2]was translated to the see of
London on 12 September 1375,[3] and became Archbishop of Canterbury on 30 July 1381, succeeding Simon of Sudbury in both these latter positions.[4]
As a politician, the period of
Courtenay's 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 synod, in London, the so-called "Earthquake Synod",
which condemned the opinions of Wycliffe; he then attacked the Lollards at
Oxford, and urged the bishops to imprison heretics.
Courtenay was for a short time
chancellor of England during 1381,[5] 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.
Courtenay 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, Courtenay 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.
Death
Courtenay died at Maidstone on 31 July 1396,[4] and was buried towards the east end of the choir in Canterbury cathedral. He was responsible for the expansion of his
family's chantry foundation in Somerset, Naish Priory, as well as
significant building works at Christ Church Canterbury and Maidstone College.
Citations
References
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Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I.
(1996). Handbook of British Chronology (Third revised ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X.
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Lysons, Daniel and Samuel (1822). "Parishes:
Exminster – Exmouth". Magna Britannia: volume 6: Devonshire. Institute of Historical Research.
pp. 234–236.
External links
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See also
Hunt, William, 'Courtenay, William (1342?–1396), Archbishop of Canterbury', Dictionary of National Biography, 1885–1890, Vol. 12, (1887), pp. 342–7, now in the public domain,
at s:Courtenay,
William (DNB00)
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