William de Corbeil

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William de Corbeil bigraphy, stories - Prior of St. Osyth; Archbishop of Canterbury

William de Corbeil : biography

ca. 1070 – 21 November 1136

William de Corbeil or William of Corbeil () (circa 1070–1136) was a medieval Archbishop of Canterbury. Very little is known of William’s early life or his family, except that he was born at Corbeil in the outskirts of Paris and that he had two brothers. Educated as a theologian, he taught briefly before serving the bishops of Durham and London as a clerk and subsequently becoming a canon, a priest who lived a communal life. William was elected to the see of Canterbury as a compromise candidate in 1123, the first canon to become an English archbishop. He succeeded Ralph d’Escures, who had employed him as a chaplain.

Throughout his archbishopric, William was embroiled in a dispute with Thurstan, the Archbishop of York, over the primacy of Canterbury. As a temporary solution, the pope appointed William the papal legate for England, giving him powers superior to those of York. William concerned himself with the morals of the clergy, and presided over three legatine councils, which among other things condemned the purchase of benefices or priesthoods, and admonished the clergy to live a celibate life. He was also known as a builder; among his constructions is the keep of Rochester Castle. Towards the end of his life William was instrumental in the selection of Count Stephen of Boulogne as King of England, despite his oath to the dying King Henry I that he would support the succession of his daughter, the Empress Matilda. Although some chroniclers considered him a perjurer and a traitor for crowning Stephen, none doubted his piety.

Early life

William de Corbeil was probably born at Corbeil on the Seine, possibly in about 1070.Barlow "" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography He was educated at Laon,Hollister Henry I p. 23 where he studied under Anselm of Laon, the noted scholastic and teacher of theology.Hollister Henry I p. 432 William taught for a time at Laon, but nothing else is known of his early life.Spear "Norman Empire" Journal of British Studies p. 6 All that is known of his parents or ancestry is that he had two brothers, Ranulf and Helgot; his brothers appear as witnesses on William’s charters.Bethell "William of Corbeil" Journal of Ecclesiastical History pp. 145–146

William joined the service of Ranulf Flambard, Bishop of Durham, as a clerk, and was present at the translation of the body of Saint Cuthbert in 1104. His name appears high in a list of those who were present at the event, implying that he may have held an important position in Flambard’s household, but appended to his name is "subsequently archbishop", suggesting that his inclusion could have been a later interpolation. He was a teacher to Flambard’s children, probably in about 1107 to 1109,Bethell "William of Corbeil" Journal of Ecclesiastical History p. 146 but at some unknown date William appears to have transferred to the household of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Between 1107 and 1112 he went to Laon and attended lectures given by Anselm of Laon. By 1116 he was a clerk for Ralph d’Escures, Archbishop of Canterbury, with whom he travelled to Rome in 1117 when Ralph was in dispute with Thurstan, the Archbishop of York, over the primacy of Canterbury.Bethell "English Black Monks and Episcopal Elections in the 1120s" English Historical Review

In 1118, William entered the Augustinian order at Holy Trinity Priory in Aldgate, a house of canons rather than monks.Knowles, et al. Heads of Religious Houses p. 173 Subsequently he became prior of the Augustinian priory at St Osyth in Essex,Knowles, et al. Heads of Religious Houses p. 183Barlow English Church 1066–1154 p. 85 appointed by Richard de Beaumis, Bishop of London, in 1121.

Archiepiscopal activities

Map of medieval Rochester showing the tower that William built, from E. A. Freeman’s The Reign of William Rufus 1882 Legatine councils in 1125, 1127 and 1129 were held in Westminster, the last two called by Archbishop William. The council of 1125 met under the direction of John of Crema and prohibited simony, purchase of the sacraments, and the inheritance of clerical benefices. John of Crema had been sent to England not only to seek a compromise in the Canterbury-York dispute, but to publicize the decrees of the First Council of the Lateran held in 1123, which neither William nor Thurstan had attended. Included in canons were the rejection of hereditary claims to a benefice or prebend, which was a source of consternation to the clergy. Also prohibited was the presence of any women in clergy’s households unless they were relatives. In 1127 the council condemned the purchase of benefices, priesthoods, or places in monastic houses. It also enacted canons declaring that clergy who refused to give up their wives or concubines would be deprived of their benefices, and that any such women who did not leave the parish where they had been could be expelled and even forced into slavery. Lastly, in 1129 the clergy were once more admonished to live a celibate life and to put aside their wives.Cantor Church, Kingship, and Lay Investiture pp. 275–276 This council was presided over by King Henry, who then undermined the force of the prohibition of concubines by permitting the clergy to pay a fine to the royal treasury to keep their women. William’s allowance of this royal fine was condemned by the chronicler Henry of Huntingdon. The festival of the Conception was also allowed at one of these councils.Barlow The English Church 1066–1154 p. 195