Walter de Coutances
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| Walter de Coutances | |
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Chief Justiciar of England (de facto)
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| In office 1191 – 1193 |
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| Monarch | Richard I |
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| Preceded by | William Longchamp |
| Succeeded by | Hubert Walter |
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Vice-Chancellor of England
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| In office 1173 – 1189? |
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| Monarch | Henry II |
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| Occupation | Bishop |
| Profession | clergy |
| Denomination | Catholic |
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| Senior posting | |
| See | Archdiocese of Rouen |
| Title | Archbishop of Rouen |
| Period in office | 1184–1207 |
| Predecessor | Rotrou |
| Successor | Robert III Poulain |
| Religious career | |
| Previous bishoprics | Bishop of Lincoln |
| Previous post | Archdeacon of Oxford Canon and Treasurer of Rouen Cathedral |
| Personal | |
| Date of death | 1207 |
Walter de Coutances (or Walter de Coutances or Walter of Coutances) (d. 1207) was a medieval bishop of Lincoln and archbishop of Rouen. He also served in the government of Henry II and Richard I. His highest government office was de facto Chief Justiciar of England.
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[edit] Life
He was born in Cornwall.[1] He commenced his career in the chancery of King Henry II of England.
He became Vice-Chancellor of England, Canon and Treasurer of Rouen Cathedral in 1173. He became Archdeacon of Oxford perhaps by 1173, certainly by March 14, 1176.[2] He was elected to the see of Lincoln on May 8, 1183, and was consecrated bishop on July 3, 1183[3] at Angers. He was enthroned at Lincoln Cathedral on December 11, 1183.[4] On November 17, 1184 he obtained, with King Henry's help, the see of Rouen.[3][4]
Throughout his career he was much employed in diplomatic and administrative duties. He started with Richard I for the Third Crusade, but was sent back from Messina to investigate the charges which the barons and the official class had brought against the chancellor, William Longchamp. There was no love lost between the two; and they were popularly supposed to be rivals for the see of Canterbury. The archbishop of Rouen sided with the barons and John, and sanctioned Longchamp's deposition--a step which was technically warranted by the powers which Richard had given, but by no means calculated to protect the interests of the crown.
Wallingford Castle was entrusted to the archbishop while Richard I was at the crusades, but John besieged it, ousting the archbishop.
The Great Council now recognized the archbishop as Chief Justiciar although he was never named such in any documents, and he remained at the head of the government till 1193, when he was replaced by Hubert Walter.[5] The archbishop did good service in the negotiations for Richard's release, but subsequently quarrelled with his master and laid Normandy under an interdict, because the border stronghold of Château-Gaillard in the Vexin Normand had been built on his land without his consent.
After Richard's death the archbishop accepted John as the lawful heir of Normandy and consecrated him as duke. But his personal inclinations leaned to Arthur of Brittany, whom he was with difficulty dissuaded from supporting. The archbishop accepted the French conquest of Normandy in 1204 with equanimity although he kept to his old allegiance while the issue of the struggle was in doubt. He did not long survive the conquest, and his later history is a blank.
During his career, he advanced his nephew John of Coutances to the offices of Archdeacon of Oxford and Dean of Rouen, and his nephew later became Bishop of Worcester.[6] Other nephews were William, successively a canon at Lincoln Cathedral and an archdeacon at Rouen, and Richard, also an archdeacon at Rouen.[1]
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b Spear "The Norman Empire and the Secular Clergy" Journal of British Studies p. 8
- ^ British History Online Archdeacons of Oxford accessed on October 28, 2007
- ^ a b Powicke Handbook of British Chronology p. 235
- ^ a b British History Online Bishops of Lincoln accessed on October 28, 2007
- ^ Powicke Handbook of British Chronology p. 70
- ^ British History Online Bishops of Worcester accessed on November 3, 2007
[edit] References
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
- British History Online Archdeacons of Oxford accessed on October 28, 2007
- British History Online Bishops of Lincoln accessed on October 28, 2007
- British History Online Bishops of Worcester accessed on November 3, 2007
- Powicke, F. Maurice and E. B. Fryde Handbook of British Chronology 2nd. ed. London:Royal Historical Society 1961
- Spear, David S. "The Norman Empire and the Secular Clergy, 1066-1204" The Journal of British Studies Volume XXI Number 2 Spring 1982 p. 1-10
[edit] Further reading
See William Stubbs's editions of Benedictus Abbas, Hoveden and Diceto (Rolls series); R Howlett's edition of William of Newburgh and Richard of Devizes in Chronicles, etc., of the Reigns of Stephen, henry II and Richard I (Rolls series). See also the preface to the third volume of Stubbs's Hoveden, pp. lix.-xcviii.; JH Round's Commune of London, and the French poem on Guillaume le Maréchal (ad. P Meyer, Soc. de l'Histoire de France).
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by William Longchamp |
Chief Justiciar 1191–1193 |
Succeeded by Hubert Walter |
| Religious titles | ||
| Preceded by Geoffrey Plantagenet |
Bishop of Lincoln 1183–1184 |
Succeeded by Hugh of Avalon |
| Preceded by Rotrou |
Archbishop of Rouen 1184–1207 |
Succeeded by Robert III Poulain |
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Walter de Coutances |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Walter of Coutances |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Bishop of Lincoln; Archbishop of Rouen; Chief Justiciar of England |
| DATE OF BIRTH | |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1207 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
