William Ayermin

William Ayermin (or Ayermine^[1]) (died 27 March 1336) was a medieval Bishop of Norwich.

Biography

Ayermin, was descended from a family settled at Osgodby, Lincolnshire. He was the eldest of three brothers, of whom Richard obtained many ecclesiastical offices, and Adam became archdeacon of Norfolk. In early life William was probably a clerk of the exchequer.^[2]

Ayermin sat in the

In 1319 Ayermin joined the Archbishop of York, the Bishop of Ely, and other ecclesiastics, who with a force of 8,000 men attempted to resist an invasion of the Scots in the North during the First War of Scottish Independence. The army was defeated at the Battle of Myton near the river Swale with great slaughter. William was taken prisoner, and was not released for several months.^[2]

Around about 26 May 1324 Ayermin resigned the

In the course of 1326 year Ayermin returned to England, after frequent refusals to answer the king's summons to explain his recent conduct, he appears to have been reconciled to Edward II ( in spite of the suspicions with which the Despencers and Baldock viewed him)[2] and was acting Keeper of the Great Seal, usually known as the Lord Chancellor of England, from 1326 to 1327.^[7] He vigorously supported Edward III on the abdication of Edward II,^[2] and held the office of Lord High Treasurer from 1331 to 1332.^[8]

Ayermin died 27 March 1336,^[1] at his house at Charing, near London, and was buried in Norwich Cathedral.^[2] In the opinion of Sidney Lee writing in the Dictionary of National Biography the old verdict on his career, which stigmatised him as "crafty covetous, and treasonable", seems substantially just.^[2]

Citations

References

• 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
  .

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Lee, Sidney (1885). "Ayreminne, William de". In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 2. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 290–291.