William Freney

William Freney (or William Fresney), an

archbishop of Edessa (1263 – c.1290). His career was divided between England and the Levant

. He served as a diplomat and negotiator for both English kings and Popes.

In the East

In 1254, William was in Rome seeking the commutation of

On 1 August 1263,

Rages in Persia. It had had Latin archbishops in the early twelfth century, but had been under Muslim rule since 1144. William was to be the only thirteenth-century archbishop. His appointment may have been intended to facilitate missionary activity "in infidel lands" (in partibus infidelium).^[2]

William's good knowledge of several languages (which are unknown) made him valuable as a diplomat. In 1264, Urban sent William on an embassy to

Hethum I, king of Armenia. His mission was a success. Good relations between Armenia and the Papacy were restored and, probably influenced by William, Hethum expressed a desire to establish a Dominican monastery in his kingdom.^[2]

William's whereabouts between 1267 and 1273 are unknown, and he may have accompanied

crusade to Syria in 1271–72.^[2]

In England

William spent 1265–67—the height of the

Havering. In October, he granted William the manor itself for life. In February 1266, William was given the manor of Silverstone to be held at the king's pleasure. Later that year, the king received complaints about William's procurations (levies on the manors' tenants), and by May 1267 the manors had been bestowed on others.^[2]

At the siege of Kenilworth in 1266, William tried to negotiate with the rebellious garrison on behalf of the besieging royalist army, but he was refused entry into the castle. On 21 July 1266, the king charged him with escorting certain rebel representatives to court for peace negotiations, but these too failed. The chronicler William Rishanger nonetheless recalls him as "a man of discretion and praiseworthy eloquence".^[2]

William may have left England around the time he lost his manors. If so, he had returned by August 1273, when Edward, who in the meantime had succeeded Henry as king, granted the archbishop a

Stephen and Edmund at Bury St Edmunds.^[3]

By 1276 William was acting as a suffragan bishop of the

Peter's pence. That year Edward gave him two more tuns of wine. In November 1278, he assisted the new bishop, William Middleton, in the consecration of Norwich Cathedral. In 1280, he was attended the translation of the remains of Hugh of Lincoln to Norwich.^[2]

In 1282, William received the manor of

dissolution to St Mary's Church in Rhuddlan, where it resides today. It bears the effigy of a bishop with mitre and crozier. Its inscription, in Norman French, reads, "Pray for the soul of Friar William Freney, archbishop of Rages".^[2]

Notes

^ Hinnebusch 1942, p. 312.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Jackson 2005.
^ Gransden 2015, p. 209.

Sources

Gransden, Antonia (2015). A History of the Abbey of Bury St Edmunds, 1257–1301: Simon of Luton and John of Northwold. Boydell Press.
Gumbley, W. (1914–15). "William Fresney, O.P., Archbishop of Rages (Edessa), 1263–1290". Flintshire Historical Society Journal: 36–41.
Hinnebusch, William A. (1942). "Diplomatic Activities of the English Dominicans in the Thirteenth Century". The Catholic Historical Review. 28 (3): 309–39.
doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/92436
. Retrieved 6 December 2015.

Richard, Jean (1949). "Deux évêques dominicains agents de l'union arménienne au moyen-âge". Archivum Fratrum Praedicatorum. 19: 255–65.
Richard, Jean (1977). La papauté et les mission d'Orient au Moyen Âge (XIII^e–XV^e siècles). Collection de l'École Française de Rome. Vol. 33. Rome: École Française de Rome.

[FOOTNOTEHinnebusch1942312-1] Hinnebusch 1942, p. 312.

[FOOTNOTEJackson2005-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Jackson 2005.

[FOOTNOTEGransden2015209-3] Gransden 2015, p. 209.

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