William of York
William | |
---|---|
Roman Catholic Church | |
Canonized | 18 March 1226 Rome by Pope Honorius III |
Shrines | York Minster |
William of York (late 11th century – 8 June 1154)
Early life
Born William fitzHerbert in York,
William held the
Election problems
In January 1141 William was elected Archbishop of York.
The election was opposed by the Cistercian monasteries of Yorkshire and by the archdeacons of York.[15] The Cistercians opposed on the grounds that the Second Lateran Council in 1139 had given the religious houses of a diocese the right to participate in electing the bishop.[16] Theobald of Bec, the Archbishop of Canterbury, refused to recognise William's election due to allegations of simony (acquisition of church positions by bribery), and of interference by King Stephen.[17] In 1143, Pope Innocent II ruled that William could be confirmed in office if he swore under oath that the allegations were false. After he swore the oath, Henry of Blois, who was also papal legate, found William innocent, and he was consecrated as archbishop on 26 September 1143.[5]
First archiepiscopate and deposition
As Archbishop, William undertook several ecclesiastical reforms and became popular with the people of York. However, he still needed a pallium, the sign of an archbishop's authority from the Pope, which he had not yet received. The Cistercians, who were still adamantly opposed to his being Archbishop, were determined to prevent his receiving it. William travelled to Rome in an attempt to obtain the pallium. The election of Pope Eugene III, a Cistercian, in 1145, was a setback for his cause.[18] Bernard of Clairvaux, the famous Cistercian abbot and religious leader, exerted all his influence to ensure William's suspension, sending a series of complaints to the new Pope that William had been intruded by secular powers into the see, that he was oppressing the Cistercian monasteries and that he had irregularly appointed William of St. Barbara as Dean of York. In the winter of 1145–1146 Eugene re-examined the case, declared that William had not been validly consecrated and suspended him from office.[19] William was required to obtain an in-person refutation of the old charges by William of St Barbara, by then the Bishop of Durham.[5][15]
While awaiting the final decision in his case, William took up residence with one of his friends,
Second archiepiscopate
King Stephen refused to accept William's deposition and the appointment of Murdac, and prevented Murdac from taking up residence in York. Stephen probably wished to trade recognition of Murdac for support for his son
Death and sainthood
After less than a month back in York, William died on 8 June 1154,[12] allegedly due to poison administered in the chalice at Mass.[23] One of William's clerks accused Osbert de Bayeux, an archdeacon of York, of the murder, and Osbert was summoned before the king to be tried at the royal court. Stephen died before the trial could take place.[25] William was buried in York Minster[26] and within a few months of his death, miracles were attributed to his intervention and a sweet smell came from his tomb when it was damaged during a fire. Nor was the body decayed or burnt.[27] Pope Honorius III then ordered an investigation into the miracles and canonized him in Rome in 1226.[27]
William's
An extant church in Sheffield (in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Hallam) was dedicated to St William in 1932.[30]
St William's College
St William's Chapel
A chapel to St William was built in York in the later 12th century. It was placed on the northern edge of the Ouse Bridge to mark a miracle associated with the collapse of the bridge when William returned to York in 1154. It remained as a functional chapel until 1550. The chapel was removed during the renovation of the bridge between 1810 and 1818.[32]
Shrines
The earliest shine to St William in York Minster dates to the c. 1220s in which William's sarcophagus was buried 10 inches (25 cm) into the floor and a shrine structure erected above it - this left the lid of the sarcophagus proud of the structure to be accessible to pilgrims.[33] In 1284 Bishop Bek paid for the translation of Williams body to a new shrine in the choir behind the high altar; no trace of the shrine has been recorded.[33] There is evidence of two larger shrines in York Minster – one at his tomb site and the other a separate, principal, shrine.
The tomb shrine was built in c. AD 1330 on the site of William's original burial place in the eastern-most bay of the
The latest, principal shrine, located near the Minster's High Altar was built in 1471-1472 and probably designed by Robert Spillesby, the master mason of the Minster from 1466-1473. This later shrine was in the Perpendicular Gothic style made from a darker marble than the rest of the Minster and comprised a large marble pedestal on which a reliquary of William was placed and covered by a wooden canopy.[34] It was 3.3 metres (11 ft), 1.4 metres (4.6 ft) wide and 4.15 metres (13.6 ft) long.[33]
There is no evidence of large scale pilgrimage to William's shrines.[34] However, numerous panels from the stained glass window in the Minster depict petitioners and worshippers at the shrines. A lead ampulla found in York and depicting an archbishop on one side has been argued to represent Saint William.[35] The upper face of William's sarcophagus has been worn smooth, probably from the hands of pilgrims touching it.[33] In the 1890s Catholic pilgrims who were part of the Guild of Our Lady of Ransom pilgrimage through York were given permission to kiss the shrine.[36]
On 22 September 1541 the
The sarcophagus containing William's remains was rediscovered in 1732 and again in 1968, at which point they were removed.[34] His remains are now held in a shrine in the crypt at York Minster.[38] Parts of the shrines are now in the Yorkshire Museum.[39] This is the only example of a saint's shrine in a museum collection in England.[40]
Notes
- ^ also known as William FitzHerbert, William I FitzHerbert and William of Thwayt
- ^ Henry eventually became King Henry II of England after the death of Eustace and Stephen.
Citations
- ^ a b Emma J. Wells, "Making Sense of Things", History Today, Vol. 69, No. 5 (May 2019), p. 40
- ^ a b c Burton "William of York" "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography"
- ^ Keats-Rohan Domesday Descendants pp. 151–152
- ^ Hollister "Origins of the English Treasury" English Historical Review p. 268
- ^ a b c d e f Greenway "Archbishops" Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300: Volume 6: York
- ^ Davis King Stephen pp. 172–173
- ^ Greenway "Prebendaries: Weighton" Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300: Volume 6: York
- ^ a b Greenway "Archdeacons: East Riding" Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300: Volume 6: York
- ^ Norton Saint William of York pp. 10–16
- ^ Norton Saint William of York pp. 34–37
- ^ Norton Saint William of York p. 61
- ^ a b Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 281
- ^ a b Crouch Reign of King Stephen p. 304
- ^ Norton Saint William of York p. 81
- ^ a b c Barlow English Church 1066–1154 p. 98
- ^ Burton Monastic and Religious Orders p. 77
- ^ Poole Domesday Book to Magna Carta p. 191
- ^ Davis King Stephen pp. 97–99
- ^ a b Norton Saint William of York p. 118
- ^ Norton Saint William of York p. 120
- ^ Norton Saint William of York p. 124
- ^ Davis King Stephen p. 103
- ^ a b Barlow English Church 1066–1154 p. 102
- ^ Walsh New Dictionary of Saints pp. 627–628
- ^ Richardson and Sayles Governance of Mediaeval England p. 288
- ^ Norton Saint William of York p. 145
- ^ a b Norton Saint William of York p. 149
- ^ Manser (ed.) "Dictionary of Saints," p. 300
- ^ "Heraldry associated with St Wilfrid (and St William of York)" St Wilfrid's Church
- ^ "Church History". Church of St William of York. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
- ^ Page (ed.) "Collegiate Churches: York (including York Minster)" History of the County of York: Volume 3 pp. 375–386.
- ^ "A History of the County of York: the City of York". Victoria County History. 1961. pp. 510–520.
- ^ a b c d e Harrison, Stuart (2022). "The shrines of St William of York reconstructed". In Brown, Sarah; Rees Jones, Sarah; Ayers, Tim (eds.). York: Art, Architecture, and Archaeology. Routledge. pp. 1–25.
- ^ a b c d e f g Christopher Wilson (1977). The Shrines of St William of York. Yorkshire Museum.
- ^ Patrick Ottoway; Nicola Rogers (2002). Craft Industry and Everyday Life: Finds from Medieval York (PDF). The Archaeology of York, The Small Finds 17/15. York Archaeological Trust. p. 2944.
- ISSN 2055-7973.
- ^ Ralph Thoresby (1715). Ducatus Leodiensis. p. 567.
- ^ "York Minster FAQs, Question 8" York Minster
- ^ "St William of York shrines on display for first time in 400 years". York Press. 8 June 2010. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
- ^ "St. William's Shrine". BBC: A History of the World. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
References
- Burton, Janet (1994). Monastic and Religious Orders in Britain: 1000–1300. Cambridge Medieval Textbooks. Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-37797-8.
- Burton, Janet (2004). "William of York (d. 1154)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. required)
- ISBN 0-582-22657-0.
- ISBN 0-582-04000-0.
- Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology (Third Edition, revised ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X.
- Greenway, Diana E. (1999). "Archbishops". Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300. Vol. 6: York. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 16 March 2008.
- Greenway, Diana E. (1999). "Archdeacons: East Riding". Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300. Vol. 6: York. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 16 March 2008.
- Greenway, Diana E. (1999). "Prebendaries: Weighton". Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300. Vol. 6: York. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 16 March 2008.
- "Heraldry associated with St. Wilfrid (& St. William of York)". St. Wilfrid's Church. Retrieved 16 March 2008.
- JSTOR 567061.
- ISBN 0-85115-863-3.
- Manser, Martin, ed. (2004). Dictionary of Saints. New York: Collins. ISBN 0-00-716950-7.
- Norton, Christopher (2006). St William of York. York: York Medieval Press. ISBN 1-903153-17-4.
- Page, William, ed. (1974). "Collegiate Churches: York (Including York Minster)". A History of the County of York: Volume 3. Victoria County History. Retrieved 17 March 2008.
- ISBN 0-19-821707-2.
- Richardson, H. G.; OCLC 504298.
- Walsh, Michael J. (2001). Dictionary of Christian Biography. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press. ISBN 0-8146-5921-7.
- "York Minster FAQs Question 8". York Minster. Retrieved 16 March 2008.
Further reading
- JSTOR 3020721.
- JSTOR 3020724.
- Morey, Adrian (1952). "Canonist Evidence in the Case of St William of York". Cambridge Historical Journal. 10 (3): 352–353. JSTOR 3021118.
- JSTOR 553158.
- Talbot, C. H. (1950). "New Documents in the Case of Saint William of York". Cambridge Historical Journal. 10 (1): 1–15. JSTOR 3021066.
- White, G. H. (1932). "The Parentage of Herbert the Chamberlain". Notes and Queries: 439–441, 453–455. .