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Home > Catholic Encyclopedia > C > William Courtenay


WILLIAM COURTENAY

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Archbishop of Canterbury, born in the parish of St. Martin's, Exeter, England,
c. 1342; died at Maidstone, 31 July, 1396; was the son of Hugh Courtenay, Earl
of Devon, and Margaret, daughter of Humphrey Bohun, Earl of Hereford. He studied
at Oxford, where he took the degree of D.C.L. In 1367 he was elected chancellor
of the university. On this occasion the university successfully resisted the
Bishop of Lincoln's claim to the right of confirming its choice, and later
Courtenay obtained from Urban V a Bull declaring a chancellor's election valid
without the confirmation of the diocesan. After holding prebends in the churches
of Exeter, Wells, and York, he was elected Bishop of Hereford and consecrated,
17 March, 1370. As bishop his support was given to the Prince of Wales and
Bishop Wykeham against the anti-clerical movement led by John of Gaunt, Duke of
Lancaster, and later his efforts to suppress the Lollards were unceasing. In the
Convocation of 1373 he strongly opposed the granting of a subsidy to the king
until the latter should try to remedy the evils then afflicting the Church.
Courtenay was transferred to the See of London, 12 Sept., 1375. In 1377 Pope
Gregory XI issued a Bull of excommunication against the Florentines, and
Courtenay published it at Paul's Cross. The result was that the Florentines in
London were attacked by the populace; the magistrates had to interfere, and the
king extended his protection to the foreigners. Courtenay was accused of
violating the law by publishing the Bull. When called upon to retract what he
had published, his answer was made through an official, who declared from the
pulpit that the bishop's words had been misunderstood, and there the matter
ended. When the Convocation was summoned in 1377, the archbishop, in the
interests of John of Gaunt, omitted to summon the Bishop of Winchester.
Courtenay protested against this and succeeded in getting Wykeham's rights
recognized. Then followed his attempts to repress the Lollards, and Wyclif was
cited to appear before the archbishop at St. Paul's. Wyclif came accompanied by
John of Gaunt, who insisted upon a seat being provided for the accused; an
altercation ensued which resulted in the court breaking up in confusion.
Courtenay's authority alone restrained the citizens from using violence towards
Lancaster. Again, in obedience to the pope, 18 Dec., he summoned Wyclif, but
nothing came of the summons, and the Lollards continued to increase in numbers
and influence. Some think that about this time the pope offered to create
Courtenay a cardinal; whether this was so or not, he was never raised to that
dignity, but on 30 July, 1381, he became Archbishop of Canterbury. Then followed
his appointment to the chancellorship of the kingdom 10 Aug., 1382, an office
which he shortly afterwards resigned (18 Nov., 1382).



Urged by Parliament he again turned his attention to the Lollards, calling a
council which condemned their heretical opinions. Rigge, the Chancellor of
Oxford and a leading Lollard, retracted and sued for pardon on his knees, but on
his return to the university continued as before. The Oxford Lollards were
finally brought to submission on 18 Nov., when the recantation of their leaders
was received at St. Frideswide's. The archbishop then obtained a statute
commanding sheriffs and other officers of the king to imprison heretics when
certified as such by a bishop. Though this law was repealed the next year, he
still had the royal sanction allowing bishops to detain heretics in their own
prisons. After the subjugation of Oxford he turned to Leicester (1389), placed
the town under an interdict, and in the end received the recantation of the
leaders. About 1382 he began a general visitation of his province and met with
much opposition; his interference was appealed against by the Bishops of Exeter
and Salisbury, though both finally submitted. The Benedictine abbots also
organized a strong opposition to his proposed visitation of Gloucester College,
Oxford (1389); on his arrival he was treated with due respect, but they so
firmly refused to acknowledge his right that he abandoned his design. Though a
strong defender of the rights of the Church in England, he was always true and
loyal to the pope. He so fearlessly condemned the extravagance of the king that
he once (1385) had to take refuge in Devonshire to escape the royal anger. When
the relations between king and Parliament became so strained as almost to lead
to war, it was Courtenay who acted as mediator and averted the danger. He was
first buried at Maidstone, where he had founded the College of St. Mary and All
Saints; afterwards his body was removed to Canterbury and buried, in the king's
presence, at the feet of the Black Prince, near the shrine of St. Thomas.




SOURCES

Munimenta Academica, ed. ANSTEY (London, 1868), I, 229; Fasciculi Zizoniorum,
ed. SHIRLEY (London, 1858), xxix, 272-5, 304-9, 356, 493: HOOK, Lives of
Archbishops of Canterbury (London, 1860-73), IV, 315-98; STUBBS, Constitutional
History of England (London, 1857-80), II, 428-38, 460-88; III, 330, 356; FOXE,
Acts and Monuments (London, 1684) I, 495-500; GREEN, History of the English
People (London, 1895), II, 339-46.


ABOUT THIS PAGE

APA citation. Hind, G. (1908). William Courtenay. In The Catholic Encyclopedia.
New York: Robert Appleton Company. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04446a.htm

MLA citation. Hind, George. "William Courtenay." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol.
4. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908.
<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04446a.htm>.

Transcription. This article was transcribed for New Advent by Douglas J. Potter.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. Remy Lafort, Censor. Imprimatur. +John
M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.

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