William de Vere | |
---|---|
Bishop of Hereford | |
Appointed | 25 May 1186 |
Term ended | 24 December 1198 |
Predecessor | Robert Foliot |
Successor | Giles de Braose |
Orders | |
Ordination | 10 August 1186 |
Consecration | 10 August 1186 |
Personal details | |
Died | 24 December 1198 Herefordshire |
Buried | Hereford Cathedral |
Denomination | Catholic |
William de Vere (died 1198) was Bishop of Hereford and an Augustinian canon.
The son of Aubrey de Vere II and Adeliza of Clare, probably the fourth of five sons, [1] and brother of Aubrey de Vere III first earl of Oxford, de Vere spent part of his youth at the court of King Henry I of England and his second wife, Queen Adeliza of Leuven. Little is known of his education, but he had received minor ecclesiastical orders before 1141. [1] He was a friend of Bishop Arnulf of Liseux, and may have studied in Paris. [2]
William de Vere was promised the chancellorship of England by the Empress Matilda in the 1141 charter by which his brother was made earl, but given the political and military setbacks she suffered in that and subsequent years, it is not surprising that there is no record that he served as her chancellor. [3] He later entered the household of Archbishop Theobald of Bec of Canterbury (d. 1163). He served in the archbishop's household with near-contemporaries Thomas Becket and John of Salisbury in the 1150s. [4] Theobald sent him on diplomatic errands to France in the early 1160s. [1] He is thought to have served briefly as a secular canon of St. Paul's, London, about 1163, but that William de Vere may have been a member of an unrelated Ver family associated with the bishop of London in Domesday Book. William became an Augustinian canon at St Osyth's Priory at Chich, Essex, for from that monastery he was recruited in 1177 by King Henry II to supervise the rebuilding of Waltham Abbey in Essex to house an Augustinian canonry. His name is one of two listed in the Pipe rolls as receiving monies toward that project. [1]
King Henry later employed de Vere as an itinerant justice, [5] then nominated him as Bishop of Hereford on 25 May 1186. He was consecrated on 10 August 1186. [6] In that office he occasionally continued to serve as a royal justice under Richard I. [5] Bishop William is credited with having extended the east end of Hereford Cathedral, constructing the transitional retrochoir, two transept chapels, and possibly a lady chapel (the latter two areas replaced by his successors). He is also thought to have constructed the bishop's palace at Hereford. [7] He expanded the work of his predecessors in the administration of the diocese and employed Gerald of Wales and Robert Grosseteste. [8]
As a canon at St. Osyth's, de Vere wrote a Latin life of that saint, [1] which now exists only in fragments recorded by antiquarian John Leland in the sixteenth century. [1] In that work he made references to his family. He donated a relic of St. Osyth to Waltham Abbey, and promoted the cult of that saint at Hereford Cathedral. [1] He may have visited Palestine, perhaps in 1178 or in 1182–1185. [1]
De Vere was one of several bishops who excommunicated Prince John and his supporters in 1194, and was present at Winchester Cathedral for the recoronation of King Richard I in April 1194. William de Vere died in December 1198 and is buried in Hereford Cathedral, where his tomb with an effigy can be found. [1]
Theobald of Bec was a Norman archbishop of Canterbury from 1139 to 1161. His exact birth date is unknown. Some time in the late 11th or early 12th century Theobald became a monk at the Abbey of Bec, rising to the position of abbot in 1137. King Stephen of England chose him to be Archbishop of Canterbury in 1138. Canterbury's claim to primacy over the Welsh ecclesiastics was resolved during Theobald's term of office when Pope Eugene III decided in 1148 in Canterbury's favour. Theobald faced challenges to his authority from a subordinate bishop, Henry of Blois, Bishop of Winchester and King Stephen's younger brother, and his relationship with King Stephen was turbulent. On one occasion Stephen forbade him from attending a papal council, but Theobald defied the king, which resulted in the confiscation of his property and temporary exile. Theobald's relations with his cathedral clergy and the monastic houses in his archdiocese were also difficult.
Aubrey de Vere — also known as "Alberic[us] de Ver" and "Albericus regis camerarius" — was the second of that name in England after the Norman Conquest, being the eldest surviving son of Aubrey de Vere and his wife Beatrice.
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