William de Wickwane

Infobox Archbishop of York
name = William de Wickwane


birth_name = William de Wickwane
consecration = 17 September 1279
began = 25 December 1279
term_end = 27 August 1285
predecessor = Walter Giffard
successor = John le Romeyn
birth_date =
birthplace =
death_date =27 August 1285
deathplace = Pontigny Abbey Burgundy
tomb = Pontigny Abbey

William Wickwane was Archbishop of York, between the years 1279 and 1285.

Life

His background is unknown, as is his place of education, but he was referred to as "magister" so he probably attended a university.Dobson "Wickwane, William de (d. 1285)" "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography" [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/29351 Online Edition] accessed 12 November 2007] He was prebendary of North Newald in Yorkshire by 1265 and also held the prebend of Ripon. [http://british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=8065 British History Online Chancellors of York] accessed on 22 September 2007] He was elected archbishop of York on 22 June 1279, and consecrated on 17 September 1279Fryde "Handbook of British Chronology" p. 282] by Pope Nicholas III at Viterbo. [http://british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=8457 British History Online Archbishops of York] accessed on 22 September 2007] On his return to England, he had his primatial cross carried in front of him through the see of Canterbury, thus reviving a centuries old controversy between York and Canterbury. He was enthroned at York Minster on Christmas Day 1279. The matter of the cross made William an enemy in the person of Archbishop John Peckham of Canterbury.

While archbishop, in 1281 he tried make an archiepiscopal visitation of the cathedral chapter of Durham, but was forcibly prevented by the cathedral chapter, after which Wickwane excommunicated the chapter and Robert of Holy Island, the bishop of Durham, and placed the entire diocese of Durham under interdict. The chapter and bishop appealed to Rome, and the case dragged on for six years before eventually being settled by a compromise.Lawrence "The Thirteenth Century" in Lawrence (ed.) "The English Church & the Papacy in the Middle Ages" p. 143-144] He also wrote to Bogo de Clare while the later was still a canon of York Minster, taking Bogo to task for the state of the vestments and other liturgical items in the cathedral.Moorman "Church Life in England in the Thirteenth Century" p. 202] Wickwane also attempted to keep clergy who kept concubines from performing clerical functions in the diocese of York.Moorman " Church Life in England in the Thirteenth Century" p. 235]

He died on 26 August or 27 August 1285 at Pontigny Abbey in Burgundy while on his way to the papal curia to plead his case against the monks of Durham. He was buried at the Cistercian abbey there in Pontigny.

Notes

References

* [http://british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=8457 British History Online Archbishops of York] accessed on 22 September 2007
* [http://british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=8065 British History Online Chancellors of York] accessed on 22 September 2007
* Dobson, R. B. "Wickwane, William de (d. 1285)" "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography" Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/29351 Online Edition] accessed 12 November 2007
* Lawrence, C. H. "The Thirteenth Century" in Lawrence, C. H. ed. "The English Church and the Papacy in the Middle Ages" Stroud:Sutton Publishing reprint 1999 ISBN 0-7509-1947-7
* Moorman, John R. H. "Church Life in England in the Thirteenth Century" Revised Edition Cambridge:Cambridge University Press 1955
* Powicke, F. Maurice and E. B. Fryde "Handbook of British Chronology" 2nd. ed. London:Royal Historical Society 1961

Further reading

*

Persondata
NAME= Wickwane, William de
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=William Wickwane
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Archbishop of York
DATE OF BIRTH=
PLACE OF BIRTH=
DATE OF DEATH=27 August 1285
PLACE OF DEATH=Pontigny