Baldwin of Exeter

Infobox Archbishop of Canterbury
Full name = Baldwin of Exeter


birth_name = Baldwin
consecration = December 1184
began= unknown
term_end = 19 November 1190
predecessor = Richard of Dover
successor = Reginald Fitz Jocelin
birth_date =
death_date = 19 November 1190
tomb =

Baldwin of Exeter (c. 1125 – 19 November 1190) was Archbishop of Canterbury between 1185 and 1190. Son of a clergyman, he studied both canon law and theology at Bologna and was tutor to Pope Eugenius III's nephew before returning to England to serve successive bishops of Exeter. After becoming a Cistercian monk, he was named abbot of his monastery before being elected to the episcopate at Worcester. Before becoming a bishop, he wrote theological works and sermons, some of which survive.

He impressed King Henry II of England while bishop, and the king insisted that Baldwin become archbishop. While archbishop, Baldwin quarrelled with his cathedral clergy over the founding of a church, which led to the imprisonment of the clergy in their cloister for over a year. He also spent some time in Wales with Gerald of Wales, preaching and raising money for the Third Crusade. After the coronation of King Richard the Lionheart of England, Baldwin was sent ahead by the king to the Holy Land, and became embroiled in the politics of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Baldwin died in the Holy Land while participating in the Crusade. His dispute with his clergy led some chroniclers to characterize him as worse for Christianity than Saladin.

Early life

Baldwin was born in Exeter around 1125, the son of Hugh d'Eu, who was Archdeacon of Totnes and a woman whose name is unknown; his mother, however, later became a nun. Gervase of Canterbury's story that he was of humble background has been shown by modern scholarship to stem from bias on Gervase's part.Holdsworth "Baldwin (c.1125–1190)" "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography" [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/1164 Online Edition] accessed 8 November 2007] Possibly he studied at Bologna in the 1150s with the future Pope Urban III.Bartlett "England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings" p. 509] Barlow, Frank, "Thomas Becket" p. 37] Robert Warelwast, who was Bishop of Exeter from 1138 to 1155, is said to have sent Baldwin to Italy to study law.Barlow "Warelwast, Robert de (d. 1155)" "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography"] In 1150 or 1151 Pope Eugenius III appointed Baldwin tutor to Eugenius' nephew. By 1155, however, he seems to have returned to England where he joined the household of Robert of Chichester, Bishop of Exeter.

He attracted the attention of Bartholomew Iscanus, Bishop of Exeter who made him archdeacon at Totnes about 1161,Knowles "The Monastic Order in England" p. 316-24] after his father's death. He then became a monk and then abbot of the Cistercian monastery of Forde about 1170.Knowles "Heads of Religious Houses" p. 132] [http://british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=33881 British History Online Bishops of Worcester] accessed on 3 November 2007] He was well known as a canonist.Warren "Henry II" p. 552] After studying law, he often acted as a judge-delegate for the papacy, hearing cases that had reached the Roman Curia and been remanded back to local experts for decision.Barlow "Thomas Becket" p. 90] It was Baldwin, when he was archdeacon, that John of Salisbury in 1166 addressed his "Expectiatione longa" to, during the Becket controversy.Barlow "Thomas Becket" p. 155-157] It was probably at this time that Baldwin wrote "De sacramento altaris", which is his longest work that survives. Others works include twenty-two sermons, and a work on faith.

Bishop of Worcester

He became Bishop of Worcester on 10 August 1180.Fryde "Handbook of British Chronology" p. 278] While bishop, Baldwin impressed King Henry II with his pious intervention in a secular case, in order to prevent a hanging on a Sunday.Warren "Henry II"p. 554] Although Walter Map said that Baldwin was determined to continue writing even after his election to the bishopric, none of Baldwin's writings can be dated to his time as bishop except for one sermon.

Archbishop of Canterbury

Baldwin was translated from the see of Worcester to the see of Canterbury in December of 1184,Fryde "Handbook of British Chronology" p. 232] after Henry II let it be known that he would only accept Baldwin at Canterbury.Warren "Henry II" p. 555] The monks had put forth three candidates from within Christ Church Priory at the time of Baldwin's transfer: Odo, who had been prior of Christ Church and was then abbot of Battle Abbey, Peter de Leia, a Cluniac prior of Wenlock Priory and later Bishop of St David's, and Theobald, abbot of Cluny, but none of them found favour with the English bishops who selected the king's choice. He received his pallium from Pope Lucius III along with Lucius' approval of his translation.Duggan "From the Conquest to the Death of King John" in Lawrence (ed.) "The English Church & the Papacy in the Middle Ages" p. 73] During his time as archbishop there was a dispute with the monks of Christ Church Priory in Canterbury, who resented Baldwin's attempts to impose stricter control over them, and who disputed the legitimacy of Baldwin's election. For his part, Baldwin did not approve of the luxurious and pampered life that the monks of Christ Church lived,Poole "Domesday to Magna Carta" p. 221] and felt that they profited too much from the cult of Saint Thomas Becket.Barlow "Thomas Becket" p. 271]

Escalation of the dispute

The dispute escalated when Baldwin deprived the monks of some of the revenues of the estates. After that, Baldwin then proposed to establish a church dedicated to Becket in Canterbury itself, staffed by secular, not monastic, clergy. The monks of the cathedral chapter saw this proposed foundation as the first step in an attempt to change the see of Canterbury from a monastic cathedral chapter, a peculiarity of the English Church, to the more normal pattern of secular clergy. It is not clear if Baldwin himself intended such a plan, but it was definitely a plot by some of the other backers of the proposed church, among whom were the king and many other English bishops. Baldwin sought the advice of Hugh Bishop of Lincoln who advised Baldwin to abandon the plan, as it would only cause distress to all parties. The controversy was long and involved and, at one point, the monks were imprisoned within their own buildings for a year and a half, from January 1188 to August of 1189. This lead to the suspension of the liturgy in the cathedral. Eventually all the prominent ecclesiastics and monastic houses of Europe were forced into choosing sides in the dispute. In October of 1189, as an attempt to gain control, Baldwin appointed Roger Norreys as the chapter's prior, an appointment that was widely acknowledged as putting a useless individual into the office. His plan for financing the church involved soliciting contributions from donors by promising a one-third reduction in penances for annual donations.Little "Religious Poverty and the Profit Economy" p. 32]

ervice to King Henry

In 1188 King Henry II of England called for a tithe to support a new crusade, the Third, following the fall of Jerusalem to Saladin in 1187. The tithe was proclaimed in Henry's French holdings in 1184 (in French records it was called the "Dime" meaning 1/10th). The tithe was later ascribed to Richard I, who became notorious for his pre-Crusade fundraising (including his remark about selling London to the highest bidder) although the amount collected (about 1 denarius per adult person) was far outstripped by forced contributions from the Jewish "servi camerae" in England. It was popularly known as the "Saladin tithe" and was the most extensive tax ever collected in England up to that point.Powell "The House of Lords in the Middle Ages" p. 89] Due to the fact that it was a tithe rather than a secular tax, it was collected by dioceses rather than by shires, and Baldwin was especially blamed for its harshness. He spent most of 1188 in Wales, preaching the crusade, accompanied by the chronicler Gerald of Wales,Poole "Domesday Book to Magna Carta" p. 296] although from February through May Baldwin was in Normandy with the king, along with Baldwin's advisor Peter of Blois.Southern "Peter of Blois" "Studies in Medieval History" p. 209]

Baldwin was with Henry before his death, unsuccessfully taking part in efforts to negotiate with Prince Richard.Gillingham "Richard I" p. 97] After Henry's death, Richard sought and obtained absolution for the sin of disobedience to his father from both Baldwin and Walter de Coutances, Archbishop of Rouen.Gillingham "Richard I" p. 104] Baldwin crowned Richard at Westminster Abbey on 13 September 1189, which is the first English coronation for which a detailed description survives.Gillingham "Richard I" p. 107]

Under Richard

With the death of Henry II, and the accession of Richard I of England, the monks of Christ Church Priory petitioned Richard to intercede in the long running dispute between them and the archbishop. In November of 1189, Richard and the whole court, including the Queen-Mother Eleanor of Aquitaine traveled to Canterbury to attempt to end the controversy before the papacy become involved.Gillingham "Richard I" p. 110-111] Richard finally settled the dispute by persuading Baldwin to abandon the church project and to dismiss Norreys. Soon after this, Richard left England and Baldwin declared that he was going to found the proposed church at Lambeth, and then to join Richard on Crusade. Both Richard and Baldwin agreed to appoint Norreys to Evesham Abbey, as the previous abbot of Evesham, Adam of Evesham had just recently died. This appointment eventually led, after the death of Baldwin, to the infamous Case of Evesham.Knowles "The Monastic Order in England" p. 331-333] It was in August of 1189 that Baldwin objected to the marriage of Prince John, later King John, to Isabel of Gloucester, on the grounds of consanguinity. John promised to obtain a papal dispensation, but never did so.Bartlett "England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings" p. 557] Baldwin laid John's lands under interdict, but it was lifted by a papal legate who declared the marriage legal.

On the Third Crusade

In April of 1190 Baldwin accompanied King Richard I of England on crusade. In June of 1190 he arrived at Acre,at the head of the English forces, Richard did not arrive until 1191.Bartlett "England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings" p. 115] At this time, the city was under siege by the Frankish forces led by King Guy and Queen Sibylla, who in turn were being besieged by Saladin. Soon after Baldwin's arrival, there was a succession crisis in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Sibylla, a first cousin of Henry II, and her two young daughters died in July, leaving Guy without a legal claim as he had held the kingship through his wife. The heiress of the kingdom was Sibylla's half-sister Isabella; she was already married to Humphrey IV of Toron, but he was loyal to Guy and seems to have had no ambition to be king. A more promising candidate for the throne was Conrad of Montferrat, uncle of the last undisputed king, Baldwin V. Conrad had saved the kingdom from destruction by leading the successful defence of Tyre, and had the support of Isabella's mother Maria Comnena and stepfather Balian of Ibelin. Maria and Balian abducted Isabella from Humphrey, and compelled her to seek an annulment, so that she could be married to Conrad and enable him to claim the kingship. Since her marriage to Humphrey had been arranged by her half-brother Baldwin IV of Jerusalem when she was eleven, having been betrothed to him when she was eight, they argued that she had not been able to give real consent.Gillingham "Richard I" p. 148-149]

Baldwin supported Guy's claim, but Ubaldo Archbishop of Pisa, Philip of Dreux, Bishop of Beauvais, and Eraclius, Patriarch of Jerusalem supported Conrad. Isabella and Humphrey's marriage was forcefully annulled. Baldwin, already ailing, attempted to excommunicate everyone involved in the annulment, but he died on 19 November.

Legacy

Baldwin's long running dispute with his cathedral chapter caused the chronicler Gervase of Canterbury to regard the archbishop as "a greater enemy to Christianity than Saladin."Gillingham "Richard I" p. 119-120] Herbert of Bosham dedicated his "History of Thomas", a story of Thomas Becket, to the archbishop in the late 1180s.Barlow "Thomas Becket" p. 263] When news of his death reached England in 1191, he was succeeded briefly by Reginald fitz Jocelin, Bishop of Bath and Wells; Reginald soon died and the seat remained vacant until 1193 when Hubert Walter, Bishop of Salisbury and a fellow crusader with Baldwin, was elected archbishop. The historian A. L. Poole called Baldwin a "distinguished scholar and deeply religious man, [but] was injudicious and too austere to be a good leader." Baldwin was also known as a theologian, as well as being a canon lawyer.Knowles "The Monastic Order in England" p. 645] His clerk, Joseph of Exeter, accompanied him on the Crusade, and wrote two works after Joseph's return, one the "Antiocheis" which was an epic poem about King Richard on crusade, and the other was "De Bello Trojano", a rewriting of the Trojan War.Mortimer "Angevin England 1154-1258" p. 210]

On screen, Baldwin was portrayed by actor Basil Clarke in the BBC TV drama series "The Devil's Crown" (1978).

Notes

ources

*
* Barlow, Frank "Thomas Becket" Berkeley, CA:University of California Press 1986 ISBN 0-520-07175-1
* Bartlett, Robert "England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings: 1075-1225" Oxford:Clarendon Press 2000 ISBN 0-19-822741-8
* [http://british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=33881 British History Online Bishops of Worcester] accessed on 3 November 2007
* Duggan, Charles "From the Conquest to the Death of John" 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
* Gillingham, John "Richard I" New Haven:Yale University Press 1999 ISBN 0-300-07912-5
* Holdsworth, Christopher "Baldwin (c.1125–1190)" "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography" Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/1164 Online Edition] accessed 8 November 2007
* Knowles, Dom David "The Monastic Order in England: From the Times of St. Dunstan to the Fourth Lateran Council" Second Edition Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1976 reprint ISBN 0-521-05479-6
*
* Lawrence, C. H. ed. "The English Church and the Papacy in the Middle Ages" Stroud:Sutton Publishing reprint 1999 ISBN 0-7509-1947-7
* Little, Lester K. "Religious Poverty and the Profit Economy in Medieval Europe" Ithaca, NY:Cornell University Press 1978 ISBN 0-8014-9247-5
* Mortimer, Richard "Angevin England 1154-1258" Oxford: Blackwell 1994 ISBN0-631-16388-3
* Poole, A. L. "Domesday Book to Magna Carta 1087-1216" Second Edition Oxford:Clarendon Press reprint 1986 ISBN 0-19-821707-2
* Powell, J. Enoch and Keith Wallis "The House of Lords in the Middle Ages: A History of the English House of Lords to 1540" London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson 1968
*
* Runicman, Steven, "A History of the Crusades". Cambridge University Press, 1951-54.
*
* Tyerman, Christopher "England and the Crusades, 1095-1588". University of Chicago Press, 1988
* Warren, W. L. "Henry II" Berkeley: University of California Press 1973 ISBN 0-520-03494-5

External links

* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02221b.htm Catholic Encyclopedia article]

Persondata
NAME= Baldwin of Exeter
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Abbot of Forde; Bishop of Worcester; Archbishop of Canterbury
DATE OF BIRTH=
PLACE OF BIRTH=
DATE OF DEATH=19 November 1190
PLACE OF DEATH=