Walter de Coutances

Infobox Officeholder
honorific-prefix =
name =Walter de Coutances
honorific-suffix =


imagesize =
small

caption =
order =
office = Chief Justiciar of England (de facto)
term_start =1191
term_end =1193
vicepresident =
viceprimeminister =
deputy =
lieutenant =
monarch = Richard I
predecessor = William Longchamp
successor = Hubert Walter
constituency =
majority =
order2 =
office2 =Vice-Chancellor of England
term_start2 =1173
term_end2 =1189?
vicepresident2 =
viceprimeminister2 =
deputy2 =
lieutenant2 =
monarch2 = Henry II
predecessor2 =
successor2 =
constituency2 =
majority2 =
birth_date =
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death_date =
death_place =
nationality =
party =
spouse =
relations =
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residence =
alma_mater =
occupation =Bishop
profession =clergy
religion =


website =
footnotes =Infobox bishopbiog
name =Walter de Coutances


religion =Catholic
See =Archdiocese of Rouen
Title = Archbishop of Rouen
Period = 1184–1207
Predecessor = Rotrou
Successor = Robert III Poulain
ordination =
bishops = Bishop of Lincoln
post =Archdeacon of Oxford
Canon and Treasurer of Rouen Cathedral
date of birth =
place of birth =
date of death =1207
place of death =

Walter de Coutances (or Walter de Coutances or Walter of Coutances) (d. 1207) was a medieval bishop of Lincoln and archbishop of Rouen. He also served in the government of Henry II and Richard I. His highest government office was de facto Chief Justiciar of England.

Life

He was born in Cornwall.Spear "The Norman Empire and the Secular Clergy" "Journal of British Studies" p. 8] He commenced his career in the chancery of King Henry II of England.Fact|date=October 2008 He held a canonry in Rouen Cathedral by 1169.Spear "Norman Empire" "Journal of British Studies" p. 8]

He became Vice-Chancellor of England and Treasurer of Rouen Cathedral in 1173. He became Archdeacon of Oxford perhaps by 1173, certainly by March 14 1176. [http://british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=33570 British History Online Archdeacons of Oxford] accessed on October 28, 2007] He was elected to the see of Lincoln on May 8 1183, and was consecrated bishop on July 3 1183Powicke "Handbook of British Chronology" p. 235] at Angers. He was enthroned at Lincoln Cathedral on December 11 1183. [http://british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=33560 British History Online Bishops of Lincoln] accessed on October 28, 2007] On November 17 1184 he obtained, with King Henry's help, the see of Rouen.

Throughout his career he was much employed in diplomatic and administrative duties. He started with Richard I for the Third Crusade, but was sent back from Messina to investigate the charges which the barons and the official class had brought against the chancellor, William Longchamp. There was no love lost between the two; and they were popularly supposed to be rivals for the see of Canterbury. The archbishop of Rouen sided with the barons and John, and sanctioned Longchamp's deposition--a step which was technically warranted by the powers which Richard had given, but by no means calculated to protect the interests of the crown.

Wallingford Castle was entrusted to the archbishop while Richard I was at the crusades, but John besieged it, ousting the archbishop.

The Great Council now recognized the archbishop as Chief Justiciar although he was never named such in any documents, and he remained at the head of the government till 1193, when he was replaced by Hubert Walter.Powicke "Handbook of British Chronology" p. 70] The archbishop did good service in the negotiations for Richard's release, but subsequently quarrelled with his master and laid Normandy under an interdict, because the border stronghold of Château-Gaillard in the Vexin Normand had been built on his land without his consent.

After Richard's death the archbishop accepted John as the lawful heir of Normandy and consecrated him as duke. But his personal inclinations leaned to Arthur of Brittany, whom he was with difficulty dissuaded from supporting. The archbishop accepted the French conquest of Normandy in 1204 with equanimity although he kept to his old allegiance while the issue of the struggle was in doubt. He did not long survive the conquest, and his later history is a blank.

During his career, he advanced his nephew John of Coutances to the offices of Archdeacon of Oxford and Dean of Rouen, and his nephew later became Bishop of Worcester. [http://british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=33881 British History Online Bishops of Worcester] accessed on November 3, 2007] Other nephews were William, successively a canon at Lincoln Cathedral and an archdeacon at Rouen, and Richard, also an archdeacon at Rouen.

ee also

* List of bishops of Lincoln and precursor offices

Notes

References

*
* [http://british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=33570 British History Online Archdeacons of Oxford] accessed on October 28, 2007
* [http://british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=33560 British History Online Bishops of Lincoln] accessed on October 28, 2007
* [http://british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=33881 British History Online Bishops of Worcester] accessed on November 3, 2007
* Powicke, F. Maurice and E. B. Fryde "Handbook of British Chronology" 2nd. ed. London:Royal Historical Society 1961
*

Further reading

See William Stubbs's editions of Benedictus Abbas, Hoveden and Diceto (Rolls series); R Howlett's edition of William of Newburgh and Richard of Devizes in "Chronicles, etc., of the Reigns of Stephen, henry II and Richard I" (Rolls series). See also the preface to the third volume of Stubbs's Hoveden, pp. lix.-xcviii.; JH Round's "Commune of London", and the French poem on Guillaume le Maréchal (ad. P Meyer, "Soc. de l'Histoire de France").

Persondata
NAME=Walter de Coutances
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Walter of Coutances
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Bishop of Lincoln; Archbishop of Rouen; Chief Justiciar of England
DATE OF BIRTH=
PLACE OF BIRTH=
DATE OF DEATH=1207
PLACE OF DEATH=