William de Cornhill

Infobox bishopbiog
name =William de Cornhill


religion =Catholic
See =Diocese of Coventry
Title = Bishop of Coventry
Period = 1214–1223
Predecessor = Geofrey de Muschamp
Successor =Alexander de Stavenby
ordination =
bishops =
post =
date of birth =
place of birth =
date of death =August 1223
place of death =

William de Cornhill (or William of Cornhill) was a medieval Bishop of Coventry.

Some sources say William was the son of Henry de Cornhill, who was sheriff of London from 1187 to 1189 and was a brother to Reginald de Cornhill, one of John's chief administrators.Joliffe "Angevin Kingship" p. 290] Other sources say that William was either Reginald's son or nephew.Franklin "Cornhill, William of (d. 1223)" "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography"] William served King John of England as a financial administrator, and in 1206 he the custodian of Malmesbury Abbey and the see of Winchester and the see of Lincoln.Joliffe "Angevin Kingship" p. 285] He was archdeacon of Huntingdon by 1209, when he was serving as a royal justice.Stenton "English Justice Between the Norman Conquest and the Great Charter" p. 102 footnote 58] In 1212 he once more served as a royal justice.Stenton "English Justice Between the Norman Conquest and the Great Charter" p. 109 footnote 98] He was elected bishop about 9 July 1214, and consecrated on 25 January 1215.Fryde "Handbook of British Chronology" p. 253] His election involved the monks of Coventry refusing to allow the canons of Lichfield participate in the election, and then the monks rejected a number of candidates before finally settling on William.Richardson and Sayles "The Governance of Mediaeval England" p. 351] The monks objected most to the fact that the papal legate, Niccolò de Romanis, cardinal bishop of Tusculum, repeatedly urged them to elect the abbot of Beaulieu, who was the choice of King John. Eventually, the monks were allowed to elect another royal clerk, William.Richardson and Sayles "The Governance of Mediaeval England" p. 356] He was consecrated at Reading, England by Stephen Langton archbishop of Canterbury. William was present at Runnymede and was one of the advisors to John about Magna Carta. He also attended the Third Lateran Council in 1215 and was present at the first coronation of King Henry III of England in 1216. He may have resigned before his death on 19 August or 20 August 1223, as he had suffered a stroke in 1221 and lost the power of speech. He was buried in Lichfield Cathedral.

Notes

References

* Franklin, M. J. "Cornhill, William of (d. 1223)" "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography" Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/6331 Online Edition] accessed 15 January 2008
*
* Joliffe, J. E. A. "Angevin Kingship" London:Adam and Charles Black 1955
* Richardson, H. G. and G. O. Sayles "The Governance of Mediaeval England" Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press 1963
* Stenton, Doris M. "English Justice Between the Norman Conquest and the Great Charter 1066-1215" Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society 1964

Persondata
NAME=Cornhill, William de
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Cornhill, William
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Bishop of Coventry
DATE OF BIRTH=
PLACE OF BIRTH=
DATE OF DEATH=August 1223
PLACE OF DEATH=