William of Ely

Infobox Officeholder
honorific-prefix =
name =William
honorific-suffix =


imagesize =
small

caption =
order = 5th
office = Lord High Treasurer
term_start =1196
term_end =Aug 1215
vicepresident =
viceprimeminister =
deputy =
lieutenant =
monarch = Richard I
John
predecessor = Richard FitzNeal
successor = Eustace of Fauconberg, Bishop of London
constituency =
majority =
birth_date =
birth_place =
death_date =
death_place =
nationality =
party =
spouse =
relations =Richard FitzNeal
children =
residence =
alma_mater =
occupation =
profession =
religion = Christian:Catholic


website =
footnotes =Infobox bishopbiog
name =William


religion =Catholic
See =
Title = Archdeacon of Cleveland
Period =1201
Predecessor =
Successor =
ordination =
bishops =
post =Canon of St. Paul's
Prebend of Leighton Buzzard
date of birth =
place of birth =
date of death =
place of death =

William of Ely is an English Catholic clergyman and 5th Lord High Treasurer of England. He is a relative of Richard FitzNeal and suppected descendant of Nigel, Bishop of Ely, both previous Lord High Treasurers. He was appoint the Canon of St. Paul's just before being appointed Lord High Treasurer in 1196. He added the position of Archdeacon of Cleveland in 1201 and Prebend of Leighton Buzzard in 1207. [cite book |title=The Reign of King John |last=Painter|first=Sydney |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=1979 |publisher=Ayer Publishing |location= |isbn= |pages=66-67 ]

A story about William of Ely tells about his attempted escape from England during a time when he had fallen from favour with the King; he was disguised as a commoner but was stopped when he proved unable to respond to a simple question posed to him in English (illustrating the dominance of the French language among nobles and clergymen at the time). [Walter, Henriette. "Aventure des langues en Occident : leur origine, leur histoire, leur géographie". Paris: Laffont, 1994.]

ee also

* List of Lord High Treasurers

References