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WILLIAM COURTENAY (c. 1342—1396)

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Originally appearing in Volume V07, Page 327 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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WILLIAM See also:COURTENAY (c. 1342—1396)  , See also:English See also:prelate, was a younger son of See also:Hugh See also:Courtenay, See also:earl of See also:Devon (d . 1377), and through his See also:mother See also:Margaret, daughter of See also:Humphrey See also:Bohun, earl of See also:Hereford, was a See also:great-See also:grandson of See also:Edward I . Being a native of the See also:west of See also:England he was educated at See also:Stapledon See also:Hall, See also:Oxford, and after graduating in See also:law was chosen See also:chancellor of the university in 1367 . Courtenay's ecclesiastical and See also:political career began about the same See also:time . Having been made See also:prebendary of See also:Exeter, of See also:Wells and of See also:York, he was consecrated See also:bishop of Hereford in 1370, was translated to the see of See also:London in 1375, and became See also:archbishop of See also:Canterbury in 1381, succeeding See also:Simon of See also:Sudbury in both these latter positions . As a politician the See also:period of his activity coincides with the years of Edward III.'s dotage, and with practically the whole of See also:Richard II.'s reign . From the first he ranged himself among the opponents of See also:John of Gaunt, See also:duke of See also:Lancaster; he was a See also:firm upholder of the rights of the English See also:Church, and was always eager to See also:root out Lollardry . In 1373 he declared in See also:convocation that he would not contribute to a See also:subsidy until the evils from which the church suffered were removed; in 1375 he incurred the displeasure of the See also:king by See also:publishing a papal See also:bull against the Florentines; and in 1397 his decided See also:action during the See also:quarrel between John of Gaunt and See also:William of Wykeham ended in a temporary See also:triumph for the bishop . Wycliffe was another cause of difference between Lancaster and Courtenay . In 1377 the reformer appeared before Archbishop Sudbury and Courtenay, when an altercation between the duke and the bishop led to the dispersal of the See also:court, and during the ensuing See also:riot Lancaster probably owed his safety to the See also:good offices of his foe . Having meanwhile become See also:arch-bishop of Canterbury Courtenay summoned a See also:council, or See also:synod, in London, which condemned the opinions of Wycliffe; he then attacked the See also:Lollards at Oxford, and urged the bishops to imprison heretics . He was for a See also:short time chancellor of England during 1381, and in See also:January 1382 he officiated at the See also:marriage of Richard II. with See also:Anne of Bohemia, afterwards .crowning the See also:queen .

In 1382 the archbishop's visitation led to disputes with the bishops of Exeter and See also:

Salisbury, and Courtenay was only partially able to enforce the See also:payment of a See also:special tax to meet his expenses on this occasion . During his concluding years the archbishop appears to have upheld the papal authority in England, although not to the injury of the English Church . He protested against the See also:confirmation of the See also:statute of provisors in 1390, and he was successful in slightly modifying the statute of See also:praemunire in 1393 . Disliking the extravagance of Richard II. he publicly reproved the king, and after an angry See also:scene the royal threats drove him for a time into See also:Devonshire . In 1386 he was one of the commissioners appointed to reform the See also:kingdom and the royal See also:household, and in 1387 he arranged a See also:peace between Richard and his enemies under See also:Thomas of See also:Woodstock, duke of See also:Gloucester . Courtenay died at See also:Maidstone on the 31st of See also:July 1396, and was buried in Canterbury See also:cathedral . See W . F . See also:Hook, Lives of the Archbishops of Canterbury, vol. iv . (London, 1860-1876) ; and W . See also:Stubbs, Constitutional See also:History, vols. ii. and iii . (Oxford, 1895-1896) .

End of Article: WILLIAM COURTENAY (c. 1342—1396)
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