William de Vere

William de Vere (died 1198) was Bishop of Hereford and an Augustinian canon.

Biography

The son of Aubrey de Vere II and Adeliza of Clare, probably the fourth of five sons,<ref name=DNB>Barrow "Vere, William de" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography</ref> and brother of Aubrey de Vere III first earl of Oxford, de Vere spent part of his youth at the court of King Henry I of England and his second wife, Queen Adeliza of Leuven. Little is known of his education, but he had received minor ecclesiastical orders before 1141.<ref name=DNB/> He was a friend of Bishop Arnulf of Liseux, and may have studied in Paris.<ref>Arnulf of Lisieux Letters of Arnulf of Lisieux p. 36, no. 26</ref>

De Vere was promised the chancellorship of England by the Empress Matilda in the 1141 charter by which his brother was made earl, but there is no record that he served as her chancellor.<ref>Cronne, et al. Regesta Regum Anglo-normannorum no. 634</ref> He later entered the household of Archbishop Theobald of Bec of Canterbury (d. 1163). He served in the archbishop's household with near-contemporaries Thomas Becket and John of Salisbury in the 1150s.<ref name=Becket31>Barlow Thomas Becket p. 31</ref> Theobald sent him on diplomatic errands to France in the early 1160s.<ref name=DNB/> He is thought to have served briefly as a secular canon of St. Paul's, London, about 1163, but that William de Vere may have been a member of an unrelated Ver family associated with the bishop of London in Domesday Book. De Vere became an Augustinian canon at St Osyth's Priory at Chich, Essex, for from that monastery he was recruited in 1177 by King Henry II to supervise the rebuilding of Waltham Abbey in Essex to house an Augustinian canonry. His name is one of two listed in the pipe rollss as receiving monies toward that project.<ref name=DNB/>

King Henry later employed de Vere as an itinerant justice,<ref name=Theobald165>Saltman Theobald p. 165 footnote 3</ref> and then nominated him as Bishop of Hereford on 25 May 1186. He was consecrated on 10 August 1186.<ref name=Handbook250>Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 250</ref> In that office he occasionally continued to serve as a royal justice under Richard I.<ref name=Theobald165/> As bishop, he is credited with having extended the east end of Hereford Cathedral, constructing the transitional retrochoir, two transept chapels, and possibly a lady chapel (the latter two areas replaced by his successors). He is also thought to have constructed the bishop's palace at Hereford.<ref>Blair "Twelfth-century Bishop's Palace" Medieval Archaeology p. 59</ref> He expanded the work of his predecessors in the administration of the diocese and employed Gerald of Wales and Robert Grosseteste.<ref>Barrow "Athelstan to Aigueblanche" Hereford Cathedral pp. 42–43</ref>

As a canon at St. Osyth's, de Vere wrote a Latin life of that saint,<ref name=DNB/> which now exists only in fragments recorded by antiquarian John Leland in the sixteenth century.<ref name=DNB/> In that work, he made references to his family. He donated a relic of St. Osyth to Waltham Abbey, and promoted the cult of that saint at Hereford Cathedral.<ref name=DNB/> He may have visited the Holy Land, perhaps in 1178 or in 1182–1185.<ref name=DNB/>

De Vere was one of several bishops who excommunicated Prince John and his supporters in 1194, and was present at Winchester Cathedral for the recoronation of King Richard I in April 1194. De Vere died in December 1198 and is buried in Hereford Cathedral, where his tomb with an effigy can be found.<ref name=DNB/>

See also

• Bishop of Hereford (Robin Hood)

References

• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite encyclopedia
• Template:Cite encyclopedia Template:ODNBsub
• Template:Cite journal
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book

Further reading

• Template:Cite journal
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite journal