View source for William Courtenay (bishop)

{{Short description|Archbishop of Canterbury from 1381 to 1396}}
{{Other people|William Courtenay}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}

{{Infobox Christian leader
| name = William Courtenay
| honorific-suffix = 
| archbishop_of = [[Archbishop of Canterbury]]
| image = Canterbury Cathedral JC 04.JPG
| caption = 19th century statue of William Courtenay, west front, [[Canterbury Cathedral]]
| province = 
| diocese = 
| see = 
| appointed = 30 July 1381
| enthroned = unknown
| ended = 31 July 1396
| predecessor = [[Simon Sudbury]]
| successor = [[Thomas Arundel]]
| ordination = 
| consecration = 17 March 1370
| other_post = [[Bishop of Hereford]]<br>[[Bishop of London]]
| birth_place = [[Exminster]], [[Kingdom of England]]
| death_date = 31 July 1396 (aged around 54)
| death_place = [[Maidstone]], Kingdom of England
| buried = Canterbury Cathedral
| nationality = 
| residence = 
| parents = 
| occupation = 
| profession = 
| alma_mater = 
| church = [[Catholic Church]]
}}

'''William Courtenay''' ({{circa|lk=yes}} 1342<ref>{{Cite ODNB|url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-6457|title=Courtenay, William (1341/2–1396), archbishop of Canterbury|year=2004|language=en|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/6457|isbn=978-0-19-861412-8|access-date=21 April 2020|last1=Swanson|first1=R. N.}}</ref>{{snd}}31 July 1396) was [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] (1381–1396), having previously been [[Bishop of Hereford]] and [[Bishop of London]].

==Early life and education==
Courtenay was a younger son of [[Hugh de Courtenay, 10th Earl of Devon]] (died 1377), and his wife [[Margaret de Bohun, 2nd Countess of Devon|Margaret]], daughter of [[Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford]] and  granddaughter of [[Edward I of England|Edward I]]. He was said to have been born at the family's estate at [[Exminster]].<ref>Lysons and Lysons "[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50577 Parishes: Exminster&nbsp;– Exmouth]" ''Magna Britannia: volume 6: Devonshire''</ref>

Being a native of the west of England, Courtenay was educated at [[Stapledon Hall]], [[Oxford University|Oxford]], and after graduating in law was chosen chancellor of the university in 1367. Courtenay's ecclesiastical and political career began about the same time.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

==Career==
Having been made prebendary of Exeter, of Wells and of York, he was consecrated bishop of Hereford on 17 March 1370,<ref name=Handbook250>Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 250</ref> was translated to the see of London on 12 September 1375,<ref name=Handbook258>Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 258</ref> and became [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] on 30 July 1381, succeeding [[Simon Sudbury|Simon of Sudbury]] in both these latter positions.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}<ref name=Handbook233>Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 233</ref>

As a politician, the period of Courtenay's activity coincides with the years of [[Edward III of England|Edward III]]'s dotage, and with practically the whole of [[Richard II of England|Richard II]]'s reign. From the first he ranged himself among the opponents of [[John of Gaunt]], duke of Lancaster; he was a firm upholder of the rights of the English Church, and was always eager to root out [[Lollardy|Lollardry]]. In 1373 he declared in convocation that he would not contribute to a subsidy until the evils from which the church suffered were removed; in 1375 he incurred the displeasure of the king by publishing a papal bull against the Florentines; and in 1377 his decided action during the quarrel between John of Gaunt and [[William of Wykeham]] ended in a temporary triumph for the bishop.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

[[John Wyclif|Wycliffe]] was another cause of difference between [[duke of Lancaster|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 court, and during the [[London 1377 riot|ensuing riot]] Lancaster probably owed his safety to the good offices of his foe. Having meanwhile become archbishop of Canterbury Courtenay summoned a synod, in London, the so-called "[[Earthquake Synod]]", which condemned the opinions of Wycliffe; he then attacked the Lollards at Oxford, and urged the bishops to imprison heretics.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

Courtenay was for a short time chancellor of England during 1381,<ref name=Handbook87>Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 87</ref> and in January 1382 he officiated at the marriage of Richard II with Anne of Bohemia, afterwards crowning the queen. In 1382 the archbishop's visitation led to disputes with the bishops of Exeter and Salisbury, and Courtenay was only partially able to enforce the payment of a 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.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

In 1390 Courtenay protested against confirmation of the [[Statute of Provisors|Statute of Provisors 1350]], and in 1393 he was successful in slightly modifying the [[Statute of Praemunire|Statute of Praemunire 1392]]. Disliking the extravagance of Richard II, Courtenay publicly reproved the king; and, after an angry scene, the royal threats drove him for a time into Devon. In 1386, he was one of the commissioners appointed to reform the kingdom and the royal household, and in 1387 he arranged a peace between Richard and his enemies under [[Thomas of Woodstock]], Duke of Gloucester.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

==Death==
Courtenay died at [[Maidstone]] on 31 July 1396,<ref name=Handbook233/> and was buried towards the east end of the quire in [[Canterbury Cathedral]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} He was responsible for the expansion of his family's chantry foundation in Somerset, [[Naish Priory]], as well as significant building works at Christ Church Canterbury and Maidstone College.{{Citation needed|date=June 2020}}

==Citations==
{{reflist|30em}}

==References==
* {{cite book |author1=Fryde, E. B. |author2=Greenway, D. E. |author3=Porter, S. |author4=Roy, I. |title=Handbook of British Chronology|edition=Third revised |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |year=1996 |isbn=0-521-56350-X }}
* {{cite book |author=Lysons, Daniel and Samuel |title= Magna Britannia: volume 6: Devonshire |chapter= Parishes: Exminster&nbsp;– Exmouth |year=1822 |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50577 |publisher= Institute of Historical Research |pages= 234–236}}
*{{cite DNB|wstitle=Courtenay, William|volume=12|first=William |last=Hunt}}
*{{cite web|authorlink=Salvador Miranda (historian) |last=Miranda |first=Salvador |title=COURTENAY, William (ca. 1342-1396)|url=https://cardinals.fiu.edu/bios1378.htm#Courtenay|work=The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church |accessdate=|publisher=[[Florida International University]]|oclc=53276621}}
*{{EB1911|wstitle=Courtenay, William|volume=7|page=327}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef| before=[[Hugh Segrave]]}}
{{s-ttl | title=[[Lord Chancellor]] | years=1381}}
{{s-aft | after=[[Richard Scrope, 1st Baron Scrope of Bolton|Richard Scrope]] }}
{{s-rel|ca}}
{{s-bef | before=[[Lewis de Charleton]]}}
{{s-ttl| title=[[Bishop of Hereford]] | years=1370–1375}}
{{s-aft| after=[[John Gilbert (bishop)|John Gilbert]] }}
{{s-bef | rows=2|before=[[Simon Sudbury]] }}
{{s-ttl| title=[[Bishop of London]] | years=1375–1381}}
{{s-aft| after=[[Robert Braybrooke]] }}
|-
{{s-ttl| title=[[Archbishop of Canterbury]] | years=1381–1396}}
{{s-aft| after=[[Thomas Arundel]] }}
{{s-aca}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Adam de Toneworth]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Chancellors of the University of Oxford|Chancellor of the University of Oxford]]|years=1367–1369}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Adam de Toneworth]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{House of Plantagenet Lord Chancellors}}
{{Bishops of London}}
{{Bishops of Hereford}}
{{Archbishops of Canterbury}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Courtenay, William}}
[[Category:1340s births]]
[[Category:1396 deaths]]

[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:1st House of Courtenay|William Courtenay]]
[[Category:Lord chancellors of England]]
[[Category:Courtenay family|William]]
[[Category:Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Archbishops of Canterbury]]
[[Category:Bishops of Hereford]]
[[Category:Bishops of London]]
[[Category:14th-century English Roman Catholic archbishops]]
[[Category:Bishops appointed by Pope Urban VI]]
[[Category:Bishops appointed by Pope Gregory XI]]
[[Category:Bishops appointed by Pope Urban V]]
[[Category:Chancellors of the University of Oxford]]
[[Category:Burials at Canterbury Cathedral]]
[[Category:Younger sons of earls]]