Saint Guillaume
archevêque d'York (✝ 1154)
Neveu du roi d'Angleterre, il fut élu archevêque d'York, mais tomba bientôt en disgrâce. Après sept ans de patience et d'humiliations, il fut réhabilité grâce au Souverain Pontife.
À York, en 1154, saint Guillaume Fitzherbert, évêque. Homme affable et doux, déposé injustement de son siège, il se retira à Winchester parmi les moines. Quand son siège lui fut restitué, il pardonna à ses ennemis et apaisa les esprits dans la ville.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/7222/Saint-Guillaume.html
Saint Guillaume Fitz Herbert
Archevêque d’York
Fête le 8 juin
† York 8 juin 1154
Autres graphies : William Fitz Herbert, d’York ou William de Thwayt
Canonisé en 1226 ou 1227
Fils du comte Herbert et d’Emma, sœur du roi Étienne, il fut nommé en 1130, chanoine d’York et sa générosité le rendit populaire ; en 1140, le roi le fit élire archevêque d’York à la place d’un candidat du chapitre, un Cistercien qui lui déplaisait. Cette intrusion du roi dans les affaires de l’Église déclencha une tempête : Guillaume fut traité de simoniaque, d’usurpateur, d’infâme, si bien que le légat du pape, hésitant à le consacrer, soumit son cas au pape Innocent II. Le procès traîna longtemps puis, renvoyé en Angleterre, fut jugé en faveur de Guillaume. Mais celui-ci occupait à peine son archevêché qu’un nouveau pape, Eugène III, montait sur le trône pontifical. Eugène III était Cistercien ; il prêta donc une oreille attentive aux récriminations des gens de son ordre et suspendit, puis déposa Guillaume, lequel se soumit et se retira chez les moines de Winchester. A la mort d’Eugène III, son successeur, Anastase IV, reconnut les droits de Guillaume et lui rendit son archevêché d’York, où on lui fit un accueil triomphal. Guillaume apaisa les esprits, édifia tout le monde par sa piété, pardonna à ses persécuteurs et, dit-on, opéra des miracles. Mais il mourut le 8 juin 1154, un mois après son retour.
SOURCE : http://www.martyretsaint.com/guillaume-fitz-herbert/comment-page-1/
Saint Guillaume Fitz Herbert
Archevêque d’York
Fête le 8 juin
† York 8 juin 1154
Autres graphies : William Fitz Herbert, d’York ou William de Thwayt
Canonisé en 1226 ou 1227
Fils du comte Herbert et d’Emma, sœur du roi Étienne, il fut nommé en 1130, chanoine d’York et sa générosité le rendit populaire ; en 1140, le roi le fit élire archevêque d’York à la place d’un candidat du chapitre, un Cistercien qui lui déplaisait. Cette intrusion du roi dans les affaires de l’Église déclencha une tempête : Guillaume fut traité de simoniaque, d’usurpateur, d’infâme, si bien que le légat du pape, hésitant à le consacrer, soumit son cas au pape Innocent II. Le procès traîna longtemps puis, renvoyé en Angleterre, fut jugé en faveur de Guillaume. Mais celui-ci occupait à peine son archevêché qu’un nouveau pape, Eugène III, montait sur le trône pontifical. Eugène III était Cistercien ; il prêta donc une oreille attentive aux récriminations des gens de son ordre et suspendit, puis déposa Guillaume, lequel se soumit et se retira chez les moines de Winchester. A la mort d’Eugène III, son successeur, Anastase IV, reconnut les droits de Guillaume et lui rendit son archevêché d’York, où on lui fit un accueil triomphal. Guillaume apaisa les esprits, édifia tout le monde par sa piété, pardonna à ses persécuteurs et, dit-on, opéra des miracles. Mais il mourut le 8 juin 1154, un mois après son retour.
SOURCE : http://www.martyretsaint.com/guillaume-fitz-herbert/comment-page-1/
St. William of York
St. William of York, born around the year 1110, was the son of Count Herbert, treasurer to Henry I. He was elected archbishop of York in 1140. William’s election was challenged on the grounds of simony and unchastity. He was cleared by Rome, but later a new Pope suspended William, and in 1147 he was deposed as archbishop of York.
William then retired to Winchester where he led the austere life of a monk, practicing much prayer and mortification. Upon the death of his accusers, Pope Anastastius IV restored William his See and made him archbishop. William died in the year 1154.
After his death miracles were reported at his tomb, and in 1227 he was declared a saint. His Feast Day is June 8.
St. William
(WILLIAM FITZHERBERT, also called WILLIAM OF THWAYT).
Archbishop of York. Tradition represents him as nephew of King Stephen, whose sister Emma was believed to have married Herbert of Winchester, treasurer to Henry I. William became a priest, and about 1130 he wascanon and
treasurer of York. In 1142 he was elected Archbishop of York at the instance of the
king, in opposition to the candidature of Henry Murdac, a Cistercian monk. The validity of the election was disputed on the ground of alleged simony and royal influence, and Archbishop Theobald refused to consecrate him pending an appeal toRome. St. Bernard exercised his powerful influence against William in favour of Murdac, but in 1143 the popedecided that William should be consecrated, if he could clear himself from the accusation of bribery, and if thechapter could show that there had been no
undue royal pressure. William proved his innocence so
conclusively that the legate consecrated him archbishop at Winchester 26 September, 1143. He set himself at once to carry out reforms in his diocese, and his gentleness and charity soon won him popularity; but he
neglected to obtain from Cardinal Hincmar the pallium which Lucius II sent him in 1146, and the pope died before William had been invested. The new pope, Blessed Eugenius III, was himself a Cistercian, and the English Cistercians soon renewed their
complaints against William, which St. Bernard supported. Meanwhile Hincmar carried the palliumback to Rome, so that, in 1147, William had to travel there to obtain it,
raising the expenses of his journey by sale of treasurers and privileges belonging to York. This afforded fresh matter of complaint and finally the popesuspended him from his
functions on the ground that he had enthroned the Bishop of Durham without exacting the
pledges required by the former pope.
William
took refuge with his friend, the King of Sicily, but his partisans in England took an unwise revenge
by destroying Fountains Abbey, of which Murdac was now prior. This further inflamed St. William's enemies, who again approached the pope, with the result that in 1147 he deposed the archbishop from his seat; and on the failure of the chapter to elect a successor,
he consecrated Murdac in his stead. St. William devoted himself toprayer and mortification at Winchester till 1153, when the pope and St. Bernard were both dead. He thenappealed to the new pope, Anastasius IV, for restoration to his see, a request which the death of Murdac in October made it easier to obtain. St. William having received the pallium, returned to York, where he showed the greatest kindness to the Cistercians who had opposed him, and
promised full restitution to Fountains Abbey. But his death, so sudden as to cause suspicion of poison, took place within
a few weeks. Miracles took place at histomb, and in 1227 he was canonized by Pope Honorius III. In 1283 his relics were translated to a
shrine behind the high altar of York Minster, where they remained till the Reformation. His festival is observed in England on 8 June.
Sources
JOHN OF HEXHAM, Continuation of SYMEON OF DURHAM in R.S. (London, 1882-5); WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH, Historius rerum anglicasarum in R.S. (London, 1884-89); Acta S.S., II June; ST. BERNARD, Epistles in P.L. CLXXXII-CLXXXV; CAPGRAVE, Nova Legenda Angliae (Oxford, 1901); CHALLONER, Britannia Sancta (London, 1745); RAINE, Historians of the Church of York in R.S. (London, 1879-94); IDEM, Fasti Eboracenses.
Burton, Edwin. "St. William." The
Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton
Company, 1912. 8 Jun.
2015<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15628c.htm>.
Transcription. This article was transcribed for
New Advent by Michael T. Barrett. Dedicated to all who are unjustly accused of wrongdoing.
Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. October 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of
New York.
June 8
St. William, Archbishop of York, Confessor
HE was son of Earl Herbert, and Emma, sister to King Stephen. He learned from his infancy that true greatness consists only in humility and virtue; and renounced the world in his youth, employing his riches to purchase unfading treasures in heaven by works of mercy to the poor, and giving himself wholly to the study and practice of religion. Being promoted to holy orders, he was elected treasurer in the metropolitical church of York, under the learned and good Archbishop Thurstan. When that prelate, after having held his dignity twenty years, retired among the Cluniac monks at Pontefract, to prepare himself for his death, which happened the year following, St. William was chosen archbishop by the majority of the chapter, and consecrated at Winchester in September, 1144, according to Le Neve’s Fasti. 1 But Osbert, the archdeacon, a turbulent man, procured Henry Murdach, a Cistercian monk of the abbey of Fountains, who was also a man of great learning and a zealous preacher, to be preferred at Rome, whither William went to demand his pall, and to plead the cause of his constituents rather than his own. Being deprived by Pope Eugenius III. in 1147, he, who had always looked upon this dignity with trembling, appeared much greater in the manner in which he bore this repulse than he could have done in the highest honours. Being returned into England, he went privately to Winchester, to his uncle Henry, bishop of that see, by whom he was honourably entertained. He led at Winchester a penitential life in silence, solitude, and prayer, in a retired house belonging to the bishop, bewailing the frailties of his past life with many tears, for seven years. The Archbishop Henry then dying in 1153, and Anastasius IV. having succeeded Eugenius III. in the see of Rome, St. William, to satisfy the importunity of others, by whom he was again elected, undertook a second journey to Rome, and received the pallium from his holiness. 2 The saint on his return was met on the road by Robert de Gaunt, dean, and Osbert, archdeacon of the church of York, who insolently forbade him to enter that city or diocess. He received the affront with an engaging meekness, but pursued his journey. He was received with incredible joy by his people. The great numbers who assembled on that occasion to see and welcome him, broke down the wooden bridge over the river Ouse, in the middle of the city of York, and a great many persons fell into the river. The saint seeing this terrible accident, made the sign of the cross over the river, and addressed himself to God with many tears. All the world ascribed to his sanctity and prayers the miraculous preservation of the whole multitude, especially of the children, who all escaped out of the waters without hurt. 3 St. William showed no enmity, and sought no revenge against his most inveterate enemies, who had prepossessed Eugenius III. against him by the blackest calumnies, and by every unwarrantable means had obstructed his good designs. He formed many great projects for the good of his diocess, and the salvation of souls; but within a few weeks after his installation was seized with a fever, of which he died on the third day of his sickness, on the 8th of June, 1154, 4 He was buried in his cathedral; and canonized by Pope Nicholas III. about the year 1280. At the same time his body was taken up by Archbishop William Wickwane, and his relics put into a very rich shrine, and deposited in the nave of the same metropolitan church in 1284. The feast of his translation was kept on the 7th of January. 5 King Edward I. and his whole court assisted at this ceremony, during which many miracles are attested to have been wrought. A table containing a list of thirty-six miracles with a copy of an indulgence of one hundred and forty days to all who should devoutly visit his tomb, is still to be seen in the vestry, but no longer legible, as Mr. Drake mentions. 6 The shrine with its rich plate and jewels was plundered at the Reformation; but the saint’s bones were deposited in a box within a coffin, and buried in the nave, under a large spotted marble stone. Mr. Drake had the curiosity to see the ground opened, and found them with their box and coffin in 1732. He laid them again in the same place with a mark. 7 See Nicholas Trivet in his Annals of Six Kings of England, ad an 1146. Stubbs, Act. Pontif. Ebor. in S. Willelmo, Capgrave’s Legend, Gulielm. Neubrig. De Rebus Anglicis sui temporis, Brompton, Gervasius Monachus inter 10 Scriptor. Angliæ, and Drake, in his curious History and Antiquities of York. Also Papebroke’s remarks, Jun. t. 2. p. 136. 1
Note 1. P. 307.
Note 2. The Pallium which the pope sends to archbishops is an ornament worn upon their shoulders, with a label hanging down the breast and back. It is made of white lamb’s wool, and spotted with purple crosses, and is worn as a token of the spiritual jurisdiction of metropolitans over the churches of their whole province. It is regarded as an emblem of humility, charity, and innocence, and serves to put the prelate in mind, that he is bound to seek out and carry home on his shoulders the strayed sheep, in imitation of Christ, the Good Shepherd and the Prince of pastors. Cardinal Bona says the white lambs are blessed on the festival of St. Agnes, in her church on the Nomentan road, and from that time kept in some nunnery till they are shorn; and of the wool are the palliums made which are laid over the tomb of St. Peter the whole night of the vigil before the feast of that apostle. The pope sends one to archbishops in the western patriarchate after their election and consecration: but these prelates only wear them in the church during the divine office. Palliums are also granted to apostolic legates, and to certain suffragan bishops of exempt sees, as of Bamberg in Germany, and of Lucca and Pavia in Italy.
The first use of palliums by bishops is mentioned among the Orientals. St. Isidore of Pelusium explains at large various mystical significations of this ornament, l. 1, ep. 136. In the West, Pope Symmachus sent a pallium to Cæsarius, archbishop of Arles, his vicar in Gaul, in the beginning of the sixth century. From that time we find it usually sent to apostolic legates: likewise to several metropolitans, as appears from the letters of St. Gregory the Great. Peter de Marca shows that it was not granted promiscuously to all metropolitans before the decree of Pope Zachary, by which it was established a general law.
The pallium was anciently an entire long garment, covering the whole body from the neck, not unlike a priest’s cope, saving that it was shut up before. Instead of the pallium, the Greek bishops now all wear the Omophorion or Humerale, which is a broad riband hanging round their neck, across their breast, and reaching below the knees. Spelman, in his Glossory, Thomassin, &c. show that a pallium was a mantle worn by the Roman emperors, and that the first Christian emperors gave this imperial ornament to eminent bishops to wear as an emblem of the royalty of the Christian priesthood. It was afterwards appropriated to archbishops to show their dignity, and to command greater respect, as God prescribed several ornaments to be worn by the Jewish high-priest. See Bona de Rebus, Liturg. l. 1, c. 24. Marca de Concordia Sac. et Imperil, l. 6, c. 6 et 7. Spelman, and especially Thomas, in Tr. de la Discipline de l’Eglise, p. 1, l. 2, c. 53 et 56, p. 829.
Note 3. Polydore Virgil, an author of small credit, pretends that this happened on the Are, at Pontefract, near Ferry-Bridge. But Brompton and Stubbs expressly say, that it was in the city of York, on the river Ouse, where stood a chapel till the Reformation, as Mr. Drake testifies. Pontefract could not derive its name from this accident, as Polydore imagined; for we find it so called long before; and the name was originally written Pomfrete or Pontfrete, from a very different Norman etymology.
Note 4. Hoveden advances that poison had been put into the chalice when he said mass. But Gulielmus Neubrigensis, a canon regular, a Yorkshire-man, an elegant and most diligent historian of that very time, in his history De Rebus Anglicis sui Temporis, confutes that groundless surmise of the vulgar. [back]
Note 5. See the York Breviary, printed at Paris in 1526.
Note 6. P. 419.
Note 7. See the York Breviary, printed at Paris in 1526, p. 419.
Saint William of York (Thwayt)
Profile
William Fitz Herbert--son of Count Herbert, treasurer to Henry I, and Emma, half sister of King Stephen--had impressed many as canon and treasurer of York Minster. In 1140, after the death of Archbishop Thurstand, he was elected archbishop in turn by a majority of the cathedral chapter. At this point the smooth running of William's life ended. Archdeacon Walter of York and the diocese's Cistercian monks claimed that he had paid to be elevated to the archbishopric and that he was sexually incontinent. Others, including the Augustinian priors, said that his friendship with his uncle, King Stephen, gave him an improper influence in securing election to the see.
The archbishop of Canterbury was reluctant to consecrate William under such a cloud of accusation. For a time even Pope Innocent III hesitated, before finally agreeing to support William. Henry of Blois, who was both bishop of Winchester and King Stephen's brother accordingly consecrated William and he took up his duties as archbishop in 1143.
But the dispute did not end; matters soon became difficult again. William failed to receive the official 'pallium,' symbol of the pope's authority, before the pope who sent it had died. The papal legate took the pallium back to Rome.
The new pope, Eugenius III, was a Cistercian and sided with the archbishop's opponents, including Saint Bernard of Clairvaux. William visited Rome to persuade the pope of his credentials. But the pope suspended him. To make things worse, a group of his followers now violently attacked some of the monks of Fountains Abbey, itself a Cistercian foundation, and set fire to the monastery farms. The abbot of Fountains, Henry Murdac, had been William's rival for the see of York in the first place.
A council held at Rheims in 1147 now deposed William. He went to stay with Henry of Blois, and spent six chastened years living as a monk at Winchester. Only when both the pope and the abbot of Fountains were dead was he able to make a successful appeal to Pope Anastasius IV and return in triumph to York. Enormous crowds gathered on a bridge over the River Ouse as William arrived. The bridge collapsed. Fortunately no one was injured, and this was taken as a sign of good things to come. William, however, had reached the end of his life.
William was mild and conciliatory towards his enemies, but within a few months he was dead, perhaps, it was rumored, from poison at the hands of Osbert, the new archdeacon of York. He was well liked by the people, and the rumored murder doubtless contributed to a popular demand for his canonization (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Encyclopedia).
Born: late eleventh century
Died: June 1154; buried in the cathedral of York, England
Canonization: March 18, 1226 by Pope Honorius III; the investigation was led by the Cistercians, including the abbot of Fountains who supported the canonization
Representation: Saint William is depicted in the episcopal insignia on many windows in York, England. He might be shown (1) on a shield with eight lozenges near him; (2) crossing the Ouse Bridge; (3) on horseback, received by the Mayor at Mickelgate Bar; (4) kneeling to kiss the cross at the entrance to York Minster; or (5) as a tonsured monk praying in the wilderness with a holy dove nearby (Roeder).
Prayer
St. William, you were chosen by God to be Archbishop of York, but were unjustly accused of simony. You were election was opposed by many in favor of another. Even through all this, you never took your eyes off of Christ and his will for you. You devoted yourself to a life of prayer and mortification. After many years, you were finally restored to the See that was rightfully yours. Instead of reserving spite, you showed the utmost amount of forgiveness and love for those who had before been in opposition to your election. Please help us to follow your example of perseverance and forgiveness so that we may forgive our transgressors and always persevere in the Lord’s will. Amen.
Stephen McKenna, Community of Hope, 2006
SOURCE : http://www.communityofhopeinc.org/Prayer%20Pages/Saints/william.html
William Fitzherbert B (RM)
(also known as William of York or William of Thwayt)
Died at York, June 8, 1154; canonized 1226 or 1227 by Pope Honorius III. William Fitz Herbert--son of Count Herbert, treasurer to Henry I, and Emma, half sister of King Stephen--had impressed many as canon and treasurer of York Minster. In 1140, after the death of Archbishop Thurstand, he was elected archbishop in turn by a majority of the cathedral chapter. At this point the smooth running of William's life ended. Archdeacon Walter of York and the diocese's Cistercian monks claimed that he had paid to be elevated to the archbishopric and that he was sexually incontinent. Others, including the Augustinian priors, said that his friendship with his uncle, King Stephen, gave him an improper influence in securing election to the see.
The archbishop of Canterbury was reluctant to consecrate William under such a cloud of accusation. For a time even Pope Innocent III hesitated, before finally agreeing to support William. Henry of Blois, who was both bishop of Winchester and King Stephen's brother accordingly consecrated William and he took up his duties as archbishop in 1143.
But the dispute did not end; matters soon became difficult again. William failed to receive the official 'pallium,' symbol of the pope's authority, before the pope who sent it had died. The papal legate took the pallium back to Rome.
The new pope, Eugenius III, was a Cistercian and sided with the archbishop's opponents, including Saint Bernard of Clairvaux. William visited Rome to persuade the pope of his credentials. But the pope suspended him. To make things worse, a group of his followers now violently attacked some of the monks of Fountains Abbey, itself a Cistercian foundation, and set fire to the monastery farms. The abbot of Fountains, Henry Murdac, had been William's rival for the see of York in the first place.
A council held at Rheims in 1147 now deposed William. He went to stay with Henry of Blois, and spent six chastened years living as a monk at Winchester. Only when both the pope and the abbot of Fountains were dead was he able to make a successful appeal to Pope Anastasius IV and return in triumph to York. Enormous crowds gathered on a bridge over the River Ouse as William arrived. The bridge collapsed. Fortunately no one was injured, and this was taken as a sign of good things to come. William, however, had reached the end of his life.
William was mild and conciliatory towards his enemies, but within a few months he was dead, perhaps, it was rumored, from poison at the hands of Osbert, the new archdeacon of York. He was well liked by the people, and the rumored murder doubtless contributed to a popular demand for his canonization (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Encyclopedia).
William Fitzherbert B (RM)
(also known as William of York or William of Thwayt)
Died at York, June 8, 1154; canonized 1226 or 1227 by Pope Honorius III. William Fitz Herbert--son of Count Herbert, treasurer to Henry I, and Emma, half sister of King Stephen--had impressed many as canon and treasurer of York Minster. In 1140, after the death of Archbishop Thurstand, he was elected archbishop in turn by a majority of the cathedral chapter. At this point the smooth running of William's life ended. Archdeacon Walter of York and the diocese's Cistercian monks claimed that he had paid to be elevated to the archbishopric and that he was sexually incontinent. Others, including the Augustinian priors, said that his friendship with his uncle, King Stephen, gave him an improper influence in securing election to the see.
The archbishop of Canterbury was reluctant to consecrate William under such a cloud of accusation. For a time even Pope Innocent III hesitated, before finally agreeing to support William. Henry of Blois, who was both bishop of Winchester and King Stephen's brother accordingly consecrated William and he took up his duties as archbishop in 1143.
But the dispute did not end; matters soon became difficult again. William failed to receive the official 'pallium,' symbol of the pope's authority, before the pope who sent it had died. The papal legate took the pallium back to Rome.
The new pope, Eugenius III, was a Cistercian and sided with the archbishop's opponents, including Saint Bernard of Clairvaux. William visited Rome to persuade the pope of his credentials. But the pope suspended him. To make things worse, a group of his followers now violently attacked some of the monks of Fountains Abbey, itself a Cistercian foundation, and set fire to the monastery farms. The abbot of Fountains, Henry Murdac, had been William's rival for the see of York in the first place.
A council held at Rheims in 1147 now deposed William. He went to stay with Henry of Blois, and spent six chastened years living as a monk at Winchester. Only when both the pope and the abbot of Fountains were dead was he able to make a successful appeal to Pope Anastasius IV and return in triumph to York. Enormous crowds gathered on a bridge over the River Ouse as William arrived. The bridge collapsed. Fortunately no one was injured, and this was taken as a sign of good things to come. William, however, had reached the end of his life.
William was mild and conciliatory towards his enemies, but within a few months he was dead, perhaps, it was rumored, from poison at the hands of Osbert, the new archdeacon of York. He was well liked by the people, and the rumored murder doubtless contributed to a popular demand for his canonization (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Encyclopedia).
Saint
William is depicted in the episcopal insignia on many windows in York, England.
He might be shown (1) on a shield with eight lozenges near him; (2) crossing
the Ouse Bridge; (3) on horseback, received by the Mayor at Mickelgate Bar; (4)
kneeling to kiss the cross at the entrance to York Minster; or (5) as a
tonsured monk praying in the wilderness with a holy dove nearby (Roeder).
SOURCE
: http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0608.shtml