Thomas of Corbridge (sometimes Thomas Corbridge; died 1304) was

Archbishop of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers th ...

between 1299 and 1304.

Life

Some sources state that Thomas' grandfather was the master-carpenter in charge of building the

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building withi ...

s of

York Minster The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, commonly known as York Minster, is the cathedral of York, North Yorkshire, England, and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe. The minster is the seat of the Archbis ...

,Moorman ''Church Life'' p. 158 others state that nothing is known of his ancestry. He probably came from

Corbridge Corbridge is a village in Northumberland, England, west of Newcastle and east of Hexham. Villages nearby include Halton, Acomb, Aydon and Sandhoe. Etymology Corbridge was known to the Romans as something like ''Corstopitum'' or ''Coriosopit ...

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

.Smith "Corbridge, Thomas of" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' He was a

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

of York before 11 September 1277 and held the

prebend A prebendary is a member of the Roman Catholic or Anglican clergy, a form of canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in particular seats, usually at the back of the ...

of Osbaldwick.Greenway
Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300: Volume 6: York: Prebendaries: Stillington
' He was a Doctor of Theology, probably from

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

.Greenway
Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300: Volume 6: York: Archbishops
' He was appointed Chancellor of York by 17 February 1280, but resigned the office on 16 June 1290 when he was appointed to the chapel of St Mary and Holy Angels, but was obstructed from that office. He then attempted to resume the office of chancellor, but the office had already been assigned to another priest and he was excommunicated by Archbishop

John le Romeyn John le Romeyn (or John Romanus), died 1296, was a medieval Archbishop of York. Early life and education Romeyn was the illegitimate son of John le Romeyn the elder, treasurer of York.Greenway Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300: Volume 6: Y ...

of York on 31 July 1290. Eventually he gained control of the chapel and the excommunication was lifted on 24 March 1291.Greenway
Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300: Volume 6: York: Chancellors
' Thomas was elected archbishop of York on 12 November 1299.Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 282 Traveling to Rome for confirmation and the

pallium The pallium (derived from the Roman ''pallium'' or ''palla'', a woolen cloak; : ''pallia'') is an ecclesiastical vestment in the Catholic Church, originally peculiar to the pope, but for many centuries bestowed by the Holy See upon metropolit ...

, his election was set aside by Pope

Boniface VIII Pope Boniface VIII ( la, Bonifatius PP. VIII; born Benedetto Caetani, c. 1230 – 11 October 1303) was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 December 1294 to his death in 1303. The Caetani family was of baronial ...

who promptly provided him to the see and consecrated Thomas himself on 28 February 1300. Thomas was given the

temporalities Temporalities or temporal goods are the secular properties and possessions of the church. The term is most often used to describe those properties (a ''Stift'' in German or ''sticht'' in Dutch) that were used to support a bishop or other religious ...

of the see on 30 April 1300. The archbishop died on 22 September 1304 at Laneham in

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

. He died right after having been admonished and punished by King

Edward I of England Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassa ...

, because the archbishop had not put the king's nominee into a clerical post for which there was also a papal nominee.

Walter of Guisborough Walter of GuisboroughWalter of Gisburn, Walterus Gisburnensis. Previously known to scholars as Walter of Hemingburgh (John Bale seems to have been the first to call him that).Sometimes known erroneously as Walter Hemingford, Latin chronicler of t ...

, the chronicler, felt that the king's treatment of the archbishop so scared the archbishop that Thomas fell sick and died as a result.Prestwich ''Edward I'' p. 547 During the four and a half years that Thomas was archbishop, he never left his diocese except for parliaments because he was so busy visiting his diocese.Moorman ''Church Life'' p. 186 Thomas was buried in

Southwell Minster Southwell Minster () is a minster and cathedral in Southwell, Nottinghamshire, England. It is situated miles from Newark-on-Trent and from Mansfield. It is the seat of the Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham and the Diocese of Southwell and N ...

Citations

References

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas of Corbridge Archbishops of York Year of birth missing People temporarily excommunicated by the Catholic Church 1304 deaths 13th-century English Roman Catholic archbishops 14th-century English Roman Catholic archbishops