William de Turbeville (or William Turbe; – January 1174) was a medieval

Bishop of Norwich The Bishop of Norwich is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Norwich in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers most of the county of Norfolk and part of Suffolk. The bishop of Norwich is Graham Usher. The see is in the ...

Life

Turbeville was educated in the

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of mon ...

Norwich Cathedral Norwich Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Norwich, Norfolk, dedicated to the Holy and Undivided Trinity. It is the cathedral church for the Church of England Diocese of Norwich and is one of the Norwich 12 heritage sites. The cathedra ...

. Here he also made religious profession, first as a teacher and later as prior. He first held the office of

precentor A precentor is a person who helps facilitate worship. The details vary depending on the religion, denomination, and era in question. The Latin derivation is ''præcentor'', from cantor, meaning "the one who sings before" (or alternatively, "first ...

of the

Diocese of Norwich The Diocese of Norwich is an ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Church of England that forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England. History It traces its roots in an unbroken line to the diocese of the Bishop of the Eas ...

from about 1136, and was subsequently

Prior Prior (or prioress) is an ecclesiastical title for a superior in some religious orders. The word is derived from the Latin for "earlier" or "first". Its earlier generic usage referred to any monastic superior. In abbeys, a prior would be l ...

of Norwich.British History Online Priors of Norwich
accessed on 29 October 2007 Turbeville was present at the Easter synod of 1144 when Godwin Stuart alleged that his nephew,

William of Norwich William of Norwich (2 February 1132 – 22 March 1144) was an English boy whose disappearance and killing was, at the time, attributed to the Jewish community of Norwich. It is the first known medieval accusation against Jews of ritual murder. ...

, a boy of about twelve years, had been murdered by the Norwich

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

s during the preceding

Holy Week Holy Week ( la, Hebdomada Sancta or , ; grc, Ἁγία καὶ Μεγάλη Ἑβδομάς, translit=Hagia kai Megale Hebdomas, lit=Holy and Great Week) is the most sacred week in the liturgical year in Christianity. In Eastern Churches, w ...

. When Turbeville became bishop in 1146 or early 1147Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 261 he propagated the cult of the "boy-martyr". On four occasions he had the boy's remains transferred to more honourable places, and in 1168 erected a chapel in his honour in Mousehold Wood, where the boy's body was said to have been found. He persuaded

Thomas of Monmouth Thomas of Monmouth ( fl. 1149–1172) was a Benedictine monk who lived in the Priory at Norwich Cathedral, England during the mid-twelfth century. He was the author of ''The Life and Miracles of St William of Norwich'', a hagiography of William ...

, a monk of Norwich priory, to write "

The Life and Miracles of St William of Norwich ''The Life and Miracles of St William of Norwich'' or ''Vita et Passione Sancti Willelmi Martyris Norwicensis'' is a Latin hagiography of William of Norwich by the Benedictine monk Thomas of Monmouth that was written in the second half of the twelf ...

" about 1173, the only extant authority for the legend of William, which is now commonly discredited. Turbeville attended the

Council of Rheims Reims, located in the north-east of modern France, hosted several councils or synods in the Roman Catholic Church. These councils did not universally represent the church and are not counted among the official ecumenical councils. Early synodal cou ...

in 1148.Haring "Notes on the Council and the Consistory of Rheims (1148)" ''Mediaeval Studies'' Turbeville died on 16 January 1174 or 17 January 1174.British History Online Bishops of Norwich
accessed on 29 October 2007

Citations

References

British History Online Bishops of Norwich
accessed on 29 October 2007
British History Online Priors of Norwich
accessed on 29 October 2007 * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Turbeville, William de 1090s births 1174 deaths Bishops of Norwich 12th-century English Roman Catholic bishops