Guillaume de Donjeon (c. 1140 – 10 January 1209) was a French

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...

who served as the

Archbishop of Bourges In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdioc ...

from 1200 until his death. He served as 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 can ...

Soissons Soissons () is a commune in the northern French department of Aisne, in the region of Hauts-de-France. Located on the river Aisne, about northeast of Paris, it is one of the most ancient towns of France, and is probably the ancient capital ...

and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

before he entered the

Order of Grandmont Grandmontines were the monks of the Order of Grandmont, a religious order founded by Saint Stephen of Thiers, towards the end of the 11th century. The order was named after its motherhouse, Grandmont Abbey in the eponymous village, now part of t ...

. Sometime later he entered the

Cistercians The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

. He was known to practice austerities such as abstaining from meat and wearing a

hair shirt A cilice , also known as a sackcloth, was originally a garment or undergarment made of coarse cloth or animal hair (a hairshirt) worn close to the skin. It is used by members of various Christian traditions (including the Catholic, Lutheran, ...

. He was also known for his deep devotion to the

Blessed Sacrament The Blessed Sacrament, also Most Blessed Sacrament, is a devotional name to refer to the body and blood of Christ in the form of consecrated sacramental bread and wine at a celebration of the Eucharist. The term is used in the Latin Church of the ...

and for his conversion of sinners. He oversaw the construction of the new archdiocesan cathedral that his predecessor had authorized and in which he himself would be buried. It had been claimed that he performed eighteen miracles in life and a further eighteen in death. His canonization was celebrated under

Pope Honorius III Pope Honorius III (c. 1150 – 18 March 1227), born Cencio Savelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 18 July 1216 to his death. A canon at the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, he came to hold a number of importa ...

in 1218 and he was named as the patron saint for the Parisian college.

Life

Guillaume de Donjeon was born about 1140 at the castle of Arthel near Nevers, into the ancient family of the

Counts of Nevers The counts of Nevers were the rulers of the County of Nevers, which became a French duchy in 1539, with the rulers of the duchy calling themselves dukes. History The history of the County of Nevers is closely connected to the Duchy of Burgundy. ...

. He was one of eight children born to Baudoin de Corbeil and Eustachia de Châtillon. His father planned for him to become a soldier but Guillaume chose the ecclesial path. His siblings were: Baudoin, Regnault (d. 1208), Ferry (d. 1174), Baudoin (d. 1226), Pierre (d. 1222), Guy, and Eustachia. The

archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that o ...

Pierre - his maternal uncle - oversaw his education. He became a

in Soissons and later in

. It was sometime later that he resolved to abandon the world and enter into the

. He was content with this decision and lived amongst them for a period of time while practicing great austerities but in 1167 once he saw the dissensions occurring amongst members of the order, decided to enter the

. He assumed the

habit A habit (or wont as a humorous and formal term) is a routine of behavior that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously.

Pontigny Abbey Pontigny Abbey (french: Abbaye de Pontigny), the church of which in recent decades has also been the cathedral of the Mission de France, otherwise the Territorial Prelature of Pontigny (french: Cathédrale-abbatiale de Notre-Dame-de-l’Assompt ...

in northern France, where he was soon chosen prior. In 1184 he became the

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...

Fontaine-Jean Abbey Fontainejean Abbey, otherwise Fontaine-Jean Abbey (french: Abbaye de Fontainejean or ''Fontaine-Jean''), was a Cistercian monastery in the commune of Saint-Maurice-sur-Aveyron in the Gâtinais in the département of Loiret, France. It was foun ...

near

Sens Sens () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yonne Departments of France, department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in north-central France, 120 km from Paris. Sens is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture and the second city of the d ...

and later of

Chaalis Abbey Chaalis Abbey (french: Abbaye de Chaalis) was a French Cistercian abbey north of Paris, at Fontaine-Chaalis, near Ermenonville, now in Oise. History It was founded in 1136 by Louis VI of France. There had previously been a Benedictine monastery ...

near

Senlis Senlis () is a commune in the northern French department of Oise, Hautes de France. The monarchs of the early French dynasties lived in Senlis, attracted by the proximity of the Chantilly forest. It is known for its Gothic cathedral and other h ...

from 1187 until 1200. He fostered a deep and special devotion to the

and loved to spend much of his time at the foot of the

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

contemplating it. In 1200 the Bourges priests gathered and elected him to be the new

. The news quite overwhelmed him with grief but a stern command from his order's general could move him to accept that honor. Even

Pope Innocent III Pope Innocent III ( la, Innocentius III; 1160 or 1161 – 16 July 1216), born Lotario dei Conti di Segni (anglicized as Lothar of Segni), was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1198 to his death in 16 J ...

prompted him to accept the appointment. He continued his austerities in his episcopal career to the point where he abstained from meat and wore a

. The bishop proved to be instrumental in the ongoing construction of the

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

Cathedral of Saint Stephen which his predecessor had commenced earlier in 1195. The lower half of the cathedral was completed and around December 1208 the

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

was almost finished at which time he was able to celebrate the

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

. The poor and sick were never forgotten for the bishop visited them on frequent occasions while he also ministered to the imprisoned. He also defended clerical rights against state intervention. He once incurred wrath from King Philip II when the bishop enacted an interdict from Innocent III against him for having divorced his wife. He began preparations for a mission among the

Albigensians Catharism (; from the grc, καθαροί, katharoi, "the pure ones") was a Christian dualist or Gnostic movement between the 12th and 14th centuries which thrived in Southern Europe, particularly in northern Italy and southern France. Foll ...

when he died just after midnight kneeling at the altar in contemplation and meditation in 1209. In his

last will and testament A will or testament is a legal document that expresses a person's (testator) wishes as to how their property ( estate) is to be distributed after their death and as to which person (executor) is to manage the property until its final distributio ...

he requested to be buried with his hair shirt and on ashes. There were people who claimed he performed eighteen

miracles A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divin ...

in his life and that he had performed a further eighteen after his death.

Sainthood

His canonization was celebrated under

on 17 May 1218; the late bishop is considered to be the patron saint for the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

References

External links

*
Santi e Beati
{{DEFAULTSORT:William Of Donjeon 1150s births 1209 deaths 13th-century Christian saints 13th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in France 13th-century venerated Christians Archbishops of Bourges French Cistercians French Roman Catholic saints Medieval French saints Cistercian saints People from Nevers Venerated Catholics