William of Sainte-Mère-Église was a medieval

Bishop of London A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

Life

William's family originated from

Sainte-Mère-Église Sainte-Mère-Église () is a commune in the northwestern French department of Manche, in Normandy. On 1 January 2016, the former communes of Beuzeville-au-Plain, Chef-du-Pont, Écoquenéauville and Foucarville were merged into Sainte-Mère-Ég ...

, in the

Cotentin Peninsula The Cotentin Peninsula (, ; nrf, Cotentîn ), also known as the Cherbourg Peninsula, is a peninsula in Normandy that forms part of the northwest coast of France. It extends north-westward into the English Channel, towards Great Britain. To its w ...

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

,Greenway
Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300: Volume 1, St. Paul's, London: Bishops
' and he 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 'Ealdstreet' in the

diocese of London The Diocese of London forms part of the Church of England's Province of Canterbury in England. It lies directly north of the Thames. For centuries the diocese covered a vast tract and bordered the dioceses of Norwich and Lincoln to the north ...

as well as being

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

of St Martin le Grand in London.Greenway
Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300: Volume 1, St. Paul's, London: Prebendaries: Ealdstreet
' He also held a prebend in the

diocese of York The Diocese of York is an administrative division of the Church of England, part of the Province of York. It covers the city of York, the eastern part of North Yorkshire, and most of the East Riding of Yorkshire. The diocese is headed by the A ...

. In 1193, William, along with the bishop of Salisbury

Hubert Walter Hubert Walter ( – 13 July 1205) was an influential royal adviser in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries in the positions of Chief Justiciar of England, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Lord Chancellor. As chancellor, Walter b ...

, found King

Richard I of England Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and was ...

where he was being held captive at

Ochsenfurt Ochsenfurt () is a town in the district of Würzburg, in Bavaria, Germany. Ochsenfurt is located on the left bank of the River Main and has around 11,000 inhabitants. This makes it the largest town in Würzburg district. Name Like Oxford, the t ...

in Germany. He was also named the clerk of the exchequer who was responsible for overseeing the

Jewish 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""The ...

moneylenders, and worked in Walter's new system of supervision to reduce fraud.Stacey "Walter, Hubert" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' William was elected to the

See of London The Diocese of London forms part of the Church of England's Province of Canterbury in England. It lies directly north of the Thames. For centuries the diocese covered a vast tract and bordered the dioceses of Norwich and Lincoln to the north ...

on 16 September 1198 and consecrated on 23 May 1199. He resigned the see on 25 January 1221 and retired to the Augustinian priory of St Osyth's.Turner "Religious Patronage" ''Albion'' p. 12 He died on 27 March 1224.Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 258

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* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:William Of Sainte-Mere-Eglise Bishops of London 1224 deaths Anglo-Normans Deans of St Paul's 12th-century English Roman Catholic bishops 13th-century English Roman Catholic bishops Year of birth unknown