William Lenn (also Lenne or de Lynn; died 1373) was a medieval

bishop of Chichester The Bishop of Chichester is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the counties of East and West Sussex. The see is based in the City of Chichester where the bishop's sea ...

and bishop of Worcester. The name ''Lenn'' was the old name for Lynn in

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

.Stephens ''Memorials'' pp. 117-118 Lenn went to Rome in his early life and became a doctor of canon law. He was subsequently made an ''auditor of causes'', in the holy court, by

Pope Urban V Pope Urban V ( la, Urbanus V; 1310 – 19 December 1370), born Guillaume de Grimoard, was the head of the Catholic Church from 28 September 1362 until his death in December 1370 and was also a member of the Order of Saint Benedict. He was the ...

.Coleman ''English Culture'' pp. 50-51 In 1356 Lenn was made

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 Chichester Cathedral, then after the death of Bishop Stratford he was selected for the see of Chichester on 16 May 1362, and was consecrated about 18 August 1362.Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 239 Lenn's tenure at Chichester was quite short, but during that time he got into a quarrel with the

earl of Arundel Earl of Arundel is a title of nobility in England, and one of the oldest extant in the English peerage. It is currently held by the Duke of Norfolk, and is used (along with the Earl of Surrey) by his heir apparent as a courtesy title. The ...

, Stephens suggests that it was probably a dispute over land. It seems that the bishop procured a citation from Pope Urban V ordering the earl to appear before a court, in Rome, to answer the charges laid against him. The earl treated the summons with contempt and refused to go. What the bishop was trying to do was seen as a violation of both the '' Statute of Praemunire'' and the ''

canon law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...

'' of England. The King, Edward III, was angry at the insult and summoned the bishop to attend the king's court, to account for his actions. The bishop, however, was in Rome at the time, but he was convicted in his absence, and all his goods and chattels seized, by the crown. Lenn was translated to the

see of Worcester The Diocese of Worcester forms part of the Church of England (Anglican) Province of Canterbury in England. The diocese was founded around 679 by St Theodore of Canterbury at Worcester to minister to the kingdom of the Hwicce, one of the many ...

on 11 October 1368 Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 279 He died of a stroke, in that office on 18 November 1373, as he mounted a horse to go to London to attend Parliament.

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* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lenn, William 1373 deaths Bishops of Chichester Bishops of Worcester 14th-century English Roman Catholic bishops Deans of Chichester Year of birth unknown