William of Paris (saint)

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Saint William of Paris

Born	c.1127, France
Died	Easter Sunday, 1203, Denmark
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church
Canonized	1224 by Pope Honorius III
Feast	18 June
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Saint William of Paris (William of Æbelholt, William of the Paracelte, William of Eskhill) (c. 1127 – Easter Sunday, 1203) was a French-born churchman of Denmark.

[edit] Life

He was educated by his uncle Hugh, forty-second Abbot of Saint-Germain-des-Prés at Paris; and having been ordained subdeacon received a canonry in the Church of Sainte-Geneviève-du-Mont. His exemplary life did not commend him to his fellow canons, who tried to rid themselves of his presence, and even prevented by slander his ordination to the diaconate by the Bishop of Paris. William obtained this order from the Bishop of Senlis by his uncle's intercession, and was soon afterwards presented by the canons to the little priory of Epinay. In 1148, by order of Pope Eugene III, the secular canons of Ste-Geneviève were replaced by canons regular from the Parisian monastery of St. Victor, whose prior, Odo, was made abbot of Ste-Genevieve. William soon afterwards joined the new community and was made sub-prior. In this position he showed great zeal for the religious life, and on one occasion opposed the entry of a new prior who had obtained his position irregularly; for this he was punished by Abbot Garin, successor of Odo, but his action was finally supported by Pope Alexander III.

In 1161 Absalon, Bishop of Roskilde in Denmark, sent to Paris the provost of his cathedral to obtain canons regular for the reform of the monastery of St. Thomas of Eskilsø. In 1165 William journeyed to Denmark with three companions, and became abbot of that house. In spite of difficulties arising from poverty and opposition on the part of the community he reformed the monastery and in 1178 transferred it to Æbelholt, or the Paraclete, in Zeeland.

He was entrusted with important business by Absalon, now Archbishop of Lund, and intervened in the case of Philip Augustus of France who was attempting to repudiate his wife Ingeborg (1175–1236), daughter of Valdemar I of Denmark.

The genealogy of the Danish kings which he drew up on this occasion to disprove the alleged impediment of consanguinity and two books of his letters, some of which deal with this affair, have come down to us, and together with an account of probable authenticity of the invention of the relics of Ste-Geneviève in 1161 and a few charters relating to his monastery may be found in P.L., CCIX. An account of his miracles is given in the Vita written by one of his younger disciples.

He was canonized by Pope Honorius III in 1224. His feast is commemorated on 18 June.