Thomas (12th century bishop)

Thomas
Archbishop of York
Province	York
Diocese	Diocese of York
See	Archbishop of York
Enthroned	unknown
Reign ended	24 February 1114
Predecessor	Gerard
Successor	Thurstan
Orders
Consecration	27 June 1109
Personal details
Birth name	Thomas
Died	24 February 1114 Beverley
Buried	York Minster
Parents	Sampson, Bishop of Worcester

Thomas (died 24 February 1114) was a medieval archbishop of York. To distinguish him from his uncle, also a Thomas who was archbishop of York, Thomas is usually known as Thomas II or Thomas the Younger.

Life

Thomas was the nephew of Thomas of Bayeux, archbishop of York,^[1] and the son of the elder Thomas' brother Samson, Bishop of Worcester. He was a royal chaplain, and then provost of Beverley in 1092, both appointments he owed to his uncle.^[2] He was raised in the cathedral chapter at York, and the clergy of York trusted him,^[3] and he proved himself devoted to York's cause against the primacy of Canterbury.^[4] Thomas' brother Richard became Bishop of Bayeux in about 1108 until Richard's death in 1133.^[5] Thomas and Richard's sister, Isabelle of Douvres, was the mistress of Robert of Gloucester, and their son Richard was Bishop of Bayeux from 1135 to 1142.^[6]

Thomas became archbishop in May 1108^[7] at the request of the dean and cathedral chapter of York.^[1] Because he refused to profess obediance to the Archbishop of Canterbury, his consecration was delayed and formed part of the Canterbury-York dispute. Thomas said that the chapter would not allow him to make a written profession, and the chapter wrote as a body to Archbishop Anselm confirming this. Meanwhile, the dean of York went to Rome to procure the pallium for Thomas, which was sent with a papal legate. Anselm died in April 1109 without any resolution to the dispute between the two archbishops.^[3] Anselm had told the bishops before his death that he felt that Thomas must make a profession of obedience, and obediently the bishops appealed to the king's court to make Thomas do so. Henry I and his bishops finally decided against Thomas, who capitulated^[8] and was consecrated in London on 27 June 1109^[7] by Richard de Beaumis, Bishop of London.^[1] He received his pallium from Cardinal Ulrich, the legate, on 1 August 1109.^[3]

Thomas worked to extend York's metropolitan authority over Scotland, and consecrated Michael of Glasgow as Bishop of Glasgow. Michael made a written profession of obedience to York before his consecration.^[2] Thomas also consecrated Thurgot as Bishop of St Andrews, although Thurgot seems to have managed to insert a reservation of his rights into his oath.^[9] Other Scottish bishops he consecrated were Radulf Novell as Bishop of Orkney and Wimund to as Bishop of Man and the Isles.^[2]

In the diocese of York, the archbishop founded the Hospital of St. John the Baptist at Ripon.^[10] He also created more prebends in his diocese, extending the work of his two predecessors in introducing the Norman system of ecclesiastical government. He is said have only been stopped from approrpiating the relics of Saint Eata by a vision of the saint. He also endowed the Augustinian priory of Hexham with lands and books.^[2] He had helped found the priory at Hexham when he expelled the hereditary priest from the church and settled canons there from Huntingdon.^[11]

Thomas died at Beverley on 24 February 1114.^[1] He was noted for his chastity, but equally noted for his gluttony, and died of overeating.^[12] Thomas was buried in York Minster near his uncle. Hugh the Chantor relates the story that Thomas one time when ill was told by his doctors that he would only be cured by intercourse with a young girl. Some of Thomas' friends then attempted to introduce a young woman into his household, but Thomas instead prayed to a saint, John of Beverley, and recovered.^[2]

Citations

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d British History Online Archbishops of York accessed on 14 September 2007
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Burton "Thomas (d. 1114)" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'
^ ^a ^b ^c Vaughn Anselm of Bec and Robert of Meulan pp. 336-357
^ Barlow English Church 1066–1154 p. 43
^ Barlow English Church 1066–1154 p. 58
^ Spear "The Norman Empire and the Secular Clergy" Journal of British Studies p. 5
^ ^a ^b Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 281
^ Cantor Church, Kingship, and Lay Investiture pp. 300-301
^ Bartlett England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings p. 94
^ British History Online Victoria County History of York accessed on 14 September 2007
^ Burton Monastic and Religious Orders p. 48
^ Barlow The English Church 1066–1154 p. 82

References

Barlow, Frank (1979). The English Church 1066–1154: A History of the Anglo-Norman Church. New York: Longman. ISBN 0-582-50236-5.
Bartlett, Robert C. (2000). England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings: 1075–1225. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-822741-8.
British History Online Archbishops of York accessed on 14 September 2007
British History Online Victoria County History of York accessed on 14 September 2007
Burton, Janet (1994). Monastic and Religious Orders in Britain: 1000–1300. Cambridge Medieval Textbooks. Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-37797-8.
Burton, Janet (2004). "Thomas (d. 1114)" (Subscription or UK public library membership required). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/27200. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/27200.
Cantor, Norman F. (1958). Church, Kingship, and Lay Investiture in England 1089–1135. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. OCLC 186158828.
Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology (Third revised ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X.
Spear, David S. (1982). "The Norman Empire and the Secular Clergy, 1066–1204". Journal of British Studies XXI (2): 1–10. doi:10.1086/385787. JSTOR 175531.
Vaughn, Sally N. (1987). Anselm of Bec and Robert of Meulan: The Innocence of the Dove and the Wisdom of the Serpent. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-05674-4.

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Gerard	Archbishop of York 1109–1114	Succeeded by Thurstan

Bishops and Archbishops of York

Pre-Reformation Bishops	Paulinus · Chad · Wilfrid · Bosa · John of Beverley · Wilfrid II

Pre-Reformation Archbishops	Egbert · Æthelbert · Eanbald I · Eanbald II · Wulfsige · Wigmund · Wulfhere · Æthelbald · Hrotheweard · Wulfstan I · Oscytel · Edwald · Oswald · Ealdwulf · Wulfstan II · Ælfric Puttoc · Æthelric · Cynesige · Ealdred · Thomas of Bayeux · Gerard · Thomas II · Thurstan · William FitzHerbert · Henry Murdac · William FitzHerbert · Roger de Pont L'Évêque · Geoffrey Plantagenet · Simon Langton · Walter de Gray · Sewal de Bovil · Godfrey Ludham · William Langton · Bonaventure · Walter Giffard · William de Wickwane · John le Romeyn · Henry of Newark · Thomas of Corbridge · William Greenfield · William Melton · William Zouche · John of Thoresby · Alexander Neville · Thomas Arundel · Robert Waldby · Richard le Scrope · Thomas Langley · Robert Hallam · Henry Bowet · Philip Morgan · Richard Fleming · John Kemp · William Booth · George Neville · Lawrence Booth · Thomas Rotherham · Thomas Savage · Christopher Bainbridge · Thomas Wolsey

Post-Reformation Archbishops	Edward Lee · Robert Holgate · Nicholas Heath · Thomas Young · Edmund Grindal · Edwin Sandys · John Piers · Matthew Hutton · Tobias Matthew · George Montaigne · Samuel Harsnett · Richard Neile · John Williams · Accepted Frewen · Richard Sterne · John Dolben · Thomas Lamplugh · John Sharp · Sir William Dawes Bt · Lancelot Blackburne · Thomas Herring · Matthew Hutton · John Gilbert · Robert Hay Drummond · William Markham · Edward Venables-Vernon-Harcourt · Thomas Musgrave · Charles Longley · William Thomson · William Magee · William Maclagan · Cosmo Lang · William Temple · Cyril Garbett · Michael Ramsey · Donald Coggan · Stuart Blanch · John Habgood · David Hope · John Sentamu

Persondata
Name	Thomas
Alternative names	Thomas II of York; Thomas II
Short description	Archbishop of York
Date of birth
Place of birth
Date of death	24 February 1114
Place of death	Beverley