Eustace (bishop of Ely)

Eustace
Bishop of Ely
Elected	10 August 1197
Predecessor	William Longchamp
Successor	Geoffrey de Burgo
Orders
Consecration	8 March 1198 by Hubert Walter
Personal details
Died	3 or 4 February 1215 Reading
Buried	Ely Cathedral
Denomination	Catholic

Eustace (died 1215) was the twenty-third Lord Chancellor of England, from 1197 to 1198. He was also Dean of Salisbury and Bishop of Ely.

Early life

Eustace was probably French or Norman by birth, and was educated at Paris. He was a student with Gerald of Wales, who remained a lifelong friend.^[1] After his education was finished, he was considered a master, or magister.^[2] By 1177, he was a clerk for Robert Foliot, who was Bishop of Hereford, and he stayed at Hereford until around 1186. By 1190, he held the office of parson of Withcall, Lincolnshire.^[1] He entered the king's service sometime before 1194, for he was Dean of Salisbury by 5 May 1194.^[3] He held the offices of Archdeacon of Richmond, treasurer of the East Riding and archdeacon of the East Riding after this.^[4]

Bishop

Eustace was elected to the see of Ely on 10 August 1197 and consecrated on 8 March 1198.^[5] He had been elected at Vaudreuil, but King Richard I of England sent him on a diplomatic mission to Germany after his election, which kept him from being consecrated until 1198. The consecration was performed by Hubert Walter, the Archbishop of Canterbury at Westminster.^[1]

Eustace was Lord Chancellor from May 1198 to May 1199.^[6] During this time he also acted as a royal justice, and in January 1199, Richard sent him to King Philip II of France to notify the French king that the truce between Philip and Richard was over. With the death of King Richard and the accession of King John of England, Eustace was replaced as chancellor by Hubert Walter, but Eustace was still employed by the king on diplomatic errands, including two errands to the French king, in 1202 and 1204. It was at this time that Pope Innocent III began to use Eustace as a papal judge-delegate, first appointing him to help mediate a dispute between Hubert Walter and the monks of Canterbury.^[1]

Eustace was appointed one of the papal commissioners to investigate and settle the attempt by Savaric FitzGeldewin the Bishop of Wells to take over Glastonbury Abbey as Savaric's new cathedral site. The commissioners set forth a plan, but Savaric died soon after and Pope Innocent III was persuaded to disallow the move.^[7] During King John's dispute with the pope over the election of Stephen Langton as Archbishop of Canterbury, the pope once more chose Eustace as a commissioner in August 1207,^[8] along with William of Sainte-Mère-Eglise, the Bishop of London, and Mauger the Bishop of Worcester.^[9] The commission tried to convince the king to accept Langton, but eventually in March 1208, they pronounced an interdict on England because of John's refusal to accept Langton.^[8] In July 1208 the commissioners once more attempted to negotiate with John, this time in company with Langton's brother Simon Langton. They waited eight weeks for a meeting, but the king never received them. A year later, the king finally met with them at Dover. Although an agreement was reached, it was never put into effect, and negotiations reached a stalemate. In November, the commissioners declared John excommunicated.^[10] Eustace had been in exile since the proclamation of the interdict in 1208.^[11] In 1212, Eustace journeyed to Rome to complain to Innocent about John's oppression of the English Church.^[1]

Later life and death

When John made his peace with Innocent, Eustace was allowed to return to England, and it was Eustace who formally lifted the excommuication of John on 2 July 1214. John had pledged to compensate Eustace for the damages done to Ely during the interdict, which were estimated to have been around 1000 pounds. When John came into conflict with the barons, the king attempted to win over Eustace by giving Ely the royal rights of patronage to Thorney Abbey.^[1]

Eustace died at Reading^[1] on 3 February 1215^[5] or on 4 February.^[12] He was buried in Ely Cathedral near the altar of St. Mary.^[1] A modern historian, C. R. Cheney, said of Eustace that even though he started as a royal official, he "rose to [his] responsibilities" as bishop.^[13] It was a letter of Eustace to Innocent that caused Innocent to write a letter back entitled Pastoralis officii diligentia, which later was incorporated into Gratian's Decretals.^[14] Eustace was also active in promoting the canonization of Gilbert of Sempringham. He also investigated alleged miracles of Wulfstan of Worcester. He also built the church of St. Mary, in Ely.^[1]

Citations

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Owen "Eustace" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
↑ Gillingham Richard I p. 259
↑ Greenway Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300: Volume 4: Salisbury: Deans
↑ Greenway Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300: Volume 6: York: Archdeacons of East Riding
1 2 Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 244
↑ Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 84
↑ Knowles Monastic Order p. 329
1 2 Turner King John pp. 117–118
↑ Warren King John p. 164
↑ Turner King John pp. 120–121
↑ Warren King John p. 169
↑ Greenway Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300: Volume 2: Monastic Cathedrals (Northern and Southern Provinces): Ely: Bishops
↑ Cheney Becket to Langton p. 29
↑ Cheney Becket to Langton pp. 53–54

References

Cheney, C. R. (1956). From Becket to Langton: English Church Government 1170–1213 (Reprint ed.). Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press. OCLC 5213024.
Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology (Third revised ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X.
Gillingham, John (1999). Richard I. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-07912-5.
Greenway, Diana E. (1971). Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300: Volume 2: Monastic Cathedrals (Northern and Southern Provinces): Ely: Bishops. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 25 October 2007.
Greenway, Diana E. (1991). 34220 Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300: Volume 4: Salisbury: Deans Check |url= value (help). Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 25 October 2007.
Greenway, Diana E. (1999). Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300: Volume 6: York: Archdeacons of East Riding. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 25 October 2007.
Knowles, David (1976). The Monastic Order in England: A History of its Development from the Times of St. Dunstan to the Fourth Lateran Council, 940–1216 (Second reprint ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-05479-6.
Owen, Dorothy M. (2004). "Eustace (d. 1215)" ((subscription or UK public library membership required)). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/8935. Retrieved 1 April 2008.
Turner, Ralph H. (2005). King John: England's Evil King?. Stroud, UK: Tempus. ISBN 0-7524-3385-7.
Warren, W. L. (1978). King John. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-03643-3.

Political offices
Preceded by William Longchamp (Lord Chancellor)	Keeper of the Great Seal 1197–1198	Succeeded by Hubert Walter (Lord Chancellor)
Preceded by William Longchamp (Lord Chancellor)	Lord Chancellor 1198	Succeeded by Hubert Walter (Lord Chancellor)
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by William Longchamp	Bishop of Ely 1197–1215	Succeeded by Geoffrey de Burgo

Bishops of Ely

High Medieval	Hervey le Breton Nigel Geoffrey Ridel William Longchamp Eustace Robert of York John of Fountains Geoffrey de Burgh Hugh of Northwold William of Kilkenny Hugh de Balsham John Kirkby William of Louth John Salmon/John Langton Ralph Walpole

Late Medieval	Robert Orford John Ketton John Hotham Simon Montacute Thomas de Lisle Simon Langham John Barnet Thomas Arundel John Fordham Philip Morgan Lewis of Luxembourg Thomas Bourchier William Grey John Morton John Alcock

Early modern	Richard Redman James Stanley Nicholas West Thomas Goodrich Thomas Thirlby Richard Cox Martin Heton Lancelot Andrewes Nicholas Felton John Buckeridge Francis White Matthew Wren Benjamin Lany Peter Gunning Francis Turner Simon Patrick John Moore William Fleetwood Thomas Green Robert Butts Thomas Gooch Matthias Mawson Edmund Keene James Yorke

Late modern	Thomas Dampier Bowyer Sparke Joseph Allen Thomas Turton Harold Browne Thomas Browne Lord Alwyne Compton Frederic Chase Leonard White-Thomson Bernard Heywood Edward Wynn Noel Hudson Edward Roberts Peter Walker Stephen Sykes Anthony Russell

Deans of Salisbury

High Medieval	Walter Osbert Robert Serlo Roger Azo Robert of Chichester Henry de Beaumont John of Oxford Jordan Eustace Richard Poore Adam William de Wanda Robert de Hertford Robert Wickhampton Walter Scammel Henry Brandeston Simon de Micham

Late Medieval	Peter of Savoy William Rufati Reymund de Fargis Bertrand de Fargis Reynold Orsini James Orsini Robert Braybrooke Thomas Montagu John Chandler Simon Sydenham Thomas Brunce Nicholas Bildeston Adam Moleyns Richard Leyot Gilbert Kymer James Goldwell John Davison Edward Cheyne

Early modern	Thomas Ruthall William Atwater John Longland Cuthbert Tunstall Richard Pace Peter Vannes William Bradbridge Thomas Cole Edmund Freke John Piers John Bridges John Gordon John Williams John Bowle Edmund Mason Richard Baylie Ralph Brideoake Thomas Pierce Robert Woodward Edward Young John Younger John Clarke Thomas Greene Rowney Noel John Ekins

Late modern	Charles Talbot Hugh Pearson Francis Lear Henry Hamilton J. C. Ryle George Boyle Allan Webb William Page Roberts Andrew Burn John Randolph Edward Henderson Henry Charles Robins Robert Moberly Kenneth Haworth Fenton Morley Sydney Evans Hon Hugh Dickinson Derek Watson June Osborne

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