Editing William Courtenay (bishop) (section)

==Career==
Having been made prebendary of Exeter, of Wells and of York, he was consecrated bishop of Hereford on 17 March 1370,<ref name=Handbook250>Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 250</ref> was translated to the see of London on 12 September 1375,<ref name=Handbook258>Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 258</ref> and became [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] on 30 July 1381, succeeding [[Simon Sudbury|Simon of Sudbury]] in both these latter positions.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}<ref name=Handbook233>Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 233</ref>

As a politician, the period of Courtenay's activity coincides with the years of [[Edward III of England|Edward III]]'s dotage, and with practically the whole of [[Richard II of England|Richard II]]'s reign. From the first he ranged himself among the opponents of [[John of Gaunt]], duke of Lancaster; he was a firm upholder of the rights of the English Church, and was always eager to root out [[Lollardy|Lollardry]]. In 1373 he declared in convocation that he would not contribute to a subsidy until the evils from which the church suffered were removed; in 1375 he incurred the displeasure of the king by publishing a papal bull against the Florentines; and in 1377 his decided action during the quarrel between John of Gaunt and [[William of Wykeham]] ended in a temporary triumph for the bishop.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

[[John Wyclif|Wycliffe]] was another cause of difference between [[duke of Lancaster|Lancaster]] and Courtenay. In 1377 the reformer appeared before Archbishop Sudbury and Courtenay, when an altercation between the duke and the bishop led to the dispersal of the court, and during the ensuing riot Lancaster probably owed his safety to the good offices of his foe. Having meanwhile become archbishop of Canterbury Courtenay summoned a synod, in London, the so-called "[[Earthquake Synod]]", which condemned the opinions of Wycliffe; he then attacked the Lollards at Oxford, and urged the bishops to imprison heretics.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

Courtenay was for a short time chancellor of England during 1381,<ref name=Handbook87>Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 87</ref> and in January 1382 he officiated at the marriage of Richard II with Anne of Bohemia, afterwards crowning the queen. In 1382 the archbishop's visitation led to disputes with the bishops of Exeter and Salisbury, and Courtenay was only partially able to enforce the payment of a special tax to meet his expenses on this occasion. During his concluding years the archbishop appears to have upheld the papal authority in England, although not to the injury of the English Church.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

In 1390 Courtenay protested against confirmation of the [[Statute of Provisors|Statute of Provisors 1350]], and in 1393 he was successful in slightly modifying the [[Statute of Praemunire|Statute of Praemunire 1392]]. Disliking the extravagance of Richard II, Courtenay publicly reproved the king; and, after an angry scene, the royal threats drove him for a time into Devon. In 1386, he was one of the commissioners appointed to reform the kingdom and the royal household, and in 1387 he arranged a peace between Richard and his enemies under [[Thomas of Woodstock]], Duke of Gloucester.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}