Editing William of Wykeham (section)

==Richard II==

Under Richard II, William resumed his position as a royal councillor.  Although he took the side of the [[Lords Appellant]] in their disputes with the king in 1388, he also managed to maintain good relations with the king, and served as Chancellor again from May 1389 to September 1391.

After years of supporting poor scholars at [[Oxford University]], he founded [[New College, Oxford|New College]], which was granted a royal charter in 1379.  He also founded a school, [[Winchester College]], to supply New College with students, obtaining a [[papal bull]] in 1378 and a royal licence in 1382.  Construction work began in Oxford in 1380, and in Winchester in 1387, under the architect [[William Wynford]].  At both colleges, William stipulated daily prayers for Richard II and his queen, William and his parents, and his former patrons, Sir Ralph Sutton, Sir John Scures, and Thomas Foxley.  The funds to endow the colleges, and pay for the building works, came from William's lucrative church positions, discounting of exchequer tallies (that is, speculation on tax revenues due to the king), exporting wool, and using his influence to obtain papal approval for the acquisition of the income of the "alien priories" that belonged to monasteries in France, which were confiscated by the crown during the [[Hundred Years' War]].  He also started the rebuilding of the nave of Winchester Cathedral in 1394.

William was concentrating on his foundation by the time [[Henry IV of England|Henry IV]] deposed Richard II in 1399, but he welcomed the new king in Winchester in 1400.