Editing William of Wykeham

{{Short description|14th-century Bishop of Winchester and Chancellor of England}}
{{For|the 16th-century bishop|William Wickham (bishop)}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{More footnotes needed|date=June 2023}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| type = Bishop
| name = William of Wykeham
| title = [[Bishop of Winchester]]
| image = Williamofwykeham.jpg
| image_size = 100px
| caption = William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester, 1367-1404: from his tomb at Winchester.
| term_end = 27 September 1404
| predecessor = [[William Edington]]
| successor = [[Henry Beaufort]]
| ordination = 1362
| consecration = 10 October 1367
| consecrated_by = [[Simon Langham]]
| birth_date = 1320 or 1324
| birth_place = 
| death_date = 27 September 1404 (aged {{circa}} 82)
| death_place = 
| previous_post = 
| church = [[Roman Catholic]]
| appointed = 12 July 1367
| coat_of_arms = Arms of Wykeham.svg
}}

'''William of Wykeham''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|w|ɪ|k|ə|m}}; 1320 or 1324 – 27 September 1404) was [[Bishop of Winchester]] and [[Chancellor of England]].  He founded [[New College, Oxford]], and [[New College School]] in 1379, and founded [[Winchester College]] in 1382.  He was also the clerk of works when much of [[Windsor Castle]] was built.

==Early life==

William of Wykeham (born William Longe) was the son of John Longe, a freeman from [[Wickham, Hampshire|Wickham]] in Hampshire.  He was educated at a school in [[Winchester]], and probably enjoyed early patronage from two local men, Sir Ralph Sutton, constable of [[Winchester Castle]], and Sir [[John Scures]], lord of the manor of Wickham, and then from [[Thomas Foxley]], [[Constable of Windsor Castle]]. In 1349, Wykeham was described as a chaplain when he was appointed [[rector (ecclesiastical)|rector]] of [[Irstead]] in Norfolk, a position which was in the gift of the Crown.<ref>Mackenzie E. C. Walcott "William of Wykeham, His Colleges" p. 10</ref>

==Builder==
[[File:WilliamOfWykeham.jpg|thumb|upright|Portrait (posthumous), showing the two colleges he founded, and his [[coat of arms]] and motto]]

William became secretary to the [[Constable#Ancient Court Position|constable]] of [[Winchester Castle]] and in that capacity learned about building. This led to architectural work for King [[Edward III of England|Edward III]], for whom he reconstructed [[Windsor Castle]] whilst residing at Bear's Rails in [[Old Windsor]].

William developed a reputation for the administration and supervision of royal building works during the reign of [[Edward III of England|Edward III]].  By May 1356, he was clerk of the works for houses being built for the Crown at [[Henley on the Heath]] in Surrey and [[Easthampstead]] in Berkshire, and he was appointed surveyor of the long-running works to develop [[Windsor Castle]] in October 1356.  He rapidly rose in royal service, and in July 1359 he was appointed chief keeper and surveyor of Windsor Castle, [[Leeds Castle]], [[Dover Castle]], and [[Hadleigh Castle]], and many royal manors, including [[Richmond, London|Sheen]], [[Eltham]] and [[Kings Langley Palace|Langley]], effectively in the office later called [[Clerk of works|clerk of the king's works]].  He also took charge of the building works at [[Queenborough]] on the [[Isle of Sheppey]] in Kent.

==State administrator under Edward III==

William's career took a turn by 1361, when he became a royal secretary, part of the administration of the royal finances, and by 1363 he was a royal councillor.  He was present when the [[Treaty of Brétigny]] was agreed in Calais in 1360.  In January 1361, Edward III and [[John II of France]] jointly to petitioned [[Pope Innocent VI]], to make William a [[canon (priest)|canon]] at [[Lincoln Cathedral]]. He was appointed [[Justice in Eyre]] south of the [[River Trent|Trent]] along with [[Peter Atte Wode]] in 1361, a position he held until about 1367. William was ordained in 1362 and paid for his services by being given the incomes of various churches. For instance, in April 1363, Edward III presented him to the [[Archdeacon of Lincoln|archdeaconry of Lincoln]], a move that was approved by [[Pope Urban V]] in November 1363 only after representations from [[Sir Nicholas de Loveyne]], the king's ambassador to the papal court.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Davis|first = Virginia|title=William Wykeham|location=London|year=2007|page=46}}</ref> By 1366, William held two [[benefice]]s and eleven [[prebend]]s, with an annual income exceeding £800.

William had shown considerable talent as an administrator and in June 1363 was appointed [[Lord Privy Seal]]<ref name=Handbook94>{{harvnb|Fryde|Greenway|Porter|Roy|1996|p=94}}</ref> and then in October 1366 he was elected [[Bishop of Winchester]],<ref name=Handbook277>{{harvnb|Fryde|Greenway|Porter|Roy|1996|p=277}}</ref> Pope Urban V approved his appointment in July 1367, and he was consecrated at St Paul's Cathedral in London on 10 October 1367<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/William-of-Wykeham-in-1393-The-Only-Surviving-Household-Expenses-Account-Roll-An-Introduction.pdf|title=William-of-Wykeham-in-1393-The-Only-Surviving-Household-Expenses-Account-Roll|website=Winchester Cathedral|access-date=25 November 2019}}</ref> and enthroned at Winchester Cathedral in July 1368.  In 1367 he was appointed [[Chancellor of England]].<ref name=Handbook86>{{harvnb|Fryde|Greenway|Porter|Roy|1996|p=86}}</ref> He struggled to find the funds necessary to pay the army fighting against France after conflict resumed in 1369.  He lost the favour of the king, who turned to [[William Latimer, 4th Baron Latimer]], and he resigned as Chancellor in 1371.<ref name=Handbook86/>

As Edward III aged and weakened, William maintained good relationships with [[Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March]], [[John of Gaunt]] and [[Edward, the Black Prince]].  He remained politically important, and was one of four bishops appointed to the new royal council in May 1376 after Latimer was [[Impeachment in the United Kingdom|impeached]] during the [[Good Parliament]].  His friendship with the Earl of March led to a long conflict with [[John of Gaunt]], who supported Latimer.  Latimer was pardoned by king in October 1376, and William found himself charged with financial irregularities and mismanagement towards the end of the year.  He was banished from court and the income from his church properties was seized in late 1376, but he was pardoned by the new king [[Richard II of England|Richard II]] in July 1377, weeks after Edward III died.  (Richard was the son of Edward, the Black Prince, who had died in June 1376, a year before his father.)

==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.

==Death and legacy==

[[File:William of Wykeham Effigy.jpg|thumb|Funerary effigy of William of Wykeham in Winchester Cathedral]]
William died at [[Bishop's Waltham]] in Hampshire on 27 September 1404 and was buried in his [[chantry]] chapel on the south side of the nave in Winchester Cathedral.  At the time of his death, he was one of the richest men in England.  Much of his wealth went into the schools he patronised, but he also contrived to leave a fortune to a nephew, whose descendants include the [[Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes family]] and the [[Spixworth Park|Longe family]].

William's motto was 'Manners makyth man'.<ref name="Winchester College, Arms">{{cite web | url = http://www.winchestercollege.org/arms | title = Winchester College, Arms | access-date = 22 November 2010 | work = Winchester College website}}</ref> This, along with a [[coat of arms]], was assumed by him and not acquired by descent. His biography was written by [[Robert Lowth|Bishop Lowth]]. He was also written about by Lord Brougham in his 'Old England's Worthies' (1857) and by [[Froissart]]. 'Manners Makyth Man' is also the motto of the establishments Wykeham founded, [[Winchester College]] and [[New College, Oxford]].<ref name="Winchester College, Arms"/>

==Citations==

{{reflist|30em}}

==References==

* Partner, Peter, 'Wykeham, William (c. 1324–1404)', ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2009 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/30127, accessed 28 July 2013]
* {{cite book |last1=Fryde |first1=E. B. |last2=Greenway |first2=D. E. |last3=Porter |first3=S. |last4=Roy |first4=I. |title=Handbook of British Chronology |edition=Third revised |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |year=1996 |isbn=0-521-56350-X }}
* Lowth, Robert ''Life of William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester''. London, 1759
* Moberly, George Herbert ''Life of William Wykeham''. Warren & Son, Winchester, 1887; 2nd edition, London, 1893
* [[Mackenzie Walcott|Walcott, Mackenzie Edward Charles]] ''William of Wykeham and his Colleges''. London, 1897

==Further reading==
* [[John Chandler (clergyman)|Chandler, John]], ''Life of William of Wykeham'', J. Burns, 1842
* John, Lord Campbell, ''Lives of the Lord Chancellors and Keepers of the Great Seal of England''. London, 1848; I, xv, xvii
* Augusta Theodosia Drane, ''The Three Chancellors, or Sketches of the Lives of William of Wykeham, William of Waynflete and Sir Thomas More''. London, 1882; pp.&nbsp;1–112
* Thomas Kitchin, ''Winchester''. London, 1890.
* Virginia Davis, ''William Wykeham: a life''. London; New York: Hambledon Continuum, 2007

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{{Bishops of Winchester}}
{{House of Plantagenet Lord Chancellors}}
{{Winchester College}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wykeham, William of}}
[[Category:1320s births]]
[[Category:1404 deaths]]
[[Category:14th-century English Roman Catholic bishops]]
[[Category:15th-century English Roman Catholic bishops]]
[[Category:Bishops of Winchester]]
[[Category:14th-century English architects|William of Wykeham]]
[[Category:Lord chancellors of England]]
[[Category:Lords Privy Seal]]
[[Category:People associated with New College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Architects from Hampshire]]
[[Category:Windsor Castle]]
[[Category:Burials at Winchester Cathedral]]
[[Category:Founders of colleges of the University of Oxford]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]