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WINCHELSEA, ROBERT (d. 1313)

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Originally appearing in Volume V28, Page 703 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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WINCHELSEA, See also:ROBERT (d. 1313) , See also:archbishop of See also:Canterbury, was probably See also:born at Old Winchelsea. He studied and then taught at the See also:universities of See also:Paris and See also:Oxford, where he attained celebrity as a See also:scholar, and became See also:rector of the former, and subsequently See also:chancellor of the latter university. He held prebendal stalls in the cathedrals of See also:Lincoln and St See also:Paul's, and was made See also:archdeacon of See also:Essex about 1283. In See also:December 1292 See also:John See also:Peckham, archbishop of Canterbury, died, and See also:early in the following See also:year Winchelsea was elected as his successor. His See also:consecration, which took See also:place at See also:Aquila in See also:September 1294, was delayed owing to the vacancy in the papacy, but he found no difficulty in obtaining the temporalities of the see from See also:King See also:Edward I. Winchelsea is chiefly renowned as a strenuous upholder of the privileges of the See also:clergy and the authority of the See also:pope, and as a fearless opponent of Edward I. Strengthened by the issue of the papal See also:bull Clericis laicos in 1296, he stimulated the clergy to refuse pecuniary assistance to Edward in 1297; but after the king had pronounced See also:sentence of See also:outlawry against the delinquents he instructed each clerk to decide this question for himself. Personally the archbishop still declined to make any contribution towards the expenses of the See also:French See also:war, and his lands were seized and held by Edward until See also:July 1297, when a somewhat ostentatious reconciliation between king and See also:prelate took place at See also:Westminster. He took some See also:part in the See also:movement which led to the See also:confirmation of the charters by Edward later in the same year, but the struggle with the king did not exhaust his energies. He asserted his authority over his suffragans to the full; quarrelled with Pope See also:Boniface VIII. over the presentation to a See also:Sussex living, and was excommunicated by one of the pope's minions; and vigorously contested the claim of the archbishop of See also:York to carry his See also:cross erect in the See also:province of Canterbury. Before these events, however, the See also:quarrel with Edward had been renewed, although Winchelsea officiated in 1299 at the king's See also:marriage with See also:Margaret, daughter of See also:Philip III., king of See also:France.

Joining the barons in demanding certain reforms from Edward at the See also:

parliament of Lincoln in 1301, he compelled the king to give way on the See also:main issues; but the indignation which followed the claim of Pope Boniface to be the See also:protector of See also:Scotland, a claim which was supported by Winchelsea, led to the rupture of this See also:alliance. It is probable that one of the reasons which led the archbishop to join in these proceedings was his hostility to Edward's adviser, See also:Walter See also:Langton, See also:bishop of See also:Lichfield, whom he sought to disgrace both in See also:England and at See also:Rome. The king cherished his indignation until his friend See also:Clement V. became pope in 1305, when he made his final move against Winchelsea. Listening to Edward's envoys, Langton and See also:Henry See also:Lacy, See also:earl of Lincoln, Clement suspended the archbishop, who, after vainly imploring the intercession of the king, See also:left England and journeyed to the papal See also:court at See also:Bordeaux, remaining in See also:exile until Edward's See also:death in July 1307. The new king, Edward II., requested Clement to allow Winchelsea to return to his see. The pope assented, but soon after his return to England early in 1308 the archbishop joined the king's enemies; even demanded the See also:release from See also:prison of his old enemy, Langton, and was one of the " ordainers appointed in 1310. He assisted the barons in their struggle with Edward II. by a frequent use of spiritual weapons, and took part in the proceedings against the See also:Templars. He died at Otford on the r1th of May 1313. Miracles were said to have been worked at his See also:tomb in Canterbury See also:cathedral, but efforts to procure his See also:canonization were unavailing. Although a See also:secular See also:priest Winchelsea was somewhat ascetic, and his private See also:life was distinguished for sanctity and generosity. As an ecclesiastic, however, he was haughty and fond of See also:power; and he has been not inappropriately described as " the greatest churchman of the See also:time." See See also:Chronicles of the Reigns of Edward I. and Edward II., edited with introduction by W. See also:Stubbs (See also:London, 1882–1883) ; S.

Birching-ton, in the Anglia sacra, edited by H. See also:

Wharton (London, 1691); and W. Stubbs, Constitutional See also:History, vol. ii. (Oxford, 1896).

End of Article: WINCHELSEA, ROBERT (d. 1313)

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