Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 15.djvu/701

 WILLIAM

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WILLIAM

the Easter synod of 1144, at which a secular clergy- man, named Godwin Sturt, told the exceedingly im- probable story that his nephew William, a boy of about twelve years, had been murdered by the Nor- wich Jews during the preceding Holy Week. Though many denounced the story of the ritual murder as an imposture, WilUam used all his influence to give credence to it. When Bishop Eborard resigned the See of Norwich to join the Cistercians, the monk- canons elected their prior William as his successor in 1146, despite the strong opposition of John de Caineto, sherilT of Norwich County and a friend of the Jews. William was consecrated by Archbishop Theobald of Canterbiu-y in the same year. As bishop he left nothing undone to spread the cult of the " boy- mart jt" WilUam. On four different occasions he had the boy's remains transferred to more honourable places, and in IKiS even erected a chapel in his honour in Mousehold \\'ood, where the boy's body was said to have been found. It was also at his instance that Thomas of Monmouth, a monk of Norwich priory, wrote "The Life and Miracles of St. Wilham of Nor- wich", theonly extant authority for this legend, which is now commonly discredited.

William was present at the consecration of Bishop Hilary of Chichester in 1147, of Geoffrey of Mon- mouth, Bishop of St. Asaph, in 1152, and of Arch- bishop Roger Pont I'Evfique of York, at Westminster Abbey, 10 Oct., 1154, and at the coronation of Henry II, 19 Dec, 1154. On 7 July, 11.57, he assisted at the Council of Northampton, and on 3 June, 1162, he was present at the consecration of Archbishop "Thomas Becket of Canterbury, whom he firmly supported later in the conflict with Henry II. Though he was prevailed upon to subscribe to the Constitutions of Clarendon (1164), he soon gave unmistakable evi- dence of his loyalty to the Holy See, and solemnly published the papal excommunication of Earl Hugh of Norfolk in the cathedral of Norwich in 1166. After the murder of Archbishop Becket, 29 Dec, 1166, history makes little mention of W'ilham. He was a friend of John of Salisbury, five of whose letters to William are printed in P. L., CXCIX— nn. 33, 93, 128, 173, 266,

Thomas of Monmouth, Life and Miracles of St. William of Nonvich, ed, Jessopp and James {Cambridge. 1896); Goclburn AND Stmonds, Life and Letters of Herbert de Losinga, II (London, 1878).

Michael Ott.

William of Tyre, Archbishop of Tyre and histo- rian, b. probably in Palestine, of a European family which had emigrated thither, about 1127-30; d. in 1190, the exact date being unknown. It is not known whether he was French or English. His studies, which were made "beyond the seas", in Italy or France, seem to have been verj' comprehensive, for besides Greek and Latin he learned Arabic, which he knew sufficiently well to write a history of the Mussul- mans according to Arabic MSS, He knew the Cla.ssic authors, and cites Virgil, Homce, Ovid, Livj', Cicero, etc. He was at T\Te in 1165 and had become a cleric; it was he who ble.s.sed (29 Aug., 1167) the marriage between Amaury, King of Jerus.alem, and Maria Comnena, niece of the Emperor Manuel. He became Archdeacon of Tyre, fulfilled an important diplomatic mission to Manuel Comnenus (relating to the alliance between the Byzantine Empire and the Kingdom of .Jerusalem ag.ainst Eg>-pt\ and was tutor to Amaury's son. the unfortunate B.aldwin, who was stricken wnth leprosy, Baldwin IV, who became king in 1174, appointed William chancellor of the kingdom and then .\rchbishop of TjTe. Threiitened by Saladin and rent by internal disorders, the very life of the kingdom was menaced and Willi.am was sent to Europe to arr.ange for a new cnisade C117S); he aRsi.sted at the Council of the Lateran (1179), held by Alexander III, returned by way of Constantinople,

and landed in Palestine, 12 May, 1180, Becoming involved in the disturbances of the kingdom, he lost his post of chancellor (1183), and when the clergy of Jerusalem wanted to elect him patriarch the queen- mother, Maria Comnena, preferred Her.achus to him. The end of his life is obscure. He returned to the West to protest to the pope against the appointment of Herachus and also to arrange a cru- sading movement. He assisted at the meeting of Gisor.s, in which the Kings of France and England, Philip Augustus and Henry II, took the cross (1188), Ac- cording to a sus- picious narrative in the chronicle of Emoul he was poi- soned at Home by an emissary of Heraclius,

William c o m - posed an account of the Council of the Lateran of 1179 and "Gesta orientalium principum", a history of the Orient from the time of Mahomet, fragments of which have been preserved in the "Historia orientalis" of Jacques de Vitry. But the chief work of his which has reached us is the "Historia rerum in partibus transmarinis gestarum", or" Historia Hierosolymitana", in twenty- three books. It is a general history of the Crusades and the Kingdom of Jerusalem down to 1184, The work was begun between 1 109 and 1173, at the request of King Amaury, The first sixteen books (down to 1144) were composed with the assistance of pre-existing sources, Albert of Aix, Raimond d'Aguilen, Foucherof Chartres, etc. On the other hand books seventeen to twenty-three have the value of personal memoirs. As chancellor of the kingdom the author consulted documents of the first importance, and he himself took part in the events which he recounts. He is therefore a chief source for the history of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, His account is in general remarkable for its Uterary charm. Very intelhgent and well informed, the author had very broad views; from his stay at Constantinople he acquired a certain admira- tion for the Byzantine Empire, and his temperate opinions of John and Manuel Comnenus are in con- trast with the tone of other European chronicles. The book of William of Tyre was continued by Ernoul and Bernard of Corbie down to 1231, Editions: "Historiens occidentaux des croisades", I (Paris, 1844); P, L,, CCI, 209-892,

Hint. Htt. lie la Franre. XIV. ,^S7-flfi; Prutz, Studien Hber Wilhelm r, Tj^u.^ in Nnies Archir, VIII. 9,'! Wi; DoBV, Hist, des institu/ioris monnrrhiqitfjt du rojjnume de Jeruttalem (Paris, 1894); Stevenson, Witliam of Tyrr'f rhronology: The Crusaders in the East (Cambridge, 1907). 361-71; Chalandon, Jean IT et Manuel Comnine (Paris, 1912), pp. xxxW-xxxviii; Molinier, Lee sources de Vhiat. de France. II (Varis, 1902), 303-04,

Louis Br^hier.

William of Vercelli (or W'illiam op Monte VEnoiNE), the foiinder of the Hermits of Monte Vergine, or Williamites, b, 1085; d, 25 June, 1142, He wa-s the son of noble parents, both of whom died while he wan still a child, and his education was entrusted to one of his kinsmen. At the age of fifteen he made up his mind to renounce the world and lead a life of penance. With this end in view, he went on a pilgrimage to St, James of Compostella, and, not content with the ordinjiry hardships of such a pilgrimage, he encircled his body with iron bands