William de St-Calais

William de St-Calais (died 2 January 1096) was a medieval Norman monk, abbot of the abbey of Saint-Vincent in Le Mans in Maine, who was nominated by King William I of England as Bishop of Durham in 1080. During his term as bishop, St-Calais replaced the canons of his cathedral chapter with monks, and began the construction of Durham Cathedral. In addition to his ecclesiastical duties, he served as a commissioner for the Domesday Book of 1086. He was also a councillor and advisor to both King William I and his son, King William II, known as William Rufus. Following William Rufus' accession to the throne in 1087, St-Calais is considered by scholars to have been the new king's chief advisor.

When the king's uncle, Odo of Bayeux, raised a rebellion against the king in 1088, St-Calais was implicated in the revolt. William Rufus laid siege to St-Calais in the bishop's stronghold of Durham, and later put him on trial for treason. A contemporary record of this trial, the '' De Iniusta Vexacione Willelmi Episcopi Primi'', is the earliest surviving detailed contemporary report of an English state-trial. Imprisoned briefly, St-Calais was allowed to go into exile after his castle at Durham was surrendered to the king. He went to Normandy, where he became a leading advisor to Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy, the elder brother of William Rufus. By 1091, St-Calais had returned to England and regained royal favour.

In England, St-Calais once more became a leading advisor to the king. In 1093 he negotiated with Anselm, Abbot of Bec, concerning Anselm's becoming Archbishop of Canterbury; in 1095 it was St-Calais who prosecuted the royal case against Anselm after he had become archbishop. During his bishopric, St-Calais stocked the cathedral library with books, especially canon law texts. He was also active in defending the north of England against Scots raids. Before his death, he had made his peace with Anselm, who blessed and consoled St-Calais on his deathbed.

Early life

St-Calais was a Norman, and a native of Bayeux;Powell and Wallis ''House of Lords'' p. 36 he may have been a member of one of its clerical dynasties.Barlow "St Calais, William of" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' His mother's name, Ascelina or Anselma, is given in Durham's records; his father, whose name is unknown, became a monk at the monastery of Saint-Calais in Maine, and may previously have been a knight.Aird "Absent Friend" ''Anglo-Norman Durham'' p. 287 Although St-Calais is generally referred to as Saint Calais or St-Calais, the main source of information about his life, the monastic chronicle of Symeon of Durham, does not call him such.Aird "Absent Friend" ''Anglo-Norman Durham'' p. 288

St-Calais studied under Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, the half-brother of the future William I of England, who was then Duke of Normandy.Barlow ''William Rufus'' pp. 60–62 Other bishops educated at Bayeux around this time included Archbishop Thomas of York and Samson, Bishop of Worcester and the scriptures; at some point St-Calais also acquired a knowledge of canon law. He became a Benedictine monk at Saint-Calais in Maine, where his father had become a monk, and soon became the prior of that house. He became abbot of St Vincent-des-Prés near Le Mans in Maine, sometime around 1078. As abbot, his only appearance in historical records is his upholding of the monasteries' right to some property, and his acceptance of a gift of property in the town.Aird "Absent Friend" ''Anglo-Norman Durham'' pp. 288–289

William the Conqueror nominated him to the see of Durham on 9 November 1080, and he was duly consecrated on either 27 December 1080 or 3 January 1081.Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 241Greenway "Durham: Bishops" ''Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300'': Volume 2: Monastic Cathedrals (Northern and Southern Provinces) His elevation may have been a reward for diplomatic services he rendered to the king in France,Barlow ''English Church'' p. 64 or to help secure the see from further disorder following the death of the previous bishop, Walcher, during a feud. However, it was most likely in recognition of his administrative ability. Symeon of Durham stated that St-Calais was chosen as a bishop for this reason,Aird "Absent Friend" ''Anglo-Norman Durham'' pp. 289–290 describing him as "very well versed in sacred and secular learning, very conscientious in matters of divine and worldly business, and so remarkable for good conduct that he had no equal amongst his contemporaries".Quoted in Aird "Absent Friend" ''Anglo-Norman Durham'' p. 290

Early ecclesiastical affairs

The chronicler Symeon of Durham asserted that when St-Calais was consecrated bishop by Archbishop Thomas of York, he managed to avoid professing obedience to the archbishop, which, if true, would have freed St-Calais from interference in his diocese.Barlow ''English Church'' p. 39 After his appointment, St-Calais decided to replace his cathedral chapter of secular clergy with monks, and consulted the king and Lanfranc, the Archbishop of Canterbury, before going to Rome to receive permission from Pope Gregory VII.Knowles ''Monastic Order'' p. 169 These consultations, and the conditions within his diocese, may have kept St-Calais from visiting Durham until some time after his elevation.Green ''Aristocracy'' pp. 109–110 In 1083 he expelled the married clergy from the cathedral,Chibnall ''Anglo-Norman England'' p. 42 and moved a small community of monks from Bede's old monastery at Jarrow to Durham, to form the new chapter. This community had been founded at Jarrow by Reinfrid, a Norman ex-knight and monk of Evesham Abbey, and Eadwine, an English monk from Winchcombe Abbey.Douglas ''William the Conqueror'' p. 328 After the community had settled in Durham, St-Calais named Eadwine as prior, and arranged for lands to be set aside to support the monks. The expelled clergy were offered the option of joining the new monastic house, but only one actually joined.

St-Calais enjoyed good relations with his cathedral chapter, and they supported him when construction began on a new church in 1093.Knowles ''Monastic Order'' pp. 169–170 After demolishing an old Saxon church, he and Prior Turgot of Durham laid the foundation stone on 11 August 1093 for what would later become Durham Cathedral.Page, ed. "Houses of Benedictine Monks" ''History of the County of Durham'' pp. 86–103

St-Calais also gave a set of constitutions to the cathedral chapter, modeled on Lanfranc's rule for Canterbury.Knowles ''Monastic Order'' p. 131 Symeon of Durham said that the bishop acted towards the monks of his chapter as a "loving father", and that the monks fully returned the sentiment.Knowles ''Monastic Order'' p. 623 St-Calais is said to have researched exhaustively the pre-Norman Conquest customs of the cathedral, before re-establishing monks in the cathedral.Knowles ''Monastic Order'' p. 625 He imposed the ''Monastic Constitutions'' of Lanfranc on the community, instead of the older '' Regularis Concordia''.Williams ''English and the Norman Conquest'' p. 136Williams ''English and the Norman Conquest'' p. 153

Work for William the Conqueror

During William the Conqueror's reign, St-Calais was a frequent witness on charters. While it is often difficult to determine who was considered most important on a charter's witness list, placement near the top of the list is usually understood to mean that the signatory was considered important. Almost always during the Conqueror's reign, St-Calais is listed right below the royal family and the archbishops.

The king sent St-Calais on diplomatic missions to the French royal court and to Rome.Aird "Absent Friend" ''Anglo-Norman Durham'' p. 291 After the king's imprisonment of Odo of Bayeux, Pope Gregory VII complained to him. The pope was also concerned about the king's refusal to allow the delivery of papal letters to the English bishops unless royal permission was secured. To placate the pope, the king dispatched St-Calais to Rome, possibly with Lanfranc, to explain to the pope the reasons for imprisoning Odo.Barlow ''Feudal Kingdom'' p. 130 St-Calais also served as a commissioner in the south-western part of England for the Domesday Book, which aimed to survey the whole of England and record who owned the lands.Chibnall ''Anglo-Norman England'' p. 111Holt "1086" ''Domesday Studies'' p. 47 Some historians, including David Bates, have argued that St-Calais was the driving force behind the organization of the entire Domesday survey,Chaplais "William of Saint-Calais" ''Domesday Studies'' pp. 76–77Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 201 although other candidates have been put forward, including Samson, Bishop of Worcester, before he became bishop.Chaplais "William of Saint-Calais" ''Domesday Studies'' pp. 68–70 Pierre Chaplais, who argues for St-Calais being the main organizer of the survey, argues the bishop's exile in 1088 interrupted work on the ''Little Domesday Book'', a subproject of the survey which was left uncompleted.Roffe ''Decoding Domesday'' p. 98

Rebellion

Soon after the accession of William Rufus, St-Calais became one of the king's most trusted lieutenants,Mason ''William II'' pp. 53–55 along with the recently released Odo of Bayeux.Poole ''Domesday Book to Magna Carta'' pp. 100–104 Later chroniclers often referred to the position that St-Calais held as justiciar, although the formal office did not yet exist.Lyon ''Constitutional and Legal History'' pp. 152–153 Around Easter 1088, Odo of Bayeux and many of the nobles revolted against the king and tried to place the king's elder brother Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy, on the throne. After the king had set off with St-Calais and some troops to counter Odo in Kent, St-Calais suddenly deserted, shutting himself in Durham Castle. Why St-Calais joined the rebellion, or at least did nothing to aid the king, is unclear.Aird "Absent Friend" ''Anglo-Norman Durham'' p. 293 He and Odo had never been close, and despite the fact that St-Calais was educated at Bayeux, there is no evidence that Odo helped St-Calais' career. Some historians, including W. M. Aird, have suggested that St-Calais felt the division of the Conqueror's realm between two sons was unwise. It has been suggested that St Calais joined the rebellion to reunite the Normans and English under one ruler.

St-Calais was the only bishop who did not actively aid the king; the rebelling magnates included Roger de Montgomery Earl of Shrewsbury, Robert de Mowbray Earl of Northumbria, and Odo's brother Robert Count of Mortain. The rebellion had failed by the end of the summer,Powell and Wallis ''House of Lords'' p. 49 but St-Calais continued to hold out in Durham, at first claiming he had never actually rebelled. When the king's army arrived, St-Calais agreed to come out, but only after receiving a safe conduct that would allow him to attend a trial while his men continued to hold the castle.Crouch ''Normans'' p. 135Mason ''William II'' pp. 64–71 St-Calais's actions suggest that he did rebel, whatever his claims to the contrary and affirmations of his innocence in northern chronicles.

Trial

St-Calais was brought before the king and royal court for trial on 2 November 1088, at Salisbury,Barlow ''William Rufus'' p. 85 before which the king seized his lands. At the trial, St-Calais held that as a bishop he could not be tried in a secular court, and refused to answer the accusations. Lanfranc presented the king's case, declaring that the confiscated lands had been held as fiefs, and thus St-Calais could be tried as a vassal, not as a bishop. St-Calais objected, and continued to refuse to answer the allegations. After numerous conferences and discussions, the court held that St-Calais could be tried as a vassal in a feudal court. St-Calais then asked for an appeal to Rome, which was rejected by the king and the judges. Those judging the case held that because St-Calais never answered the formal accusation, and because he appealed to Rome, his fief, or lands, was forfeit.Lyon ''Constitutional and Legal History'' p. 146Barlow ''William Rufus'' pp. 82–89 Although St-Calais claimed to be defending the rights of clergy to be tried in clerical courts and to appeal to Rome, his fellow bishops believed otherwise. Lending support to their belief is the fact that St-Calais never pursued his appeal to Rome, and that later, in 1095, he took the side of the king against Anselm of Canterbury when Anselm tried to assert a right to appeal to Rome.

During the course of the trial, Lanfranc is said to have stated that the court was "trying you not in your capacity as bishop, but in regard to your fief; and in this way we judged the bishop of Bayeux in regard to his fief before the present king's father, and that king did not summon him to that plea as bishop but as brother and earl."Quoted in Richardson and Sayles ''Governance'' p. 285 Unlike the later case of Thomas Becket, St-Calais received little sympathy from his fellow bishops. Most of the bishops and barons that judged the case seem to have felt that the appeal to Rome was made to avoid having to answer an accusation that St-Calais knew was true.Richardson and Sayles ''Governance'' pp. 285–286 The final judgement was only reached after the king lost his temper and exclaimed: "Believe me, bishop, you're not going back to Durham, and your men aren't going to stay at Durham, and you're not going to go free, until you release the castle."Quoted in Crouch ''Normans'' p. 135 The extant ''De Iniusta Vexacione Willelmi Episcopi Primi'', or ''Of the Unjust Persecution of the Bishop William I'',Aird "Absent Friend" ''Anglo-Norman Durham'' p. 284 details the trial of St-Calais before the king. This work is the earliest surviving detailed contemporary report of an English state-trial; some have doubted its authenticity, however, claiming St-Calais would not have been as knowledgeable in canon law as the work portrays him. The historian Mark Philpott argues that St-Calais was knowledgeable in canon law, since he owned a copy of the canon law, the '' False Decretals'', which still survives.Philpott "''De Iniusta''" "Anglo-Norman Durham" pp. 129–137

Return to favour

After the court adjourned, St-Calais was held as a prisoner at Wilton Abbey until his followers in Durham relinquished the castle. Once the castle was back under the king's control, St-Calais was released, and exiled; he left for Normandy, and no more was heard of his appeal to Rome.Lyon ''Constitutional and Legal History'' p. 209 Pope Urban II did write to the king in 1089 requesting that St-Calais be restored to his see, but nothing came of it.Cantor ''Church, Kingship, and Lay Investiture'' p. 51 In Normandy, St-Calais quickly became one of Duke Robert's principal advisors and his chief administrator.Aird "Absent Friend" ''Anglo-Norman Durham'' p. 294 On 14 November 1091 he regained the favour of William Rufus, and was restored to his see.Poole ''Domesday Book to Magna Carta'' p. 108 footnote 1 Duke Robert had persuaded the king to allow Bishop William's return, perhaps in recognition of a service St-Calais performed for the king by brokering the end of a siege in Normandy that the king's forces were about to lose. The end of the siege prevented the loss of the castle.Mason ''William II'' p. 95

St-Calais returned to Durham on 11 September 1091,Barlow ''William Rufus'' p. 294 with a large sum of money and gifts for his church.Aird "Absent Friend" ''Anglo-Norman Durham'' p. 295 Thereafter he remained in the king's favour. In fact, in 1093 his lands were restored without the need to perform feudal services. For the rest of his life, St-Calais remained a frequent advisor to the king.Cantor ''Church, Kingship, and Lay Investiture'' p. 62Cantor ''Church, Kingship, and Lay Investiture'' p. 71 It was St-Calais, along with Robert, Count of Meulan who negotiated with Anselm, the abbot of Bec, in 1093 over the conditions under which Anselm would allow himself to be elected Archbishop of Canterbury.Barlow ''William Rufus'' p. 306

St-Calais managed the king's case against Anselm at Rockingham in 1095, when Anselm wished to go to receive his pallium from Pope Urban II.Powell and Wallis ''House of Lords'' p. 52 At that time St-Calais opposed Anselm's attempt to appeal to Rome over the issue, and steadfastly maintained the king's position against Anselm, even advocating that the archbishop be deprived of his lands and sent into exile.Poole ''Domesday Book to Magna Carta'' p. 174Vaughn ''Anselm of Bec and Robert of Meulan'' pp. 182–185 Later, when the king was negotiating with Walter of Albano, the papal legate sent by Urban to convey the pallium to Anselm and to secure the king's recognition of Urban as pope, St-Calais was the king's chief negotiator.Cantor ''Church, Kingship, and Lay Investiture'' p. 92 The clerical reformers, Eadmer among them, who supported Anselm in these quarrels, later tried to claim that St-Calais had supported the king out of a desire to succeed Anselm as archbishop if Anselm was deposed, but it is unlikely that St-Calais seriously believed that Anselm would be deposed.Cantor ''Church, Kingship, and Lay Investiture'' p. 97Vaughn ''Anselm of Bec and Robert of Meulan'' p. 188Barlow ''English Church'' p. 67 St-Calais secured grants from the king in return for his services. His efforts on behalf of the king earned him hostile accounts in Eadmer's later writings.Aird "Absent Friend" ''Anglo-Norman Durham'' p. 285

Diocesan affairs

Durham's location in the north left it insecure, as Malcolm Canmore, King of Scots, raided and invaded the north of England on a number of occasions. Malcolm claimed Northumbria, in which Durham was located, as part of his kingdom. St-Calais managed to befriend Malcolm, and secured his support for the patron saint of Durham, Saint Cuthbert. Malcolm and his wife helped lay the foundation stone of the new cathedral dedicated to Cuthbert.Green ''Aristocracy'' p. 111 Respect for the saint did not mean that Malcolm refrained entirely from raiding the north; he was killed in 1093 while once more raiding Northumbria. Both the English king and St-Calais did all in their power to support Malcolm's sons, who had been educated in England, in their attempts to secure the Scottish throne.

Later, in 1095, an English noble, Robert de Mowbray, who was Earl of Northumbria, challenged the bishop's authority in the north. When Mowbray rebelled again in 1095, St-Calais helped the king put down the rebellion, and Mowbray was captured.Barlow ''William Rufus'' pp. 354–355 The death of Malcolm and the capture of Mowbray did much to make the north more secure.

In St-Calais' time as bishop, a long-running dispute began between the monks of the cathedral chapter and successive bishops. This arose because St-Calais did not make a formal division of the diocesan revenues between the bishop's household and the monks of the chapter. Nor had he allowed free elections of the prior. He may have promised these things to the monks before his death, but nothing was in writing. Thus, when a non-monk was selected to replace St-Calais, the monks began a long struggle to secure what they felt had been promised to them, including the forging of charters ascribed to St-Calais that supported their case. These forged charters date from the second half of the 12th century.Bates "Forged Charters" ''Anglo-Norman Durham'' pp. 111–124

St-Calais also ordered the destruction of the old cathedral that had been built by Aldhun, to make way for the construction of a new, larger cathedral, the current Romanesque-style Durham Cathedral.Cantor ''Church, Kingship, and Lay Investiture'' p. 36 The construction of the new cathedral began on 29 July 1093, when St-Calais led his cathedral chapter in dedicating the site. The first stones were laid shortly afterwards, on 11 August 1093.Aird "Absent Friend" ''Anglo-Norman Durham'' p. 283 However, St-Calais' exile after his trial as well as his employment in the royal service meant that he was often absent from his bishopric, and this probably is the cause of the medieval chronicler Symeon of Durham's comparatively neutral treatment of St-Calais in his works.Aird "Absent Friend" ''Anglo-Norman Durham'' pp. 286–287 There is no evidence of St-Calais performing any of the normal episcopal functions, including consecrating priests or churches.

Probably dating from St-Calais' time is the confraternity relationship between the monks of Durham and the monks of the monastery of Saint Calais in Maine. The cult of Saint Calais appears to have been confined to the region around the monastery which the saint had founded. St-Calais appears to have been a devotee of the cult, and the most likely date for the creation of the confraternity link between the two houses is during St-Calais' time as bishop.Aird "Absent Friend" ''Anglo-Norman Durham'' pp. 287–288

Death and legacy

Shortly before Christmas 1095, one of St-Calais' knights, Boso, fell ill and dreamed he was transported to the afterlife, where he found a large house with gates made of iron. Suddenly, St-Calais emerged from the gates, asking the knight the whereabouts of one of his servants. Boso's guide in the dream then informed Boso that this was a warning that St-Calais would soon die. Boso recovered and warned St-Calais of the dream.

St-Calais died on 2 January 1096 after falling gravely ill on the previous Christmas Day. Before his death he was consoled by Anselm and was blessed by his former opponent.Vaughn ''Anselm of Bec and Robert of Meulan'' p. 194 He was buried on 16 January 1096 in the chapter house at Durham.Barlow ''William Rufus'' p. 356 The king had summoned St-Calais shortly before Christmas to answer an unknown charge, and it is possible that the stress of this threat caused his death.Mason ''William II'' pp. 163–164 In 1796 St-Calais' grave was supposedly found during the demolition of the chapter house at Durham Cathedral. Found in the grave were a pair of sandals, which still survive, and fragments of a gold embroidered robe.Carver "Early Medieval Durham" ''Medieval Art and Architecture'' p. 12

While in office as bishop, St-Calais gave a copy of the ''False Decretals'' to his cathedral library. The manuscript was an edition that had been collected or prepared by Lanfranc for the use of the chapter of Canterbury.Brooke ''English Church and the Papacy'' p. 76 St-Calais may have used this copy in his trial.Brooke ''English Church and the Papacy'' p. 109 His plea for an appeal to Rome was grounded in the ''False Decretals'', whether or not it was based on this particular manuscript.Stafford ''Unification and Conquest'' p. 200 The manuscript itself is now in the Peterhouse Library.Brooke ''English Church and the Papacy'' p. 162 St-Calais also gave a copy of Bede's ''Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum'' to his cathedral chapter; this copy still survives. Other works that St-Calais gave to the cathedral library were copies of Augustine of Hippo's '' De Civitae Dei'' and '' Confessions''; Gregory the Great's ''Pastoral Care'', '' Moralia'', and ''Homilies''; and Ambrose's ''De Poenitentia''.Dawtry "Benedictine Revival in the North" ''Studies in Church History 18'' pp. 97–98

St-Calais was known to his contemporaries as an intelligent and able man. He had an excellent memory. Frank Barlow, a historian, describes him as a "good scholar and a monk of blameless life". Besides his copy of the ''Decretals'', he left at his death over fifty books to the monks of Durham, and the list of those volumes still exists.Knowles ''Monastic Order'' p. 523 His best-known legacy is the construction of Durham Cathedral, although the nave was not finished until 1130. The construction technique of combining a pointed arch with another rib allowed a six-pointed vault, which enabled the building to attain a greater height than earlier churches. This permitted larger clerestory windows, and let more light into the building. The technique of the six-pointed vault spread to Saint-Etienne in Caen

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