Adam Easton ( – 15 September 1397) was an English

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

, born at Easton in Norfolk.

Biography

Easton joined the

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

s at

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

moving on to the Benedictine

Gloucester College, Oxford Gloucester College, Oxford, was a Benedictine institution of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England, from the late 13th century until the dissolution of the monasteries in the 16th century. It was never a typical college of the University ...

where he became one of the most outstanding students of his generation, being especially proficient in Hebrew. He is known to have accompanied

Simon Langham Simon Langham (1310 – 22 July 1376) was an English clergyman who was Archbishop of Canterbury and a cardinal. Life Langham was born at Langham in Rutland. The manor of Langham was a property of Westminster Abbey, and he had become a mon ...

to Rome, then Montefiascone and Avignon and he held the post of socius in Langham's household. Being a man of learning and ability, he obtained a post in the

Curia Curia (: curiae) in ancient Rome referred to one of the original groupings of the citizenry, eventually numbering 30, and later every Roman citizen was presumed to belong to one. While they originally probably had wider powers, they came to meet ...

. He was instrumental in the attack and subsequent condemnation of

John Wycliff John Wycliffe (; also spelled Wyclif, Wickliffe, and other variants; 1328 – 31 December 1384) was an English scholastic philosopher, Christian reformer, Catholic priest, and a theology professor at the University of Oxford. Wycliffe i ...

and supporting Catholic

orthodoxy Orthodoxy () is adherence to a purported "correct" or otherwise mainstream- or classically-accepted creed, especially in religion. Orthodoxy within Christianity refers to acceptance of the doctrines defined by various creeds and ecumenical co ...

in England. He was made a Cardinal by

Urban VI Pope Urban VI (; ; c. 1318 – 15 October 1389), born Bartolomeo Prignano (), was head of the Catholic Church from 8 April 1378 to his death, in October 1389. He was the last pope elected from outside the College of Cardinals. His pontificate be ...

, on 21 September 1381. On 7 March 1381 or 1382, he was nominated

Dean of York The Dean of York is the member of the clergy who is responsible for the running of the York Minster cathedral. As well as being the head of the cathedral church of the diocese and the metropolitical church of the province, the Dean of York holds ...

. He arranged

Richard II Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward, Prince of Wales (later known as the Black Prince), and Joan, Countess of Kent. R ...

and

Anne of Bohemia Anne of Bohemia (11 May 1366 – 7 June 1394), also known as Anne of Luxembourg, was Queen consort of England, Queen of England as the first wife of King Richard II. A member of the House of Luxembourg, she was the daughter of Charles IV, Holy ...

's wedding coronation in

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

and probably composed the Liber Regalis. A document in the Abbey concerning the coronation offerings gives him as Cardinal of

Santa Cecilia in Trastevere Santa Cecilia in Trastevere is a 5th-century Churches of Rome, church in Rome, Italy, in the Trastevere rioni of Rome, rione. It is dedicated to the Roman martyr Saint Cecilia (early 3rd century AD) and serves as the conventual church for the adja ...

. In 1385 he was imprisoned at Nocera in Campania by Urban on a charge of conspiring with five other cardinals against the pope and was deprived of his cardinalate and deanery. With his fellow captives he was dragged across Italy arriving at Genoa in autumn 1385. Here the others were put to death but Adam was spared through the personal intervention of Richard II. The next pope,

Boniface IX Pope Boniface IX (; ; c. 1350 – 1 October 1404, born Pietro Tomacelli) was head of the Catholic Church from 2 November 1389 to his death, in October 1404. He was the second Roman pope during the Western Schism.Richard P. McBrien, ''Lives of th ...

, restored his cardinalate on 18 December 1389. It has been suggested that for a time Easton returned to England. The Norwich Record Office documents the sending of the Cardinal's books by way of the Low Countries to Norwich for his use there. He retained benefices in England throughout this period, including Somersham, the deanery of York. In April 1392 Easton was admitted, with a papal endorsement of the exchange, as rector of

Hitcham, Suffolk Hitcham is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England. Located on the B1115 road, between Hadleigh, Suffolk, Hadleigh and Stowmarket, it is part of Babergh District, Babergh district. The parish contains the hamlet (place), hamlets of Bird ...

, in return for which he surrendered the prebend of Yetminster Secunda in Salisbury cathedral to John of Ilkilington. He wrote many works the most significant of which was a massive volume entitled the ''Defence of Ecclesiastical Power'', of which only the prologue and first book survive. In it he defended the church's authority against the state, apparently attacking the views of

Marsilius of Padua Marsilius of Padua (; born ''Marsilio Mainardi'', ''Marsilio de i Mainardini'' or ''Marsilio Mainardini''; – ) was an Italian scholar, trained in medicine, who practiced a variety of professions. He was also an important 14th-century pol ...

John of Jandun John of Jandun or John of Jaudun ( French Jean de Jandun, Johannes von Jandun, Joannes Gandavensis, or Johannes de Janduno, circa 1285–1328) was a French philosopher, theologian, and political writer. Jandun is best known for his outspoke ...

and

William of Occam William of Ockham or Occam ( ; ; 9/10 April 1347) was an English Franciscan friar, scholastic philosopher, apologist, and theologian, who was born in Ockham, a small village in Surrey. He is considered to be one of the major figures of mediev ...

and by implication, also refuting Wyclif's theology as false and erroneous.Pantin (1948) p.178-180 He was always courteous to his opponents, referring to them as 'men of great learning and abundance of sanctity'. A number of his other works still exist, as do some of the manuscripts of his library, which were shipped back to Norwich from Rome in six barrels, and he composed the Office for the Visitation of Our Lady. He also laboured for the canonisation of

Birgitta of Sweden Bridget of Sweden, OSsS ( – 23 July 1374), also known as Birgitta Birgersdotter and Birgitta of Vadstena (), was a Swedish Catholic mystic and the founder of the Bridgettines. Outside Sweden, she was also known as the Princess of Nericia a ...

in 1391 with a structured refutation of a Perugian 'Devil's Advocate', in a document in which he defended women's visionary writings. He may have been

Julian of Norwich Julian of Norwich ( – after 1416), also known as Juliana of Norwich, the Lady Julian, Dame Julian or Mother Julian, was an English anchoress of the Middle Ages. Her writings, now known as ''Revelations of Divine Love'', are the earli ...

's spiritual director, editing her Long Text ''Showing of Love'' in the same way that Birgitta of Sweden's spiritual director, Alfonso of Jaen, edited her ''Revelationes''. Alfonso became director to

Catherine of Siena Caterina di Jacopo di Benincasa (25 March 1347 – 29 April 1380), known as Catherine of Siena, was an Italian mystic and pious laywoman who engaged in papal and Italian politics through extensive letter-writing and advocacy. Canonized in 1461, ...

, whose confessor and executor was William Flete, the Cambridge-educated Augustinian Hermit of Lecceto, and to Chiara Gambacorta. Easton's Defense of St Birgitta echoes Alfonso of Jaen's Epistola Solitarii, and William Flete's Remedies against Temptations, all of which appear in Julian's text. He died at Rome on 15 September (or, according to other sources, 20 October) 1397. His tomb, constructed later, is in his Cardinalate Basilica of

Citations

References

Julia Bolton Holloway Julia Bolton Holloway (born 14 April 1937) is a European literary scholar. She is Professor Emerita of Medieval Studies at the University of Colorado Boulder. Early life and education Holloway was born on 14 April 1937 in Marylebone, London, an ...

(2006), ''Anchoress and Cardinal: Julian of Norwich and Adam Easton, O.S.B.'' *Andrew Lee (2006), ''The Most Ungrateful Englishman, The Life and Times of Adam Easton'' *A. W. Pantin (1948), ''The English Church in the Fourteenth Century'' *

External links

Website on Adam Easton
;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Easton, Adam Year of birth missing 1397 deaths English Benedictines Deans of York 14th-century English cardinals Clergy from Norwich Alumni of Gloucester College, Oxford Benedictine cardinals