William Fitzstephen (also William fitz Stephen), (died c. 1191) was a cleric and administrator in the service of

Thomas Becket Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then as Archbishop of Canterbury fr ...

. In the 1170s, he wrote a long biography of Thomas Becket – the ''Vita Sancti Thomae'' (Life of St. Thomas). Fitzstephen had been Becket's personal household clerk for ten years. When Becket became

Chancellor of England The Lord Chancellor, formally titled Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom. The lord chancellor is the minister of justice for England and Wales and the highest-ra ...

, Becket granted Fitzstephen full authority to act in his name in diocesan matters. Fitzstephen became a

subdeacon Subdeacon is a minor orders, minor order of ministry for men or women in various branches of Christianity. The subdeacon has a specific liturgical role and is placed below the deacon and above the acolyte in the order of precedence. Subdeacons in ...

with responsibility for perusing letters and petitions involving the diocese. Fitzstephen appeared with Becket at the council at Northampton Castle, where the archbishop was disgraced. When Becket was forced into exile, after refusing to sign the Constitutions of Clarendon, King Henry II accepted a petition, in verse, from Fitzstephen and pardoned Becket from the banishment. When Becket and the king reconciled, Fitzstephen became his administrator once more. Fitzstephen records that he was among those of Becket's advisors who cautioned against excommunicating King Henry. Fitzstephen was with Becket on the day of Becket's assassination in

Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury Cathedral is the cathedral of the archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of the Church of England and symbolic leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Located in Canterbury, Kent, it is one of the oldest Christianity, Ch ...

in 1170. Fitzstephen wrote a biography of Becket, detailing the differences between the archbishop and the King. This also included an account of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in the 12th century, which was included in the biography as a preface, . The three editions of this work demonstrate a continuing familiarity with the life of the city. For this reason, he is not thought to be the same William Fitzstephen whom Henry appointed to be

Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

and itinerant

justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

in 1171.

References

Sources

* * * Endnotes: ** Materials for the Hist. of Thomas Becket, ed. Robertson (Rolls Ser.), vol. iii. contains Fitzstephen's Vita Sti Thomæ ** Roger of Hoveden, ed. Stubbs (Rolls Ser.), vol. ii. ** Madox's Hist. of the Exchequer (ed. 1769), vols. i. and ii. ** Foss's Judges, vol. i; Wright's Biographia Literaria, vol. ii. ** Hardy's Cat. of Manuscript Materials for Hist. of Great Britain and Ireland, ii.

External links

VITA SANCTI THOMAE, CANTUARIENSIS ARCHIEPISCOPI ET MARTYRIS, AUCTORE WILLELMO FILIO STEPHANI
1882 edition of the original Latin in

Hathi Trust HathiTrust Digital Library is a large-scale collaborative repository of digital content from research libraries. Its holdings include content digitized via Google Books and the Internet Archive digitization initiatives, as well as content digit ...

An Annotated Translation of the Life of St. Thomas Becket by William Fitzstephen -- Part One
translated from Latin to English by Leo T. Gourde, year 1943
An Annotated Translation of the Life of St. Thomas Becket By William Fitzstephen -- Part Two
translated from Latin to English by Mary Aelred Sinclair, year 1944

- a translation * * 1191 deaths Crime witnesses Year of birth unknown Anglo-Normans {{England-reli-bio-stub

See also

References

Sources

External links