William Lenn: Difference between revisions

{{short description|14th-century Bishop of Chichester and Bishop of Worcester}}

{{Infobox Christian leader

| name = William Lenn

| title = [[Bishop of Worcester]]

| image =

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| religion = Catholic

| archdiocese =

| diocese =

| appointed = 11 October 1368

| term_end = 18 November 1373

| predecessor = [[William Wittlesey]]

| successor = [[Henry Wakefield (bishop of Worcester)|Henry Wakefield]]

| ordination =

| ordinated_by =

| consecration =

| consecrated_by =

| birth_date =

| birth_place =

| death_date = 18 November 1373

| death_place =

| previous_post = [[Bishop of Chichester]]<br />[[Dean of Chichester]]

'''William Lenn''' (also '''Lenne''' or '''de Lynn'''; died 1373) was a medieval [[bishop of Chichester]] and [[bishop of Worcester]]. The name ''Lenn'' was the old name for [[Kings Lynn|Lynn]] in [[Norfolk]].<ref name="stephens117">Stephens ''Memorials'' pp. 117-118</ref>

Lenn went to Rome in his early life and became a doctor of canon law. He was subsequently made an ''auditor of causes'', in the holy court, by [[Pope Urban V]].<ref name="stephens117"/><ref name="coleman50">Coleman ''English Culture'' pp. 50-51</ref>

In 1356 Lenn was made [[List of DeansofChichester|dean]] of Chichester Cathedral, then after the death of [[Robert de Stratford|Bishop Stratford]] he was selected for the see of Chichesteron16 May 1362, and was consecrated about18August 1362.<ref name=Handbook239>Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 239</ref>

Lenn's tenure at Chichester was quite short, but during that time he got into a quarrel with the [[Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel|earl of Arundel]], Stephens suggests that it was probably a dispute over land.<ref name="stephens117"/> It seems that the bishop procured a citation from Pope Urban V ordering the earl to appear before a court, in Rome, to answer the charges laid against him.<ref name="stephens117"/> The earl treated the summons with contempt and refused to go.<ref name="stephens117"/> What the bishop was trying to do was seen as a violation of both the ''[[Praemunire|Statute of Praemunire]]'' and the ''[[canon law]]'' of England. The King, [[Edward III]], was angry at the insult and summoned the bishop to attend the king's court, to account for his actions.<ref name="stephens117"/> The bishop, however, was in Rome at the time, but he was convicted in his absence, and all his goods and chattels seized, by the crown.<ref name="stephens117"/>

Lenn was translated to the [[see of Worcester]] on 11 October 1368 <ref name=Handbook279>Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 279</ref> He died of a stroke, in that office on 18 November 1373, as he mounted a horse to go to London to attend Parliament.<ref name="stephens117"/>

==Citations==

* {{cite book |author=Coleman, Janet |editor= Piero Boitani|title=Chaucer and the Italian Trecento: English Culture in the Fourteenth Century|publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |year=1985 |isbn= 9780521239981 }}

* {{cite book |last1=Fryde |first1=E. B. |last2=Greenway |first2=D. E. |last3=Porter |first3=S. |last4=Roy |first4=I. |title=Handbook of British Chronology|edition=Third revised |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |year=1996 |isbn=0-521-56350-X }}

* {{cite book|author= Stephens W.R.W.|year=1876|title=Memorials of the South Saxon See and Cathedral Church of Chichester|publisher= Richard Bentley and Sons|location=London}}

{{s-rel|ca}}

{{s-ttl | title = [[Bishop of Chichester]] | years =1362–1368 }}

{{s-aft | after = [[William Reade (bishop)|William Reade]]}}

{{s-ttl | title = [[Bishop of Worcester]] | years =1368–1373 }}

{{s-end}}

{{Deans of Chichester}}

{{Bishops of Chichester}}

{{Bishops of Worcester}}

{{Authority control}}

{{Use British English|date=July 2017}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}}

[[Category:14th-century English Roman Catholic bishops]]

[[Category:Deans of Chichester]]

[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]