John of Tours
Encyclopedia
John of Tours (died 1122) was a medieval Bishop of Wells
in England who moved the diocese seat to Bath. He was a native of Tours and was King William I of England
's doctor before becoming a bishop. After his consecration as bishop, he was either given or purchased Bath Abbey
, a rich monastery, and then moved the headquarters of the diocese from Wells, to the abbey. He rebuilt the church at Bath, building a large cathedral that no longer survives. He gave a large library to his cathedral and received the right to hold a fair in Bath. Not noted for his scholarship, he died suddenly in 1122.
, John was a Norman-French physician to King William I of England, being present at the king's deathbed in 1087. William of Malmesbury
, the medieval chronicler, called him "a very skilled doctor, not in theoretical knowledge, but in practice." He had been a priest of Tours before becoming doctor to King William. He seems to have learned his medical skills not in a school, but was considered a skilled doctor. The name "de Villula" first appears in 1691, and is not a contemporary name. It resulted from a misreading of John's name in his episcopal profession.
John was appointed Bishop of Wells in 1088 by King William II
, the son and successor to William I. The bishop's consecration was in July, at Canterbury
by Archbishop Lanfranc
, the Archbishop of Canterbury
. He probably owed his appointment to the king's desire to honour his father's physician.
Shortly after his consecration, John bought Bath Abbey's grounds from the king, as well as the city of Bath itself. Whether John paid Rufus for the town or whether he was given the town as a gift by the king is unclear. The abbey had recently lost its abbot Alfsige, and was according to Domesday Book
the owner of large estates in and near the town. It would have been the wealth of the abbey that attracted John to take over the monastery. By acquiring the town of Bath, John also acquired the mint that was in the town. In 1090 he transferred the seat, or administration, of the bishopric to Bath Abbey, probably as an attempt to increase the revenues of his see. Bath was a rich abbey, and Wells had always been a poor diocese. By taking over the abbey, John increased his episcopal revenues. William of Malmesbury portrays the moving of the episcopal seat as motivated by a desire for the lands of the abbey, but it was part of a pattern at the time of moving cathedral seats from small villages to larger towns. When John moved his episcopal seat, he also took over the abbey of Bath as his cathedral chapter
, turning his diocese into a bishopric served by monks instead of the canon
s located at Wells that had previously served the diocese.
John rebuilt the monastic church at Bath, which had been damaged during one of Robert de Mowbray
's rebellions. As rebuilt, it was only surpassed in size by the cathedrals at Ely, Norwich and Winchester. The present Bath Cathedral
is not the building that John built, and occupies only a fraction of the space that John's building encompassed. He also reformed the administration of his diocese, setting up archdeacon
s and organizing a court for hearing ecclesiastical cases. His efforts to reform his diocese led to his cathedral chapter's complaining of their treatment, which John seems to have ignored. At Wells, he was accused of destroying the community of canons there, which had been created by his predecessor.
In 1092 he helped with the consecration of Salisbury Cathedral
, and in 1094 performed the same service for Battle Abbey
. After the accession of King Henry I of England
, John received a confirmation of the grant of the city of Bath, paying 500 pounds of silver for the verification. In 1102, John secured from King Henry the right to hold fairs at Bath on the feast day of the cathedral's patron saint, Saint Peter
. He gave an extensive library to the cathedral at Bath, and eventually the monks there became reconciled to him. John, however, continued to hold most of the old abbey's manors himself, rather than using them for the support of the monks.
at the king's Whitsun
council in 1097, one of early councils called during the Investiture Controversy
in England. During the reign of King Henry I, who succeeded his brother King William in 1100, John along with Robert Bloet
, the Bishop of Lincoln
, consecrated abbots who had been invested
in office by the king. John attended Anselm's reforming Council of London
in 1102, which debated and passed decrees to reform the clergy.
Under John, the monks of Bath became known for their scholarship, although he was not particularly noted for learning. William of Malmsebury claimed he was generous and affable, although the chronicler acknowledged that the bishop treated the canons of Wells abominably. William also recorded that John was a heavy drinker and not given to self-restraint, but that his health was good and he lived to be old. At first he treated the monks at Bath with contempt and confiscated much of the lands of the abbey for his own use, but in 1106 he restored their lands to them. John's canons of Wells disliked him because he reduced their income and destroyed some of their buildings as part of the movement of the see to Bath. A layman official of the diocese, Hildebert, was probably John's brother; and he held the offices of steward of the diocese and was also the provost of Wells, an inheritable office. John gave much of the revenues of Wells to Hildebert. Another relative, a nephew also named John, was named archdeacon in the diocese.
Bishop of Bath and Wells
The Bishop of Bath and Wells heads the Church of England Diocese of Bath and Wells in the Province of Canterbury in England.The present diocese covers the vast majority of the county of Somerset and a small area of Dorset. The Episcopal seat is located in the Cathedral Church of Saint Andrew in...
in England who moved the diocese seat to Bath. He was a native of Tours and was King William I of England
William I of England
William I , also known as William the Conqueror , was the first Norman King of England from Christmas 1066 until his death. He was also Duke of Normandy from 3 July 1035 until his death, under the name William II...
's doctor before becoming a bishop. After his consecration as bishop, he was either given or purchased Bath Abbey
Bath Abbey
The Abbey Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Bath, commonly known as Bath Abbey, is an Anglican parish church and a former Benedictine monastery in Bath, Somerset, England...
, a rich monastery, and then moved the headquarters of the diocese from Wells, to the abbey. He rebuilt the church at Bath, building a large cathedral that no longer survives. He gave a large library to his cathedral and received the right to hold a fair in Bath. Not noted for his scholarship, he died suddenly in 1122.
Early life
A native of ToursTours
Tours is a city in central France, the capital of the Indre-et-Loire department.It is located on the lower reaches of the river Loire, between Orléans and the Atlantic coast. Touraine, the region around Tours, is known for its wines, the alleged perfection of its local spoken French, and for the...
, John was a Norman-French physician to King William I of England, being present at the king's deathbed in 1087. William of Malmesbury
William of Malmesbury
William of Malmesbury was the foremost English historian of the 12th century. C. Warren Hollister so ranks him among the most talented generation of writers of history since Bede, "a gifted historical scholar and an omnivorous reader, impressively well versed in the literature of classical,...
, the medieval chronicler, called him "a very skilled doctor, not in theoretical knowledge, but in practice." He had been a priest of Tours before becoming doctor to King William. He seems to have learned his medical skills not in a school, but was considered a skilled doctor. The name "de Villula" first appears in 1691, and is not a contemporary name. It resulted from a misreading of John's name in his episcopal profession.
Bishop of Bath
William II of England
William II , the third son of William I of England, was King of England from 1087 until 1100, with powers over Normandy, and influence in Scotland. He was less successful in extending control into Wales...
, the son and successor to William I. The bishop's consecration was in July, at Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
by Archbishop Lanfranc
Lanfranc
Lanfranc was Archbishop of Canterbury, and a Lombard by birth.-Early life:Lanfranc was born in the early years of the 11th century at Pavia, where later tradition held that his father, Hanbald, held a rank broadly equivalent to magistrate...
, the Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
. He probably owed his appointment to the king's desire to honour his father's physician.
Shortly after his consecration, John bought Bath Abbey's grounds from the king, as well as the city of Bath itself. Whether John paid Rufus for the town or whether he was given the town as a gift by the king is unclear. The abbey had recently lost its abbot Alfsige, and was according to Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
the owner of large estates in and near the town. It would have been the wealth of the abbey that attracted John to take over the monastery. By acquiring the town of Bath, John also acquired the mint that was in the town. In 1090 he transferred the seat, or administration, of the bishopric to Bath Abbey, probably as an attempt to increase the revenues of his see. Bath was a rich abbey, and Wells had always been a poor diocese. By taking over the abbey, John increased his episcopal revenues. William of Malmesbury portrays the moving of the episcopal seat as motivated by a desire for the lands of the abbey, but it was part of a pattern at the time of moving cathedral seats from small villages to larger towns. When John moved his episcopal seat, he also took over the abbey of Bath as his cathedral chapter
Cathedral chapter
In accordance with canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese in his stead. These councils are made up of canons and dignitaries; in the Roman Catholic church their...
, turning his diocese into a bishopric served by monks instead of the canon
Canon (priest)
A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....
s located at Wells that had previously served the diocese.
John rebuilt the monastic church at Bath, which had been damaged during one of Robert de Mowbray
Robert de Mowbray
Robert de Mowbray , a Norman, was Earl of Northumbria from 1086, until 1095, when he was deposed for rebelling against William Rufus, King of England. He was the son of Roger de Mowbray and nephew of Geoffrey de Montbray, bishop of Coutances...
's rebellions. As rebuilt, it was only surpassed in size by the cathedrals at Ely, Norwich and Winchester. The present Bath Cathedral
Bath Abbey
The Abbey Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Bath, commonly known as Bath Abbey, is an Anglican parish church and a former Benedictine monastery in Bath, Somerset, England...
is not the building that John built, and occupies only a fraction of the space that John's building encompassed. He also reformed the administration of his diocese, setting up archdeacon
Archdeacon
An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in Anglicanism, Syrian Malabar Nasrani, Chaldean Catholic, and some other Christian denominations, above that of most clergy and below a bishop. In the High Middle Ages it was the most senior diocesan position below a bishop in the Roman Catholic Church...
s and organizing a court for hearing ecclesiastical cases. His efforts to reform his diocese led to his cathedral chapter's complaining of their treatment, which John seems to have ignored. At Wells, he was accused of destroying the community of canons there, which had been created by his predecessor.
In 1092 he helped with the consecration of Salisbury Cathedral
Salisbury Cathedral
Salisbury Cathedral, formally known as the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England, considered one of the leading examples of Early English architecture....
, and in 1094 performed the same service for Battle Abbey
Battle Abbey
Battle Abbey is a partially ruined abbey complex in the small town of Battle in East Sussex, England. The abbey was built on the scene of the Battle of Hastings and dedicated to St...
. After the accession of King Henry I of England
Henry I of England
Henry I was the fourth son of William I of England. He succeeded his elder brother William II as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106...
, John received a confirmation of the grant of the city of Bath, paying 500 pounds of silver for the verification. In 1102, John secured from King Henry the right to hold fairs at Bath on the feast day of the cathedral's patron saint, Saint Peter
Saint Peter
Saint Peter or Simon Peter was an early Christian leader, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The son of John or of Jonah and from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, his brother Andrew was also an apostle...
. He gave an extensive library to the cathedral at Bath, and eventually the monks there became reconciled to him. John, however, continued to hold most of the old abbey's manors himself, rather than using them for the support of the monks.
Investiture Controversy
John was one of the bishops that sided with King William against Anselm of CanterburyAnselm of Canterbury
Anselm of Canterbury , also called of Aosta for his birthplace, and of Bec for his home monastery, was a Benedictine monk, a philosopher, and a prelate of the church who held the office of Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to 1109...
at the king's Whitsun
Whitsun
Whitsun is the name used in the UK for the Christian festival of Pentecost, the seventh Sunday after Easter, which commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Christ's disciples...
council in 1097, one of early councils called during the Investiture Controversy
Investiture Controversy
The Investiture Controversy or Investiture Contest was the most significant conflict between Church and state in medieval Europe. In the 11th and 12th centuries, a series of Popes challenged the authority of European monarchies over control of appointments, or investitures, of church officials such...
in England. During the reign of King Henry I, who succeeded his brother King William in 1100, John along with Robert Bloet
Robert Bloet
Robert Bloet was a medieval English bishop and a Chancellor of England. Born into a noble Norman family, he became a royal clerk under King William I of England. Under William I's son and successor King William II, Bloet was first named chancellor then appointed to the see of Lincoln...
, the Bishop of Lincoln
Bishop of Lincoln
The Bishop of Lincoln is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Lincoln in the Province of Canterbury.The present diocese covers the county of Lincolnshire and the unitary authority areas of North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire. The Bishop's seat is located in the Cathedral...
, consecrated abbots who had been invested
Investiture
Investiture, from the Latin is a rather general term for the formal installation of an incumbent...
in office by the king. John attended Anselm's reforming Council of London
Council of London (1102)
The Council of London in 1102 was a Roman Catholic church council of the church in England convened by Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, to debate and pass decrees to reform the clergy. The council made several decisions, including confirming homosexuality as a sin in the English and wider church,...
in 1102, which debated and passed decrees to reform the clergy.
Death and legacy
John died in December 1122 and was buried in Bath Cathedral. He suffered a heart attack after dinner and died suddenly. Traditionally the date of his death is given as 29 December.Under John, the monks of Bath became known for their scholarship, although he was not particularly noted for learning. William of Malmsebury claimed he was generous and affable, although the chronicler acknowledged that the bishop treated the canons of Wells abominably. William also recorded that John was a heavy drinker and not given to self-restraint, but that his health was good and he lived to be old. At first he treated the monks at Bath with contempt and confiscated much of the lands of the abbey for his own use, but in 1106 he restored their lands to them. John's canons of Wells disliked him because he reduced their income and destroyed some of their buildings as part of the movement of the see to Bath. A layman official of the diocese, Hildebert, was probably John's brother; and he held the offices of steward of the diocese and was also the provost of Wells, an inheritable office. John gave much of the revenues of Wells to Hildebert. Another relative, a nephew also named John, was named archdeacon in the diocese.