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WILLIAM LONGCHAMP
? - 1197
William ruled England 1190 until 1191,
while King Richard I the Lionheart was
whooping rears on
the Third Crusade. William
was always loyal to Richard, which we can't say of Richard's brother
John, the little weasel.
Back to William.
William had a Norman background and
kinda viewed the French superior to the English, so we can just
imagine how much the English people liked him. William was Richard's
chancellor and also bishop of Ely.
And on a map Ely, Cambridgeshire,
England, is located right here:
So Richard was gone
crusading and William had to figure out
how to run the country. Together with the bishop of Durham,
Hugh de Puiset, William was
made joint justiciar. That was in March 1190.
Joint
appointments stink and it took William a couple of months to get rid of
Hugh, but he managed the task. It was June 1190 and William was
appointed papal legate by Pope
Clement III.
Meanwhile, the king's brother, John, tried to take
over the throne and William had to escape to France.
In 1193, William stopped by a prison in Germany. His
king, Richard, was put there and couldn't get out unless a good
amount of money was given to Henry VI,
who was the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Ever the loyal
servant, William arranged matters accordingly.
After a hefty ransom was paid by the English,
Richard got back to his country and ruled some more. He kept William
as his chancellor.
William died in Poitiers, France, which must've made
him happy since he was ever so fond of that country.
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