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William Longchamp ? - 1197
William ruled England 1190 until 1191,
while
King Richard I the Lionheart was
away fighting the
Third Crusade.
All his life, William
was loyal to Richard, which we can't say of Richard's brother
John.
William Longchamp's Roots
William had a Norman background which
made him view the French just a bit superior to the English.
Naturally, the English resented this general idea.
William Longchamp's
Career
William was Richard's
chancellor and also the Bishop of Ely.
And on a map Ely, Cambridgeshire,
England, is located right here:
Together with the bishop of Durham,
Hugh de Puiset, William was
made joint justiciar. That was in March 1190.
However, William did not want to share his office cubicle and after
a few months he managed to get rid of
Hugh. In June 1190 William was
appointed papal legate by
Pope
Clement III.
When
the king's brother, John, tried to take advantage of King Richard's
absence in order to become king himself, William Longchamp had to escape to France.
In 1193, William
Longchamp visited a prison in Germany to free his boss. His
king, Richard, had been arrested by
Henry VI,
the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
William arranged matters,
and a hefty ransom paid by the English to Henry VI bailed Richard
out.
King
Richard returned to his country and ruled some more. He kept William
as his chancellor.
William died in Poitiers, France, which
probably made
him happy since he had always loved that country.
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