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IMC 2011: Sessions

Session 727: Non-Aristocratic Bishops

Tuesday 12 July 2011, 14.15-15.45

Sponsor:Episcopus - Society for the Study of Episcopal Power & Culture in the Middle Ages
Organiser:Jeff Hass, Department of History, Ave Maria University, Florida
Moderator/Chair:Robert Houghton, St Andrews Institute of Mediaeval Studies, University of St Andrews
Paper 727-aFulbert of Chartres, 'Child of Poor Parents', and Clerical Careers
(Language: English)
Bernard Gowers, Keble College, University of Oxford
Index terms: Ecclesiastical History, Politics and Diplomacy, Religious Life
Paper 727-bBonizo of Sutri: A Popular Reformer on the Episcopal Throne
(Language: English)
John Dempsey, Department of History, Westfield State University, Massachusetts
Index terms: Ecclesiastical History, Politics and Diplomacy
Paper 727-cThe Careers of William Melton, Clerk and Archbishop of York
(Language: English)
Jeff Hass, Department of History, Ave Maria University, Florida
Index terms: Administration, Ecclesiastical History, Politics and Diplomacy
Abstract

While the classic paradigm of the medieval bishop - a member of an aristocratic family who moved easily into his elite position as a prince of the Church - certainly has validity, there were also many who rose to their episcopacy from much more humble beginnings. This session will examine three such non-aristocratic bishops - Fulbert of Chartres, Bonizo of Sutri, and William Melton of York - and will focus on the ways in which such men could rise from relative obscurity to positions of prominence, as well as how their humble origins might have affected their conduct once they became public figures.