Search | Advanced Search | Search Families | Search Site

First Name:   Last Name:   ID:  

Bishop William of Wykeham (1326-1404)

• Short Title	Bishop William of Wykeham (1326-1404)
  Publisher	http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~jwickham/
  Source ID	S3
  Text	http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~jwickham/ some text abut Bishop William of Wykeham (1326-1404)- The Thomas Wickham mentioned here is an American settler, not thought to be related. Was Thomas Wickham (1624-1688) related to the great Bishop William of Wykeham (1326-1404)? The famous Bishop William of Wykeham (1326-1404) was from the village of Wickham in Hampshire. From humble beginnings he rose to great power as a key administrator for both Edward III and Richard II. He also founded Winchester College and New College, Oxford. In addition, he built the most outstanding portion of Winchester Cathedral. Despite gaining fame and wealth, he had a reputation for always putting the public interest first. His most famous statement was "Manners makyth Man." After receiving his education from Winchester Grammar School, William began his career as an architect and surveyor, serving first the Bishop of Winchester and then, at age 23, King Edward III. While supervising several important building projects, including the reconstruction of Windsor Castle, he gained the King's favor and was rewarded with the keepership of numerous royal castles and manors. After being ordained a priest in 1362, he was named keeper of the privy seal in 1364, a key civil office. In 1366, he was elected as Bishop of Winchester and in 1367 was appointed chancellor of the kingdom, the most powerful office in England at the time. But in 1372, he was forced to resign his civil offices due to unfavorable developments in the Hundred Years War with France. Free to focus on his episcopal duties, he began a campaign of reform, especially at Selborne Priory and the hospital of St. Cross. He also began working on his educational foundations, but came under serious legal and political attack by John of Gaunt, the wealthy duke of Lancaster and fourth son of Edward III. The death of Edward III in 1377 ended these troubles and with the accession of Richard II, William received a full pardon. He continued his educational work, founding Winchester College and New College, Oxford. In 1389, he was re-appointed chancellor by Richard II, but resigned the position after about two years. He then began rebuilding of the nave of Winchester Cathedral in 1394, transforming it from Norman to Perpendicular. The last three years of his life were spent in retirement and he was buried in an altar-tomb on the south side of the nave of his cathedral. In 1595, another William Wickham became Bishop of Winchester after serving as Bishop of Lincoln, but held the position for only about a year and is not nearly as well known. Since he was a bishop of the Catholic Church, it is not certain that William of Wykeham had direct male descendants, although he was not ordained as a priest until about age 36. In fact, the bulk of his estate went to the descendants of his sister, who kept the Wykeham name because of its prestige. Making the issue even murkier is the fact that William's father often used Long (or Longe) for a surname, and may have changed it to Wykeham only after moving to the village of Wickham. If Thomas was related, as is often reputed, it would probably be as a cousin, but since his pedigree is unknown, a final determination cannot be made. Bishop William of Wykeham is known to have at least one cousin bearing the Wickham surname, his cousin William, husband of Alicia Uvedale, to whom the Bishop left the manors of Burnham and Brene in a 1397 will.