>>>A considerable number of bishops also became Cistercians on their
deathbeds; the first example is William of Champeaux, bishop of
Chalons-sur-Marne (1121).
>> that's a bit curious, since William founded St. Victor's, Paris.
wonder why he didn't go home.
>Probably because he was a pal of St Bernard's, who had a way of getting
his pals into the Cistercian order.
yeahbut, Billie musta still had some pals back @ Victors, as well (he'd only
been gone a few years); and he *must* have still had some attachment to the
place(?).
even if not, a fellow could pretty well be assured of having some regular
orisons said for him in *that* house as their dear, and only, Founder -- as
opposed to being lost in the near-anonymous-monk shuffle ("_obit
willelmus_", one among many, in a some ghastly spartan cistercian necrology,
as opposed to a much more detailed, probably eulogizing, entry in St.
Victor's), as a johnie-come-lately to "The Order" (i assume he actually did
"enter" a specific house and that one couldn't just join up, generically).
cf. the near-contemporary case of Ivo of Chartres (d. 1115?), who
reformed the collegial of St. Quentin, Beauvais, then was called to Chartres
and did the same to the collegial of St. John there, where he
was buried and got a very nice write-up indeed in that abbey's Book of Life.
apparently being a "secular" canon/monk was very dear to both men, oherwise
they would have gone the black-or-white monk routine.
point is, it's not as though billy didn't have a very --very-- good
alternative resting place ready & waiting for him. or did he?
what were the circumstances of his leaving Paris for Chalons?
simply his election there (Champeaux is not far away, i believe, so he
probably had family ties in the region/chapter), or had he had enough of Life
in (or just outside of) The Big City, with its peskie, smart alec,
pufféd-up-with-themselves, wisenheimer students? or some more serious break
with St.V's?
>I suspect that with his dying breath William begged Bernard to stick it to
Abelard for him. If so, Bernard obliged handsomely.
a pact then: bernie hounds him mercilessly on This Wretched Plane while billy
does what he can to keep the heat on from the Other Side.
rip-saw him with the ole double-whammie.
that'll show the lil bastard to smart-mouth his elders.
anyway, i didn't know that St. V's was a *re*-foundation. thanks.
best from here,
christopher
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