medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
> William Pinchon (d. 1234) The Breton William Pinchon became bishop
> of Brieuc in c. 1220. He was known for piety and concern for the
> poor. For several years of his administration W. was exiled from his
> see for defending its rights against the duke of Brittany. He was
> canonized in 1247.
The duke of Brittany in question here was the notorious Pierre Mauclerc, aka Pierre
de Dreux or Pierre de Braine. It depends on which sources you read as to whether
he was duke or count of Brittany. After doing homage to King Henry III for Brittany,
in exchange for the English king allowing him to inherit the county of Leicester -- a
treasonous act according to the French -- he was styled, by himself and the English,
as duke, while Brittany remained a county as far as France was concerned until, I
believe, the end of the 13th century. One of the major points of contention between
Pierre Mauclerc and the Breton clergy seems to have been that the counts of
Brittany had long exercised regalian rights over the Breton bishoprics, and being a
bit isolated, the Gregorian reforms had not caught up completely with this situation.
In marrying Pierre Mauclerc to the heiress of Brittany, Alix de Thouars, King Philip
Augustus seems to have wanted to incorporate Brittany more fully into the French
realm. Pierre got caught in the middle of all of this, with the result that he wasn't on
ideal terms with his own bishops, with the English crown, or with the French crown.
Legend has it that he was given the name "Mauclerc" when somebody complained
to him that a priest had refused to bury one of his knights, who was
excommunicated, in his churchyard. Pierre's solution, so goes the story, was to
bury the priest alive with the dead knight in said churchyard!
Cheers,
Jim Bugslag
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