Geoffrey (archbishop of York)

, from a 13th-century illuminated manuscript|thumb|left Geoffrey was probably born in about 1152, before his father Henry, later Henry II of England, married Eleanor of Aquitaine, and was likely named after his paternal grandfather, Geoffrey of Anjou. The date of his birth is determined by statements of Gerald of Wales that he was barely 20 when elected bishop in 1173, and by the fact that he was about 40 when consecrated archbishop in 1191. His mother's identity is unclear. The medieval chronicler Walter Map claimed she was a whore named Ykenai, and that he was not actually Henry's son. This is the only contemporary source that gives her name, and as Map was hostile to Geoffrey, the information must be judged carefully. Geoffrey was brought up with his father's legitimate children. There is no evidence that Henry tried to deny Geoffrey's paternity, Geoffrey had a brother named Peter, as Peter is generally considered unlikely to have been Henry's son. Geoffrey was Archdeacon of Lincoln in the diocese of Lincoln by September 1171, and probably retained that office until he was confirmed as bishop-elect in 1175. He also held a prebend, in the diocese of London, but there is little evidence that he executed the duties of either office. There are some indications that he studied canon law at a school in Northampton, and that he taught in Paris during the early 1170s. He also acted as a papal judge-delegate at that time. as he was under the canonical age for holding a bishopric. Geoffrey's youth was one of Alexander's objections to Geoffrey's election, and the pope only confirmed the office under duress. In 1173 and early 1174 Geoffrey fought a military campaign in northern England in support of his father's attempts to subdue the Scots, who were supporting the rebellion by Geoffrey's legitimate half-brothers against their father. The campaign resulted in the capture of William the Lion, the King of Scots, at the Battle of Alnwick and also helped to compel Hugh du Puiset, the Bishop of Durham, to pledge fealty to Henry II. During the campaign, Geoffrey captured several castles held by Roger Mowbray, a supporter of the Scottish king. It was after this campaign that Henry said of Geoffrey "My other sons are the real bastards. ... This is the only one who's proved himself legitimate!" After Geoffrey was confirmed as bishop by Pope Alexander in 1175, the bishop-elect made a ceremonial visit to Lincoln on 1 August 1175. He subsequently went to study at Tours, where he probably befriended Peter of Blois, a medieval poet and diplomat who dedicated a later work on St Wilfrid to Geoffrey. The bishop-elect made several gifts to the cathedral at Lincoln, including two bells for the bell tower. Nevertheless, he managed to recover some lands of the diocese that had been lost as well as redeeming pawned ecclesiastical items. Although he aided the finances of his diocese with these recoveries, in 1180 he taxed his diocese heavily enough to earn him a rebuke from his father. In 1181 Pope Lucius III became concerned that Geoffrey was never going to be ordained or consecrated, and demanded that the bishop-elect's position be regularised, either through consecration as bishop or through resignation. ==Chancellor==

Geoffrey formally resigned the see of Lincoln on 6 January 1182, at Marlborough in England, rather than be ordained as Pope Lucius III had ordered. after Geoffrey indicated he was going to resign the bishopric in February 1181. These offices included the Treasurer of York from 1182, the Archdeaconry of Rouen from 1183, and probably the Archdeaconry of East Riding. Henry also gave him two continental castles, one in Anjou and one in Touraine, along with lands in England and Normandy worth 1000 marks a year. Although Geoffrey held the office of Chancellor, he appears in only few documents, mainly between 1182 and 1185. After 1185 he does not appear in any contemporary documents until 1187, and it is possible that he spent some time outside his father's domains. Peter of Blois wrote that several monarchs considered Geoffrey as a possible successor for their kingdoms in Italy or the Holy Land, It is possible that Geoffrey's non-appearance in documents was due to his absence from his father's domains in pursuit of these ambitions. During Geoffrey's term of office as Chancellor Walter de Coutances served as his "seal-keeper"; the need for someone to perform this function adds further evidence to the likelihood that Geoffrey's time as Chancellor was spent on unrelated duties for his father. Following the declaration of war on Henry by Prince Richard and King Philip II of France in 1187, Geoffrey was given command of a quarter of the English royal army. He and his father were driven from Le Mans, Henry's birthplace, in 1189. ==Archbishop==

First difficulties Richard named Geoffrey Archbishop of York on 20 July 1189, within days of taking the throne; the formal election took place on 10 August. Richard also required Geoffrey to swear that he would remain outside England for three years during the time Richard expected to be out of the country on crusade. The king subsequently released Geoffrey from the oath, the initial swearing of which was apparently another of Richard's efforts to keep Geoffrey's possible ambitions towards the English throne in check. But the cathedral chapter at York disputed Geoffrey's appointment, claiming that because the Dean of York, Hubert Walter, and some others of the chapter had not been present, the election was invalid. at Tours in France, by Barthelemy de Vendôme, the Archbishop of Tours, after the papacy agreed to allow the consecration. This permission was secured by the intervention of the king and his mother, Queen Eleanor. Geoffrey received his pallium, the symbol of an archbishop's authority, at his consecration. Longchamp claimed that Geoffrey had not sworn fealty to Richard, but this was probably just an excuse to eliminate a rival. One cause of the outrage was the obvious parallel with the murder of Thomas Becket, who had been dragged from an altar and martyred. The archbishop was released and took part in a council held at Loddon Bridge, between Reading and Windsor; Longchamp was excommunicated and deposed from the chancellorship, and Hugh of Lincoln, the Bishop of Lincoln, excommunicated those who had dragged Geoffrey from sanctuary. After Geoffrey's consecration, he summoned Puiset to a provincial synod in late September 1191, at which the bishop was charged with various irregularities. Puiset appealed to Rome and refused to attend the synod, and was excommunicated in December by Geoffrey. An attempt in March 1192 by Queen Eleanor and Hubert Walter to settle the issue came to nothing when Geoffrey insisted on a pledge of obedience from Puiset, who in turn demanded an admission from Geoffrey that the excommunication had been unjust. Further appeals to Rome led to an eventual settlement in October 1192, when the bishop finally acknowledged Geoffrey's authority over Durham. Geoffrey caused offence by his attempts to have his episcopal cross carried before him in the diocese of Canterbury, thus implying that his diocese was superior or at least equal to Canterbury in rank. He also attempted to subordinate Clementhorpe Priory to Godstow Abbey, which provoked an appeal from Prioress Alice of Clementhorpe to the papacy. But Geoffrey was on friendly terms with Prince John; the historian G. V. Scammell has suggested that Geoffrey's consecration allowed John to feel that Geoffrey was no longer a rival for the throne, thus paving the way for good relations between the two half-brothers. Geoffrey long faced opposition from some members of his cathedral chapter led by Henry Marshal, Burchard du Puiset, and Roger of London. They objected to his having given a large part of York's treasury toward Richard's ransom, and to some of his appointments in the church of York. Charges of simony, extortion, and neglect of his duties were lodged against Geoffrey, who in return excommunicated the ringleaders more than once, and locked the canons out of church. Geoffrey also faced difficulties with his appointees to the office of Dean of York; his first choice, his half-brother Peter, was opposed by the cathedral chapter. Geoffrey's second choice, Simon of Apulia, the chancellor of York, refused to give up the office when Geoffrey decided to award it to a third man, Philip of Poitou. Simon was supported by the cathedral chapter, who elected him to the office despite Geoffrey's opposition. An appeal was made to the papacy by Geoffrey while Simon travelled to King Richard in Germany. The king refused to allow the appeal and tried to summon Geoffrey to Germany to resolve the issue. Geoffrey was unable to leave York because of disturbances within the cathedral clergy, and Simon managed to secure papal confirmation as Dean of York. Later that year Geoffrey began to quarrel with Hubert Walter over the primacy of England, which Canterbury claimed and York disputed. Walter's decision to have his episcopal cross carried before him in the diocese of York in March 1194 was symbolic of his claim to primacy over York and all of England. Geoffrey responded by having his own cross carried before him in the diocese of Canterbury the following month. King Richard did not reprimand Geoffrey for this act of provocation, and even went so far as to restore some of his confiscated estates. Before Richard left England in May 1194 he appointed Walter as Justiciar; that summer Walter began an investigation into Geoffrey's actions, which led to Geoffrey's estates being confiscated once again. Geoffrey appealed to the king, who was then in Maine; Richard over-ruled Walter, restored Geoffrey's estates, and pardoned him in return for a payment of 1000 marks and the promise of 1000 more to follow. and Geoffrey returned to Rome until 1198. An attempt at reconciliation with Richard came to nothing, after Geoffrey refused to approve the king's appointments in the diocese of York without some guarantees that they would be approved by the papacy. Ultimately Pope Innocent III on 28 April 1199 ordered that Geoffrey was to be restored to his lands as soon as he had paid his debts to the king. Innocent further ordered that any royal appointments in York would require papal approval. ==Under John==

After John succeeded Richard in 1199, he decided to restore Geoffrey to the archiepiscopal estates, but continued to receive the income until the archbishop returned from Rome. Some of Geoffrey's opponents who were officials in his diocese resigned their offices, and for a short time peace reigned in York. But the perceived arrogance of Geoffrey's officials offended the cathedral chapter at York, and this further conflict was not resolved until March 1200. For most of the remainder of 1199 Geoffrey was frequently with the king, and the two appear to have been on good terms, a state of affairs that continued throughout the first half of 1200. but it did not last, as Geoffrey continued to refuse to allow the tax to be collected. John then renewed the demand for the payment for the office of sheriff due from Richard's reign, which forced Geoffrey to rescind his excommunication and offer another payment in return for peace, which occurred in May 1201. But it was short-lived; disputes over the appointments in the diocese of York broke out, but with the support of Pope Innocent Geoffrey was able to secure the appointment of a few of his own candidates. Geoffrey also quarrelled with some of the monasteries in his diocese, with the usual claims and counterclaims going to the papacy for judgement. Among the religious houses Geoffrey had disagreements with were Guisborough Priory, Meaux Abbey, and Fountains Abbey. Most of these conflicts arose from disputed appointments to offices, but the quarrel with Meaux involved claims of tithe exemption by that house. Geoffrey excommunicated anyone who attempted to collect the tax in his archdiocese, but the king confiscated Geoffrey's estates in retaliation. Geoffrey once again secured the support of Pope Innocent, who ordered John to restore Geoffrey's possessions, but in the meantime the archbishop had fled to France. A medieval chronicler, Geoffrey of Coldingham, stated that the English church considered Geoffrey a martyr because of this stand against King John. ==Death and legacy==

'' in the Leiden St Louis Psalter made for Geoffrey|upright|260px Geoffrey died while still in exile at Grandmont in Normandy on 12 December 1212. His tomb was still extant in 1767, when the inscription on it was recorded by an antiquary. He may have become a monk before his death. Another historian, J. C. Holt, stated that Geoffrey was through his career "a perpetual source of danger, quarrelling now with de Puiset, now with the Yorkshire sheriffs, ever ready to attack the judicial and fiscal superiority of the Crown." Geoffrey's ambitions may have included becoming King of England, which may account for some of the harshness that his two legitimate half-brothers displayed towards him. His military abilities, displayed in the rebellion of 1173–1174, as well his custody of castles near Tours, would have also fed into Richard's disquiet over Geoffrey's possible intentions. Geoffrey was known to be ambitious, which led the historian D. L. Douie to call him a "formidable bastard". The historian Ralph Turner said of Geoffrey that "he sought power and wealth despite the handicap of his birth" and that he had "inherited the bad temper of the other Plantagenets". Geoffrey was a patron of scholarship, and employed scholars throughout his life, Honorius was subsequently employed by Hubert Walter and wrote a legal work on canon law. The Leiden St Louis Psalter is a lavishly illuminated psalter made for the archbishop, probably in northern England in the 1190s, which passed into the hands of Blanche of Castile after Geoffrey's death, and, as religious manuscripts often were, was used to teach the future saint King Louis IX of France how to read, as recorded by a 14th-century inscription. After the king's death it passed through several royal owners, regarded as a relic of the saint, before reaching the University Library at Leiden in 1741. ==Notes==