Guillaume de Donjeon was born about 1140 at the castle of Arthel near Nevers, into the ancient family of the
Counts of Nevers. He was one of eight children born to Baudoin de Corbeil and Eustachia de Châtillon. His father planned for him to become a soldier, but Guillaume chose the ecclesiastical path. He was content with this decision and lived amongst them for a period of time while practicing great austerities but in 1167 once he saw the dissensions occurring amongst members of the order, decided to enter the
Cistercians. He fostered a deep and special devotion to the
Blessed Sacrament and loved to spend much of his time at the foot of the
altar contemplating it. In 1200, the Bourges priests gathered and elected him to be the new
Archbishop of Bourges. The news quite overwhelmed him with grief, but a stern command from his order's general could move him to accept that honor. Even
Pope Innocent III prompted him to accept the appointment. He continued his austerities throughout his episcopal career, to the point of abstaining from meat and wearing a
hair shirt. The bishop proved instrumental in the ongoing construction of the
Gothic Cathedral of Saint Stephen, which his predecessor had begun earlier in 1195. The lower half of the cathedral was completed, and around December 1208, the
choir was almost finished. At that time, he was able to celebrate the
Christmas Mass. The poor and sick were never forgotten, for the bishop visited them on frequent occasions, while he also ministered to the imprisoned. He also defended clerical rights against state intervention. He once incurred wrath from
King Philip II when the bishop enacted an interdict from Innocent III against him for having divorced
his wife. He began preparations for a mission among the
Albigensians when he died just after midnight, kneeling at the altar in contemplation and meditation in 1209. In his
last will and testament, he requested to be buried with his hair shirt and on ashes. Some claimed he performed eighteen
miracles in his life and a further eighteen after his death. ==Sainthood==