HISTORY
|
St. Honorius, Archbishop of Canterbury (Died AD 653) A Roman by birth, Honorius may possibly have been of those chosen by Gregory the Great for the original evangelization of England, though a member of the second party of missionaries, sent in AD 601, seems likely. At Lincoln, in AD 627, he was consecrated, by Paulinus, to the See of Canterbury. When Paulinus, after the death of Edwin, fled before the storm which broke over the Church in Northumbria, he was received by Honorius and appointed to the Bishopric of Rochester. Honorius consolidated the work of converting the English by sending forth St. Felix, the Burgundian, to Dunwich and, probably, consecrating him as the first Bishop of East Anglia. Honorius died on 30th September AD 653. Edited from G.M. Bevan's "Portraits of the Archbishops of Canterbury" (1908). ![]() Hugh Viscount of Avranches and 1st Earl of Chester
Early careerHugh was the son of Richard le Goz, Viscount of Avranches and Emma de Conteville, and inherited from his father a large estate, not just in the Avranchin but scattered throughout western Normandy. The Avranchin is located on the Contentin Peninsula of northern France, just east of Mont-Saint-Michel; it is among the areas (illegally) granted under the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte to Normandy by the Kingdom of France that had previously belonged to the Duchy of Brittany. Hugh became an important councillor of William, Duke of Normandy. His father contributed sixty ships to the invasion of England, his presence on Senlac Hill in 1066 if not proved, was possible. His father remained in Normandy both to protect the duchy and because he was ill, so Hugh may have been his representative at Hastings. Earl of ChesterHugh was given the command of Tutbury Castle in Staffordshire after Duke William became William I of England. In 1071, Gerbod the Fleming, the first Earl of Chester was taken prisoner at the Battle Of Cassel in France. Taking advantage of the circumstances, the king declared his title vacant, giving Hugh the Earldom (of the second creation) The new Earl was also given palatine powers in view of Cheshire's strategic location on the Welsh Marches.] On Hugh's promotion, Tutbury and its surrounding lands were passed to the Norman Knight, Henry de Ferrers, who had also fought with William I at the Battle of Hastings. In 1082, Hugh succeeded to the title of Vicomte d'Avranches. During his lifetime, the Earl founded the Benedictine Abbeys of Saint-Sever, Normandy and St. Werburgh in Chester as well as giving land endowments to Whitby Abbey, North Yorkshire. Hugh remained loyal to King William II during the rebellion of 1088. He later served Henry I as one of his principal councillors at the royal court. WalesHugh spent much of his time fighting with his neighbours in Wales. Together with his cousin Robert of Rhuddlan he subdued a good part of northern Wales. Initially Robert of Rhuddlan held north-east Wales as a vassal of Hugh. However in 1081 Gruffudd ap CynanKing of Kingdom of Gwynedd was captured by treachery at a meeting near Corwen. Gruffudd was imprisoned by Earl Hugh in his castle at Chester, but it was Robert who took over his kingdom, holding it directly from the king. When Robert was killed by a Welsh raiding party in 1093 Hugh took over these lands, becoming ruler of most of North Wales, but he lost Anglesey and much of the rest of Gwynedd in the Welsh revolt of 1094, led by Gruffudd ap Cynan, who had escaped from captivity. |
Proudly powered by Weebly