Early Life
William de Corbeil was probably born at Corbeil on the Seine, possibly in about 1070. He was educated at Laon, where he studied under Anselm of Laon, the noted scholastic and teacher of theology. William taught for a time at Laon, but nothing else is known of his early life. All that is known of his parents or ancestry is that he had two brothers, Ranulf and Helgot; his brothers appear as witnesses on William's charters.
William joined the service of Ranulf Flambard, Bishop of Durham, as a clerk, and was present at the translation of the body of Saint Cuthbert in 1104. His name appears high in a list of those who were present at the event, implying that he may have held an important position in Flambard's household, but appended to his name is "subsequently archbishop", suggesting that his inclusion could have been a later interpolation. He was a teacher to Flambard's children, probably in about 1107 to 1109, but at some unknown date William appears to have transferred to the household of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Between 1107 and 1112 he went to Laon and attended lectures given by Anselm of Laon. By 1116 he was a clerk for Ralph d'Escures, Archbishop of Canterbury, with whom he travelled to Rome in 1117 when Ralph was in dispute with Thurstan, the Archbishop of York, over the primacy of Canterbury.
In 1118, William entered the Augustinian order at Holy Trinity Priory in Aldgate, a house of canons rather than monks. Subsequently he became prior of the Augustinian priory at St Osyth in Essex, appointed by Richard de Beaumis, Bishop of London, in 1121.
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