William Longchamp - Death and Legacy

Death and Legacy

Longchamp died in January 1197, at Poitiers, while on a diplomatic mission to Rome for Richard, and was buried at the abbey of Le Pin. Much of the information on his career comes from people hostile to him, for example, Gerald of Wales, who wrote favorably of the Welsh prince Rhys ap Gruffydd, called Longchamp that "monster with many heads". The historian Austin Lane Poole says that Gerald described Longchamp as more like an ape than a man. Longchamp was reportedly a cultured and well-educated man. He was supported by others among his contemporaries, including Pope Clement III, who, when he appointed Longchamp legate, wrote that he did so at the urging of the English bishops. When he was one of four men named bishop in 1189, medieval chronicler Richard of Devizes wrote that the four new bishops were "men of no little virtue and fame". Historian John Gillingham wrote that Longchamp's "record of his life in politics and administration was a good one, spoiled only by his failure in 1191".

One of Longchamp's innovations as chancellor was the replacement of the first person singular previously used in documents drafted in the king's name with the majestic plural or "royal we". He wrote a work on law entitled Practica legum et decretorum, a manual on the usage of both civil and canon law in the Angevin possessions on the continent, composed sometime between 1181 and 1189. It was well known in the Middle Ages, and served as a practical guide for those involved in litigation. The medieval poet Nigel Wireker (also known as Nigel de Longchamps) dedicated to the bishop a satirical poem, Speculum Stultorum ("Mirror of Fools"), on the habits of students. Richard Barre, a medieval writer and judge, dedicated his work Compendium de veteris et novo testamento to Longchamp. Longchamp was one of Barre's patrons, and secured the post of Archdeacon of Ely for him as well as judicial posts.

Two writers have seen in the assembly that met to try Longchamp in 1191 a precursor to the gathering at Runnymede in 1215 that drew up Magna Carta, as it was one of the earliest examples of the nobles of the realm coming together to force the government to rule with their advice. Longchamp also promoted the careers of his brothers; Henry and Osbert became sheriffs in the 1190s, Osbert the Sheriff of Yorkshire. His brother Robert, a cleric, also benefitted, becoming prior of the Ely cathedral chapter and later abbot of St Mary's Abbey, York.