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Walter de Coutances or Walter of Coutances〔Warren ''King John'' p. 42〕 (died 16 November 1207), also called Walter of Rouen,〔Scammel ''Hugh du Puiset'' p. 53〕 was a medieval Anglo-Norman bishop of Lincoln and archbishop of Rouen. He began his royal service in the government of Henry II, serving as a vice-chancellor. He also accumulated a number of ecclesiastical offices, becoming successively canon of Rouen Cathedral, treasurer of Rouen, and archdeacon of Oxford. King Henry sent him on a number of diplomatic missions and finally rewarded him with the bishopric of Lincoln in 1183. He did not remain there long, for he was translated to Rouen in late 1184. When Richard I, King Henry's son, became king in 1189, Coutances absolved Richard for his rebellion against his father and invested him as Duke of Normandy. He then accompanied Richard to Sicily as the king began the Third Crusade, but events in England prompted Richard to send the archbishop back to England to mediate between William Longchamp, the justiciar whom Richard had left in charge of the kingdom, and Prince John, Richard's younger brother. Coutances succeeded in securing a peace between Longchamp and John, but further actions by Longchamp led to the justiciar's expulsion from England, replaced in his role by Coutances, even though he never formally used the title. He remained in the office until late 1193, when he was summoned to Germany by the king, who was being held in captivity there. Coutances became a hostage for the final payment of Richard's ransom on the king's release in February 1194. Coutances took no further part in English government after returning from Germany. Instead he became involved in Norman affairs, including a dispute with Richard over the ownership of Andely manor, an archiepiscopal property that Richard desired as a fortress. Eventually the archbishop surrendered it to the king in return for two other manors and the seaport of Dieppe. Richard went on to build the castle of Gaillard on the former archiepiscopal manor. After Richard's death, Coutances invested Prince John as Duke of Normandy, but was forced to pay 2,100 Angevin pounds to secure contested rights from the new king. After John lost control of Normandy in 1204, the archbishop did not resist the new government of King Philip II of France. Coutances died in November 1207 and was buried in his cathedral. ==Early life== Coutances was born in Cornwall,〔Spear "Norman Empire and the Secular Clergy" ''Journal of British Studies'' p. 8〕 to Reinfrid and Gonilla. His brother was Roger fitzReinfrid,〔Turner "Coutances, Walter de" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''〕 a layman and royal justice during the reign of King Henry II of England.〔Turner ''English Judiciary'' p. 62〕 Although the medieval chronicler and churchman Gerald of Wales related that his friend was descended from Trojan heroes who escaped the Sack of Troy and ended up in Cornwall, that was a flattering invention on Gerald's part. Coutances' family was of the knightly class, and probably from Normandy originally.〔Turner "Changing Perceptions" ''Judges, Administrators and the Common Law'' p. 241〕 Coutances was usually given the title of ''magister'', which signified that he had received an education in a school; most likely he attended the schools of Paris. Gerald of Wales said that Coutances was dedicated to learning, and considered him to be a talented courtier.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Walter de Coutances」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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