Geoffrey de Montbray

Geoffroy de Montbray or Geoffroy de Coutances (in England sometimes called Mowbray, † February 2nd 1093 in Coutances ) was Bishop of Coutances from 1049 to 1093 and one of the closest advisors of Duke William II of Normandy, later William the Conqueror, the he also accompanied the conquest of England.

Biography

Geoffroy de Montbray comes from a Norman family that was well off the Cotentin, the Lords of Montbray (Manche). Bishop of Coutances he was in 1048 or 1049 At the Council of Reims in 1049, he was -. Like others - to have purchased accused the office ( simony ). He admitted that his brother had bought it for him, but he himself his consecration, when he learned it, rejected, he even fled to protect themselves. The Council finally accepted his assurances that he made under oath and confirmed his appointment. He was consecrated on March 12, 1049 in Rouen, probably by Archbishop Mauger.

He is one of the pioneers of church reforms in Normandy in 1066 before. His diocese is in a deplorable state. The church of Coutances has only five clerics and no Bible. She has lost most of their possessions and virtually no revenue, so that Geoffroy first action be to open up sources of money. In April 1050 he traveled to Rome and met members of the Hauteville family, who came from Hauteville- la- Guichard within his diocese, and now ruled in southern Italy. He seems to have received from them a treasure, as he could to the duke buy half the town of Coutances and start on his return, to build a palace. (Which was consecrated in December 1056 ) In addition, he formed a fund for the construction of the Cathedral of Coutances. The largest part of its activities in the diocese must have been completed before 1066, since he was practically after the conquest of England by the Normans only on the island. The income which he scored there, have also been used for the construction of the cathedral.

As a close adviser of the Duke of Normandy in 1066, he accompanied him to England. William of Poitiers says that he - as well as Bishop Odo of Bayeux - at the Battle of Hastings took part only to pray for victory, but did not intervene in the fight. Also at the coronation of William on December 25, 1066 in Westminster, he took part.

As a confidant of the new king, he was rewarded for participating in the conquest of England: he received a total of 280 items, of which 76 in Somerset and 97 in Devonshire.

During the insurrection of the Earls in 1075 he commanded together with Odo of Bayeux, the army against Raoul de Gaël, the Earl of Norfolk. They besieged Norwich Castle, but eventually negotiated a withdrawal of rebels. Geoffroy de Montbray was known in this context in that it called for the rebels to chop off the right foot, so that they are easier to see in the future.

With the death of William the Conqueror in 1087, his eldest son Robert inherited the Normandy, while his younger son William got the English crown. This decision overturned the Norman barons in loyalty conflicts, since almost all of them had property on both sides of the Channel and thus had to serve two masters in the future. Geoffroy de Montbray was among those who wanted to have a unified command structure. He therefore took part in the uprising of 1088, which had the aim of replacing Wilhelm II by Robert II. Together with his nephew Robert de Montbray, Earl of Northumberland, he plundered Bristol, Bath, Berkeley, and a large part of Wiltshire. The rebellion failed, but the king gave the insurgents generous mercy. He even tried in the trial of William of Saint -Calais, one of the instigators of the rebellion, act on the king, drew it then but given the hostilities Lanfranc of Bec's prior to retreat to Normandy.

His nephew Robert de Montbray inherited his English possession, but was expropriated in 1095, when he again joined a conspiracy against William II.