Sacred Heart Cathedral
Newark NJ
William of York
died 1154 – June 8
A bitter dispute followed the 1140 election of William Fitzherbert as archbishop of York, England. Local Cistercian monks and others challenged the election, accusing William of simony and incontinence. He was finally consecrated in 1143, but later suspended by the pope. After he was deposed in 1147, he led an exemplary life for six years in Winchester. Once his chief opponents died, another pope reinstated him in York in 1154, but he died within a few months, perhaps of poisoning. William was well liked by the people, and conciliatory toward his enemies.
