John of Tours
| John of Tours | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of Bath (previously Wells) |
|
| Appointed | 1088 |
| Term ended | December 1122 |
| Predecessor | Gisa |
| Successor | Godfrey |
| Other posts | royal chaplain |
| Orders | |
| Consecration | July 1088 by Lanfranc |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Tours |
| Died | December 1122 |
| Buried | Bath Cathedral |
John of Tours or John de Villula (died 1122) was a medieval Bishop of Wells in England who moved the diocese seat to Bath. He was a native of Tours and was King William I of England's doctor before becoming a bishop. After his consecration as bishop, he was either given or purchased Bath Abbey, a rich monastery, and then moved the headquarters of the diocese from Wells, to the abbey. He rebuilt the church at Bath, building a large cathedral that no longer survives. He gave a large library to his cathedral and received the right to hold a fair in Bath. Not noted for his scholarship, he died suddenly in 1122.
A native of Tours, John was an Angevin-French physician to King William I of England, being present at the king's deathbed in 1087.William of Malmesbury, the medieval chronicler, called him "a very skilled doctor, not in theoretical knowledge, but in practice." He had been a priest of Tours before becoming doctor to King William. He seems to have learned his medical skills not in a school, but was considered a skilled doctor. The name "de Villula" first appears in 1691, and is not a contemporary name. It resulted from a misreading of John's name in his episcopal profession.
John was appointed Bishop of Wells in 1088 by King William II "Rufus", the son and successor to William I. The bishop's consecration was in July, at Canterbury by Archbishop Lanfranc, the Archbishop of Canterbury. He probably owed his appointment to the king's desire to honour his father's physician.
Shortly after his consecration, John bought Bath Abbey's grounds from the king, as well as the city of Bath itself. Whether John paid Rufus for the town or whether he was given the town as a gift by the king is unclear. The abbey had recently lost its abbot Alfsige, and was according to Domesday Book the owner of large estates in and near the town. It would have been the wealth of the abbey that attracted John to take over the monastery. By acquiring the town of Bath, John also acquired the mint that was in the town. In 1090 he transferred the seat, or administration, of the bishopric to Bath Abbey, probably as an attempt to increase the revenues of his see. Bath was a rich abbey, and Wells had always been a poor diocese. By taking over the abbey, John increased his episcopal revenues. William of Malmesbury portrays the moving of the episcopal seat as motivated by a desire for the lands of the abbey, but it was part of a pattern at the time of moving cathedral seats from small villages to larger towns. When John moved his episcopal seat, he also took over the abbey of Bath as his cathedral chapter, turning his diocese into a bishopric served by monks instead of the canons located at Wells that had previously served the diocese.
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