Osbert de Bayeux

Osbert de Bayeux
Archdeacon of Richmond
Archdiocese	York
Province	York
Diocese	Diocese of York
Installed	before 1128
Term ended	before 1158
Predecessor	none known
Successor	Bartholomew

Osbert de Bayeux (floruit 1121 to 1184) was a medieval English cleric and archdeacon in the Diocese of York. A relative of Thurstan, the Archbishop of York, Osbert probably owed his ecclesiastical positions to this relative. After Thurstan's death, Osbert was opposed to one of the candidates for the archbishopric, William fitzHerbert, and worked to secure fitzHerbert's deposition and replacement by Henry Murdac. After Murdac's death in 1153, Osbert tried to prevent the return of fitzHerbert, but these attempts were unsuccessful. When fitzHerbert died suddenly in 1154, Osbert was accused of murdering the newly returned archbishop. Although he was never convicted of the murder in either a secular or an ecclesiastical court, he was stripped of his clerical status and became a layman before 1158. He died after 1184, perhaps even after 1194.

Osbert was first mentioned in the historical record between 1121 and 1128 when he appears in a charter, which although likely a forgery, probably contains an authentic witness list. This document lists him as "Osbert archdeacon", which means that he probably held the archdeaconry of Richmond. He was the nephew of Thurstan, who was Archbishop of York from 1114 to 1140. Presumably he owed his position as archdeacon to his uncle and was probably appointed at a young age. A charter of Thurstan's, dating to around 1138, names Osbert explicitly as Thurstan's nephew.

Osbert was opposed to the election of William fitzHerbert as Archbishop of York and supported William's rival and successor Henry Murdac. Although he remained a supporter of Murdac after 1147, he did oppose Murdac's interventions in Selby Abbey, where Murdac had deposed one abbot and appointed another. In 1153, Osbert deposed Murdac's choice as abbot of Selby and appointed another abbot. Originally, Osbert had supported Elias Paynel, Murdac's choice for abbot, but then changed his stance and helped with the deposition.

After Murdac's death in 1153, Osbert was opposed to William's return as archbishop, but was unsuccessful in his attempts to prevent William's reappointment. William died a week after his return to York, however, and Osbert, along with Robert of Ghent, the Dean of York, secured the quick election of the new archbishop, Roger de Pont L'Évêque.

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