William de Corbeil

William de Corbeil
Archbishop of Canterbury
Elected	February 1123
Installed	22 July 1123
Term ended	21 November 1136
Predecessor	Ralph d'Escures
Successor	Theobald of Bec
Other posts	Prior of St Osyth
Orders
Consecration	18 February 1123
Personal details
Born	c. 1070
Died	21 November 1136 Canterbury
Buried	Canterbury Cathedral

William de Corbeil or William of Corbeil (c. 1070 – 1136) was a medieval Archbishop of Canterbury. Very little is known of William's early life or his family, except that he was born at Corbeil in the outskirts of Paris and that he had two brothers. Educated as a theologian, he taught briefly before serving the bishops of Durham and London as a clerk and subsequently becoming a canon, a priest who lived a communal life. William was elected to the see of Canterbury as a compromise candidate in 1123, the first canon to become an English archbishop. He succeeded Ralph d'Escures, who had employed him as a chaplain.

Throughout his archbishopric, William was embroiled in a dispute with Thurstan, the Archbishop of York, over the primacy of Canterbury. As a temporary solution, the pope appointed William the papal legate for England, giving him powers superior to those of York. William concerned himself with the morals of the clergy, and presided over three legatine councils, which among other things condemned the purchase of benefices or priesthoods, and admonished the clergy to live a celibate life. He was also known as a builder; among his constructions is the keep of Rochester Castle. Towards the end of his life William was instrumental in the selection of Count Stephen of Boulogne as King of England, despite his oath to the dying King Henry I that he would support the succession of his daughter, the Empress Matilda. Although some chroniclers considered him a perjurer and a traitor for crowning Stephen, none doubted his piety.

William de Corbeil was probably born at Corbeil on the Seine, possibly in about 1070. He was educated at Laon, where he studied under Anselm of Laon, the noted scholastic and teacher of theology. William taught for a time at Laon, but nothing else is known of his early life. All that is known of his parents or ancestry is that he had two brothers, Ranulf and Helgot; his brothers appear as witnesses on William's charters.

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