John of Avranches

John of Avranches^[1] was bishop of Avranches from 1060 to 1067, and archbishop of Rouen from 1067 to 1079. He was a Norman churchman, son of Rodulf of Ivry, and brother of Hugh of Bayeux. He appears in the Gesta Normannorum Ducum of William of Jumièges, and may have been one of the sources William used.^[2]

He became archbishop of Rouen when his friend Lanfranc declined the position.^[3] As archbishop he was a reformer, campaigning for clerical celibacy from 1074.^[4] This led to his being stoned at a provincial synod.^[5] In 1075 he with Roger de Beaumont was in effective charge of Normandy.^[6]

He is known for his liturgical work Tractatus de officiis ecclesiasticis; it was officially adopted in the diocese of Rouen.^[7] It was written at the request of Maurilius, his predecessor as archbishop; it had only a limited impact in promoting uniformity in Normandy.^[8]

References

• R. Delamare (editor) (1923), Le 'De officiis ecclesiasticis' de Jean d'Avranches, archevêque de Rouen (1067–1079)
• Richard Allen, « 'A proud and headstrong man': John of Ivry, bishop of Avranches and archbishop of Rouen, 1060–79 », Historical Research, vol.83, n° 220 (mai 2010), p. 189-227.
• Fisquet, Honoré (1864). La France pontificale (Gallia Christiana): histoire chronologique et biographique...Metropole de Rouen: Rouen (in French). Paris: Etienne Repos. pp. 67–73.

Notes

1. John of Rouen, Jean d'Avranches, Jean d'Ivry, Joannes or Johannes Abrincensis.
2. Elisabeth M. C. van Houts, The Gesta Normannorum Ducum of William of Jumieges, Orderic Vitalis, and Robert of Torigni (1995), p. xliv.
3. David Charles Douglas, William the Conqueror: The Norman Impact Upon England (1964), p. 318.
4. Michael Robson, St. Francis of Assisi: The Legend and the Life (1997), p. 78.
5. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06791c.htm, http://www.astonisher.com/archives/corporation/corporation_ch6.html
6. David Bates, William the Conqueror (2004), p. 231.
7. The cathedral of Salisbury: From the foundation to the fifteenth century, A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 3 (1956), pp. 156-183. Date accessed: 17 March 2008.
8. Cassandra Potts, When the Saints Go Marching: Religious Connections and the Political Culture of Early Normandy p. 17 in Charles Warren Hollister (editor), Anglo-Norman Political Culture and the Twelfth-century Renaissance (1997).