Geoffrey (Bishop of Coutances)

Youth and the Norman Conquest

Geoffrey came from a noble family whose possessions were in the southwestern part of Normandy , on the territory of the modern Department of the English Channel . Already in his youth, Geoffrey achieved his election in 1048 as bishop of Coutances , whose diocese covered most of Cotentin . Thanks to the attraction of funds from the Lower Norman knights and their possessions in Sicily, he was able to complete the construction of the cathedral in Coutances, which was consecrated in 1056 . However, Geoffrey was best known as a military leader and a major statesman of the era of the Norman conquest of England.

Together with the same warrior bishop of Odo from Bayeux , Geoffrey participated in the invasion of the Duke Wilhelm in England by the end of September 1066 and blessed the Normans before the Battle of Hastings . On December 25, 1066, Geoffrey, along with the Anglo-Saxon archbishop Eldred of York, performed the rite of coronation of William the King of England. For his service, Geoffrey received extensive land holdings scattered in twelve English counties. In 1067, the bishop led the subordination of Norman power to the southwestern regions of England, where several Anglo-Saxon rebellions broke out against the conquerors. If the unrest in Devon and Cornwall did not cause much concern and quickly came to naught, faced with a fortified Norman base in Exeter , the mutiny in Somerset and Dorset was more serious. To suppress him, Geoffrey had to attract not only the Norman detachments of the southwestern castles, but also reinforcements from London . By 1069, unrest in this region of the country was suppressed, which ensured the freedom of action of King William in the north of England (" Devastation of the North ").

Government Activities

Geoffrey remained the confidant of King William throughout his reign. He played a major role in the organization and functioning of the judicial system of Norman England, speaking on behalf of the king in almost all the most important lawsuits of the 1070s - 1080s , including in the investigation of the abuses of royal sheriffs and large magnates, in lawsuits against illegally seized or confiscated land (for example, a court between the Archbishop of Canterbury and Odo, Bishop of Bayeux). It is also possible that Geoffrey participated in the general census of land ownership in England in 1086, which resulted in the compilation of the famous Doomsday Book . Largely thanks to the activities of Geoffrey, the Baronian freemen of the first years after the Norman conquest, when many monasteries, churches and small Anglo-Saxon landowners suffered in the heat of the struggle for land, was stopped and relative rule of law and public order were restored in the country.

In 1075, along with Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, Geoffrey commanded the royal troops aimed at suppressing the " rebellion of the three counts ", and, according to the chroniclers, Geoffrey demanded that each participant in the mutiny chop off his right leg.

1088 Uprising and Death

After the death of William the Conqueror, in 1088, the Bishop of Coutances joined the revolt of the Anglo-Norman barons against his son William II Rufus . The base for the actions of Geoffrey's units was Bristol , where he built a well-fortified castle. The bishop’s troops burned Bath and ravaged Somerset, but at the end of 1088, Geoffrey reconciled with the king. Nevertheless, in 1090, the bishop left England and returned to Normandy, to the court of the Duke Robert Kurtges .

Three years later, Geoffrey died in Coutances. The successor of his vast English possessions was the nephew of Robert de Maubray , Earl of Northumbria .

• The Complete Peerage
• Geoffrey, Bishop of Coutances
• Stenton, F. Anglo-Saxon England. - Oxf. , 1971.