William of Auvergne (also called of Paris), a French prelate and theologian, was born at Aurillac about the close of the 12th century. He succeeded Bartlu'lemy as bishop of Paris in 1228. He took a large part in the civil affairs of Louis X. At the same time he too deeply interested himself in the contro- versies of the day respecting benetices, combating the abuses with great vigor. He also erected several churches and monastic institutions. He died at Paris March 30, 1248. His works, which consist of many mystical treatises, were published by Leferon (Orleans, 1674, 2 vols. fol.). See Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Geiierale, xxii, 888.
William of Auxerre, a French theologian of the early pfirt of the 13th century, became professor of the- ology in Paris, where he acquired a great reputation for learning. He died at Rome in 1230, leaving a Summa Theologica, written at Paris about 1216. of which Denis of Chartreux eventually published an abridgment. See Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Generate, xxii, 697.
William of Champeaux (Lat. Campellensis), a French scholastic, was born in the village of Cham- peaux, near jNIelun, about the close of the Uth century. He studied at Paris under Anselm of Laon, became archdeacon of Notre Dame, and taught dialectics in the cathedral school for manj- years. Among his scholars was the famous Abelard, who eventually eclipsed him. In 1105 Champeaux retired to a suburb of Paris, and there founded, in 1113, the Abbey of St. Victor. He soon opened a school of philosophy, rhetoric, and theol- og\% and was next raised to the episcopacy of Chalons- sur-]\Iarne. He became involved in the papal (piarrel of the investitures (q. v.), and died in 1121. His prin- cipal published works are two treatises entitled Mora- lia Ahhreviata and De Oritjine Animm, together with a fragment on the eucharist, contained in Mabillon's edi- tion of St. Bernard's Works. For these philosophic speculations, see Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Geiierale, ix, 626.
William of Corbeuii^ archbishop of Canterbury, is generally supposed to have been a Frenchman. His tirst appearance in history is as one of the clerks of Ralph Flambard, bishop of Durham. William was se- lected by the bishop of London t« be prior of St. Osyth. He was consecrated archbishop of the see of Canterbury ill 112.3. In 1128 he officiated at the coronation of king Stephen. His conduct in so doing has been severely censured. One important event c<miiected with the history of archbishop William was the completion and consecration of th€ church commenced by Lanfranc
and carried on by'Anselm. This occurred May 4, 1130. "A dedication so famous," says Gervas, "was never heard of on earth, since the dedication of the Temple of Solomon." The archbishop died in 1136. See Hook, Lives of the Archbishops of Canterburg, ii, 302 sq.
William {St.) of Dijon was born in 961 of a no- ble family, near Navarre (Italy), and was early dedi- cated to the Church. He became a proficient in sacred and profane learning, and retired lirst to Clugny, but was soon maile abbe of St. Beiiigne, and superior of a large number of monasteries, into which he introduced wise reforms and a love of polite literature. He foinid- ed the abbey of Frutaire, contmonly called St. Balain, in the diocese of Yvree, and died at Fecamp ( Nor- mandy), Jan. 1, 1031. See Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Gene- rale, xxii, 595.
William of Maljiesbury. See Mai.mesbury.
William of Modena, a Kotnan Catholic bishop of the loth century, was sent by pope Honorius III as a legate to Livonia about 1224. He was of great service to both the natives and their recent conquerors, the (iermans, by exhorting the one to bear the yoke in submission, and charging the other to lay on the shoul- ders of their subjects no intolerable burdens. See Nean- der, Hist, of the Church, iv, 41.
"William of Newbury (Newburgh, or Neichridge), a canon of the monastery of Newbury, Yorkshire, was born in 1136, probably at Bridlington, Yorkshire, and died in 1208. He left a valuable historv of England, extending from the Norman Conquest to the year 1197, entitled Gulielmi Neubrigensis Rerum A nglicarum Libri V (Antwerp, 1567).
William of Nogaret. See Nogarf.t.
William I of Orange (of the house of Nassau), the first leader in the Dutch war of independence, was born of Lutheran parents at Dillenburg, in Nassau, April 16, 1533. He was educated in the principles of the Ke- formed religion; but the emperor Charles V, who early became interested in his career, removed him to his court, and had him trained in the Roman Catholic faith. The emperor soon admitted the boy to great intimacy with him, allowing him alone to be present when he gave audience to foreign ambassadors, and in other ways honoring him with a confidence far above his years. The discretion which the young prince mani- fested in matters of public concern gained for him the surname of The Silent; and even the emperor avowed that he had been indebted to so j'oung a man for im- portant suggestions which had not occurred to his own mind. In 1554 he put him in command of troops, and employed him in diplomacy. On the abdication of Charles in favor of his son Philip II, the relation of William to the crown was materially changed. Pliilip hated him on account of the esteem in which he had been held by his father. Yet, under Philip, William paved the way for the treaty of Catean-Cambresis in 1559, and Henry II of France detained him and the duke of Alva as hostages for its execution. While Charles remained on the throne William adhered to the Roman faith ( but on the abdication of that monarch he embraced Calvinism as readily as he had abandoned Liitheranism in his youth. This change was unknown to the French mon- arch at tlie time of his residence there, who, supposing him to enjoy the same confidence with Philip that he had enjoyed with Charles, incautiously revealed to him the secret of a treaty lately concluded between the crowns of France and Spain to exterminate " that ac- cursed vermin the Protestants" in the dominions of both. William hastened to communicate this disclos- ure to the Protestant leaders at Brussels, and Philip discovered that he had revealed the secret. William was already a member of the council of state which was to assist Margaret of Parma in the regency of the Neth- erlands. Being also stadtholder of Holland, Zealand, and Utrecht, he was able to exert a strong influence in