THOMAS OF CORBRIDGE

Archbishop of York; b. Corbridge, Northumberland, England; d. Laneham, Nottinghamshire, Sept. 22, 1304. Probably a member of the family that had long served the archdiocese of York, he was a doctor of theology, probably of Oxford, when he became a canon of York (by 1277) and then chancellor of York c. 1280 under Abp. william wickwane. In 1290 he became sacrist of the chapel of St. Mary and Holy Angels in York Minster by papal provision. Elevated to the archbishopric of york on the death of henry of newark, he was consecrated at Rome in 1300. He promptly became involved in a quarrel with King Edward I over the appointment of his successors as sacrist and as prebendary of Stillington (York), a quarrel that was still unsettled at the time of his death. In the few years that he was archbishop he left his see only to attend Parliament and achieved the remarkable feat of almost completing two very thorough visitations of York. He was described as a profound, deeply learned, exemplary, and prudent diplomat, and an admirable doctor of theology and incomparable professor of all the arts. He was buried in Southwell Minster.

Bibliography: w. h. dixon, Fasti eboracenses: Lives of the Archbishops of York, ed. j. raine (London 1863). The Historians of the Church of York and its Archbishops, ed. j. raine, 3 v. (Rerum Brittanicarum medii aevi scriptores 71; 1879–94) 2:411–412. Willelmi Rishanger …Chronica et annales…1259–1307, ed. h. t. riley (ibid. 28.2; 1865) 476–477. The Register of Thomas of Corbridge, ed. w. brown and a. h. thompson, 2 v. (Surtees Society 138, 141; London 1925–28). t. f. tout, The Dictionary of National Biography from the Earliest Times to 1900, 63 v. (London 1885–1900) 4:1137–38. r. brentano, York Metropolitan Jurisdiction and Papal Judges Delegate, 1279–1296 (Berkeley 1959). a. b. emden, A Biographical Register of the Scholars of the University of Oxford to A.D. 1500, 3 v. (Oxford 1957–59) 1:485.

[j. l. grassi]