BALDWIN OF CANTERBURY

Cistercian archbishop of Canterbury, canonist; b. Diocese of Exeter, England; d. Acre, Nov. 19 or 20, 1190. Born of humble stock, Baldwin was a learned product of the school of Exeter, perhaps a pupil of robert pullen, and later himself a master of the school. Baldwin first emerges clearly as tutor to Gratian (the later Cardinalis ), nephew of Pope innocent ii, at Ferentino (Italy) after November of 1150. Appointed archdeacon of Totnes (near Exeter) by bartholomew of exeter, soon after the latter's consecration in 1161, he was much immersed in diocesan administration in the following years. The protégé of Bartholomew and a friend of the canonist Bishop roger of worcester and of john of salis bury, Baldwin was an emphatic supporter of Thomas becket in his dispute with King henry ii from 1163. At the height of the conflict, he retired to the cistercian abbey of Ford (c. 1169) and by 1175 was its abbot. He succeeded Roger as bishop of worcester (Aug. 10, 1180) and richard of canterbury as archbishop of Canterbury (December of 1184). His rule at Worcester was marked by pastoral care and zealous administration, but that at Canterbury, while revealing similar characteristics, was marred by long and bitter strife with the monks in which he enjoyed the support of King Henry II, but lacked that of the popes (successively urban iii, grego ry viii, and clement iii). Baldwin visited the Welsh Church as legate in 1187 and preached the Third cru sade in Wales in 1188, having taken the cross at Geddington on February 11 of that year. He died while on the Crusade.

An ascetic and spiritual prelate, whose character and temperament have been variously assessed, Baldwin was a distinguished scholar. His works included De commendatione fidei, De sacramento altaris, and 16 extant sermons. An eminent canonist, he was appointed judge delegate by Pope Alexander III on several occasions while still at Ford, and later as bishop and archbishop he left a remarkable imprint in the primitive English decretal collections from c. 1179 (see decretalists).

Bibliography: Works. Patrologia Latina 204:401–774; 202:1533. Chronicles and Memorials of the Reign of Richard I, ed. w. stubbs, 2 v. (Rerum Britannicarum medii aevi scriptores 38; 1864–65), v. 2. p. guÉbin, "Deux sermons inédits …," Journal of Theological Studies 13 (1911–12) 571–74. Baudouin de Ford: Le Sacrement de l'autel, ed. j. morson, French tr. e. de solms, 2v. (Paris 1963), introd. j. leclerq. Literature. b. e. a. jones, The Acta of Archbishops Richard and Baldwin: 1174–90 (Doctoral diss. unpub. London 1964). w. hunt, The Dictionary of National Biography from the Earliest Times to 1900 1:952–54. j. m. canivez, Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques 6:1415–16; Dictionnaire de spiritualité ascétique et mystique. Doctrine et histoire 1:1285–86. r. forerville, L'Église et la royauté en Angleterre sous Henri II Plantagenet (Paris 1943) 533–54. d. knowles, The Monastic Order in England 943–1216 (Cambridge, Eng. 1962) 316–22. c. duggan, Twelfth-Century Decretal Collections and Their Importance in English History (London 1963) 110–15.

[c. duggan]