Baldwin of Forde or FordSharpe Handlist of Latin Writers pp. 66–67 ( – 19 November 1190) was Archbishop of Canterbury between 1185 and 1190. The son of a clergyman, he studied canon law and theology at Bologna and was tutor to Pope Eugene III's nephew before returning to England to serve successive bishops of Exeter. After becoming a Cistercian monk, he was named abbot of his monastery at Forde and subsequently elected to the episcopate at Worcester. Before becoming a bishop, he wrote theological works and sermons, some of which have survived.
As a bishop, Baldwin came to the attention of King Henry II of England, who was so impressed that he insisted that Baldwin become archbishop. In that office, Baldwin quarrelled with his cathedral clergy over the founding of a church, which led to the imprisonment of the clergy in their cloister for more than a year. Baldwin spent some time in Wales with Gerald of Wales, preaching and raising money for the Third Crusade. After the coronation of Richard I of England, the new king sent Baldwin ahead to the Holy Land, where he became embroiled in the politics of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Baldwin died in the Holy Land while participating in the crusade.
Ecclesiastical career Born in Exeter around 1125, Baldwin was the son of Hugh d'Eu, Archdeacon of Totnes, and a woman of unknown name who later became a nun. Gervase of Canterbury's story that he was from an even humbler background has been shown by modern scholarship to stem from bias on the part of the medieval chronicler.Holdsworth "Baldwin" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography It is possible that he studied at Bologna in the 1150s with the future Pope Urban III.Bartlett England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings p. 509Barlow Thomas Becket p. 37 Robert Warelwast, who was Bishop of Exeter from 1138 to 1155, had sent Baldwin to Italy to study law.Barlow "Warelwast, Robert de" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Baldwin was also said to have taught at Exeter, although this is not substantiated by any contemporary record.Morey Bartholomew of Exeter pp. 105–109 In 1150 or 1151 Pope Eugene III appointed him tutor to Eugene's nephew. By 1155, Baldwin seems to have returned to England, where he joined the household of Robert of Chichester, Bishop of Exeter.
Baldwin attracted the attention of Bartholomew Iscanus, Bishop of Exeter, who made him archdeacon at Totnes in about 1161,Knowles Monastic Order pp. 316–324 after Baldwin's father's death. Baldwin was known as a canon lawyer during his holding of Totnes.Barlow Thomas Becket p. 184 He received a letter from John of Salisbury in 1167, complaining about Bartholomew's conduct during the Becket controversy. John accused Bartholomew of not properly supporting Thomas Becket the Archbishop of Canterbury in his dispute with the king, urging Baldwin to influence the bishop to increase his support, and not to sign any appeal by the English bishops against Becket.Knowles Episcopal Colleagues p. 103 Other letters from John dealt with rumours concerning Roger, the Bishop of Worcester, who John had heard was speaking badly of Becket. John's purpose seems to have been to have Baldwin pass along a warning from Becket to Roger about his behaviour; John was a supporter of Becket's during the latter's exile.Cheney Roger of Worcester p. 36 In 1169 Baldwin was once again peripherally involved in the Becket dispute, when he objected to Becket's excommunication of a number of noblemen and clergy for opposing Becket's cause. Baldwin's objection was not so much that they were excommunicated, but that no warning had been given that such an action was contemplated.
Baldwin became a monk in about 1170, and then abbot of the Cistercian monastery of Forde.Knowles, et al. Heads of Religious Houses p. 132Greenway "Worcester: Bishops" Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300: Volume 2: Monastic Cathedrals (Northern and Southern Provinces) He was well known as a canonist,Warren Henry II p. 552 and often acted as a judge-delegate for the papacy, hearing cases that had reached the Roman Curia and been remanded to local experts for decision.Barlow Thomas Becket p. 90 In 1166, Baldwin was the addressee of a work by John of Salisbury, Expectiatione longa, which was one of the tracts written during the Becket controversy.Barlow Thomas Becket pp. 155–157 It was probably at this time that Baldwin wrote De sacramento altaris. In 1175 he served with his old bishop, Bartholomew, as joint papal judge in a dispute between Malmesbury Abbey and Josceline de Bohon, the Bishop of Salisbury.Morey Bartholomew of Exeter p. 36 In 1178 he was recommended to Pope Alexander as a possible candidate for a cardinalship, but this never occurred.
Baldwin became Bishop of Worcester on 10 August 1180.Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 278 While at Worcester, he impressed King Henry II by intervening in a secular case to prevent a hanging on a Sunday.Warren Henry II p. 554 Although the medieval writer Walter Map said that Baldwin was determined to continue writing even after his election to the bishopric, none of Baldwin's writings can be dated to his time as bishop except for one sermon.
Archbishop of Canterbury Baldwin was translated from the see of Worcester to the see of Canterbury in December 1184,Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 232 after Henry II let it be known that he would accept only Baldwin at Canterbury; the previous incumbent, Richard of Dover, had died in April that year.Warren Henry II p. 555 The monks put forward three candidates from within Christ Church Priory: Odo, who had been prior of Christ Church and was then Abbot of Battle Abbey, Peter de Leia, a Cluniac prior of Wenlock Priory and later Bishop of St David's, and Theobald, Abbot of Cluny, but none of them found favour with the English bishops. Instead, the prelates selected the king's choice, Baldwin. The selection of Baldwin took place only after a dispute between the members of the cathedral chapter of Canterbury and the suffragan bishops of Canterbury, both of whom claimed the right to elect the new archbishop.Young Hubert Walter p. 12
Baldwin received his pallium from Pope Lucius III along with Lucius' approval of his translation.Duggan "From the Conquest to the Death of John" English Church and the Papacy p. 73 Baldwin was named a papal legate in 1185, although his authority was limited to his own archdiocese and did not extend into the Archdiocese of York.Robinson Papacy p. 173
Dispute with Christ Church Priory During his time as archbishop, there was a dispute with the monks of Christ Church Priory in Canterbury, who resented Baldwin's attempts to impose stricter control over them and disputed the legitimacy of Baldwin's election. For his part, Baldwin did not approve of the luxurious and pampered life the monks of Christ Church lived,Poole Domesday Book to Magna Carta p. 221 and felt that they profited too much from the cult of Thomas Becket.Barlow Thomas Becket p. 271
The dispute escalated when Baldwin deprived the monks of some of the revenues of their monastic estates. After that, Baldwin proposed to establish a church dedicated to Becket in Canterbury itself, staffed by secular rather than monastic clergy. The monks of the cathedral chapter saw this proposed foundation as the first step in an attempt to change the see of Canterbury from a monastic cathedral chapter, a peculiarity of the English Church, to the more normal pattern of secular clergy. It is not clear if Baldwin himself intended such a plan, but the other bishops supported the effort, as contemporary writers made clear. Baldwin sought the advice of Hugh, the Bishop of Lincoln, who advised Baldwin to abandon the plan as it would only cause distress to all parties. The controversy was long and involved; at one point, the monks were imprisoned within their own buildings for a year and a half, from January 1188 to August 1189. This led to the suspension of the liturgy in the cathedral. Eventually, all the prominent ecclesiastics and monastic houses of Europe were forced into choosing sides in the dispute. In October 1189, in an attempt to gain control, Baldwin appointed Roger Norreys as the chapter's prior, an appointment widely acknowledged by contemporaries as placing an unfit individual in the office. His plan for financing the church involved soliciting contributions from donors by promising a one-third reduction in penances for annual donations.Little Religious Poverty p. 32
Service to King Henry In 1188, King Henry II of England called for a tax to support the Third Crusade, following the fall of Jerusalem to Saladin in 1187.Warren Henry II pp. 607–608 It was collected at the rate of a tenth of all the property and income of any person not vowing to go on crusade.Lyon Constitutional and Legal History p. 269 It was popularly known as the "Saladin tithe" and was the most extensive tax ever collected in England up to that point.Powell and Wallis House of Lords p. 89 Being a tithe and not a secular tax, it was collected by dioceses rather than by shires. Baldwin, especially, was blamed for its harshness,Poole Domesday Book to Magna Carta p. 296 although in February, along with his advisor Peter of Blois, he was in Normandy with the king.Southern "Peter of Blois" Studies in Medieval History p. 209
Baldwin took the cross, or vowed to go on crusade, along with King Henry and many others in January 1188, or when he began his preaching campaign on 11 February 1188 to drum up support for the Third Crusade.Tyerman God's War p. 378 According to the archbishop's secretary, Peter of Blois, Baldwin was initially opposed to joining the crusade, but was persuaded by Peter to take the cross and to preach the crusade, arguing that it was the archbishop's duty to defend "the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts".Bennett Elite Participation pp. 33–34 Baldwin preached the crusade with Gilbert of Glanville, bishop of Rochester, at Henry's council at Geddington and in April 1188, Baldwin was in Wales on a tour attempting to secure support for the king's crusade, and was forcing his servants and followers to exercise on foot up and down hills in preparation for the journey to the Holy Land.Bennett Elite Participation p. 35Tyerman England and the Crusades pp. 60–61 He spent most of the year in Wales, preaching the crusade, accompanied by the chronicler Gerald of Wales. Gerald claimed about 3000 recruits for the crusade from his and Baldwin's efforts in Wales,Tyerman England and the Crusades p. 161 although he also suggested that Baldwin mainly embarked on the tour to avoid his dispute with the Canterbury monks.Tyerman God's War p. 393
A side effect of Baldwin's tour of Wales was the implied assertion of royal authority in a section of Henry's domains that had always been somewhat fractious. Baldwin was also asserting his ecclesiastical authority over the Welsh bishops, especially when he made a point of celebrating mass at every Welsh cathedral; he was the first Archbishop of Canterbury to celebrate mass at St Asaph's Cathedral. Baldwin excommunicated the only Welsh prince who refused to appear before him and take the cross, Owain Cyfeiliog.Tyerman God's War p. 385
Baldwin was with King Henry shortly before the latter's death, taking part in unsuccessful efforts to negotiate a truce with Henry's heir, Prince Richard, who had rebelled against his father.Gillingham Richard I p. 97 After Henry's death, Richard sought and obtained absolution for the sin of disobedience to his father from both Baldwin and Walter de Coutances, Archbishop of Rouen.Gillingham Richard I p. 104 Baldwin, along with Coutances, was with Richard on 20 July 1189 at Rouen when the king was invested with the Duchy of Normandy.Turner and Heiser Reign of Richard Lionheart p. 73 Baldwin crowned Richard at Westminster Abbey on 13 September 1189 in the first English coronation for which a detailed description survives.Gillingham Richard I p. 107
Under Richard