THE LIFE OF ST. THOMAS OF HEREFORD
London: Burns & Oates, 1879. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Red cloth. xvi, 249p. Cover is soiled. But this is a clean and tight book in good condition. Item #141054
This book was the personal copy of Edward Healy Thompson, an Anglo-Catholic of some repute in the 19th century. The book bears his signature on the free front endpaper. The book is a biography of Thomas de Cantilupe (c. 1218 – 25 August 1282) (anciently Cantelow, Cantelou, Canteloupe, etc, Latinised to de Cantilupo), who is an English saint. Cantilupe became a teacher of canon law at Oxford and Chancellor of the University in 1261.During the Barons' War, Cantilupe favoured Simon de Montfort and the baronial party. He represented the barons before St Louis of France at Amiens in 1264. He was made Lord Chancellor of England on 25 February 1264, when Archdeacon of Stafford but was deprived of the chancellor's office after Montfort's death at Evesham, and lived out of England for some time. Returning to England, he was again Chancellor of Oxford University, lectured on theology, and held several ecclesiastical appointments. In 1274, he attended the Second Council of Lyons, and about 14 June 1275 he was appointed Bishop of Hereford and was consecrated on 8 September 1275. Cantilupe was now a trusted adviser of Edward I and lived at Earley in Berkshire when attending royal councils in Windsor or Westminster. Even when differing from the king's opinions, he did not forfeit his favour. He had a "great conflict" in 1290 with Gilbert de Clare, seventh earl of Gloucester and sixth earl of Hertford, about hunting rights in Malvern and a ditch that Gilbert had dug, that was settled by costly litigation. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Kilwardby, was also his friend; but after Kilwardby's death in 1279 a series of disputes arose between the bishop and the new archbishop, John Peckham. The disagreements culminated in Peckham excommunicating Cantilupe, who proceeded to Rome to pursue the matter with the pope. Cantilupe died at Ferento, near Orvieto, in Italy, on 25 August 1282; he was buried in Hereford Cathedral. Cantilupe appears to have been an exemplary bishop in both spiritual and secular affairs. His charities were large and his private life blameless. He was constantly visiting his diocese, correcting offenders and discharging other episcopal duties, and he compelled neighbouring landholders to restore estates which rightly belonged to the see of Hereford. In 1905, the Cantilupe Society was founded to publish the episcopal registers of Hereford, of which Cantilupe's is the first in existence.
Price: $65.00