William of Ely

William of Ely was an English churchman and the fifth Lord High Treasurer of England. He was a relative of Richard FitzNeal and supposed descendant of Nigel, Bishop of Ely, both previous Lord High Treasurers. He was appointed a Canon of St. Paul's just before being made Lord High Treasurer in 1196. He added the position of Archdeacon of Cleveland in 1201 and Prebendary of Leighton Buzzard in 1207.[1]

William
Archdeacon of Cleveland
ChurchCatholic
In office1201
Personal details
Previous postCanon of St. Paul's
Prebend of Leighton Buzzard
Treasurer
In office
1196 – August 1215
MonarchRichard I
John
Preceded byRichard FitzNeal
Succeeded byEustace of Fauconberg,
Bishop of London

A story about William of Ely tells of his attempted escape from England during a time when he had fallen from favour with the King; he was disguised as a commoner but was stopped when he proved unable to respond to a simple question posed to him in English (illustrating the dominance of the French language among nobles and clergymen at the time).[2]

See also
  • List of Lord High Treasurers

References
  1. Painter, Sydney (1979). The Reign of King John. Ayer Publishing. pp. 66–67.
  2. Walter, Henriette (1994). Aventure des langues en Occident : leur origine, leur histoire, leur géographie. Paris: Laffont. p. 379.
Political offices
Preceded by
Richard FitzNeal		 Lord High Treasurer
1196–1215		 Succeeded by
Eustace of Fauconberg


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