ended death_date consecration other_post alt image_size title image diocese name ordination caption consecrated_by predecessor birth_place type appointed successor article_title
16 november 1207 16 november 1207 3 july 1183 bishop of lincoln archdeacon of oxford a doors , a larger more ornate one in the middle large flanked by two others . stone front of a building with three 250 archbishop of rouen notre-dame de rouen.jpg archdiocese of rouen walter de coutances 11 june 1183 the -lrb- except the last storey -rrb- and the side doors front -lrb- except the tympans -rrb- date from the 12th century of , and already existed in coutances ' lifetime . rouen cathedral . the left tower richard of dover , archbishop of canterbury rotrou cornwall , england archbishop 17 november 1184 robert iii poulain walter de coutances

walter de coutances

walter de coutances or walter of coutances -lrb- d , 16 november 1207 -rrb- , also called walter of rouen , was a medieval anglo-norman bishop of lincoln and archbishop of rouen .
he began his royal service in the government of henry ii , serving as a vice-chancellor .
he also accumulated a number of ecclesiastical offices , becoming successively canon of rouen cathedral , treasurer of rouen , and archdeacon of oxford .
king henry sent him on a number of diplomatic missions and finally rewarded him with the bishopric of lincoln in 1183 .
he did not remain there long , for he was translated to rouen in late 1184 .
when richard i , king henry 's son , became king in 1189 , coutances absolved richard for his rebellion against his father and invested him as duke of normandy .
he then accompanied richard to sicily as the king began the third crusade , but events in england prompted richard to send the archbishop back to england to mediate between william longchamp , the justiciar whom richard had left in charge of the kingdom , and prince john , richard 's younger brother .
coutances succeeded in securing a peace between longchamp and john , but further actions by longchamp led to the justiciar 's expulsion from england , replaced in his role by coutances , even though he never formally used the title .
he remained in the office until late 1193 , when he was summoned to germany by the king , who was being held in captivity there .
coutances became a hostage for the final payment of richard 's ransom on the king 's release in february 1194 .
coutances took no further part in english government after returning from germany .
instead he became involved in norman affairs , including a dispute with richard over the ownership of andely manor , an archiepiscopal property that richard desired as a fortress .
eventually the archbishop surrendered it to the king in return for two other manors and the seaport of dieppe .
richard went on to build the castle of gaillard on the former archiepiscopal manor .
after richard 's death , coutances invested prince john as duke of normandy , but was forced to pay 2,100 angevin pounds to secure contested rights from the new king .
after john lost control of normandy in 1204 , the archbishop did not resist the new government of king philip ii of france .
coutances died in november 1207 and was buried in his cathedral .
