Walter de Coutances 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 (pictured), 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 the archbishopric of 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. Coutances died in November 1207 and was buried in his cathedral.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_de_Coutances

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1491:

Several Jews and conversos were executed in Toledo, Spain, for the alleged ritual murder of an infant, who was later revered as the Holy Child of La Guardia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Child_of_La_Guardia

1920:

Qantas, Australia's national airline, was founded as Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Limited. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Qantas

1938:

Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann first synthesized the psychedelic drug LSD (3D representation of molecule pictured) at the Sandoz Laboratories in Basel, Switzerland. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Hofmann

1973:

U.S. President Richard Nixon signed the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act, authorizing the construction of the Alaska Pipeline to transport oil from the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf of Alaska. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Alaska_Pipeline_System

2002:

The first case of the respiratory disease Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) was recorded in Guangdong, China. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severe_acute_respiratory_syndrome_(SARS)

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

kraal: 1. In Central and Southern Africa, a rural village of huts surrounded by a stockade. 2. An enclosure for livestock. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kraal

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Besides the conversation of women, it is dreams that keep the world in orbit. But dreams also form a diadem of moons, therefore the sky is that splendour inside a man's head, if his head is not, in fact, his own unique sky.   --José Saramago https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Saramago