William Longchamp (died 1197) was a medieval Lord Chancellor, Chief
Justiciar, and Bishop of Ely in England. Born to a humble family in
Normandy, he owed his advancement to royal favour. Although
contemporary writers accused Longchamp of being the son of a peasant,
his father held land as a knight. Longchamp first served an
illegitimate son of Henry II of England, but quickly transferred to the
service of Richard I, King Henry's eldest surviving son. When Richard
became King of England in 1189, Longchamp paid £3,000 for the office of
Chancellor, and was soon named to the see, or bishopric, of Ely and
appointed legate by the pope. Longchamp governed England while Richard
was on the Third Crusade, but his authority was challenged by Richard's
brother, John, who eventually succeeded in driving Longchamp from power
and from England. Longchamp's relations with the other leading English
nobles were also strained, which contributed to the demands for his
exile. Soon after Longchamp's departure from England, Richard was
captured on his journey back to England from the crusade and held for
ransom by the Holy Roman Emperor. Longchamp travelled to Germany to
help negotiate Richard's release. Although Longchamp regained the
office of Chancellor after Richard's return to England, he lost much of
his former power. He did, however, retain Richard's trust, and was
employed by the king until the bishop's death in 1197. Longchamp wrote
a treatise on the law, which remained well known throughout the later
Middle Ages, but he aroused much hostility among his contemporaries.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Longchamp>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1838:
In order to avoid persecution by anti-Mormons, Latter Day Saint
movement founder Joseph Smith, Jr. and his followers fled Kirtland,
Ohio, for Far West, Missouri.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith%2C_Jr.>
1911:
The University of the Philippines College of Law was founded,
eventually graduating many of the leading Filipino political figures
since then.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_the_Philippines_College_of_Law>
1945:
World War II: The Soviet Union's Red Army crossed the Vistula River in
Poland on their way to invade Germany.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vistula%E2%80%93Oder_Offensive>
1964:
Rebels led by John Okello overthrew Sultan Jamshid bin Abdullah, ending
200 years of Arab dominance in Zanzibar.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanzibar_Revolution>
2010:
A 7.0 Mw earthquake struck Haiti, affecting an estimated three million
people.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Haiti_earthquake>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
fiduciary (n):
{{context
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fiduciary>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Whenever a separation is made between liberty and justice, neither, in
my opinion, is safe.
--Edmund Burke
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edmund_Burke>
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