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Wimund was an English bishop who became a sea-faring war-lord adventurer in the 1130s and 1140s. His story is passed down to us by 12th century English historian William of Newburgh in his Historia rerum anglicarum, Book I, Chapter 24 entitled "Of bishop Wimund, his life unbecoming a bishop, and how he was deprived of his sight".1 A bishop is an ordained member of the Christian clergy who, in certain Christian churches, holds a position of authority. ...
English historians in the Middle Ages is an overview of the history of English historians and their works in the Middle Ages. ...
William of Newburgh (1136?-1198?) was a 12th century English historian, and monk, from Yorkshire. ...
Of bishop Wimund Wimund was born in England of lowly rank. Provided with an education in reading and writing he choose early on the life of a monk, and began his ecclesial career at Furness. There he had access to a library of books, the leisure time to read and god-given talents of memory, dedication and intelligence, and he excelled and quickly rose in rank. Wimund was sent to the Isle of Man to help establish a new bishopric there, and was soon appointed bishop. Furness is a peninsula in north-west England. ...
In some Christian churches, the diocese is an administrative territorial unit governed by a bishop, sometimes also referred to as a bishopric or episcopal see, though more often the term episcopal see means the office held by the bishop. ...
In his new position of authority on the remote island, surrounded by an otherwise barbaric native population, Wimund began to have greater designs of his own. "Not content with the dignity of his episcopal office, he next anticipated in his mind how he might accomplish great and wonderful things; for he possessed a haughty speaking mouth with the proudest heart." 2. Surrounding himself with a band of needy and desperate men, he invented the story that he was the son of the Earl of Moray and he was owed inheritance by the King of Scotland. Wimund was a charismatic man standing taller than most of those around him and of athletic build, a fiery speaker, he enticed a band to join him in not only in taking back his "inheritance", but in exacting revenge on the Scots. It was then that "..he began his mad career throughout the adjacent islands; and became, like Nimrod, a mighty hunter..". The fisher of men had become the hunter of men. He then began to invade provinces of Scotland "wasting all before him with rapine and slaughter". When royal Scottish troops tried to stop him, he would retreat to the sea or hide in remote forests, from which he would later re-emerge to continue his campaign of destruction. This article is about the region in Scotland. ...
David I, known as the Saint, (1084 - May 24, 1153), king of Scotland, the youngest son of Malcolm Canmore and of Saint Margaret (sister of Edgar Ætheling), was born in 1084. ...
For other things named Nimrod, see the disambiguation page Nimrod. ...
Wimund ran in to trouble when he demanded tribute payments from a Scottish bishop; the Scottish bishop said "God's will be done; but from my example, no one bishop shall ever become tributary to another." The bishop gathered a small number of supporters to face Wimunds larger band and, like the story of David and Goliath, he threw a hand axe at Wimund and struck him down in the first blow of the battle; this emboldened the Scottish defenders who were able to kill vast numbers of Wimunds band, driving the rest from Scotland and forcing Wimund to "fly". The young Hebrew David hoists the head of the Philistine Goliath. ...
Wimund, recovered from the axe wound, and recovering the remainder of his forces, continued to ravage the coasts and islands of Scotland. The King of Scotland was forced to act and, knowing that force alone would not defeat a crafty and proud enemy like Wimund, devised a plan of placation. He granted Furness and a province to Wimund in order to plant a false sense of security, to instill in the proud and self-important Wimund the sense that he really was the lie he had for so long told, a nobleman and lord. Thus, with his guard let down, Wimund toured his new province while a number of enemies inside his camp "who were unable to endure either his power or his insolence" laid a trap for him. "Obtaining a favorable opportunity, when he was following slowly, and almost unattended, a large party which he had sent forward to procure entertainment, they took and bound him, and as both eyes were wicked, deprived him of both; and, providing against all future excess, they made him an eunuch for the sake of the kingdom of Scotland, not for that of Heaven." 3.
Captured, blinded, and castrated by his enemies, he spent the rest of his life at the monastery at Byland Abbey, a willing storyteller for those who would listen. In regards to the Bishop who took him down with an axe he said "..with much pleasantry, boastingly.. that God alone was able to vanquish him by the faith of a simple bishop." Unrepented to the end, of his enemies who blinded and castrated him, he said that had he even the eye of a sparrow, "his enemies should have little occasion to rejoice at what they had done to him." Castration, gelding, neutering, orchiectomy or orchidectomy is any action, surgical or otherwise, by which a biological male loses use of the testes. ...
Buddhist monastery near Tibet A monastery is the habitation of monks. ...
The ruins of Byland Abbey Early History Byland Abbey in Yorkshire was founded as a Savigniac abbey in January 1135 and was absorbed by the Cistercian order in 1147. ...
References The ruins of Byland Abbey Early History Byland Abbey in Yorkshire was founded as a Savigniac abbey in January 1135 and was absorbed by the Cistercian order in 1147. ...
Footnotes Note 1: Historia rerum anglicarum, Book 1 Ch.24, Retrieved Jan. 2005 Note 2: ibid., Ch 24:2 Note 3: ibid., Ch 24:4 |
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