11 Facts About Guala Bicchieri

Guala Bicchieri was the papal legate in England from 1216 to 1218 and took a prominent role in the politics of England during King John's last years and Henry III's early minority.

Guala Bicchieri arrived in England in the midst of the baronial rebellion, when rebel barons were attempting to force John from the throne and when the suspension and exile of archbishop Stephen Langton had left the English church without a leader.

Guala Bicchieri was instrumental in the reissuing of Magna Carta.

Guala Bicchieri was from a prominent family in Vercelli, in northern Italy, in what is the Italian region of Piedmont; his father, Manfredo de Bicheriis, was a consul of the city.

Guala Bicchieri was trained for the law but entered the clergy; he was first mentioned in 1187 as a canon in the cathedral of Vercelli.

Vincent points out six areas in which Guala Bicchieri made an impact upon England: establishing peace between the monarchy and rebels; overseeing Episcopal elections; supervising monastic houses; punishing and replacing rebel clergy; judicial activity, including the appointment of legatine judges delegate; and implementing the legislation of the Fourth Lateran Council.

Guala Bicchieri was attacked in a long satirical poem by Gilles de Corbeil.

Guala Bicchieri's role is of interest to students of English history: he supported John Lackland and then became the protector of John's minor successor, Henry III; he punished English clerics who supported the French invader, Louis, and removed many of them from their positions.

Guala Bicchieri was instrumental in convincing Pope Honorius III to grant an indulgence to the dean and chapter of Old Salisbury Cathedral permitting them to leave Old Sarum and start building New Salisbury Cathedral.

Guala Bicchieri returned to Italy in 1219 after the final defeat of the English rebel barons and the Treaty of Lambeth.

Guala Bicchieri died in 1227 and is entombed in the Basilica di Sant'Andrea in Vercelli.