Castles for St. William: The Late Medieval Commemoration of York’s Local Saint

Abstract

Although the role of Corpus Christi drama in fifteenth-century York is well documented, this article looks at the city’s promotion of the cult of St. William (d. 1154), one-time archbishop of York, as an emblem of civic and spiritual identity throughout the fourteenth century. Although William never enjoyed widespread popularity, he was celebrated locally on his feast day with an annual outdoor performance sponsored by the vicars choral of York Minster, an event that had special meaning for the city in the summer of 1396, when Richard II presented York with a charter of incorporation. William’s lavish shrine base rivaled that of Becket in Canterbury, and by the turn of the fifteenth century, he was memorialized in stained glass in every wing of the Minster. Although interest in St. William waned—the vicars choral reduced their spending on the saint and became the patrons of a Corpus Christi pageant—the martyrdom of Scrope in 1405 reinvigorated the cult.