William of Nottingham I

William of Nottingham I (died 1254) was an English Franciscan friar who served as the fourth Minister Provincial of England from 1240 to 1254. The Franciscan Order reputedly reached Nottingham in 1230. William, the son of well-off parents, entered the order early and may have attended lectures by Robert Grosseteste at Oxford. His brother Augustine also joined the Franciscans. William served under Pope Innocent IV and accompanied the pope's nephew, Opizzo Fieschi, to Antioch. Without holding lesser offices, William was appointed vicar to Haymo of Faversham in 1239 and elected Minister Provincial in 1240. Sources describe him as a helpful, wise, good-humored, and strong-willed cleric, willing to confront powerful individuals for justice. He oversaw the enlargement of Franciscan houses in York, Bristol, and Bridgwater, though he resisted unnecessary expansions, stating, "I did not become a friar for the purpose of building walls." He also took measures to maintain simplicity within the order, such as having the roof removed from the London chapel and its cloister embossments scraped away. He actively defended the Franciscan order's interests, traveling to the papal court in 1244 to obtain a decree against Dominican proselytizing. In 1250, a referendum at Oxford confirmed his position unanimously. The following year, he was supported by the general chapter at Metz and upheld Gregory IX's Expositio Regulae against Pope Innocent IV's more lenient version. Despite some accounts suggesting his deposition, he was re-elected by the English Franciscans. While en route to the papal court, his companion contracted the plague in Geneva or Genoa. William stayed to care for him, contracted the infection himself, and died around July 1254, possibly buried in Marseille.