William Brito (or William the Breton^[1]) was a medieval clergyman in England during the 12th century.

Brito was a royal chaplain^[2] and was appointed Archdeacon of Ely by 1110. He was a nephew of Hervey le Breton, the Bishop of Ely. He is last mentioned as archdeacon in 1144 or 1145, but was probably suspended from office on 22 December 1150 and was removed from his archdeaconry by 1152.^[3] He was the father of a son named Henry, who became a member of the clergy.^[4]

Brito was given a manor at Pampisford, Cambridgeshire by his uncle, a gift that was confirmed by King Henry I of England in 1127.^[1] Also confirmed was the grant of Little Thetford to Brito.^[5] Pampisford was part of the bishopric's estates, and Brito held the manor in return for the service of one knight.^[1] But in 1135, the new bishop, Nigel recovered a number of the bishopric's properties that had been alienated,^[6] including Pampisford. Another manor may have been involved, as Henry, Brito's son, had a long running dispute with the cathedral chapter of Ely Cathedral from 1149 to 1153 over a manor which both sides claimed.^[1]

The historian, Edward Miller, of the see of Ely called Brito "warlike".^[1]

Citations

References

Brett, M. (1975). The English Church under Henry I. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-821861-3.
Greenway, Diana E. (1971). "Archdeacons of Ely". Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300. Vol. 2: Monastic cathedrals (northern and southern provinces). Institute for Historical Research. Retrieved 6 March 2008.
Keats-Rohan, K. S. B. (1999). Domesday Descendants: A Prosopography of Persons Occurring in English Documents, 1066–1166: Pipe Rolls to Cartae Baronum. Ipswich, UK: Boydell Press. ISBN 0-85115-863-3.
Miller, Edward (1951). The Abbey and Bishopric of Ely (Reprint ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

v t e Archdeacons of Ely and of Cambridge
High Medieval (Ely)	Nicholas William Brito William of Lavington Richard FitzNeal Richard Barre Stephen Ridel Adam de Tilneia Giles Robert of Leicester Nicholas of Ely John de Balsham Ralph Walpole John de Oseville Ralph de Foderingeye
Late Medieval (Ely)	Adam Ralph de Fodringhey (again) William Cardinal de Testa Gilbert de Bruer Richard de Bentworth John de Ufford Gaillard Cardinal de la Motte Stephen de Ketelbergh Bernard de Caulason James de Beaufort Nicholas Cardinal Roselli de Tarragona Androynus Cardinal de la Roche Edward Burnell John Crischirch Thomas de Pattesele Thomas Dalby Thomas Ferriby Richard Clifford Adam Mottrum John Welbourne John Metford Richard Wetheryngesete John Stokes Richard Bole Richard Robinson Thomas Morton
Modern (Ely)	Thomas Alcock Nicholas Hawkins Thomas Thirlby Richard Cox Henry Cole John Boxall John Warner Robert Wisdom John Parker John Palmer Robert Tinley Daniel Wigmore Edmund Mapletoft Bernard Hale Thomas Wren Barnabas Oley William Saywell Richard Bentley Robert Eyton Charles Plumptre Richard Watson Henry Browne Charles Hardwick William Emery William Cunningham Horace Price William MacKennal Herbert Kirkpatrick Michael Carey John Long David Walser Jeffrey Watson John Beer (retitled Archdeacon of Cambridge)
Cambridge	John Beer (previously Archdeacon of Ely) Alex Hughes