William of the White Hands

"White Hands" and "Whitehands" redirect here. For other uses, see White hand (disambiguation).

William of the White Hands (French: Guillaume aux Blanches Mains; 1135–1202), also called William White Hands, was a French cardinal.

William of the White Hands
Petrus Comestor (d. c. 1178) presents his Historia scholastica to Archbishop William of the White Hands.
Church	Roman Catholic
Archdiocese	Sens
Diocese	Chartres
Personal details
Born	1135 Brosses
Died	7 September 1202

William of the White Hands interposing at the Treaty of Arras, concluded in 1191, between Baldwin V., Count of Hainault, and Matilda of Portugal, Widow of Philip, Count of Flanders.

William was born in Brosse, Île-de-France, France. He was a son of Theobald the Great, Count of Blois and Count of Champagne, and Matilda of Carinthia.^[1]

William served as Bishop of Chartres in 1165,^[2] Archbishop of Sens (1169–1176),^[3] Archbishop of Reims (1175–1202),^[3] and the first Peer of France to bear that title. He anointed his nephew, Philip II of France, as co-king on 1 November 1179 in Rheims. Pope Alexander III created him Cardinal Priest of Santa Sabina in March 1179;^[4] as such, he signed the papal bulls between 8 April 1179 and 23 December 1201. He died on 7 September 1202.

William was portrayed by actor Liam O'Callaghan in the 1978 BBC TV drama series The Devil's Crown.