‘elected and confirmed Provincial Minister by those to whom the appointment had been entrusted[1262].’ He had never held any subordinate office, such as that of custodian or warden[1263]. He was a diligent student of the Scriptures, and seems to have attended Grostete’s lectures at Oxford[1264]. As minister, he was energetic in furthering the study of theology, and in developing the educational organization of the Franciscans in England[1265]. During his ministry, the friary at Oxford was greatly enlarged[1266]. Evidence of his popularity was given in the Chapter held at Oxford by the General Minister, John of Parma (c. 1248), when the friars unanimously refused to sanction his deposition[1267]. He was ‘absolved’ from the ministry in the General Chapter of Metz, and sent on behalf of the Order to the Pope[1268]. It was probably in this Chapter, that, with the assistance of John Kethene and Gregory de Bosellis, he carried a decree ‘almost against the whole Chapter,’ ‘ut privilegium indultum a Domino Papa de recipienda pecunia per procuratores penitus destrueretur; et expositio Regulae secundum dominum Innocentium, quantum ad ea in quibus laxior esset quam Gregoriana, suspenderetur[1269].’ The cause of his deposition is unknown, but the event excited the displeasure of the English friars, who called a Provincial Chapter and unanimously re-elected him[1270]. A letter from Adam Marsh, congratulating him on this second election and urging him not to decline the office is extant[1271]. But William of Nottingham was already dead. When he reached Genoa on his mission to the Pope, his _socius_, Friar Richard, was struck down by the plague; ‘while others fled, he remained to comfort his companion, and like him he was struck down and died[1272].’ The date of the Chapter of Metz, and consequently of William’s death, is not quite certain; it was probably in the spring or early summer of 1251[1273]. A few extracts from the chronicle of Eccleston (who knew him personally) will illustrate the character of the man. He sat very long in meditation after matins, and was unwilling to attend to confessions and consultations at night, as his predecessors had done.... Above all things, he was careful to avoid the vice of suspicion. Familiarities of great persons and of women he most studiously avoided, and, with wonderful magnanimity, thought nothing of incurring the anger of the powerful for the sake of justice. He used to say that great persons entrap those familiar with them by their advice, and women with their mendacity and malice turn the heads even of the devout by their flatteries. He studied with all diligence to restore the good name of those who were defamed, provided that he thought them penitent, and to comfort the hearts of the desolate, especially of those who held offices in the Order[1274].