Courtenay (or Courtney), William (c. 1342–1396)

English prelate, archbishop of Canterbury 1381–96. In 1382 he summoned a council to pass judgement on the religious reformer John Wycliffe's heretical teaching. Wycliffe was allowed to go free, but many of his followers were compelled to recant. After Wycliffe's death he continued the systematic eradication of Lollardy from Oxford University and elsewhere.

Courtenay was the fourth son of Hugh, Earl of Devon, and Margaret Bohun. He studied at Oxford, becoming chancellor of Oxford University in 1367, and was appointed bishop of Hereford in 1370 and bishop of London in 1375. As Wycliffe's prosecutor, he was involved in a quarrel with John of Gaunt, the Duke of Lancaster, in 1377.