Fitzstephen appears to have escaped most of the disadvantages of intimacy with Becket. He has himself preserved a rhyming Latin poem, some ninety lines long, which he composed and presented to Henry II in the chapel of ‘Bruhull.’ In return for this petition the king pardoned him. It would appear, however, that when Becket was reconciled to the king, his old clerk once more entered his service, for he was an eye-witness of his murder: ‘passionem ejus Cantuariæ inspexi.’ Of the rest of his life we have no certain knowledge; but Mr. Foss is inclined to identify this author with William Fitzstephen, who along with his brother, Ralph Fitzstephen, was sheriff of Gloucester from 18 Henry II to 1 Richard I, i.e. 1171–90 (Foss, i. 370; Fuller, i. 569). This William Fitzstephen is probably the same William Fitzstephen whom Henry II in 1176 placed at the head of one of the six circuits into which he divided the country. The circuit in question included the county of Gloucester, and his pleas are recorded in that and the four following years, not only in fourteen counties, but ‘ad scaccarium’ also. His name appears as a justice itinerant in 1 Richard I (Foss, ib.; cf. Madox, i. 83, 127, &c.; Hoveden, ii. 88), about which time he perhaps died.
William Fitzstephen's most important work is the ‘Vita Sancti Thomæ.’ This is the main authority for the archbishop's early life. The curious preface, entitled ‘ Descriptio nobilissimæ civitatis Londoniæ,’ is by far the most graphic and elaborate account of London during the twelfth century yet remaining. It has been printed separately in Stow's ‘Survey of London,’ and Hearne's ed. of Leland's ‘Itinerary.’ The ‘Vita Thomæ’ was first printed in Sparke's ‘Historiæ Anglicanæ Scriptores’ (1723). The chief later editions are those of Dr. Giles (1845), and that by the Rev. J. C. Robertson (Rolls Ser. 1877). To the same author are also attributed, though, as it seems, on doubtful grounds, ‘Libri quinque de Miraculis B. Thomæ’ (cf. also Hardy, ii. 382).
[Materials for the Hist. of Thomas Becket, ed. Robertson (Rolls Ser.), vol. iii. contains Fitzstephen's Vita Sti Thomæ; Roger of Hoveden, ed. Stubbs (Rolls Ser.), vol. ii.; Madox's Hist. of the Exchequer (ed. 1769), vols. i. and ii.; Foss's Judges, vol. i; Wright's Biographia Literaria, vol. ii.; Hardy's Cat. of Manuscript Materials for Hist. of Great Britain and Ireland, ii.]
FITZTHEDMAR, ARNOLD (1201–1274?), alderman of London, was descended on both sides from German settlers in London, where he was born on 9 Aug. 1201. His father, Thedmar, a man of wealth and position, was a native of Bremen. His mother, Juliana, was the daughter of Arnold, a citizen of Cologne, and of his wife Ode. This couple had made a pilgrimage to St. Thomas's shrine at Canterbury to pray for children. Their prayers being heard, they were induced to settle in London, where two children were born to them. The elder, Thomas, destined to become a monk, died during the fourth crusade. The younger, Juliana, became the wife of Thedmar and the mother of a numerous family, of which only one son, Arnold, and four daughters grew up to maturity. Wonderful dreams preceded Arnold's birth. On his father's death he succeeded to all his property. His career illustrates very remarkably the position of the foreign merchants settled in London. English by birth, and taking a prominent part in London political life, he was still a member of the ‘domus quæ Guildhalla Teutonicorum nuncupatur,’ the later Steelyard, and kept up close relations with the merchants of the country of his origin. On 1 Aug. 1251 he appears as a witness to a treaty with Lübeck (Lappenberg, Geschichte des Stahlhofes, pp. 11–12, ‘aus dem Lübecker Urkundenbuche’). He is described as ‘alderman of the Germans.’ He held the office for at least ten years.
Fitzthedmar was conspicuous among the few leading citizens who, in opposition to the general current of feeling in the city, were stout supporters of Henry III and his son Edward throughout all the barons' wars. In February 1258, before the meeting of the Mad parliament, the Londoners accused the mayor and other rulers of the city of levying the city tallages in an unjust way. Henry appointed John Mansel to investigate the charges. Then, on 11 Feb., Fitzthedmar, who had hitherto not been involved, was included in the attack. His special offence was that he had altered the method of weighing used in the city without the king's permission. Before long the aldermen were deposed, and new ones appointed, except for Fitzthedmar's ward, which remained in the mayor's hands. But next year the proceedings were reversed. On 6 Nov. 1259 a full folk-moot was held in the king's presence at Paul's Cross, and it was declared on John Mansel's attestation that Fitzthedmar had been unjustly degraded. He was therefore restored to royal favour and to his aldermanship. Between this date and Michaelmas 1260 Arnold bought, on behalf of the German merchants, of William, son of William Reyner, the yearly rent of 2s. for a piece of land situated to the east of the Germans' Guildhall, in the parish of All Hallows in Thames Street (the site of the Steelyard). For this he paid two marks sterling. He is described
