William Russell

Who was William Russell?

William Russell was a fourteenth-century Cistercian prelate. He appears to have begun his career as a Cistercian monk at Rushen Abbey on the Isle of Man, ascending to the rank of abbot there, before being elected Bishop of Mann and the Isles. After traveling to Continental Europe for confirmation and consecration, avoiding a trip to the metropolitan in Norway, he returned to the Irish Sea as a legal bishop. A few things are known of his episcopate, particularly his activities in England and a series of provincial statutes apparently promulgated under his leadership.