[2] William served King John of England as a financial administrator, and in 1206 he the custodian of Malmesbury Abbey and the see of Winchester and the see of Lincoln.
[6] His election involved the monks of Coventry refusing to allow the canons of Lichfield participate in the election, and then the monks rejected a number of candidates before finally settling on William.
[7] The monks objected most to the fact that the papal legate, Niccolò de Romanis, cardinal bishop of Tusculum, repeatedly urged them to elect the abbot of Beaulieu, who was the choice of King John.
[8] He was consecrated at Reading, England by Stephen Langton, the Archbishop of Canterbury.
He also attended the Third Lateran Council in 1215 and was present at the first coronation of King Henry III of England in 1216.