Richard Mitford

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Richard Metford
Denomination Catholic
Senior posting
See Diocese of Salisbury
Title Bishop of Salisbury
Period in office 1395–1407
Predecessor John Waltham
Successor Nicholas Bubwith
Religious career
Previous bishoprics Bishop of Chichester
Personal
Place of birth East Hagbourne, Berks.
Date of death May 3, 1407

Richard Metford (died 1407) was an English bishop of Chichester from November 17, 1389, and consecrated on April 10, 1390[1][2] and then bishop of Salisbury.[3] He was translated to the see of Salisbury on October 25, 1395.[4]

The earliest record of him is `Richard Medeford of Hakebourne, clerk'[5] in 1349. The cartulary of Cirencester Abbey[6] records the Metfords of Hakebourne (modern name East Hagbourne, Berks.) as a leading freeman tenant family of the village. His name appears as `Metford' in his own household accounts[7] and as `Medford' in the Register of John Chandler,[8] who was Dean of Salisbury Cathedral during much of Metford's episcopacy. Richard, as revealed by bequests in his own and his brother Walter's Wills,[9] had three brothers and four sisters. He spent much of his life at the royal court, starting probably as a chorister in the Chapel Royal and continuing as a clerk of the household under Edward III. His training during his time as a Fellow at Kings Hall, Cambridge[10] from 1352-1374 prepared him for service in the royal bureaucracy, where he eventually rose to become Secretary of the King's Chamber to Richard II (1385 to 1388).

Senior household members of Richard II were politically important, and his position gave Richard Metford considerable influence. He was one of the members of the royal household arrested by the `Lords Appellant'[11] in late 1387 for treason, and was imprisoned first in Bristol Castle and then in the Tower of London. However, he was eventually released without penalty.

While Bishop of Salisbury, Richard Metford spent much of his time at one or another of his episcopal manors, and by chance the household accounts survive of his stay at Potterne, near Devises, for the last seven months of his life. These give day-by-day records of members of his household and his visitors, the amounts and prices of the food provided for everyday meals as well as the feasts given at Christmas, and even at his own funeral. Such details as his charitable gifts, the fee for his doctor and how much serecloth[12] was provided for his funeral are also included.

The figure of a bishop labelled with his name appears in the illustrations of the Sherborne Missal.[13] but this is probably not a likeness. He was a patron of Henry Chichele, who acted as lawyer for him.[14]

He died May 3, 1407.[4] and was buried in the south transept of Salisbury Cathedral, where his tomb survives.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Bishops of Selsey and Chichester accessed on August 25, 2007
  2. ^ Fryde Handbook of British Chronology p. 239
  3. ^ Bishops of Salisbury accessed on August 25, 2007
  4. ^ a b Fryde Handbook of British Chronology p. 271
  5. ^ Calendar of Close Rolls, Edward III, p. 136, 23 Edward III Part 2m 1349.
  6. ^ Ross, C.D. (ed.). The Cartulary of Cirencester Abbey, Gloucester, vols. 1, 2 & 3 (London, 1964).
  7. ^ Woolgar, C.M. Household Accounts from Medieval England, Parts 1 & 2. British Academy Records of Social & Economic History (New Series) XVII (London, 1992, pp. 264-430
  8. ^ Timmins, T.C.B. The Register of John Chandler, Dean of Salisbury 1404-17/ Wiltshire Record Society, Vol. XXXIX (Devises, 1988).
  9. ^ Register of Archbishop Thomas Arundel, Will of Richard Metford in the unpublished testamentary portion, Vol. I, folios 237v-239r. Lambeth Palace Library; and Jacob, E.F. (ed.). Registrum HJenrici Chichele, Vols. 1 & 2. Canterbury & York Society 39 & 40 (Oxford, 1943).
  10. ^ Cobban, A. The King's Hall within the University of Cambridge in the Later Middle Ages (Cambridge, 1969), p. 9.
  11. ^ Mainly the magnates Gloucester, Arundel and Warwick, who were dissatisfied with the extravagent life-style of Richard II and the rewards he granted to his favorite courtiers. The lords led an armed revolt in 1387 which the king's troops were unable to quell, and persuaded Parliament to behead five of the king's Chamber knights.
  12. ^ A coarse cloth wrapped round a corpse over which wax was poured to seal it.
  13. ^ British Library Online Online Showcases Sherborne Missal accessed on August 25, 2007
  14. ^ Catholic Encyclopedia Online Article on Henry Chichele accessed on August 25, 2007

[edit] References

  • Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology, Third Edition, revised, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X. 
Roman Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
Thomas Rushock		 Bishop of Chichester
1389–1395		 Succeeded by
Robert Waldby
Preceded by
John Waltham		 Bishop of Salisbury
1395–1407		 Succeeded by
Nicholas Bubwith
Persondata
NAME Metford, Richard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Medford, Mitford
SHORT DESCRIPTION Bishop of Chichester, Bishop of Salisbury
DATE OF BIRTH
PLACE OF BIRTH
DATE OF DEATH May 3, 1407
PLACE OF DEATH