Richard of Ilchester
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| Denomination | Catholic |
|---|---|
| Senior posting | |
| See | Diocese of Winchester |
| Title | Bishop of Winchester |
| Period in office | 1173–1188 |
| Predecessor | Henry of Blois |
| Successor | Godfrey de Lucy |
| Religious career | |
| Previous post | Archdeacon of Poitiers |
| Personal | |
| Date of death | December 22, 1188 |
Richard of Ilchester, also called Richard of Toclyve or Richard of Toclive (d.December 22, 1188) was a medieval English statesman and prelate
Contents |
[edit] Life
He was born in the diocese of Bath, where he obtained preferment. Early in the reign of Henry II, however, he is found acting as a clerk in the King's court, probably under Thomas Becket, and he was one of the officials who assisted Henry in carrying out his great judicial and financial reforms. Richard was the first King's Remembrancer, the oldest judicial office still in existence in England, in 1154.
In 1162, or 1163, he was appointed archdeacon of Poitiers,[1] but he passed most of his time in England, although in the next two or three years he visited Pope Alexander III and the Emperor Frederick I in the interests of the English king, who was then engaged in his struggle with Becket. For promising to support Frederick against Alexander he was excommunicated by Becket in 1166. Before this event, however, Richard had been appointed a baron of the exchequer, his great industry and exceptional abilities as an accountant being recognized by giving him a special seat at the exchequer table, and from 1168 until his death he frequently acted as one of the itinerant justices.
Although totally immersed in secular business he received several rich ecclesiastical offices including treasurer of the diocese of Poitiers, and May 1, 1173 he was elected bishop of Winchester,[1] being consecrated at Canterbury in October of 1174.[2] Richard still continued to serve Henry II. In 1176 he was appointed justiciary and seneschal of Normandy, and was given full control of all the royal business in the duchy. He died on 22 December 1188,[2] and was buried in Winchester Cathedral. Richard owes his surname to the fact that Henry II granted him a mill at Ilchester.
He probably was the father of the brothers Richard Poore, who became Bishop of Durham, and Herbert Poore, who became Bishop of Salisbury.[3]
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b British History Online Bishops of Winchester accessed on November 2, 2007
- ^ a b Powicke Handbook of British Chronology p. 258
- ^ British History Online Bishops of Salisbury accessed on October 30, 2007
[edit] References
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
- British History Online Bishops of Salisbury accessed on October 30, 2007
- British History Online Bishops of Winchester accessed on November 2, 2007
- Norgate, Kate "Richard of Ilchester" in the Dictionary of National Biography, vol. xlviii. (1896)
- Powicke, F. Maurice and E. B. Fryde Handbook of British Chronology 2nd. ed. London:Royal Historical Society 1961
- Stephens, W. R. W. and W. W. Capes, The Bishops of Winchester (1907)
| Religious titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Henry of Blois |
Bishop of Winchester 1173–1188 |
Succeeded by Godfrey de Lucy |
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Richard of Ilchester |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Richard of Toclyve; Richard of Toclive |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Bishop of Winchester |
| DATE OF BIRTH | |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 22, 1188 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
