William Giffard

William Giffard was the Lord Chancellor of England of William II and Henry I, from 1093 to 1101.^[1]

Giffard was the brother of Walter Giffard earl of Buckingham.^[2] He also held the office of Dean of Rouen prior to his election as bishop.^[3] On 3 August 1100 he became bishop of Winchester^[4] by nomination of Henry I. Henry nominated him probably in an attempt to win the support of the clergy in Henry's bid to claim the throne directly after the death of William Rufus.^[5] He was one of the bishops elect whom Archbishop Anselm of Canterbury refused to consecrate in 1101 as having been nominated and invested by the lay power.

During the investitures dispute Giffard was on friendly terms with Anselm, and drew upon himself a sentence of banishment through declining to accept consecration from Gerard Archbishop of York in 1103. He was, however, one of the bishops who pressed Anselm, in 1106, to give way to the king. He was finally consecrated after the settlement of 1107 on 11 August^[4] and became a close friend of Archbishop Anselm. As bishop, Giffard aided the first Cistercians to settle in England, when in 1128 he brought monks from the French abbey of L'Aumone to settle at Waverly Abbey.^[6] He also restored Winchester Cathedral with great magnificence.

Among Giffard's actions as bishop was the refounding of a religious house at Taunton and the staffing of it with Austin canons. The canons were drawn from Merton Priory.^[7] He was known for the close and good relations that he had with the monks of his cathedral chapter, sharing their meals and sleeping with them instead of in his own room.^[8]

Giffard died shortly before 25 January 1129, the date he was buried.^[9]

Notes

References

• Bethell, D. L. (1969). "English Black Monks and Episcopal Elections in the 1120s". The English Historical Review 84 (333): 673–694. doi:10.1093/ehr/LXXXIV.CCCXXXIII.673. 
• Burton, Janet (1994). Monastic and Religious Orders in Britain: 1000–1300. Cambridge Medieval Textbooks. Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-37797-8. 
• British History Online Bishops of Winchester accessed on 2 November 2007
• Newman, Charlotte A. (1982). "Family and Royal Favor in Henry I's England". Albion 14 (3/4): 292–306. doi:10.2307/4048518. 
• Powicke, F. Maurice and E. B. Fryde Handbook of British Chronology 2nd. ed. London:Royal Historical Society 1961
• Spear, David S. (1982). "The Norman Empire and the Secular Clergy, 1066–1204" (fee required). Journal of British Studies XXI (2): 1–10. doi:10.1086/385787. JSTOR 175531. 
• Teunis, Henry B. (1978). "The Coronation Charter of 1100: A Postponement of Decision. What did not Happen in Henry I's reign". Journal of Medieval History 4 (2): 135–144. doi:10.1016/0304-4181(78)90003-9. 

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.