Walter de Stapledon

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Walter de Stapledon
Bishop of Exeter
Walter de Stapledon (1261-1326), Bishop of Exeter. Detail from his effigy in Exeter Cathedral
Church	Catholic
See	Diocese of Exeter
In office	1308–1326
Predecessor	Thomas Bitton
Successor	James Berkeley
Personal details
Born	1 February 1261 Annery, Devonshire
Died	14 October 1326 London
Previous post	Papal chaplain

Arms of Bishop Walter de Stapledon (1261-1326), Bishop of Exeter, Detail from his monument in Exeter Cathedral: Argent, two bendlets wavy sable (Stapledon) within a bordure of the last charged with six pairs of keys addorsed and interlaced the wards upwards or (bordure of Bishop Stapledon)

Walter de Stapledon (or Stapeldon) (1 February 1261 – 15 October 1326) was Bishop of Exeter 1308–1326 and twice Lord High Treasurer of England, in 1320 and 1322. He founded Exeter College, Oxford and contributed liberally to the rebuilding of Exeter Cathedral. His tomb and monument, of great architectural importance, survives in Exeter Cathedral.

Origins

Walter Stapledon was born at Annery in the parish of Monkleigh, North Devon, England, the son of Sir Richard Stapledon, descended from a noble stock. The Stapledons originated at the estate of Stapledon, in the parish of Cookbury, near Holsworthy, Devon.^[1]

Career

On 13 March 1307 Stapledon was appointed Bishop of Exeter, and was consecrated on 13 October 1308.^[2] He went on embassies to France for both Kings Edward I and Edward II, and attended the councils and parliaments of his time.^[3] He was twice appointed Lord High Treasurer of England, in 1320 and 1322,^[4]

Founds Exeter College, Oxford

Stapeldon founded Exeter College, Oxford, which originated in Stapeldon Hall, established in 1314 by the bishop and his elder brother, Sir Richard Stapeldon, a judge of the king's bench, whose monument with effigy also exists in Exeter Cathedral near to that of his brother. The college was much frequented by sons of the Devonshire gentry for many centuries. The armorials of the college are those of Bishop Stapledon.

Death

Stapledon was associated in the popular mind with the misdeeds of King Edward II, and consequently, after the king fled before the advancing troops of Queen Isabella, he was murdered in London by a mob on 15 October 1326.^[2]^[3]

Monument

Monument to Bishop Walter Stapledon, Exeter Cathedral

Wall painting c. 1326 on ceiling of canopy of monument to Bishop Walter Stapledon, Exeter Cathedral

Stapledon's monument is located in Exeter Cathedral in the choir on the north side of the high altar, and is the cathedral's most important 14th-century monument.^[5] It consists of a recumbent effigy within a gothic canopy all made of Beer stone. The colour scheme dates from an early 19th-century restoration^[6] since restored again (see below). The effigy is shown in pontificalibus and holds in his left hand a crozier and in his right hand a book.^[7] On the outside of the tomb at his feet is shown a heraldic escutcheon bearing the bishop's arms.^[8] On the ceiling of the canopy, invisible to the casual observer, but looking down onto the bishop's effigy is a contemporary painting of Christ displaying his Five Holy Wounds.^[9] In 1733 the monument was repaired at the cost of Exeter College, Oxford, his foundation, and was apparently re-painted with bright colours.^[10] In the summer of 1805 however at the direction of Bishop John Fisher (reg.1803-1807) the removal was effected of "the gaudy colours with which the whole of the monument had been painted".^[11] In the late 1950s the monument was restored and recoloured.^[12] In the 1980s the mediaeval painting on the ceiling of the canopy was restored.^[13]

Notes

↑ John Prince, Danmonii Orientales Illustres: Or, the Worthies of Devon, first published c. 1701, 1810 edition. p. 722
↑ 2.0 2.1 Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 246
↑ 3.0 3.1 Buck "Stapeldon, Walter (b. in or before 1265, d. 1326)" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
↑ Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 105
↑ Erskine, Audrey, Exeter Cathedral: A Short History & Description, (revised edition of 1973 work of Hope, Rev. Vyvyan & Lloyd, John), Exeter, 1988, pp.103-4
↑ Erskine, p.103
↑ Erskine, p.103
↑ Erskine, p.104
↑ Erskine, p.126
↑ Erskine, p.126
↑ From a contemporary note (D & C Exeter MS 3549E, 60), quoted in Erskine, p.126
↑ Erskine, p.89
↑ Erskine, pp.93-4

References

Buck, M. C. "Stapeldon, Walter (b. in or before 1265, d. 1326)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 13 September 2009.
Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology (Third revised ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X.

Political offices
Preceded by Walter Norwich	Lord High Treasurer 1320–1321	Succeeded by Walter Norwich
Preceded by Walter Norwich	Lord High Treasurer 1322–1325	Succeeded by William Melton
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Thomas Bitton	Bishop of Exeter 1308–1326	Succeeded by James Berkeley

v t e Bishops of Exeter

High Medieval	see removed from Crediton Leofric Osbern FitzOsbern William Warelwast Robert Warelwast Robert of Chichester Bartholomew Iscanus John the Chanter Henry Marshal Simon of Apulia William Briwere Richard Blund Walter Branscombe Peter Quinel Thomas Bitton

Late Medieval	Walter de Stapledon James Berkeley John Godeley John Grandisson Thomas de Brantingham Edmund Stafford John Catterick Edmund Lacey John Hales George Neville John Booth Peter Courtenay Richard Foxe Oliver King Richard Redman

Early modern	John Arundel Hugh Oldham John Vesey Myles Coverdale John Vesey James Turberville William Alley William Bradbridge John Woolton Gervase Babington William Cotton Valentine Cary Joseph Hall Ralph Brownrigg John Gauden Seth Ward Anthony Sparrow Thomas Lamplugh Sir Jonathan Trelawney Bt Ofspring Blackall Lancelot Blackburne Stephen Weston Nicholas Clagett George Lavington Frederick Keppel John Ross William Buller Reginald Courtenay

Late modern	John Fisher George Pelham William Carey Christopher Bethell Henry Phillpotts Frederick Temple Edward Bickersteth Herbert Edward Ryle Archibald Robertson Lord William Cecil Charles Curzon Robert Mortimer Eric Mercer Hewlett Thompson Michael Langrish John Ford (acting) Nick McKinnel (acting)

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

Persondata
Name	Stapledon, Walter de
Alternative names
Short description	Bishop of Exeter; Lord High Treasurer of England
Date of birth	1 February 1261
Place of birth	Annery, Devonshire
Date of death	15 October 1326
Place of death	London, England

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