Walter of Kirkham

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Walter of Kirkham
Bishop of Durham
See	Diocese of Durham
Elected	21 April 1249
Term ended	9 August 1260
Predecessor	Nicholas Farnham
Successor	Robert Stitchill
Other posts	Dean of York
Orders
Consecration	5 December 1249 by Walter de Gray
Personal details
Died	9 August 1260
Buried	17 August 1260 Durham Cathedral in the chapter house
Denomination	Catholic

Walter of Kirkham (died 1260) was a medieval Bishop of Durham.

Early life

Walter was probably a native of Kirkham, Yorkshire.^[1] From about January 1224 Walter held the office of Keeper of the Wardrobe jointly with Walter Brackley. Brackley was out of office by February 1229, but Walter continued to hold the office until 15 August 1231. He held the office again from May 1234 until October 1236.^[2] The record of office for Kirkham and Brackley from 1224 to 1227 is the first records of the king's Wardrobe to survive. The Wardrobe at this time was responsible not only for the household expenses of the king, but also for the expenses of military campaigns and also court festivals.^[3] He held the office of dean of St. Martin's-le-Grand in London by about 1229.^[1] He was a canon of York Minster before being named Dean of York by 21 June 1232.^[4]

Bishop

Walter was elected to the see of Durham on 21 April 1249, and was consecrated on 5 December 1249.^[5] King Henry III of England had tried to secure the election of the king's half brother, Aymer de Valence, but did not succeed. Walter was consecrated at York by Walter de Gray, the Archbishop of York.^[1] While bishop, in 1255 he ordered an inquiry made into the state of theological knowledge of his clergy. This inquiry was to determine whether the clergy understood the basic dogma of the church and whether they were capable of explaining it to their parishioners.^[6] He also issued instructions on how the sacramental wine and bread were to be treated,^[7] and forbade the sale of them.^[8] Some doubt has recently been cast on the authorship of the statutes that were assigned to his time, they may have been the work of Farnham instead.^[1]

Walter attempted to reduce the amount that was going to support his retired predecessor Farnham, but even though he secured the support of the prior of Durham, they were unsuccessful. He did confirm Farnham's gifts to the monks of Durham, and increased them with gifts of his own. His conflict with John Balliol over a manor both claimed, after an ambush where the bishop's servants were kidnapped, led to Walter imposing a penance on Balliol to support poor scholars at Oxford. This was one of the first steps towards the founding of Balliol College.^[1]

In 1257 Walter was part of an embassy to Scotland during King Alexander III of Scotland's minority. Walter's house in London was used by Simon de Montfort during 1258. Walter may have supported Simon in Simon's dispute with King Henry III, for In 1258, Walter refused to come to court and quarrelled with the king. The cause of the quarrel may have been Walter's support of Simon.^[1]

Death

Walter died on 9 August 1260^[9] at Howden. He was buried in the Durham Cathedral chapter house on 17 August 1260.^[1]

Notes

↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Piper "Kirkham, Walter of (d. 1260)" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
↑ Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 79
↑ Chrimes Introduction to the Administrative History of England pp. 102–103
↑ British History Online Deans of York
↑ Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 242
↑ Moorman Church Life p. 92
↑ Moorman Church Life p. 226
↑ Moorman Church Life p. 228
↑ British History Online Bishops of Durham

References

British History Online Bishops of Durham accessed on 25 October 2007
British History Online Deans of York accessed on 25 October 2007
Chrimes, S. B. (1966). An Introduction to the Administrative History of Mediaeval England (Third Edition ed.). Oxford, UK: Basil Blackwell.
Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology (Third revised ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X.
Moorman, John R. H. (1955). Church Life in England in the Thirteenth Century (Revised Edition ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Piper, A. J. (2004). "Kirkham, Walter of (d. 1260)" ((subscription or UK public library membership required)). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/15668. Retrieved 2 February 2008.

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Nicholas Farnham	Bishop of Durham 1249–1260	Succeeded by Robert Stitchill

v t e Deans of York

High Medieval	Hugh William of St. Barbara Robert of Ghent Robert Butevilain Hubert Walter Henry Marshal Simon of Apulia William Testard Hamo Roger de Insula Geoffrey de Norwich Fulk Basset Walter of Kirkham Sewal de Bovil Godfrey Ludham Roger de Holderness/Skeffling William Langton Robert de Scarborough Henry of Newark

Late Medieval	William Hambleton Raymond de Goth William Pickering Robert Pickering William de Colby William Zouche Hélie de Talleyrand-Périgord Cardinal Angelicus Grimaud Edmund Stafford Roger Walden Richard Clifford Thomas Langley John Prophet Thomas Polton William Grey Robert Gilbert William Felter Richard Andrew Robert Booth Christopher Urswick William Sheffield Geoffrey Blythe

Early modern	Christopher Bainbridge James Harrington Thomas Wolsey John Yonge Brian Higden Richard Layton Nicholas Wotton Matthew Hutton John Thornborough George Meriton John Scott Richard Marsh William Sancroft Robert Hitch Tobias Wickham Thomas Gale Henry Finch Richard Osbaldeston John Fountayne

Late modern	George Markham William Cockburn Augustus Duncombe Arthur Purey-Cust William Foxley Norris Lionel Ford Herbert Bate Eric Milner-White Alan Richardson Ronald Jasper John Southgate Raymond Furnell Keith Jones Vivienne Faull

v t e Bishops and Prince-Bishops of Durham

High Medieval Bishops	Aldhun Edmund Eadred Æthelric Æthelwine

High Medieval Prince-Bishops	William Walcher William de St-Calais Ranulf Flambard Geoffrey Rufus William Cumin William of St. Barbara Hugh de Puiset Philip of Poitou Richard Poore John de Gray Morgan Richard Marsh William Scot Richard Poore Thomas de Melsonby Nicholas Farnham Walter of Kirkham Robert Stitchill Robert of Holy Island Antony Bek

Late Medieval Prince-Bishops	Richard Kellaw Lewis de Beaumont Richard de Bury Thomas Hatfield John Fordham Walter Skirlaw Thomas Langley Robert Neville Lawrence Booth William Dudley John Sherwood Richard Foxe

Early modern Prince-Bishops	William Senhouse Christopher Bainbridge Thomas Ruthall Thomas Wolsey Cuthbert Tunstall James Pilkington Richard Barnes Matthew Hutton Tobias Matthew William James Richard Neile George Montaigne John Howson Thomas Morton John Cosin Nathaniel Crew William Talbot Edward Chandler Joseph Butler Richard Trevor John Egerton Thomas Thurlow Shute Barrington William Van Mildert

Late modern Bishops	Edward Maltby Charles Longley Henry Villiers Charles Baring Joseph Barber Lightfoot Brooke Westcott Handley Moule Hensley Henson Alwyn Williams Michael Ramsey Maurice Harland Ian Ramsey John Habgood David Jenkins Michael Turnbull Tom Wright Justin Welby Paul Butler

Persondata
Name	Walter of Kirkham
Alternative names
Short description	Bishop of Durham
Date of birth
Place of birth
Date of death	9 August 1260
Place of death

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