Peter de Leia

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During Peter de Leia's tenure, the construction of St David's Cathedral began

Peter de Leia (also Peter of Lee ) († July 16, 1198 ) was an English clergyman. From 1176 he was Bishop of St Davids in Wales.

Ascent to bishop

Peter de Leia's origins and youth are unknown. Allegedly he was an uncle of Reginald Foliot , who later became a canon at St David's Cathedral . After 1170 he was prior of Much Wenlock Priory in Shropshire . When, after the death of Bishop David FitzGerald in 1176, the cathedral chapter of the Welsh diocese of Saint David’s nominated the four archdeacons of the diocese as candidates for the office of bishop, King Henry II expected these candidates to be Gerald of Wales , nephew of the late bishop as the new bishop. The king was so angry about this preselection that he did not appoint any of the four as the new bishop. Instead, Peter de Leia was elected. He was ordained bishop on November 7, 1176.

Bishop of St Davids

The information about this election and most of what is known about Peter de Leia's tenure comes from Gerald of Wales, who was defeated by him in the episcopal election. This portrayed Peter de Leia in an extremely negative way. As bishop, Peter de Leia would have been in dispute with the Welsh, who rejected him as a bishop imposed by the English king, as well as with his cathedral chapter. Nor could he uphold the claim of the Bishops of St David's to be Metropolitan of Wales. These conflicts meant that he hardly stayed in his diocese, but instead worked in the service of the English kings in England. In 1184, the attempt by the monks of Canterbury Cathedral Priory to nominate him as a candidate for the office of Archbishop of Canterbury failed . In 1188 he took a crusade vow, from which he was released in 1189. During his tenure as bishop, construction began on the new St David's Cathedral in 1181 . In the 1190s there was again major fighting in Wales between the Welsh principalities and the Anglo- Norman Marcher Lords , who were supported by the English kings. Thereby destroying Lord Rhys , the Welsh manor of Deheubarth 1192 Llawhaden Castle , a castle of the Bishop of St Davids. Lord Rhys was excommunicated for this attack , only after his death in 1197 was the excommunication lifted, so that Lord Rhys could still be buried in the cathedral of St Davids. Bishop Peter was also buried in the cathedral after his death.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Robert Bartlett: Gerald of Wales (c.1146-1220x23) (1271-1312). In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , from the earliest times to the year 2000 (ODNB). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861411-X , ( oxforddnb.com license required ), as of 2004
  2. ↑ St Davids Cathedral: A Brief History Of The Cathedral. Retrieved November 17, 2016 .
  3. ^ Lise E. Hull: Britain's medieval castles . Praeger, Westport 2006. ISBN 0-275-98414-1 , p. 135
predecessor Office successor
David FitzGerald Bishop of St. Davids
1176–1198 		Gerald of Wales
personal data
SURNAME Peter de Leia
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Peter of Lee
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English clergyman, Bishop of St Davids
DATE OF BIRTH 12th Century
DATE OF DEATH July 16, 1198