Richard Mitford

Mitford sarcophagus in Salisbury Cathedral

Richard Mitford (also Richard Medford ; * around 1330; † May 5, 1407 in Potterne , Wiltshire ) was an English prelate . Coming from presumably low backgrounds, he made a career as a royal official before he later became Bishop of Chichester and then of Salisbury .

origin

Mitford was believed to be from Hagbourne , Berkshire . His father was Geoffrey Medford , his mother's name is unknown. His father later married a Constance, with whom he had another son, Walter.

Career as a royal official

Mitford is first mentioned on September 25, 1349 in Colchester Abbey , when he received a payment as a royal official on the occasion of the election of a new abbot, another payment he received when reappointed abbot in 1353. On November 2, 1352 he was a fellow at King's Hall in Cambridge , this position he held until January 15, 1378. As early as 1356 he was vicar in Guilsborough in Northamptonshire . On June 11, 1362 he was ordained a subdeacon . In 1359 he was still employed in the royal household, while in 1369 he was already serving in the Chapel Royal . As a reward, he received numerous ecclesiastical offices and benefices , including in Swithland in Leicestershire , Stoke Edith in Herefordshire , Worlingworth in Suffolk , Rollesby in Norfolk and Sibson in Leicestershire. On September 7, 1375 he was canon of St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle , 1379 at the Collegiate Church of Wingham in Kent and 1383 at the Chapel of Hastings Castle in Sussex . In 1381 he became pastor of St Magnus in London and Wittersham in Kent. In 1384 he became provost of the collegiate church of Caergybi on the Isle of Anglesey . He probably never attended many of the churches from which he received his income. In June 1385 he became secretary to King Richard II and thus belonged to the small but powerful circle of clergy around the king, who were deeply at odds with the nobility. Mitford served as keeper of the royal private seal until its importance was curtailed by the Wonderful Parliament in November 1386. The king rewarded him in August 1385 with the archdeaconate of Norfolk and with other benefices at Chichester Cathedral and Wilton Abbey as well as with the deanery of the rich collegiate church of St Martin-le-Grand in London, 1386 with benefices from York Minster and Wells Cathedral and 1387 with a canon position in Salisbury and benefices in Charminster and Bere . In addition, he had received hunting rights in 1384 in royal forests and property confiscated by opponents of the king in London.

Interim arrest and fall

Mitford's career came to a drastic halt when he was arrested by Richard Clifford in early 1388 along with other officials from the king's closest circle of advisers on the orders of the Lords Appellant . He was held prisoner with James Berners in Bristol Castle until he was transferred to the Tower of London , where he and the other prisoners were brought before Parliament in a show trial on March 12, 1388 . Unlike the secular defendants, Mitford and the other clergy were not convicted, but had to stay in the Tower until June 4, before they were released on condition that they would answer again before the next parliament. Ten days later they were released on condition that they leave the royal court, but when the king resumed political initiative shortly afterwards, they were soon able to resume their previous offices. Mitford was again the king's secretary until he was elected Bishop of Chichester on November 17, 1389 to succeed Thomas Rushook , who was also a favorite of the king. The king had already tried to make him bishop in previous years, but the elections in August 1386 for Bishop of Bath and Wells and in 1389 for Bishop of St Davids were not confirmed by the Pope.

Bishop of Chichester

Mitford was ordained bishop on April 10, 1390. It cannot be clarified whether he actually performed his duties in the diocese or whether he continued to serve at the royal court, as the diocese's records are incomplete. There is a record of a visitation between 1391 and 1392 against which there were violent protests in Chichester and during which he confirmed the rights of Lewes Monastery . In 1395 the Vicar General Michael Cergeaux acted as his representative during his absence.

Bishop of Salisbury

By 1395 he was already being traded as a candidate for larger and richer dioceses. In the spring of 1395 a candidacy as Bishop of Worcester failed , but with the support of the King he became Bishop of Salisbury in the fall of 1395, against the will of the cathedral chapter , which had spoken out for Richard Clifford. The election officially took place on December 1st, but Mitford had already been confirmed by the Pope on October 25th.

Medford initially remained active in the royal administration, but was no longer as important as before his election as Bishop of Salisbury. On October 4, 1394 he was Treasurer of the Exchequer of Ireland and in 1395 he was royal representative, who in Dublin with French ambassadors about a marriage of King Richard II with one of the three cousins ​​of the French King Charles VI. negotiated. He assisted the new royal secretary Roger Walden in negotiating with Irish nobles and continued to witness royal documents. From March 20, 1399 he administered the possessions of the exiled Duke of Norfolk .

After King Richard II was overthrown by Henry Bolingbroke in the fall of 1399 , Mitford's influence declined. He now devoted himself to the administration of his diocese, but held back on Chapter matters and visited Rome in 1404. He appointed Henry Chicheley , later Archbishop of Canterbury, as his vicar general . In a long argument between the nuns of the small monastery Broomhall and their superior Juliana, he avoided a decision so that Archbishop Thomas Arundel had to intervene and in 1405 removed Juliana from her position. Little is known about his further relations with the other English bishops. His half-brother Walter, who had studied civil law at Oxford, supported him in the administration of his diocese. In December 1396 he ordained him as a subdeacon and probably through his influence he became Chancellor of the Diocese of Chichester. For a short time Walter was archdeacon of Dorset, then from 1402 to 1404 Chancellor of the Diocese of Salisbury and then archdeacon of Salisbury and later of Berkshire.

Private life

Based on the accounts of his household from October 1406 until his death, he is known to have an annual income of over £ 1000. Over 70 people lived in his household and he obtained many goods and delicacies such as lobster, oysters, partridges, and wine and beer from London and other cities, although fasting was strictly observed. His will shows that he was a splendor-loving bishop who owned numerous elaborately crafted robes and splendid jewelry.

Mitford was seriously ill by autumn 1406 at the latest. He was buried in Salisbury Cathedral. In his will he considered the nunneries of Rusper in Sussex, Kington St Michael in Wiltshire and Broomhall, and he had masses read in every monastery in his diocese. However, he bequeathed most of his property to his household and relatives , including his stepmother Constanze and his half-sister Alice Hunte.

In Sherborne Missal , one of Robert Brunyng , the abbot of Sherborne Abbey in order given Missal , it is displayed in eight illustrations. Brunyng was also a member of the Salisbury Cathedral Chapter.

Web links

• Brian Golding: Medford, Richard (d.1407). 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

Individual evidence

1. ^ British Library online gallery: The Sherborne Missal - Introduction. Retrieved May 9, 2015 . 

predecessor	Office	successor
Thomas Rushook	Bishop of Chichester 1390-1395	Robert Waldby
John Waltham	Bishop of Salisbury 1395-1407	Nicholas Bubwith