Richard Newport

Richard Newport († August 24, 1318 in Ilford ) was an English clergyman. From 1317 he was Bishop of London .

Origin and advancement as a clergyman

Richard Newport's origins are unknown. Possibly he came from a gentry family who owned properties in Essex , Hertfordshire and Middlesex and named themselves after Newport , Essex. He is first mentioned in the will of Bishop Richard of Gravesend , dated September 12, 1302. Thereafter, Newport was archdeacon of Colchester and served as Gravesends official . He was also a canon at St Paul's Cathedral in London. When Bishop Gravesend died in December 1303, Newport had assumed the archdeaconate of Middlesex in place of Colchester. He now served as one of the bishop's executors and took over the spiritual administration during the vacancy of the diocese. In 1305 and 1306 Newport served as Vicar General of the new Bishop Ralph Baldock , while on June 5, 1306 in the churchyard of St Paul's he announced the excommunication of the Scottish King Robert Bruce for the murder of John Comyn . 1313 commissioned him Walter Reynolds , Bishop of Worcester, to arbitrate a dispute between the Dominicans and the secular lecturers at Oxford University .

Bishop of London

In 1316 Newport was elected Dean of St Paul's, but he did not take up the office, probably because he was elected Bishop of the Diocese of London on January 27, 1317 . King Edward II confirmed the election on March 26, after which Newport was ordained bishop on May 15 in Canterbury by Archbishop Walter Reynolds. In the conflict between the King and the Earl of Lancaster , Newport tried to reach an agreement with a number of other bishops. Like the other bishops, he recommended in July 1318 the proposal for an agreement drawn up through negotiations in Leicester , which led to the Treaty of Leake in August 1318 . A little later, however, he died unexpectedly. He was buried in St Paul's Cathedral on August 28, 1318.

As early as 1309, Newport had decreed that two priests should hold spiritual offices for him. In 1315 he gave the almsman of St Paul's a house in which two choirboys could live for up to two years after their voices broke.

Web links

CL Kingsford, MC Buck: Newport, Richard (d.1318). 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

^ K. Edwards: The social origins and provenance of the English bishops during the reign of Edward II . In: Transactions of the Royal Historical Society , 9 (1959), p. 61.
↑ John Robert Maddicott: Thomas of Lancaster, 1307-1322. A Study in the Reign of Edward II. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1970, p. 214.
↑ John Robert Maddicott: Thomas of Lancaster, 1307-1322. A Study in the Reign of Edward II. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1970, p. 218.

predecessor	Office	successor
Gilbert Seagrave	Bishop of London 1317-1318	Stephen Gravesend

personal data
SURNAME	Newport, Richard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	English clergyman
DATE OF BIRTH	13th Century
DATE OF DEATH	August 24, 1318
Place of death	Ilford (London)

[1] K. Edwards: The social origins and provenance of the English bishops during the reign of Edward II . In: Transactions of the Royal Historical Society , 9 (1959), p. 61.

[2] John Robert Maddicott: Thomas of Lancaster, 1307-1322. A Study in the Reign of Edward II. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1970, p. 214.

[3] John Robert Maddicott: Thomas of Lancaster, 1307-1322. A Study in the Reign of Edward II. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1970, p. 218.