Richard of Gravesend (Bishop of Lincoln)

Richard of Gravesend († December 18, 1279 in Stow ) was an English clergyman. From 1258 he was Bishop of Lincoln . During the Second War of the Barons , he supported the nobility opposition to King Henry III.

Origin and advancement as a clergyman

Richard of Gravesend came from a family of gentry of Kent , who after the city of Gravesend named and the nearby estate of Parrocks in Milton possessed. He presumably studied at Oxford , where he graduated with a master's degree before 1248 . He had become treasurer of Hereford Cathedral before 1239 . Before 1250 he became archdeacon of Oxford . Presumably he had already made a trip abroad with Bishop Robert Grosseteste in 1250 , but the destination is not known. 1254 he is a chaplain of John of Toledo , Cardinal Priest of San Lorenzo in Lucina called, but in August 1254 he was Dean of Lincoln Cathedral , where a sinecure received. In 1258 Pope Alexander IV commissioned him to review the legality of Osney Abbey's claims to the Chapel of St George-in-the-Castle in Oxford.

Bishop of Lincoln

Supporter of the aristocratic opposition in the Second Barons' War

On September 21 or 23, 1258, Gravesend was elected Bishop of the Diocese of Lincoln . King Henry III confirmed the election on October 13th and on October 17th the temporalities were handed over to him. He was ordained bishop on November 3rd in Canterbury by Archbishop Boniface of Savoy . Shortly afterwards he traveled to France with Walter de Cantilupe , Bishop of Worcester, Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester and Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Gloucester . After initial negotiations in Cambrai , they were able to reach a peace treaty in May, which was the Treaty of Paris in December 1259 by Henry III. has been confirmed. Since Gravesend spent Christmas at the royal court, Gravesend may have previously traveled to France again to confirm the contract. A nobility opposition had formed against the king's policy, the leaders of which included the Earl of Leicester and, at times, the Earl of Gloucester. Gravesend also became increasingly involved in the conflict. From 1261 to 1262 he traveled to Viterbo , Italy , where he may have sworn allegiance to Pope Urban IV . On July 4, 1263 he was commissioned together with Henry of Sandwich , Bishop of London and Roger de Meuland , Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, to mediate in the conflict between the king and the aristocratic opposition. Both parties ultimately wanted an arbitration award from the French King Louis IX in the conflict . accept. When this decided the conflict in the Mise of Amiens in January 1264 in favor of the English king, it came to the open Second War of the barons against the king. Here Gravesend obviously sympathized with the aristocratic opposition, which is why Heinrich III. imposed a fine of 500 marks on him for failing to hand over the episcopal castles of Newark and Sleaford to the king. After the victory of the aristocratic opposition and the capture of the king at the Battle of Lewes , Gravesend took part in the Parliamentary Assembly in London in June 1264 , through which the empire should be pacified. In the autumn of 1264 Gravesend accompanied the king, who was in the hands of the opposition nobles, to Canterbury. To this end, he and two other bishops were supposed to investigate the looting of church property during the war of the barons. In January 1265 he took part in De Montfort's Parliament . In August 1265, the royal party was able to crush the aristocratic opposition in the Battle of Evesham , which decided the war of the barons in the king's favor. When the papal legate Ottobono arrived in England a little later , Gravesend was suspended as one of four bishops for supporting the aristocratic opposition . In contrast to Bishops Henry of Sandwich, John Gervase, and Stephen Bersted , Gravesend was obviously treated more leniently. He was allowed to reconcile himself with the king and traveled to the Curia in December 1266 to get the Pope to lift his suspension. In October 1267 he returned to England and took over the administration of his diocese again.

The Angel Choir of Lincoln Cathedral established during Gravesend's tenure

Further activity as a bishop

In April 1268, Gravesend probably took part in the council in London's St Paul's Cathedral , at which Legate Ottobono decided to reform the English Church. In October 1269 he took part with other bishops in a church council meeting in London's New Temple , at which the prelates objected to financial support required by the king. To strengthen their position, they decided to turn to the Pope. Between December 1270 and March 1272, Gravesend made another trip abroad, the purpose and destination of which are unknown. After that he mainly devoted himself to the administration of his diocese, which he dutifully and diligently did. He made sure that parish vicars were appointed for beneficiaries to take over pastoral care in the parishes, and he also often looked after chaplains in remote villages. Two ceremonies were held during each Lent while the new priest was ordained. In his vast diocese he made a tour every three years, during which he resolved church disputes. Already in 1262 or 1263 Gravesend had procured a benefice at Lincoln Cathedral for his alleged relatives of the same name, Richard of Gravesend , who later became Bishop of London. In 1274 Gravesend did not take part in the Council of Lyons , and in 1275 Archbishop John Pecham insisted on the appointment of a coadjutor because of Gravesend's poor health . His health probably improved again, because in 1279 he took part in the church council meeting in Reading , at which many resolutions for reforming the church were announced according to the results of the Council of Lyons. Apparently, however, Gravesend misunderstood some of the decisions made, because he subsequently tried overzealously to prevent clergy from accumulating offices. For this he was severely reprimanded by Archbishop John Pecham.

Gravesend probably had a good relationship with his cathedral chapter. It was during his tenure as dean and bishop that the magnificent Angel Choir of Lincoln Cathedral came into being, almost complete by the time of his death. He died on the episcopal estate of Stow. In his will he donated various liturgical vestments and implements to the cathedral . He bequeathed a book or two to Rochester Cathedral Priory. He was buried in Lincoln Cathedral.

Web links

• Roy Martin Haines: Gravesend, Richard of (d. 1279). 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

predecessor	Office	successor
Henry of Lexinton	Bishop of Lincoln 1258–1279	Oliver Sutton