Stephen Seagrave (Archbishop)

Stephen Seagrave (also Segrave ) († October 27, 1333 ) was an English clergyman. From 1323 he was Archbishop of Armagh .

Origin and education

Stephen Seagrave came from the Seagrave family, an English noble family originally from Leicestershire . However, its exact origin is unclear. He studied at Cambridge University , where he obtained a doctorate in canon law before 1306 . From 1303 to 1306 he served as Chancellor of Cambridge University, and on June 17, 1306 in Bordeaux he testified that the university had reached an agreement in a dispute with the Dominican Order .

Advancement as a clergyman

Seagrave had become rector of Aylestone, near Leicester , in May 1296, possibly thanks to the influence of his family . In 1300 he became rector of Stowe in Northamptonshire , the seat of his relative Nicholas Seagrave . After the related John Seagrave, 2nd Baron Seagrave became governor of the English King in Scotland during the First Scottish War of Independence , Seagrave also received benefices in Scotland. In August 1307 he became dean of Glasgow and in 1309 canon in Dunkeld . In view of the continued Scottish resistance against the English occupation, Seagrave had little income from these benefices. Bishop Robert Wishart of Glasgow was one of the leaders of the Scottish Resistance. Therefore, on January 10, 1309 , King Edward II asked Pope Clement V to depose Wishart and instead appoint Seagrave as Bishop of Glasgow. The Pope did not comply with this request, but on December 27, 1309 he allowed Seagrave to accept two further benefices, contrary to canon law, since his Scottish benefices were virtually worthless due to the successful Scottish resistance. Due to a lack of income, Seagrave had to borrow at least £ 140 from London merchants in 1310 and 1311. On January 29, 1315 he was finally archdeacon of Essex and before 1319 he was canon at St Paul's Cathedral in London , for which he resigned his office as archdeacon and rector of Stowe. However, he came with Bishop Robert Baldock from London in a dispute over the proceeds of the estate of Drayton . Before April 1318 he had become canon at Lincoln Cathedral and before December 5, 1320 dean of the cathedral chapter of Lichfield .

Archbishop of Armagh

On March 16, 1323 Pope John XXII appointed Seagrave to Archbishop of Armagh . The Irish Archdiocese had been vacant after the suspension of his predecessor Roland Jorz , who was also not active on site. On July 31, 1323 Seagrave received the temporalities . Rumors arose in England that Seagrave also only wanted to receive the income from the diocese without exercising his local office. Eventually Seagrave was ordained bishop in Avignon by Regnaud de la Porte , the Cardinal Bishop of Ostia . On April 28, 1324 the Pope asked him to leave Avignon and take over the leadership of his diocese. On June 25, 1325, Seagrave reported to the Pope from Armagh that he, together with his suffragan bishops, had announced the papal condemnation of the already excommunicated Roman-German King Ludwig the Bavarian in both English and Irish . Otherwise he was apparently little active in Ireland. In July 1328 Seagrave traveled again to the Curia in Avignon , where the Pope allowed him on October 15, 1330, despite not exercising his office in Ireland, to receive an annual income of £ 100 from his charities . Seagrave eventually died in England.

Web links

• TF Tout, Katherine Walsh: Seagrave [Segrave], Stephen (d. 1333). 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
Roland Jorz	Archbishop of Armagh 1323-1333	David Mág Oireachtaigh