Walter Giffard

Walter Giffard (* around 1225; † April 24 or 25, 1279 in York ) was an English clergyman. From 1264 he was Bishop of Bath and Wells . In 1265 he became royal chancellor until he became archbishop of York in 1266 .

Origin and education

Walter was believed to be the eldest son of Hugh Giffard and his wife Sybil, a daughter and co-heir of Walter de Cormeilles . The future Royal Chancellor and Bishop of Worcester Godfrey Giffard was probably Walter's younger brother. Walter's father served as royal judge and lived in Boyton , Wiltshire . Several 13th century prelates came from Walter's family . Walter's relatives included Archbishop Walter de Gray of York and William Buttonwho was his predecessor as Bishop of Bath and Wells from 1247. Yet little is known about Walter's youth and early years. As early as June 1245 he received a papal dispensation so that he could have several benefices at the same time. In 1247 he was appointed Rector of Newland , Gloucestershire , and later became a canon at Wells Cathedral . Walter held the title of papal chaplain before 1250 and served the king as an official. He studied at Cambridge University , probably there he graduated with a Master of Arts degree with his brother Godfrey in 1251 . Apparently, his family was highly favored by King Henry III. who financially supported her graduation ceremony. In 1256 King Walter and his mother Sybil allowed to live permanently in the royal Oxford Castle . In the early 1250s, the respected Franciscan Adam Marsh became aware of Walter and recommended the educated young man Robert de St Agatha . However, there is no evidence that Giffard wrote other writings other than numerous letters.

Promotion to bishop and royal chancellor

On May 22, 1264, Giffard was elected Bishop of the Diocese of Bath and Wells . As early as May 28th, the king confirmed the election and on September 1st gave him the diocese's temporalities . At this time, during the Second War of the Barons against the King, a noble opposition under Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, had taken over the government. Giffard traveled to France at the end of 1264, swearing in Paris that he would be Henry III. against the rebellious barons. On January 4, 1265 he was ordained bishop in Notre-Dame Cathedral. It is said that while he was away, many of his properties were looted by the rebels. Before returning to England, Archbishop Boniface of Canterbury , who was in exile in France, ordered him to excommunicate Montfort and his followers . In England, the king's supporters were able to decisively defeat Montfort on August 4, 1265 in the Battle of Evesham . Heinrich III, who was released again. rewarded Giffard on August 10 with the appointment of royal chancellor. Since Archbishop Boniface often stayed abroad even after the victory of the royal party, Giffard became the king's most influential spiritual advisor and effectively took over the leadership of the English Church. In August 1266 he was appointed to the committee that drafted the Dictum of Kenilworth .

Archbishop of York

A little later, on October 15, 1266, Pope Clement IV appointed Giffard Archbishop of York. Just two weeks later, Giffard was enthroned in York Minster , with which he resigned his previous spiritual and secular offices. Giffard undoubtedly owed this elevation to the king, since the cathedral chapter of York had preferred its dean William Rotherfield and the famous scholar Bonaventure had also been considered a promising candidate. On December 26th, 1266, the temporalities of the diocese were given to Giffard.

On October 13, 1269, Giffard directed the transfer of the relics of Edward the Confessor to the newly built Westminster Abbey . As the highest-ranking prelate in England, he was the first bishop who immediately after the death of Henry III. In 1272 the new King Edward I swore allegiance. Since he was still on his crusade in the Holy Land , Giffard took over the reign of England with the Earl of Gloucester and the Earl of Surrey . It was mainly thanks to Giffard that Edward I was able to take over the government unchallenged when he returned in 1274.

During Giffard's tenure as Archbishop of York, following the example of his previous diocese of Bath and Wells, the register of his files was no longer kept on rolls but in book form. The register of documents gives a good insight into the complex and extensive administration of the Archdiocese of York , which was one of the largest dioceses in England in the Middle Ages. As archbishop, Giffard conscientiously took care of the administration of his diocese until his death. At first he had mainly financial problems. For his elevation to archbishop and for the legal disputes that followed, Giffard had to pay high fees and court costs to the papal curia , which forced him to take out loans from Italian moneylenders. These debts were so high that he did not have the means to travel to Rome himself in 1270. In 1275 he still owed merchants from Lucca the high sum of £ 648.

Despite his tight finances, Giffard was generous to clergy and household officials. He himself was considered modest but elegant and sociable, and in old age he is described as corpulent. Despite considerable opposition, he supported his family. In 1267 he gave the office of Archdeacon of York to his brother Godfrey. In return, he supported the study of John le Romeyn and Giffard's relatives William Greenfield , both of whom later became Archbishops of York. One of Giffard's greatest achievements was the formation of a large network that included many gifted clergy in Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire . Many of them had served in his household or previously in royal administration.

As Archbishop of York, Giffard claimed that a cross was carried before him not only in the ecclesiastical province of York , but throughout England as a token of his primate status . This had already been claimed by several of his predecessors, but both her and Giffard's claims were rejected by the Archbishops of Canterbury, who were thus able to assert their primacy among the English bishops. Giffard renewed this old conflict, which thus weighed down the celebration of the coronation of Edward I on August 19, 1274 at Westminster Abbey. He started another conflict with the Diocese of Durham . After the death of Bishop Robert of Stichill , he wanted to use the vacancy of the diocese and on October 30, 1274 make a visit to the cathedral priory of Durham. Although Giffard apparently saw this visitation as his duty as archbishop and was very tactful in Durham, the visit put a considerable strain on the relationship between the archbishops of York and the subordinate but powerful bishops of Durham. Actions by Giffard's successors made the relationship even worse.

Giffard was buried in York Minster. Originally buried in the choir , his grave monument was later moved to the retro choir under Archbishop John Thoresby .

Web links

• RB Dobson: Giffard, Walter (c.1225–1279). 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
Ralph Sandwich	Lord Chancellor of England 1266–1267	Godfrey Giffard
William Button I.	Bishop of Bath and Wells 1264–1267	William of Bitton II
Bonaventure	Archbishop of York 1267–1279	William of Wickwane