Richard of Ilchester

Infobox bishopbiog
name =Richard of Ilchester


religion =Catholic
See =Diocese of Winchester
Title = Bishop of Winchester
Period = 1173–1188
Predecessor = Henry of Blois
Successor =Godfrey de Lucy
ordination =
bishops =
post =Archdeacon of Poitiers
date of birth =
place of birth =
date of death =22 December 1188
place of death =

Richard of Ilchester, also called Richard of Toclyve or Richard of Toclive (d.22 December 1188) was a medieval English statesman and prelate

Life

He was born in the diocese of Bath, where he obtained preferment. Early in the reign of Henry II, however, he is found acting as a clerk in the King's court, probably under Thomas Becket, and he was one of the officials who assisted Henry in carrying out his great judicial and financial reforms. Richard was the first King's Remembrancer, the oldest judicial office still in existence in England, in 1154.

In 1162, or 1163, he was appointed archdeacon of Poitiers, [http://british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=33876 British History Online Bishops of Winchester] accessed on 2 November 2007] but he passed most of his time in England, although in the next two or three years he visited Pope Alexander III and the Emperor Frederick I in the interests of the English king, who was then engaged in his struggle with Becket.Fact|date=October 2008 He was one of the persons whom the Constitutions of Clarendon were addressed, along with Geoffrey Ridel and Richard de Luci.Knowles, et. al. "Henry II's Supplement" "English Historical Review" p. 759] For promising to support Frederick against Alexander he was excommunicated by Becket in 1166. [cite book|last=Dunning|first=Robert|title=A Somerset Miscellany| pages =28–29|publisher=Somerset Books|location=Tiverton|date=2005|isbn=0861834275] Before this event, however, Richard had been appointed a baron of the exchequer, his great industry and exceptional abilities as an accountant being recognized by giving him a special seat at the exchequer table, and from 1168 until his death he frequently acted as one of the itinerant justices.

Although totally immersed in secular business he received several rich ecclesiastical offices including treasurer of the diocese of Poitiers, and 1 May 1173 he was elected bishop of Winchester, being consecrated at Canterbury in October of 1174.Powicke "Handbook of British Chronology" p. 258] Richard still continued to serve Henry II. In 1176 he was appointed justiciary and seneschal of Normandy, and was given full control of all the royal business in the duchy. He died on 22 December 1188, and was buried in Winchester Cathedral. Richard owes his surname to the fact that Henry II granted him a mill at Ilchester.

While bishop he gave an endowment to a hospital in Winchester, and allowed it to double the number of poor that it fed.Turner "Religious Patronage" "Albion" p. 5]

He probably was the father of the brothers Richard Poore, who became Bishop of Durham, and Herbert Poore, who became Bishop of Salisbury. [http://british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=34219 British History Online Bishops of Salisbury] accessed on 30 October 2007]

ee also

* List of bishops of Winchester

Notes

References

*
* [http://british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=34219 British History Online Bishops of Salisbury] accessed on 30 October 2007
* [http://british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=33876 British History Online Bishops of Winchester] accessed on 2 November 2007
*
* Norgate, Kate "Richard of Ilchester" in the "Dictionary of National Biography", vol. xlviii. (1896)
* Powicke, F. Maurice and E. B. Fryde "Handbook of British Chronology" 2nd. ed. London:Royal Historical Society 1961
* Stephens, W. R. W. and W. W. Capes, "The Bishops of Winchester" (1907)
*

Persondata
NAME=Richard of Ilchester
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Richard of Toclyve; Richard of Toclive
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Bishop of Winchester
DATE OF BIRTH=
PLACE OF BIRTH=
DATE OF DEATH=22 December 1188
PLACE OF DEATH=