Richard le Grant

Richard le Grant (also known as Richard Grant or Richard Wethershed) was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1229 to 1231. Infobox Archbishop of Canterbury
Full name = Richard le Grant


birth_name =
consecration = 10 June 1229
term_end = 3 August 1231
began=unknown
predecessor = Walter d'Eynsham
successor = Ralph Neville
birth_date =
death_date = 3 August 1231
tomb =

Biography

He was a native of Nazeing, Essex and had a brother and sister who he provided for after he became archbishop.Lawrence "Grant, Richard (d. 1231)" "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography" [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/11283 Online Edition] accessed 8 November 2007] Richard was chancellor of the see of Lincoln when Henry III nominated him to be Archbishop of Canterbury in opposition to Walter d'Eynsham in 1229.Powell "The House of Lords in the Middle Ages" p. 150-151] He had been chancellor of Lincoln since at least 16 December 1220, when he first occurs in documents in that office. [http://british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=33563 British History Online Chancellors of Lincoln] accessed on September 11, 2007] He was also a distinguished writer.Moorman "Church Life in England in the Thirteenth Century" p. 162] and teacher.

Richard was provided to the see of Canterbury on 19 January 1229 by Pope Gregory IX, and received the temporalities of the see probably on 24 March 1231. He was consecrated on 10 June 1229.Fryde "Handbook of British Chronology" 3rd ed. p. 233] He was recommended for the see by Alexander de Stavenby, bishop of Coventry, and Henry Sandford, bishop of Rochester, who wrote to the pope on Richard's behalf. On 26 January 1231, at a council at Westminster Richard, along with other bishops, objected to Henry III's earlier demand of a second scutage payment. Grant found himself in conflict with Hubert de Burgh, the Justiciar, over the wardship of the de Clare estates at Towbridge, which conflict the archbishop lost after King Henry III of England sided with his justiciar.

Richard then attempted to implement reforms in the clergy over the issue of pluralism and the employment of the clergy in the royal government. In pursuit of this aim, he journeyed to Rome to enlist the papacy's aid, but after a favorable reception at the Curia, he died on his return journey to England on 3 August 1231 in Italy.Powell "The House of Lords in the Middle Ages" p. 157] He was buried in San Gemini in Umbria.

Notes

References

* [http://british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=33563 British History Online Chancellors of Lincoln] accessed on September 11, 2007
*
* Lawrence, C. H. "Grant, Richard (d. 1231)" "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography" Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/11283 Online Edition] accessed 8 November 2007
* Moorman, John R. H. "Church Life in England in the Thirteenth Century" Revised Edition Cambridge:Cambridge University Press 1955
* Powell, J. Enoch and Keith Wallis "The House of Lords in the Middle Ages: A History of the English House of Lords to 1540" London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson 1968

Persondata
NAME= Grant, Richard le
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Richard Grant; Richard Wethershed
SHORT DESCRIPTION= Archbishop of Canterbury
DATE OF BIRTH=
PLACE OF BIRTH=
DATE OF DEATH= 3 August 1231
PLACE OF DEATH= Italy