View source for Walter Giffard

{{Short description|Archbishop of York from 1266 to 1279}}
{{Other people}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| name = Walter Giffard
| title = [[Archbishop of York]]
| image = 
| imagesize =
| alt =
| caption =
| appointed = 15 October 1266
| enthroned = 1 November 1266
| term_end = late April 1279
| predecessor = [[Godfrey Ludham]]
| successor = [[William de Wickwane]]
| consecration=4 January 1265
| consecrated_by=[[Peter d'Acquablanca]]
| elected = translated 15 October 1266
| other_post = [[List of Bishops of Bath and Wells and precursor offices|Bishop of Bath and Wells]]
| birth_date = {{circa|1225}}
| death_date = April 1279
| death_place = [[York]]
| buried = [[York Minster]]
| parents = Hugh Giffard<br />Sibyl de Cormeilles
| module = {{Infobox officeholder | embed = yes
| office              = [[Lord Chancellor]]
| term_start          = 1265
| term_end            = 1266
| monarch             = [[Henry III of England]]
| predecessor         = [[Ralph Sandwich]]
| successor           = [[Godfrey Giffard]]
}}
}}
'''Walter Giffard''' ({{circa|1225}}{{snd}}April 1279) was [[Lord Chancellor|Lord Chancellor of England]] and [[Archbishop of York]].

==Family==
[[File:Henry III of England - Illustration from Cassell's History of England - Century Edition - published circa 1902.jpg|thumb|right|A picture of Henry III taken from ''Cassell's History of England'' published c. 1902. Henry entrusted his son Edward to the care of Walter's parents.]]
Giffard was a son of Hugh Giffard of [[Boyton, Wiltshire|Boyton]] in [[Wiltshire]],<ref name=BHOYork>Greenway ''[http://british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=8457 Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300: Volume 6: York: Archbishops]''</ref> a royal justice, by Sibyl, a daughter and co-heiress of Walter de Cormeilles. He was born about 1225, and may have been the oldest son.<ref name=DNB>Dobson "Giffard, Walter" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''</ref> Hugh and Sybil were entrusted with the care of the young Prince [[Edward I of England|Edward]] in 1239.<ref name=Edward5>Prestwich ''Edward I'' pp. 5–6</ref> In 1256 Giffard and his mother received the king's licence to live in [[Boyton, Wiltshire#History|Boyton Castle]].<ref name=DNB/> Giffard's brother was Bishop [[Godfrey Giffard]], who was [[Bishop of Worcester]]<ref name=BHOYork/> and also Lord Chancellor of England; his sister Mabel was the [[Abbess]] of [[Shaftesbury Abbey]]. Walter was also a kinsman of [[William of Bitton I]], who was Walter's predecessor at Bath.<ref name=BHOBath>Greenway ''[http://british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=34341 Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300: Volume 7: Bath and Wells: Bishops]''</ref> The family was also related to [[Walter de Gray]], who was Archbishop of York from 1215 to 1255.<ref name=DNB/>

==Career==
Giffard studied at [[Cambridge University]] and took his Master of Arts at [[Oxford University]]. While at university [[Adam Marsh]] wrote to another scholar praising Giffard's scholarly skills.<ref name=DNB/> Giffard took holy orders and became a [[Canon (priest)|canon]] and [[archdeacon of Wells]] and a papal chaplain.<ref name=BHOPrebends>Greenway ''[http://british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=34409 Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300: Volume 7: Bath and Wells: Unidentified Prebendaries]''</ref> On 22 May 1264 he was elected [[Bishop of Bath and Wells]]<ref name="EB1911">{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Giffard, Walter|volume=12|page=4}}</ref> and received the [[temporalities]] on 1 September 1264. As the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]], [[Boniface of Savoy, Archbishop of Canterbury|Boniface of Savoy]] was in France, Giffard travelled to Paris to be consecrated at Notre-Dame on 4 January 1265.<ref name=BHOBath/><ref name="Handbook282">Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 282</ref> The service was performed by [[Peter d'Acquablanca]], the [[Bishop of Hereford]], Giffard having first sworn that he would not take part against King [[Henry III of England|Henry III]]. However, the barons were angered that he had ventured abroad against their will and ravaged nearly all his manors. Archbishop Boniface ordered him to [[excommunicate]] [[Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester|Simon de Montfort]] the [[Earl of Leicester]] and his party on Giffard's return to England.<ref name=DNB/> Following the [[Battle of Evesham]], on 10 August 1265 King Henry made Giffard Chancellor and awarded him a stipend of five hundred marks a year.<ref name=Handbook85>Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 85</ref> In August of the following year he was appointed one of the arbitrators for drawing up the [[Dictum of Kenilworth]] which provided the disinherited lords a means of recovering their estates.

On 15 October 1266 Giffard was appointed by Pope [[Pope Clement IV|Clement IV]] to the Archbishopric of York. As part of this elevation he resigned the chancellorship<ref name=Handbook85/> and was enthroned on 1 November 1266, receiving his temporalities on [[Boxing Day]].<ref name="Handbook282"/> Soon after his enthronement he became involved in a dispute with Archbishop Boniface of Canterbury about the right to carry his cross erect in the southern province, and ended up making an appeal to Rome.<ref name=DNB/>

Although Giffard had family wealth and much money associated with his office, he could not keep clear of debt. In the years after his appointment he paid 1600 [[German mark|mark]]s to Italian money-lenders, 550 marks to certain merchants of Paris, and in 1270 sent 200 marks to his agents at Rome to expedite his affairs, hoping, "...for the present to keep out of the whirlpool of usury." Despite his own financial problems he seems to have been kind to his relatives, paying for his nephew's education<ref name=DNB/> and giving his brother Godfrey the Archdeaconry of York.<ref name=BHOArchDYork>Greenway ''[http://british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=6444 Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300: Volume 6: York: Archdeacons: York]''</ref> His register contains many gifts to the poor, and he helped support schoolmasters at Beverley.<ref name=Moorman205>Moorman ''Church Life'' pp. 205–207</ref> He also supported the scholarly careers of two of his successors at York, [[John le Romeyn]] and [[William Greenfield]].<ref name=DNB/>

On 13 October 1269 Giffard officiated at the translation of [[Edward the Confessor]]'s relics.<ref name=DNB/> When leaving England, Prince Edward (who was then heir to the throne) appointed him by will in 1270 as one of the tutors of his sons. He also assisted Edward in bringing [[John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey|John de Warenne]] the [[Earl of Surrey]] to justice for the murder of [[Alan la Zouche (1205–1270)|Alan la Zouche]] at [[Westminster]]. Upon the death of Henry III on 20 November 1272 the [[Great Seal of the Realm|Great Seal]] was delivered to the Archbishop as first Lord of the Council in order for him, [[Roger Mortimer, 1st Baron Wigmore|Roger Mortimer]] and [[Robert Burnell]] to be appointed to govern the Kingdom until the return of the new king, now [[Edward I of England|Edward I]], to the country in August 1274.<ref name=Chrimes130>Chrimes ''Introduction to the Administrative History'' p. 130</ref> Giffard again acted in this capacity during the king's absence in 1275.<ref name="EB1911"/>

==Death==
Giffard died at York on or about 22 April 1279,<ref name="Handbook282"/> and he was buried in [[York Minster]], probably in the choir.<ref name=BHOYork/> Archbishop Thoresby later removed his body to a tomb which he had erected in the presbytery.<ref name=DNB/> Contemporary reports state that Giffard was a handsome, happy and genial man who was fond of luxury; as a result of this in later life he grew fat which affected both his health and his temper. He was noted at the time as being a man of high character who was able and industrious.

==Citations==
{{reflist|40em}}

==References==
{{refbegin|60em}}
* {{cite book |author=Chrimes, S. B. |title= An Introduction to the Administrative History of Mediaeval England|url=https://archive.org/details/introductiontoad0000chri |url-access=registration |edition=Third  |year= 1966|publisher= Basil Blackwell|location=Oxford, UK |oclc= 270094959 }}
* {{cite encyclopedia| author=Dobson, R. B. |title=Giffard, Walter (c.1225–1279)|encyclopedia =Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |publisher= Oxford University Press |year=2004 |doi= 10.1093/ref:odnb/10654 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/10654 | access-date= 12 November 2007 |url-access=subscription }}{{ODNBsub}}
* {{cite book |author1=Fryde, E. B. |author2=Greenway, D. E. |author3=Porter, S. |author4=Roy, I. |title=Handbook of British Chronology|edition=Third Edition, revised |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, UK |year=1996 |isbn=0-521-56350-X }}
* {{cite book |author=Greenway, Diana E. |section=Archdeacons: York |title= Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300|volume=6: York|year=1999 |publisher= Institute of Historical Research |section-url= http://british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=6444 |access-date=22 September 2007}}
* {{cite book |author=Greenway, Diana E. |section=Archbishops |title= Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300|volume=6: York|year=1999 |publisher= Institute of Historical Research |section-url= http://british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=8457 |access-date=22 September 2007}}
* {{cite book |author=Greenway, Diana E. |section=Bishops |title= Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300|volume=7: Bath and Wells|year=2001 |publisher= Institute of Historical Research |section-url= http://british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=34341 |access-date=22 September 2007}}
* {{cite book |author=Greenway, Diana E. |section=Unidentified Prebendaries |title= Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300|volume=7: Bath and Wells|year=2001 |publisher= Institute of Historical Research |section-url= http://british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=34409 |access-date=22 September 2007}}
* {{cite book |author=Moorman, John R. H. |author-link= John Moorman  |title= Church Life in England in the Thirteenth Century  |year=1955|edition=Revised |publisher= Cambridge University Press |location= Cambridge |oclc= 213820968  }}
* {{cite book |author=Prestwich, Michael|author-link=Michael Prestwich |title=Edward I |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven, CT |year=1997  |isbn=0-300-07157-4 }}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* [http://www.medievalgenealogy.org.uk/families/giffard/godfrey.shtml Godfrey Giffard's Will]

{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef| before=[[Ralph Sandwich]]<br />(Keeper of the Great Seal) }}
{{s-ttl | title=[[Lord Chancellor]] | years=1265–1266}}
{{s-aft|  after=[[Godfrey Giffard]]}}
{{s-rel|ca}}
{{s-bef | before=[[William of Bitton I]]}}
{{s-ttl | title=[[Bishop of Bath and Wells]]| years=1264–1266}}
{{s-aft| after=[[William of Bitton II]] }}
{{s-bef| before=[[Bonaventure]]}}
{{s-ttl | title=[[Archbishop of York]] | years=1266–1279}}
{{s-aft| after=[[William de Wickwane]] }}
{{s-end}}

{{House of Plantagenet Chancellors of the Exchequer}}
{{House of Plantagenet Lord Chancellors}}
{{Archbishops of York}}
{{Bishops of Bath and Wells}}
{{Authority control}}

{{EngvarB|date=October 2013}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Giffard, Walter}}
[[Category:1279 deaths]]
[[Category:Clergy from Wiltshire]]
[[Category:Archbishops of York]]
[[Category:Bishops of Bath and Wells]]
[[Category:Archdeacons of Wells]]
[[Category:13th-century English Roman Catholic archbishops]]
[[Category:High sheriffs of Nottinghamshire]]
[[Category:High sheriffs of Derbyshire]]
[[Category:Lord chancellors of England]]
[[Category:Burials at York Minster]]
[[Category:1225 births]]