Richard of Ilchester

Bishop of Winchester
Elected| 1 May 1173
Term ended| 22 December 1188
Predecessor| Henry of Blois
Successor| Godfrey de Lucy
Previous post(s)| Archdeacon of Poitiers
Orders
Consecration| October 1174
Personal details
Died| 22 December 1188
Denomination| Catholic

Richard of Ilchester[a] (died 22 December 1188) was a medieval English statesman and prelate.

## Life

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Richard 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. He was one of the officials who assisted Henry in carrying out his great judicial and financial reforms.[1] In 1154, Richard was the first King's Remembrancer, the oldest judicial office still in existence in England.

In 1162, or 1163, Richard was appointed archdeacon of Poitiers,[2] but he spent most of his time in England. However, in the next two or three years he visited Pope Alexander III and the Emperor Frederick I in the interests of the English King.[1] He was one of the persons to whom the Constitutions of Clarendon were addressed, along with Geoffrey Ridel and Richard de Luci.[3] Becket excommunicated him for promising to support Frederick against Alexander in 1166.[4] Before this event, however, Richard had been appointed a baron of the exchequer.[1][5] One of Richard's duties was to oversee the making of the Pipe rolls, as well as keeping the treasurer from falling asleep. He was also responsible for an innovation in record keeping by the Exchequer, ordering a record of every summons made by the Exchequer. This system, however, was discontinued later.[5]

Although immersed in secular business, Richard received several rich ecclesiastical offices, including treasurer of the diocese of Poitiers, and on 1 May 1173 he was elected bishop of Winchester,[2] being consecrated at Canterbury in October 1174.[6] Richard 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,[6] and was buried in Winchester Cathedral. Richard owes his surname to Henry II, who grants him a mill at Ilchester.[1]

Bishop Richard gave an endowment to a hospital in Winchester and allowed it to double the number of poor people it fed.[7]

Richard probably was the father of the brothers Richard Poore, who became Bishop of Durham, and Herbert Poore, who became Bishop of Salisbury.[8]

## Notes

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1. ^ Also called Richard of Toclyve[1] or Richard of Toclive

## Citations

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1. ^ a b c d e One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Richard of Ilchester". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 23 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 298.
2. ^ a b British History Online Bishops of Winchester accessed on 2 November 2007
3. ^ Knowles, et al. "Henry II's Supplement" English Historical Review p. 759
4. ^ Dunning, Robert (2005). A Somerset Miscellany. Tiverton: Somerset Books. pp. 28–29. ISBN 0-86183-427-5.
5. ^ a b Clanchy From Memory to Written Record p. 63
6. ^ a b Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 276
7. ^ Turner "Religious Patronage" Albion p. 5
8. ^ British History Online Bishops of Salisbury accessed on 30 October 2007

## References

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* British History Online Bishops of Salisbury accessed on 30 October 2007
* British History Online Bishops of Winchester accessed on 2 November 2007
* Clanchy, M. T. (1993). From Memory to Written Record: England 1066–1307 (Second ed.). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 978-0-631-16857-7.
* Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology (Third revised ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X.
* Knowles, M. D.; Duggan, Anne J.; Brooke, C. N. L. (October 1972). "Henry II's Supplement to the Constitutions of Clarendon". The English Historical Review. 87 (345): 757–771. doi:10.1093/ehr/LXXXVII.CCCXLV.757.
* Turner, Ralph V. (Spring 1986). "Religious Patronage of Angevin Royal Administrators, c. 1170–1239". Albion. 18 (1): 1–21. doi:10.2307/4048700. JSTOR 4048700.

Catholic Church titles

Preceded by

Henry of Blois

|  Bishop of Winchester
1173–1188  | Succeeded by

Godfrey de Luci

* v
* t
* e

Bishops of Winchester

Early Medieval
634–1006|

* Birinus, Bishop of Dorchester
* Agilbert, Bishop of Dorchester
* Wine
* Leuthere
* Hædde
* Daniel
* Hunfrith
* Cyneheard
* Æthelheard
* Ecgbald
* Dudd
* Cyneberht
* Ealhmund
* Wigthegn
* Herefrith (disputed)
* Eadmund (disputed)
* Eadhun
* Helmstan
* Swithun
* Ealhferth
* Tunbeorht
* Denewulf
* Frithestan
* Beornstan/Byrnstan
* Ælfheah I
* Ælfsige I
* Beorhthelm
* Æthelwold I
* Ælfheah II

Arms of the Bishop of Winchester

High Medieval
1006–1304|

* Cenwulf
* Æthelwold II
* Ælfsige II
* Ælfwine
* Stigand
* Walkelin
* William Giffard
* Henry of Blois
* Richard of Ilchester
* Godfrey de Luci
* Richard Poore
* Peter des Roches
* Ralph Neville
* William de Raley
* Aymer de Valence
* Andrew of London
* William de Taunton
* John Gervais
* Nicholas of Ely
* Robert Burnell
* Richard de la More
* John of Pontoise

Late Medieval
1305–1501|

* Henry Woodlock
* John Sandale
* Rigaud of Assier
* John de Stratford
* Adam Orleton
* William Edington
* William of Wykeham
* Henry Beaufort
* William Waynflete
* Peter Courtenay
* Thomas Langton

Early Modern
1501–1820|

* Richard Foxe
* Thomas Wolsey
* Stephen Gardiner
* John Ponet
* Stephen Gardiner
* John White
* Robert Horne
* John Watson
* Thomas Cooper
* William Wickham
* William Day
* Thomas Bilson
* James Montague
* Lancelot Andrewes
* Richard Neile
* Walter Curle
* Episcopacy abolished (Commonwealth)
* Brian Duppa
* George Morley
* Peter Mews
* Jonathan Trelawny
* Charles Trimnell
* Richard Willis
* Benjamin Hoadly
* John Thomas
* Brownlow North

Late Modern
1820–current|

* George Pretyman Tomline
* Charles Sumner
* Samuel Wilberforce
* Harold Browne
* Anthony Thorold
* Randall Davidson
* Herbert Ryle
* Edward Talbot
* Theodore Woods
* Cyril Garbett
* Mervyn Haigh
* Alwyn Williams
* Falkner Allison
* John Taylor
* Colin James
* Michael Scott-Joynt
* Tim Dakin
* Philip Mounstephen

12th-century Bishop of Winchester
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