| Richard of Dover | |
|---|---|
|
Archbishop of Canterbury | |
| Birth name | Richard |
| Enthroned | April 7 1174 |
| Ended | February 16, 1184 |
| Predecessor | Thomas Becket |
| Successor | Baldwin of Exeter |
| Died | February 16 1184 Halling, Kent |
| Buried | Canterbury Cathedral |
Richard (d. 1184) was a medieval monk and Archbishop of Canterbury.
Contents |
Early life
Richard was a Norman monk at Canterbury,[1] and a chaplain to Archbishop Theobald.[2] He was a colleague of Thomas Becket. In 1157 he was appointed prior of St. Martin's priory in Dover. St. Martin's was a Benedictine priory and a dependant house of Christ Church Cathedral Priory in Canterbury, the cathedral chapter of the archbishops of Canterbury.[1]
Richard was employed by Becket to meet with Henry the Young King right before Becket's death, but was unsuccessful in his attempts to meet with the young man.[3] After Becket's death, Richard took charge of Becket's body, and arranged for an immediate burial in Canterbury Cathedral.[4]
Archbishop
In 1173, more than two years after the murder of Becket, King Henry II of England decided to fill the vacant archbishopric of Canterbury; there were two candidates: Richard, and Odo, prior of Canterbury. On June 3 1173[5] Richard was chosen, although Odo was the nominee of the monks. Objections were raised against this election both in England and in Rome, and Richard journeyed to Rome with Reginald Fitz Jocelin, who had recently been elected Bishop of Bath to rebutt the charges of simony, illegitimate birth, and swearing an oath to the king. After hearing the charges, they were dismissed and the election was ratified on April 2 1174 and on April 7 1174 the new archbishop was consecrated at Anagni by Pope Alexander III,[6] and Richard returned to England at the close of the year bearing his pallium which he had received directly from the pope.[7] He also was graned legatine powers by Pope Alexander III.[8]
The ten years during which Richard was archbishop were disturbed by disputes with Roger, archbishop of York, over the respective rights of the two sees, and in 1175, at a council held in London, there was a free fight between their partisans. King Henry II arranged a truce for five years between the rival prelates, but Richard was soon involved in another quarrel, this one with Roger, abbot of St. Augustine's, Canterbury, a dispute that involved whether or not the abbey depended directly on the pope or if the archbishop had jurisdictional rights over the abbey. In the end, the papacy arranged a settlement that left the abbey dependant on the pope direct, but gave the archbishop authority over Thanet.[9] Richard was more acceptable to Henry II than Becket had been; he attended the royal councils, and more than once he was with the king in Normandy. Henry probably preferred him because he insisted less on the rights of the clergy than his great predecessor had done; but the monastic writers and the followers of Becket regarded this attitude as a sign of weakness.[10] Pope Alexander III took Richard to task when Richard aquiesed in the election of bishops taking place in the royal chapel.[11] Richard escorted Henry's daughter Joan to Provence on her journey in 1176 to marry King William II of Sicily. Richard also spent part of 1177 in Flanders on diplomatic business for King Henry.[6]
Death and legacy
Richard attracted canon lawyers to his household, including Gerard la Pucelle, Peter of Blois, and Henry Pium of Northampton, who advised him on legal matters. At the Council of Westminster that Richard convened in May 1175, nineteen canons were put forth, dealing with clerical marriage, the oversupply of ordained clergy, the behaviour of the clergy and their dress and tonsure, and simony. Another canon dealt with clandestine marriages and regulated child marriages. He was also heavily involved with trying judicial cases, both in the actual judgment as well as in the execution of judgments made by others. Four of his questions to Alexander III entered the Decretals and the other collections of canon law of the 13th century.[6] Richard died at Halling, Kent[6] on February 16 1184[5] of colic and was buried in his cathedral.[6] A. L. Poole, the historian, felt that Richard was a "feeble and ineffective person."[12] Frank Barlow, another historian, calls him a "blameless mediocrity".[13] Richard of Ilchester, a fellow bishop, held that it was Richard of Dover's defects that prevented the English Church from profiting more from Becket's martyrdom.[12] However, Richard did much to promote the use of canon law throughout England.[14] Richard was also active in using his legatine powers to interfere in monastic affairs, deposing the abbot of Peterborough Abbey in 1175 and threatening to visit other monastic houses that were exempt from episcopal interference in order to regulate the monastic affairs.[15] On a more domestic note, Richard was held to have been an able steward of the estates of Canterbury, very much interested in increasing production.[16] He was held to be a pious and gentle man.[17]
See also
References
- ^ a b Knowles, David; Brooke C. N. L.; and London, Vera C. M. The Heads of Religious Houses: England and Wales 940-1216 Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1972 ISBN 0-521-08367-2 p. 88
- ^ Bartlett, Robert England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings: 1075-1225 Oxford:Clarendon Press 2000 ISBN 0-19-822741-8 p. 401
- ^ Barlow, Frank, Thomas Becket Berkeley, CA:University of California Press 1986 ISBN 0-520-07175-1 p. 230
- ^ Barlow, Frank Thomas Becket Berkeley, CA:University of California Press 1986 ISBN 0-520-07175-1 p. 249
- ^ a b Powicke, F. Maurice and E. B. Fryde Handbook of British Chronology 2nd. ed. London:Royal Historical Society 1961 p. 210
- ^ a b c d e Duggan, Charles "Richard (d. 1184)" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Oxford University Press, 2004 Online Edition accessed November 8, 2007
- ^ Duggan, Charles "From the Conquest to the Death of John" in Lawrence, C. H. ed. The English Church and the Papacy in the Middle Ages Stroud:Sutton Publishing reprint 1999 ISBN 0-7509-1947-7 p. 73
- ^ Barlow, Frank The Feudal Kingdom of England: 1042-1216 Fourth Edition New York: Longman 1988 ISBN 0-582-49504-0 p. 338
- ^ Knowles, Dom David The Monastic Order in England: From the Times of St. Dunstan to the Fourth Lateran Council Second Edition Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1976 reprint ISBN 0-521-05479-6 p. 588
- ^ Warren, W. L. Henry II Berkeley: University of California Press 1973 ISBN 0-520-03494-5 p. 536
- ^ Warren, W. L. Henry II Berkeley: University of California Press 1973 ISBN 0-520-03494-5 p. 553
- ^ a b Poole, A. L. Domesday Book to Magna Carta 1087-1216 Second Edition Oxford:Clarendon Press reprint 1986 ISBN 0-19-821707-2 p. 221
- ^ Barlow, Frank The Feudal Kingdom of England: 1042-1216 Fourth Edition New York: Longman 1988 ISBN 0-582-49504-0 p. 302
- ^ Duggan, Charles "From the Conquest to the Death of John" in Lawrence, C. H. ed. The English Church and the Papacy in the Middle Ages Stroud:Sutton Publishing reprint 1999 ISBN 0-7509-1947-7 p. 93
- ^ Knowles, Dom David The Monastic Order in England: From the Times of St. Dunstan to the Fourth Lateran Council Second Edition Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1976 reprint ISBN 0-521-05479-6 p. 651
- ^ DuBoulay, F. R. H. The Lordship of Canterbury: An Essay on Medieval Society New York: Barnes & Noble 1966 p. 247-248
- ^ Barber, Richard Henry Plantagenet 1133-1189 New York: Barnes & Noble 1993 ISBN 1-56619-363-X p. 187
Further reading
- Hook, W. F., Lives of the Archbishops of Canterbury
- Hunt, W. "Richard of Dover" in the Dict. Nat. Biog. vol. xlviii (1896)
| Catholic Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Thomas Beckett | Archbishop of Canterbury 1174–1184 | Succeeded by Baldwin of Exeter |
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Richard of Dover |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Archbishop of Canterbury |
| DATE OF BIRTH | |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 16, 1184 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Rochester |
