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Walter Giffard

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

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WALTER GIFFARD (d. 1279), chancellor of England and archbishop of York, was a son of Hugh Giffard of Boyton, Wiltshire, and after serving as canon and archdeacon of Wells, was chosen bishop of Bath and Wells in May 1264. In August 1265 Henry III. appointed him chancellor of England, and he was one of the arbitrators who drew up the dictum de Kenilworth in 1266. Later in this year Pope Clement IV. named him archbishop of York, and having resigned the chancellorship he was an able and diligent ruler of his see, although in spite of his great wealth he was frequently in pecuniary difficulties. When Henry III. died in November 1272 the archbishopric of Canterbury was vacant, and consequently the great seal was delivered to the archbishop of York, who was the chief of the three regents who successfully governed the kingdom until the return of Edward I. in August 1274. Having again acted in this capacity during the king's absence in 1275, Giffard died in April 1279, and was buried in his cathedral.

See Fasti Eboracenses, edited by J. Raine (London, 1863). Giffard's Register from 1266 to 1279 has been edited for the Surtees Society by W. Brown.