Walter Branscombe

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Walter Branscombe
Boniface of Savoy
Personal details
Bornc. 1220
Died22 July 1280
BuriedExeter Cathedral
DenominationCatholic
Monument with effigy of Walter Branscombe, Exeter Cathedral. The effigy is contemporary with the bishop, but the chest-tomb and canopy were added in the 15th century to match the monument of Bishop Edmund Stafford (1344-1419) on the opposite side of the Lady Chapel

Walter Branscombe[a] (c. 1220–1280) was Bishop of Exeter from 1258 to 1280.

Origins

Nothing for certain is known of Walter Branscombe's origins and education, but he is thought to have been born in Exeter in about 1220.

King Edward III
, was home to the Wadham family.

Career

Branscombe held a

canon of Exeter Cathedral.[2]

Branscombe was elected to the

Boniface of Savoy, the Archbishop of Canterbury. He was enthroned at Exeter on 14 April 1258.[2]

Maurice Powicke's opinion was that, having been trained in the royal service, Branscombe settled down to become an assiduous diocesan bishop.[8] He faced some problems at the start of his time as bishop, for right after the death of the previous bishop, Richard Blund, a number of Blund's officials and clerks had used Blund's seal to forge letters giving away benefices as well as Blund's property. This left Branscombe with debts and administrative issues.[9] He also continued to perform diplomatic missions for the king, as he was at Paris in 1258 and 1263. He attended a general council of the church held at Lyons in the summer of 1274.[2]

Branscombe's register of his diocesan administration is the earliest episcopal one surviving from Exeter. He was a founder of a number of churches in his diocese, and issued sets of instructions for his cathedral church as well as others in his diocese. His last years were occupied with a dispute with Edmund the Earl of Cornwall over the earl's infringement of ecclesiastical rights.[2]

Branscombe died on 22 July 1280[7] at Bishopsteignton. He was buried in Exeter Cathedral, where his tomb, with the bishop's effigy, still survives.[2] It remained unscathed during the Exeter Blitz, being protected by sand bags.[10]

Notes

  1. ^ Also spelled Bronscombe, Branescombe, Bronescombe, or Bronescomb

Citations

  1. ^ Pole, Sir William (d.1635), Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, Sir John-William de la Pole (ed.), London, 1791, p.473: "Brounscombe, Bishop of Exon". The blazon contravenes the heraldic "Rule of Tinctures"
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Denton "Bronescombe, Walter of" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
  3. ^ Hoskins Devon pp. 344-345
  4. ^ Godw. de praes. in Episc. Exon. Page 146
  5. Sheriff of Devon
  6. ^ Greenway Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300: volume 2: Monastic cathedrals (northern and southern provinces): Archdeacons: Surrey
  7. ^ a b Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 246
  8. ^ Powicke Thirteenth Century p. 485
  9. ^ Moorman Church Life p. 173
  10. ^ S C Carpenter (1943) Exeter Cathedral 1942. London: SPCK p. 1-2

References

  • Denton, J. H. (2004). "Bronescombe, Walter of [Walter de Exonia]".
    doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/37225. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
  • Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology (Third revised ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
    ISBN 0-521-56350-X
    .
  • Greenway, Diana E. (1971). "Archdeacons: Surrey". Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300. Vol. 2: Monastic Cathedrals (Northern and Southern Provinces). Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 7 April 2008.
  • OCLC 351627072
    .
  • OCLC 213820968
    .
  • OCLC 300724
    .

Further reading

External links
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Bishop of Exeter
1258–1280 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Walter_Branscombe&oldid=1216779967"