Geoffrey de Muschamp (died 6 October 1208) was a medieval

Bishop of Coventry The Bishop of Coventry is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Coventry in the Province of Canterbury. In the Middle Ages, the Bishop of Coventry was a title used by the bishops known today as the Bishop of Lichfield. The presen ...

. Muschamp began his ecclesiastical career under

Geoffrey, Archbishop of York Geoffrey ( – 12 December 1212) was an illegitimate son of King Henry II of England who became bishop-elect of Lincoln and archbishop of York. The identity of his mother is uncertain, but she may have been named Ykenai. Geoffrey held s ...

, who appears to have used his office of chancellor to promote Muschamp to the archdeaconry of Cleveland after the death of King

Henry II of England Henry II (5 March 1133 – 6 July 1189), also known as Henry Curtmantle (french: link=no, Court-manteau), Henry FitzEmpress, or Henry Plantagenet, was King of England from 1154 until his death in 1189, and as such, was the first Angevin king ...

. This irregular use of the office came to light five years later, and Muschamp had to pay a fine of £100 to King

Richard I of England Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and was overl ...

to retain the office. Muschamp opposed his former employer in the archbishop's dispute with the cathedral chapter of

York Minster The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, commonly known as York Minster, is the cathedral of York, North Yorkshire, England, and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe. The minster is the seat of the Arch ...

.Franklin "Muschamp, Geoffrey de" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' He was consecrated on 21 June 1198Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 253 at Canterbury by Hubert Walter, Archbishop of Canterbury. Around 1200 he built

Eccleshall Castle Eccleshall Castle is located in Eccleshall, Staffordshire, England (). It was originally built in the 13th century. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and a Grade II* listed building. Origins The land was reputedly granted to St Chad, the mediev ...

as a secure central residence for the bishops of the Diocese of Lichfield. Muschamp died on 6 October 1208 and was buried in

Lichfield Cathedral Lichfield Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England, one of only three cathedrals in the United Kingdom with three spires (together with Truro Cathedral and St Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh), and the only medie ...

Citations

References

* *

Citations

References

Further reading