Richard Poore or Poor (died 15 April 1237) was a medieval English bishop best known for his role in the establishment of
Salisbury Cathedral
Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England. The cathedral is the mother church of the Diocese of Salisbury and is the seat of the Bishop of Salisbury.
The buil ...
and the City of
Salisbury
Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath.
Salisbury is in the southeast of ...
, moved from the nearby fortress of
Old Sarum
Old Sarum, in Wiltshire, South West England, is the now ruined and deserted site of the earliest settlement of Salisbury. Situated on a hill about north of modern Salisbury near the A345 road, the settlement appears in some of the earliest r ...
. He served as
Bishop of Chichester
The Bishop of Chichester is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the counties of East and West Sussex. The see is based in the City of Chichester where the bishop's sea ...
,
Bishop of Salisbury
The Bishop of Salisbury is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers much of the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset. The see is in the City of Salisbury where the bishop's seat ...
and
Bishop of Durham
The Bishop of Durham is the Anglican bishop responsible for the Diocese of Durham in the Province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler has been the Bishop of Durham ...
.
Early life
Poore was probably the son of
Richard of Ilchester
Richard of Ilchester (died 22 December 1188) was a medieval English statesman and prelate.
Life
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 th ...
, also known as Richard Toclive, who served as
Bishop of Winchester
The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The Bishop of Winchester has always held ''ex officio'' (except ...
.
[British History Online Bishops of Salisbury]
Retrieved 30 October 2007. He was the brother of
Herbert Poore
Herbert Poore or Poor or - the Norman did not necessarily translate the English ''poor'' but represents Latin , a "boy", and particularly one of good family, a knight. (died 1217) was a medieval English clergyman who held the post of Bisho ...
, who served as
bishop of Salisbury
The Bishop of Salisbury is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers much of the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset. The see is in the City of Salisbury where the bishop's seat ...
from 1194 to 1217.
[British History Online Deans of Salisbury]
Retrieved 30 October 2007. Richard studied under
Stephen Langton
Stephen Langton (c. 1150 – 9 July 1228) was an English Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and Archbishop of Canterbury between 1207 and his death in 1228. The dispute between King John of England and Pope Innocent III over his ...
at Paris.
[Moorman ''Church Life in England in the Thirteenth Century'' p. 163] Richard Poore became
Dean of Salisbury in 1197, and unsuccessfully was nominated to the
see of Winchester
The Diocese of Winchester forms part of the Province of Canterbury of the Church of England. Founded in 676, it is one of the older dioceses in England. It once covered Wessex, many times its present size which is today most of the historic enla ...
in 1205
[British History Online Bishops of Winchester]
Retrieved 2 November 2007. and attained the
see of Durham in 1213.
[British History Online Bishops of Durham]
Retrieved 25 October 2007. His election to Durham was disallowed by Pope Innocent III
Pope Innocent III ( la, Innocentius III; 1160 or 1161 – 16 July 1216), born Lotario dei Conti di Segni (anglicized as Lothar of Segni), was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1198 to his death in 16 ...
before it was made public, probably because the pope knew that King John wished for the translation of his advisor John de Gray
John de Gray or de Grey (died 18 October 1214) was an English prelate who served as Bishop of Norwich, and was elected but unconfirmed Archbishop of Canterbury. He was employed in the service of Prince John even before John became king, for whi ...
from the see of Norwich
The Diocese of Norwich is an ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Church of England that forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England.
History
It traces its roots in an unbroken line to the diocese of the Bishop of the East ...
to Durham.[Harper-Bill "John and the Church" ''King John'' p. 310] During the interdict
In Catholic canon law, an interdict () is an ecclesiastical censure, or ban that prohibits persons, certain active Church individuals or groups from participating in certain rites, or that the rites and services of the church are banished from ...
on England during King John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Secon ...
's reign, Richard returned to Paris to teach until the interdict was lifted.[Hoskin "Poor, Richard (d. 1237)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'']
It was probably during these years before Poore held an episcopal office that he completed Osmund's ''Institutio'', as well as his own works the ''Ordinale'' and the ''Consuetudinarium''. The ''Institutio'' detailed the duties of the cathedral clergy at Salisbury, along with their rights. The ''Ordinale'' covered the liturgy, and how the various specialised services interacted with the basic divine service. The last work, the ''Consuetudinarium'', gave the customs of Salisbury itself. Both the ''Consuetudinarium'' and the ''Ordinale'' were basically guides to the Sarum Rite
The Use of Sarum (or Use of Salisbury, also known as the Sarum Rite) is the Latin liturgical rite developed at Salisbury Cathedral and used from the late eleventh century until the English Reformation. It is largely identical to the Roman r ...
, the usual form of liturgy in thirteenth century England.[ While he was dean, he also encouraged ]Robert of Flamborough
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...
to write a penitential.[Mortimer ''Angevin England'' p. 201]
Poore was Bishop of Chichester
The Bishop of Chichester is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the counties of East and West Sussex. The see is based in the City of Chichester where the bishop's sea ...
in 1215, being elected about 7 January[Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 239] and consecrated on 25 January at Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spell ...
.[British History Online Bishops of Chichester]
Retrieved 20 October 2007. He attended the Fourth Lateran Council
The Fourth Council of the Lateran or Lateran IV was convoked by Pope Innocent III in April 1213 and opened at the Lateran Palace in Rome on 11 November 1215. Due to the great length of time between the Council's convocation and meeting, many ...
in 1215.[Moorman ''Church Life in England in the Thirteenth Century'' p. 237] He also served as one of the executors of King John's estate.[
]
Bishop of Salisbury
Poore's brother, Herbert Poore, died in 1217, and Richard succeeded to his position as Bishop of Salisbury
The Bishop of Salisbury is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers much of the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset. The see is in the City of Salisbury where the bishop's seat ...
by 27 June.[Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 270] He owed his move to the see of Salisbury to the papal legate, Cardinal Guala Bicchieri.[ It was during this time that he oversaw and helped plan the construction of the new ]Salisbury Cathedral
Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England. The cathedral is the mother church of the Diocese of Salisbury and is the seat of the Bishop of Salisbury.
The buil ...
as a replacement for the old cathedral at Old Sarum
Old Sarum, in Wiltshire, South West England, is the now ruined and deserted site of the earliest settlement of Salisbury. Situated on a hill about north of modern Salisbury near the A345 road, the settlement appears in some of the earliest r ...
.[Moorman ''Church Life in England in the Thirteenth Century'' p. 236] He also laid out the town of Salisbury in 1219, to allow the workers building the cathedral a less cramped town than the old garrison town at Old Sarum.[Mortimer ''Angevin England'' p. 175] The cathedral, however, was not dedicated until 1258.[Mortimer ''Angevin England'' p. 227]
It was while Poore was at Salisbury that he issued his ''Statutes of Durham'', which derived their name from the fact that he reissued them after being moved to the see of Durham. These statutes were influential on many other episcopal legislation.[Moorman ''Church Life in England in the Thirteenth Century'' p. 236-238][Prestwich ''Plantagenet England'' p. 99] He also welcomed the first Franciscan
, image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg
, image_size = 200px
, caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans
, abbreviation = OFM
, predecessor =
, ...
friars
A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the o ...
to Salisbury around 1225.[Moorman ''Church Life in England in the Thirteenth Century'' p. 370] He also served as a royal justice in 1218 and 1219. In 1223, with the fall from power of Peter des Roches
Peter des Roches (died 9 June 1238) ( Latinised as ''Peter de Rupibus'' ("Peter from the rocks")) was bishop of Winchester in the reigns of King John of England and his son Henry III. He was not an Englishman, but rather a native of the Tourain ...
bishop of Winchester
The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The Bishop of Winchester has always held ''ex officio'' (except ...
, Ranulph earl of Chester, and Falkes de Breauté, Richard helped Hubert de Burgh
Hubert de Burgh, Earl of Kent (; ; ; c.1170 – before 5 May 1243) was an English nobleman who served as Chief Justiciar of England and Ireland during the reigns of King John and of his son and successor King Henry III and, as a consequenc ...
take over the government, along with Stephen Langton and Jocelin of Wells
Jocelin of Wells (died 19 November 1242) was a medieval Bishop of Bath (and Glastonbury). He was the brother of Hugh de Wells, who became Bishop of Lincoln. Jocelin became a canon of Wells Cathedral before 1200, and was elected bishop in 120 ...
bishop of Bath and Wells
The Bishop of Bath and Wells heads the Church of England Diocese of Bath and Wells in the Province of Canterbury in England.
The present diocese covers the overwhelmingly greater part of the (ceremonial) county of Somerset and a small area of D ...
. The four men worked together to govern England for the next five years.[
While Poore was at Salisbury, he took part in the translation of ]St Wulfstan
Wulfstan ( – 20 January 1095) was Bishop of Worcester from 1062 to 1095. He was the last surviving pre- Conquest bishop. Wulfstan is a saint in the Western Christian churches.
Denomination
His denomination as Wulfstan II is to indicate th ...
's in 1218, and in the translation of Saint Thomas Becket
Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), was an English nobleman who served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and the ...
's relics in 1220. At the later event, he was the only other bishop besides Stephen Langton actually to examine Becket's body. Richard also petitioned Pope Gregory IX
Pope Gregory IX ( la, Gregorius IX; born Ugolino di Conti; c. 1145 or before 1170 – 22 August 1241) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 March 1227 until his death in 1241. He is known for issuing the '' Decre ...
to have the second bishop of Salisbury, Osmund de Sees canonized, but was unsuccessful. Osmund was eventually made a saint in 1457.[
]
Bishop of Durham
Poore was translated
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...
to the see of Durham Durham most commonly refers to:
*Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham
*County Durham, an English county
* Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States
*Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...
on 14 May 1228.[Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 241] With his move to Durham, he withdrew from royal service, although he was briefly back in service when Peter des Roches returned to power in late 1232 and early 1233.[ At Durham, he inherited a quarrel between the bishop and the ]cathedral chapter
According to both Catholic and Anglican canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics ( chapter) formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese during the vacancy. ...
that mainly involved the election of the prior and the right of the bishop to undertake visitations of the priory. The quarrel had begun under Richard Marsh, and had led to appeals to the papal curia from the monks. Soon after coming to Durham, Richard issued a set of detailed constitutions that governed many of the relations between the bishop, the prior, and the cathedral chapter that was the basis of church government in Durham until the Dissolution of the monasteries under King Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
.[
]
Legacy and death
In 1220, while Poore was bishop of Salisbury, he ordered his clergy to instruct a few children so that the children might in turn teach the rest of the children in basic church doctrine and prayers. He also had the clergy preach every Sunday that children should not be left alone in a house with a fire or water.[Moorman ''Church Life in England in the Thirteenth Century'' pp. 81–82] Also during his time in Salisbury, he promoted the education of boys by endowing some schoolmasters with benefice
A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...
s provided they did not charge for instruction.[Moorman ''Church Life in England in the Thirteenth Century'' p. 105] In 1237, Richard established a retirement house for the old and infirm clergy of the diocese of Durham.[Moorman ''Church Life in England in the Thirteenth Century'' p. 202] Richard was also an opponent of pluralism, the holding of more than one benefice at the same time. He not only held that a clerk receiving a new benefice should give up the old one, but that if the clerk protested about the loss, he should lose both benefices.[Moorman ''Church Life in England in the Thirteenth Century'' p. 220] He also decreed that the clergy should not be involved in "worldly business".[Moorman ''Church Life in England in the Thirteenth Century'' p. 232] Poore House at Bishop Wordsworth's School, Salisbury is named in honour of his legacy to Salisbury schools.
Poore died on 15 April 1237[ at the manor of ]Tarrant Keyneston
Tarrant Keyneston is a village and civil parish in Dorset, England. It is situated in the Tarrant Valley, southeast of Blandford Forum. In the 2011 census the parish had 152 dwellings, 145 households and a population of 310.
On the hills nor ...
in Dorset
Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...
. His tomb was claimed for both Durham and Salisbury, but most likely he was buried in the church at Tarrant Keyneston which was what he had wished.[ He is commemorated with a statue in niche 170 on the west front of ]Salisbury Cathedral
Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England. The cathedral is the mother church of the Diocese of Salisbury and is the seat of the Bishop of Salisbury.
The buil ...
.
Citations
References
British History Online Bishops of Chichester
accessed on 20 October 2007
British History Online Bishops of Durham
accessed on 25 October 2007
British History Online Bishops of Salisbury
accessed on 20 October 2007
British History Online Bishops of Winchester
accessed on 2 November 2007
British History Online Deans of Salisbury
accessed on 30 October 2007
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Poore, Richard
Year of birth unknown
1237 deaths
Bishops of Durham
Bishops of Chichester
Bishops of Salisbury
13th-century English Roman Catholic bishops
Deans of Salisbury