Seffrid II ( fl. 1172–1204) was an English cleric who served as a medieval

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 seat ...

Life

Little is known of Seffrid's ancestry, but given the unusual name he shared with Seffrid I, bishop of Chichester from 1125 to 1145, the two were probably related. He probably studied law at

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

, for there was a Seffrid the Englishman at Bologna at the proper time, and

Pope Celestine III Pope Celestine III ( la, Caelestinus III; c. 1106 – 8 January 1198), was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 30 March or 10 April 1191 to his death in 1198. He had a tense relationship with several monarchs, ...

called Bishop Seffrid "learned in the law".Mayr-Harting "Seffrid" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' He was a royal clerkGreenway
Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300: Volume 5: Chichester: Deans
' before being named

Archdeacon of Chichester The post of Archdeacon of Chichester was created in the 12th century, although the Diocese of Sussex was founded by St Wilfrid, the exiled Bishop of York, in AD 681. The original location of the see was in Selsey. The see was moved to Chichester, ...

by 1173.Greenway
Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300: Volume 5: Chichester: Archdeacons of Chichester
' He also served as a royal justice in 1172 and 1173. By December 1178 he was

Dean of Chichester The Dean of Chichester is the dean of Chichester Cathedral in Sussex, England. Bishop Ralph is credited with the foundation of the current cathedral after the original structure built by Stigand was largely destroyed by fire in 1114. Ralph di ...

. Seffrid was consecrated as bishop on 16 November 1180.Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 239 There is no record of Seffrid serving the royal administration while he was bishop. Nor does he appear in wider public affairs except in formal ceremonial affairs like coronations or councils. Instead he devoted himself to work in his diocese, where he worked to assure that

vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

s were provided for, that hospitals were well endowed, and that the system of

prebend A prebendary is a member of the Roman Catholic or Anglican clergy, a form of canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in particular seats, usually at the back of the ...

s that supported his cathedral clergy was well regulated. He also rebuilt his cathedral after a fire in 1187, and dedicated the new building in 1199. The hall and chapel of the episcopal palace in Chichester were also constructed in his episcopate. Work was also done on the castle of

Amberley Amberley may refer to: Places Australia *Amberley, Queensland, near Ipswich, Australia *RAAF Base Amberley, a Royal Australian Air Force military airbase United Kingdom * Amberley, Gloucestershire, England * Amberley, Herefordshire, England ...

and the bishop's manor of Bishopstone under his direction. Seffrid died 17 March 1204. 72 genuine documents survive from his time as archbishop.Mayr-Harting "Introduction" ''Acta'' p. 13 One of these documents is his profession of obedience to the archbishop of Cantebury, but the rest are a mix of grants, confirmations of grants, clerical statutes, clerical licenses, judgements, and letters.Mayr-Harting "Introduction" ''Acta'' pp. 33–34

Citations

References

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Seffrid II 1204 deaths Bishops of Chichester Archdeacons of Chichester 12th-century English Roman Catholic bishops 13th-century English Roman Catholic bishops Anglo-Normans Year of birth unknown