Peter de Leia,

O.S.B. , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , found ...

(died 16 July 1198), was

Bishop of St David's The Bishop of St Davids is the ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of St Davids. The succession of bishops stretches back to Saint David who in the 6th century established his seat in what is today the city of St Davids in Pembrokeshire, ...

from 1176 until his death. Before his appointment, he had been prior of the

Cluniac The Cluniac Reforms (also called the Benedictine Reform) were a series of changes within medieval monasticism of the Western Church focused on restoring the traditional monastic life, encouraging art, and caring for the poor. The movement began wi ...

house at Wenlock. De Leia was appointed by 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 ...

as bishop, despite the preference of the cathedral chapter for Gerald de Barri, better known as

Giraldus Cambrensis Gerald of Wales ( la, Giraldus Cambrensis; cy, Gerallt Gymro; french: Gerald de Barri; ) was a Cambro-Norman priest and historian. As a royal clerk to the king and two archbishops, he travelled widely and wrote extensively. He studied and taugh ...

, and was consecrated at Canterbury on 7 November 1176. Besides his rivalry with Gerald, de Leia had a stormy relationship with

Rhys ap Gruffydd Rhys ap Gruffydd, commonly known as The Lord Rhys, in Welsh ''Yr Arglwydd Rhys'' (c. 1132 – 28 April 1197) was the ruler of the Welsh kingdom of Deheubarth in south Wales from 1155 to 1197 and native Prince of Wales. It was believed that he ...

, Prince of Deheubarth, whose body he initially refused burial in 1197 on the grounds that he had earlier

excommunicated Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...

the prince following a dispute over stolen horses. It was during his episcopacy that the construction of the present St David's Cathedral was begun, and it is there that the Lord Rhys was eventually buried, after the corpse had been subjected to a ritual

scourging A scourge is a whip or lash, especially a multi-thong type, used to inflict severe corporal punishment or self-mortification. It is usually made of leather. Etymology The word is most commonly considered to be derived from Old French ''escorgi ...

as posthumous penance for the prince's misdemeanours. Following the death of de Leia, the chapter was again refused permission to elect Gerald de Barri, and the see remained vacant for six years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leia, Peter De Benedictine bishops 12th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Wales Bishops of St Davids 1198 deaths 12th-century births 12th-century English clergy