Walter Giffard
WALTER GIFFARD
Bishop of bath and wells and later archbishop of York; place and date of birth unknown; d. York, England, April 24 or 25, 1279. He was the son of Hugh and Sybil Giffard of Boyton in Wiltshire and the brother of godfrey giffard, bishop of Worcester. He was educated at Oxford and like his brother represents an interesting combination of aristocrat, scholar, and serious bishop. He was elected bishop of Bath and Wells on May 22, 1264, and provided to the archbishopric of York in November 1266. In 1265 he became chancellor of England; his brother succeeded him in that office in March 1267. Giffard revived the long-standing dispute between york and canterbury.
Bibliography: The Register of Walter Giffard, Lord Archbishop of York, 1266–1279, ed. w. brown (Durham 1904); The Registers of Walter Giffard … and of Henry Bowett …, ed. t.s. holmes (London 1899). w. h. dixon, Fast eboracenses. Lives of the Archbishops of York, ed. j. raine (London 1863). a. b. emden, A Biographical Register of the University of Oxford to A.D. 1500 2:762–763.
[r. brentano]