Peter of Lichfield
Peter (died 1085) was a medieval cleric. He became Bishop of Lichfield in 1072, then his title changed to Bishop of Chester when the see was moved in 1075.[1]
Peter | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of Chester | |
| Province | Canterbury |
| Appointed | 1072 |
| Term ended | 1085 |
| Successor | Robert de Limesey |
| Other post(s) | possibly a royal clerk |
| Orders | |
| Consecration | after May 1072 |
| Personal details | |
| Died | 1085 |
| Buried | Chester |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic Church |
| Previous post(s) | Bishop of Lichfield |
Peter had been a royal chaplain before being nominated to the see of Lichfield. Nothing else is known of his background, although presumably he was a Norman, as were most of King William I of England's episcopal appointments.[2] He may have been a royal clerk of King Edward the Confessor,[3] although one charter of 1065 which lists his name is a forgery.[4] He was the custodian of the see of Lincoln, before his elevation to the episcopate.[5] He was consecrated after May 1072 and died in 1085.[1] Peter pillaged the abbey of Coventry, "forcing an entry into their dormitory and breaking into their strongboxes, robbing them of their horses and all their goods" and was censured by Archbishop Lanfranc of Canterbury, who chastised him that "it is neither your role or as a bishop nor within your power to do these things".[6][7] Peter was buried at Chester.[5] The historian Katharine Keats-Rohan suggests that he was the uncle of Regenbald, a royal clerk under King Edward and King William.[8]
Citations
- Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 253
- Powell and Wallis House of Lords p. 36
- Barlow English Church 1000–1066 pp. 117–118
- Barlow English Church 1000–1066 p. 121
- Cooke and Costambeys "Peter" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
- Barlow English Church 1066–1154 p. 62 footnote 52
- Gibson (1979). Letters of Lanfranc. Oxford. p. 113.
- Keats-Rohan Domesday People p. 351
References
- Barlow, Frank (1979). The English Church 1000–1066: A History of the Later Anglo-Saxon Church (Second ed.). New York: Longman. ISBN 0-582-49049-9.
- —— (1979). The English Church 1066–1154: A History of the Anglo-Norman Church. New York: Longman. ISBN 0-582-50236-5.
- Cooke, Alice M.; Costambeys, Marios (2004). "Peter". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/22011. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology (Third revised ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X.
- Keats-Rohan, K. S. B. (1999). Domesday People: A Prosopography of Persons Occurring in English Documents, 1066–1166: Domesday Book. Ipswich, UK: Boydell Press. ISBN 0-85115-722-X.
- Powell, J. Enoch; Wallis, Keith (1968). The House of Lords in the Middle Ages: A History of the English House of Lords to 1540. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. OCLC 463626.
Further reading
- Cherry, J. "The lead seal matrix of Peter, bishop of Chester" Antiquaries Journal Vol. 65 (1985), p. 472–3 and pl. CVI b