Scrope, Richard

Scrope, Richard (c.1350–1405). Archbishop of York. The third son of Henry, Lord Scrope of Masham, Scrope was chancellor of Cambridge University in 1378 and a doctor of laws. From 1381 he was an auditor at the papal court until the pope appointed him to the bishopric of Coventry and Lichfield in 1386. After some diplomatic service to Richard II, he was promoted to York in 1398. He made no opposition to Henry IV's usurpation, assisting at his coronation. In 1403, however, he may have favoured the Percy conspiracy, and in 1405 Northumberland apparently prompted Scrope to revolt. Supported by Norfolk, the earl marshal, he published in York a manifesto denouncing Henry's misgovernment, attracting a dangerously large following which assembled on Shipton Moor. Archbishop and earl were enticed to a rendezvous with Ralph Neville, earl of Westmorland, who arrested them. After the king's arrival, they were summarily executed. Scrope was buried in York minster, where his tomb attracted pilgrims.

R. L. Storey