Giffard, Walter

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Giffard, Walter (d. 1279). Archbishop of York and chancellor. A Wiltshire man, Giffard was successively archdeacon of Wells, bishop of Bath and Wells (1265–6), and archbishop. A royalist, he was consecrated bishop in Paris (1265) by the Savoyard bishop of Hereford, Peter Aquablanca, during Simon de Montfort's rule. After the battle of Evesham (1265) he became chancellor, actively engaging with the papal legate in restoring Henry III's authority and arbitrating the dictum of Kenilworth (1266). He subsequently became archbishop of York by papal provision, tutor to Prince Edward's sons, and, with Mortimer and Burnell, a strenuously active regent during Edward I's absences abroad (1272–4 and 1275). He was in dispute with Archbishop Boniface of Canterbury and his successor Kilwardby, over his rights in the south.

Revd Dr William M. Marshall