Philip de Harcourt was a medieval Lord Chancellor of England and Bishop of Bayeux. He was unsuccessfully elected as the Bishop of Salisbury.

Philip de Harcourt
Bishop of Bayeux
Appointed1142
Term ended1163
Other post(s)Bishop of Salisbury-elect
Dean of Lincoln
Personal details
DenominationCatholic
Lord Chancellor
In office
1139–1140
MonarchStephen of England
Preceded byRoger le Poer
Succeeded byRobert of Ghent

Life edit

De Harcourt was the son of Robert who was the son of Anschetil, lord of Harcourt, Eure in France.[1] He was the dean of the collegiate church at Beaumont-le-Roger in Normandy by 1131 before being appointed Dean of Lincoln about 1133.[2] During this time he appears to have been made a Prebendary of Aylesbury.[citation needed] He was also archdeacon of Évreux as well.[2] He was Lord Chancellor for King Stephen of England from 1139 to 1140, resigning probably in March.[3] Philip was a partisan of Waleran, Count of Meulan.[2]

In March 1140 de Harcourt was nominated to the Bishopric of Salisbury but the election was quashed in 1141.[4][5] He was nominated by King Stephen with the advice of Waleran of Melun, but Philip's election was opposed by Henry of Blois, bishop of Winchester who was also the papal legate in England and Stephen's brother. Philip appealed to Pope Innocent II but was refused.[1]

In 1142 de Harcourt was named Bishop of Bayeux, an office he held until 1163.[3][5]

Citations edit

  1. ^ a b British History Online Bishops of Salisbury Archived 19 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine accessed on 30 October 2007
  2. ^ a b c British History Online Deans of Lincoln accessed on 30 October 2007
  3. ^ a b Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 82
  4. ^ Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 270
  5. ^ a b Spear "Norman Empire" Journal of British Studies p. 2

References edit

  • Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology (Third revised ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X.
  • Spear, David S. (1982). "The Norman Empire and the Secular Clergy, 1066–1204". Journal of British Studies. XXI (2): 1–10. doi:10.1086/385787. JSTOR 175531. S2CID 153511298.
Political offices
Preceded by Lord Chancellor
1139–1140
Succeeded by
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Bishop of Salisbury
election quashed

1140–1141
Succeeded by
Preceded by
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Bishop of Bayeux
1142–1163
Succeeded by
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