View source for Richard Poore

{{short description|13th-century Bishop of Chichester, Bishop of Durham, and Bishop of Salisbury}}
{{other|Richard Poore (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| name = Richard Poore
| image = Richard Poore.jpg
| caption = Sculpture on the west front of Salisbury Cathedral of Richard Poore, holding a model of the cathedral in his hand
| religion = Catholic
| title = [[Bishop of Durham]]
| appointed = 14 May 1228
| ended = 15 April 1237
| consecration = 25 January 1215
| predecessor = [[William Scot]]
| successor = [[Thomas de Melsonby]]
| other_post = [[Bishop of Chichester]]<br />[[Bishop of Salisbury]]<br />[[Dean of Salisbury]]
| death_date = 15 April 1237
| death_place = [[Tarrant Keyneston]], Dorset
| buried = probably church at [[Tarrant Keyneston]], Dorset
}}

'''Richard Poore''' or '''Poor''' (died&nbsp;15 April 1237) was a medieval English bishop best known for his role in the establishment of [[Salisbury Cathedral]] and the City of [[Salisbury]], moved from the nearby fortress of [[Old Sarum]]. He served as [[Bishop of Chichester]], [[Bishop of Salisbury]] and [[Bishop of Durham]].

==Early life==
Poore was probably the son of [[Richard of Ilchester]], also known as Richard Toclive, who served as [[Bishop of Winchester]].<ref name=BHOSalis>[http://british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=34219 British History Online Bishops of Salisbury]. Retrieved 30 October 2007.</ref> He was the brother of [[Herbert Poore]], who served as [[bishop of Salisbury]] from 1194 to 1217.<ref name=BHODeanSalis>[http://british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=34220 British History Online Deans of Salisbury]. Retrieved 30 October 2007.</ref> Richard studied under [[Stephen Langton]] at Paris.<ref name=Moorman163>Moorman ''Church Life in England in the Thirteenth Century'' p. 163</ref> Richard Poore became [[Dean of Salisbury]] in 1197, was nominated unsuccessfully to the [[see of Winchester]] in 1205,<ref name=BHOWinch>[http://british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=33876 British History Online Bishops of Winchester]. Retrieved 2 November 2007.</ref> and attained the [[Bishop of Durham|see of Durham]] in 1213.<ref name=BHODeanSalis/><ref name=BHODurham>[http://british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=33859 British History Online Bishops of Durham]. Retrieved 25 October 2007.</ref> His election to Durham was disallowed by [[Pope Innocent III]] before it was made public, probably because the pope knew that [[John, King of England|King John]] wished for the translation of his advisor [[John de Gray]] from the [[Anglican Diocese of Norwich|see of Norwich]] to Durham.<ref name=Harper-Bill310>Harper-Bill "John and the Church" ''King John'' p. 310</ref> During the [[interdict]] on England during King John's reign, Richard returned to Paris to teach until the interdict was lifted.<ref name=DNB>Hoskin "Poor, Richard (d. 1237)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''</ref>

It was probably during these years, before Poore held an episcopal office, that he completed Osmund's ''Institutio'', as well as his own works the ''Ordinale'' and the ''Consuetudinarium''. The ''Institutio'' detailed the duties of the cathedral clergy at Salisbury, along with their rights. The ''Ordinale'' covered the liturgy, and how the various specialised services interacted with the basic divine service. The last work, the ''Consuetudinarium'', gave the customs of Salisbury itself. Both the ''Consuetudinarium'' and the ''Ordinale'' were basically guides to the [[Sarum Rite]], the usual form of liturgy in thirteenth century England.<ref name=DNB/> While he was dean, he also encouraged [[Robert of Flamborough]] to write a [[penitential]].<ref name=Mortimer201>Mortimer ''Angevin England'' p. 201</ref>

Poore was [[Bishop of Chichester]] in 1215, being elected about 7 January<ref name=Handbook239>Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 239</ref> and consecrated on 25 January at [[Reading, Berkshire|Reading]].<ref name=BHOChich>[http://british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=34293 British History Online Bishops of Chichester]. Retrieved 20 October 2007.</ref> He attended the [[Fourth Lateran Council]] in 1215.<ref name=Moorman237a>Moorman ''Church Life in England in the Thirteenth Century'' p. 237</ref> He also served as one of the [[Executor|executors]] of King John's estate.<ref name=DNB/>

==Bishop of Salisbury==
[[File:Salisbury Cathedral.jpg|thumb|left|[[Salisbury Cathedral]]'s construction was started by Richard Poore]]
Poore's brother [[Herbert Poore|Herbert]] died in 1217, and Richard succeeded to his position as [[Bishop of Salisbury]] by 27 June.<ref name=Handbook270>Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 270</ref> He owed his move to the see of Salisbury to the [[Papal legates to England|papal legate]], [[Cardinal (Catholic Church)|Cardinal]] [[Guala Bicchieri]].<ref name=DNB/> It was during this time that he oversaw and helped plan the construction of the new [[Salisbury Cathedral]] as a replacement for the old cathedral at [[Old Sarum]].<ref name=Moorman236>Moorman ''Church Life in England in the Thirteenth Century'' p. 236</ref> He also laid out the town of Salisbury in 1219, to allow the workers building the cathedral a less cramped town than the old garrison town at Old Sarum.<ref name=Mortimer175>Mortimer ''Angevin England'' p. 175</ref>  The cathedral, however, was not dedicated until 1258.<ref name=Mortimer227>Mortimer ''Angevin England'' p. 227</ref>

It was while Poore was at Salisbury that he issued his ''Statutes of Durham'', which derived their name from the fact that he reissued them after being moved to the [[see of Durham]]. These statutes were influential on much other episcopal legislation.<ref name=Moorman237>Moorman ''Church Life in England in the Thirteenth Century'' p. 236-238</ref><ref name=Plantagenet99>Prestwich ''Plantagenet England'' p. 99</ref> He also welcomed the first [[Franciscan]] [[friars]] to Salisbury around 1225.<ref name=Moorman370>Moorman ''Church Life in England in the Thirteenth Century'' p. 370</ref> He served as a royal justice in 1218 and 1219. In 1223, with the fall from power of [[Peter des Roches]] ([[bishop of Winchester]]), [[Ranulph de Blondeville, 4th Earl of Chester|Ranulph earl of Chester]], and [[Falkes de Bréauté]], Poore helped [[Hubert de Burgh, Earl of Kent|Hubert de Burgh]] take over the government, along with Stephen Langton and [[Jocelin of Wells]] ([[bishop of Bath and Wells]]). The four men worked together to govern England for the next five years.<ref name=DNB/>

While Poore was at Salisbury, he took part in the translation of [[St Wulfstan]] in 1218, and in the translation of Saint [[Thomas Becket]]'s relics in 1220. At the later event, he was the only other bishop besides [[Stephen Langton]] actually to examine Becket's body. Poore petitioned [[Pope Gregory IX]] to have the second bishop of Salisbury, [[Saint Osmund|Osmund de Sees]], canonized, but was unsuccessful. Osmund was eventually made a saint in 1457.<ref name=DNB/>

==Bishop of Durham==
Poore was [[Translation (religion)|translated]] to the see of [[Durham, England|Durham]] on 14 May 1228.<ref name=Handbook241>Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 241</ref> Afterwards he withdrew from royal service, although he was briefly back in service when Peter des Roches returned to power in late 1232 and early 1233.<ref name=DNB/> At Durham, he inherited a quarrel between the bishop and the [[cathedral chapter]] that mainly involved the election of the prior and the right of the bishop to undertake visitations of the priory. The quarrel had begun under [[Richard Marsh (bishop)|Richard Marsh]], and had led to appeals to the papal curia from the monks. Soon after coming to Durham, Richard issued a set of detailed constitutions that governed many of the relations between the bishop, the prior, and the cathedral chapter, and which was the basis of church government in Durham until the [[Dissolution of the monasteries]] under [[Henry VIII]].<ref name=DNB/>

==Legacy and death==
In 1220, while Poore was bishop of Salisbury, he ordered his clergy to instruct a few children so that the children might in turn teach the rest of the children in basic church doctrine and prayers. He also had the clergy preach every Sunday that children should not be left alone in a house with a fire or water.<ref name=Moorman81>Moorman ''Church Life in England in the Thirteenth Century'' pp. 81–82</ref> Also during his time in Salisbury, he promoted the education of boys by endowing some schoolmasters with [[benefice]]s provided they did not charge for instruction.<ref name=Moorman105>Moorman ''Church Life in England in the Thirteenth Century'' p. 105</ref> In 1237, he established a retirement house for the old and infirm clergy of the diocese of Durham.<ref name=Moorman202>Moorman ''Church Life in England in the Thirteenth Century'' p. 202</ref> Poore was also an opponent of [[Benefice|pluralism]], the holding of more than one benefice at the same time. He not only held that a clerk receiving a new benefice should give up the old one, but that if the clerk protested about the loss, he should lose both benefices.<ref name=Moorman220>Moorman ''Church Life in England in the Thirteenth Century'' p. 220</ref> He also decreed that the clergy should not be involved in "worldly business".<ref name=Moorman232>Moorman ''Church Life in England in the Thirteenth Century'' p. 232</ref> Poore House at [[Bishop Wordsworth's School|Bishop Wordsworth's School, Salisbury]] is named in honour of his legacy to Salisbury schools.

Poore died on 15 April 1237<ref name=Handbook241/> at the manor of [[Tarrant Keyneston]] in Dorset. His tomb was claimed for both Durham and Salisbury, but most likely he was buried in the church at Tarrant Keyneston which was what he had wished.<ref name=DNB/> He is commemorated with a statue in [[Table of the Statuary of the West Front of Salisbury Cathedral|niche 170]] on the west front of [[Salisbury Cathedral]].

==Citations==
{{reflist}}

==References==
{{refbegin|60em}}
* [http://british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=34293 British History Online Bishops of Chichester] accessed on 20 October 2007
* [http://british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=33859 British History Online Bishops of Durham] accessed on 25 October 2007
* [http://british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=34219#n11 British History Online Bishops of Salisbury] accessed on 20 October 2007
* [http://british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=33876 British History Online Bishops of Winchester] accessed on 2 November 2007
* [http://british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=34220 British History Online Deans of Salisbury] accessed on 30 October 2007
* {{cite book |last1=Fryde |first1=E. B. |last2=Greenway |first2=D. E. |last3=Porter |first3=S. |last4=Roy |first4=I. |title=Handbook of British Chronology|edition=Third revised |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, uK |year=1996 |isbn=0-521-56350-X }}
* {{cite conference |author=Harper-Bill, Christopher |title=John and the Church of Rome |conference=King John: New Interpretations |editor=S. D. Church |publisher=Boydell Press |location=Woodbridge, UK |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-85115-947-8 }}
* {{cite ODNB |author=Hoskin, Philippa |title=Poor [Poore], Richard |year= 2004 |doi= 10.1093/ref:odnb/22525}}
* {{cite book |title= Church Life in England in the Thirteenth Century |last=Moorman |first=John R. H. |author-link= John Moorman  |year=1955|edition=Revised |publisher= Cambridge University Press |location= Cambridge, UK |oclc= 213820968  }}
* {{cite book |author=Mortimer, Richard |title=Angevin England 1154–1258 |publisher=Blackwell |location=Oxford, UK |year=1994 |isbn=0-631-16388-3 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/angevinengland110000mort }}
* {{cite book |title= Plantagenet England 1225–1360 |last=Prestwich |first=Michael |author-link= Michael Prestwich  |year=2005 |publisher= Oxford University Press |location= Oxford, UK |isbn=978-0-19-922687-0  }}
{{refend}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-rel|ca}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Godfrey de Luci]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bishop of Winchester]]<br />''election quashed''|years=1205}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Peter des Roches]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Philip of Poitou]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bishop of Durham]]<br />''election quashed''|years=1209–1213}}
{{s-aft|after=[[John de Gray]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Nicholas de Aquila]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bishop of Chichester]]|years=1215–1217}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Ranulf of Wareham]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Herbert Poore]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bishop of Salisbury]]|years=1217–1228}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Robert de Bingham]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[William Scot]] }}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bishop of Durham]]|years=1229–1237}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Thomas de Melsonby]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Deans of Salisbury}}
{{Bishops of Winchester}}
{{Bishops of Salisbury}}
{{Bishops of Durham}}
{{Bishops of Chichester}}
{{Authority control}}

{{Use British English|date=July 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poore, Richard}}
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:1237 deaths]]
[[Category:Bishops of Durham]]
[[Category:Bishops of Chichester]]
[[Category:Bishops of Salisbury]]
[[Category:13th-century English Roman Catholic bishops]]
[[Category:Deans of Salisbury]]