Geoffrey Ridel
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| Denomination | Catholic |
|---|---|
| Senior posting | |
| See | Diocese of Ely |
| Title | Bishop of Ely |
| Period in office | 1173–1189 |
| Predecessor | Nigel |
| Successor | William Longchamp |
| Religious career | |
| Previous post | Archdeacon of Canterbury |
| Personal | |
| Date of death | August 21, 1189 |
Geoffrey Ridel (died 1189) was the nineteenth Lord Chancellor of England, from 1162 to 1173.[1]
[edit] Life
He was probably the great-nephew of Geoffrey Ridel, who died in 1120 and was a royal justice. He was a royal clerk by about 1156, when he first starts witnessing charters.[2] He was a king's clerk before he was Archdeacon of Canterbury, which office he held by March 1163.[3] He performed the duties of the chancellor's office after Thomas Becket's resignation of the office, but no documents explicitly name him to the office.[4] He also served as a royal judge.[5] By 1165, Ridel was a baron of the Exchequer.[2]
During the controversy between King Henry II of England and Archbishop Thomas Becket, Geoffrey supported the king.[6] Ridel went to Rome in 1164 to represent the king before the papal curia, and in 1166 opposed Becket once more. By 1169 he was urging King Louis VII of France to no longer give refuge to Becket.[2] Becket's supporters called Ridel the "archidiabolus",[7] or "our archdevil", a play on the office of archdeacon which Ridel held. Ridel also urged King Henry's son, Henry the Young King, to refuse to see the archbishop in 1170, telling the prince that Becket wished to disinherit the prince.[2]
After the controversy was resolved, he was rewarded with a bishopric.[8] He was elected to the see of Ely in late April of 1173 and consecrated on October 6, 1174[9] at Canterbury.[2] For a number of years previous to his election he had been the custodian of the see, and had received the episcopal revenues.[7] He resigned the chancellorship when he became a bishop.[10] He continued to be involved in governmental affairs, attending councils and escorting King Henry II's daughter Joanna to Provence when the princess was sent to Sicily to marry King William II of Sicily. He also continued to hold the office of baron of the exchequer at least as late as 1185.[2]
He died on either August 21, 1189 or August 20.[9][11] After his death, King Richard I of England confiscated his personal property,[12] because Geoffrey had died without a will. The bishop's estate at his death included over 3000 marks in coins, as well as agricultural supplies and gold and silver plate.[13] He was buired in Ely Cathedral. During his time as bishop, he built much of the western transept of Ely Cathedral.[2]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Fryde Handbook of British Chronology p. 84
- ^ a b c d e f g Duggan "Ridel, Geoffrey (d. 1189)" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
- ^ British History Online Archdeacons of Canterbury accessed on October 25, 2007
- ^ Warren Henry II p. 307
- ^ Barlow The English Church 1066-1154 p. 256
- ^ Bartlett England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings p. 401
- ^ a b Warren Henry II p. 535
- ^ Poole Domesday Book to Magna Carta p. 220
- ^ a b Fryde Handbook of British Chronology p. 244
- ^ Huscroft Ruling England p. 191
- ^ British History Online Bishops of Ely accessed on October 25, 2007
- ^ Poole Domesday Book to Magna Carta p. 190 footnote3
- ^ Gillingham Richard I p. 115
[edit] References
- Barlow, Frank (1979). The English Church 1066-1154: A History of the Anglo-Norman Church. New York: Longman. ISBN 0-582-50236-5.
- Bartlett, Robert C. (2000). England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings: 1075-1225. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-822741-8.
- British History Online Archdeacons of Canterbury accessed on October 25, 2007
- British History Online Bishops of Ely accessed on October 25, 2007
- Duggan, A. J. (2004). "Ridel, Geoffrey (d. 1189)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. DOI:10.1093/ref:odnb/23618. Retrieved on 2008-03-08.
- Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology, Third Edition, revised, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X.
- Gillingham, John (1999). Richard I. New Haven, Conn: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-07912-5.
- Huscroft, Huscroft (2005). Ruling England 1042-1217. London: Pearson/Longman. ISBN 0-582-84882-2.
- Poole, Austin Lane (1955). From Domesday Book to Magna Carta, 1087-1216, Second Edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-821707-2.
- Warren, W. L. (1973). Henry II. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-03494-5.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Thomas Becket |
Lord Chancellor 1162–1173 |
Succeeded by Ralph de Warneville |
| Roman Catholic Church titles | ||
| Preceded by Nigel |
Bishop of Ely 1173–1189 |
Succeeded by William Longchamp |
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Ridel, Geoffrey |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Bishop of Ely; Lord Chancellor of England |
| DATE OF BIRTH | |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 1189 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
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