Hilary of Chichester

Hilary of Chichester
Bishop of Chichester
The interior of Chichester Cathedral, showing the Romanesque stonework. The interior was reworked after a fire in 1187, but the basic structure dates from before Hilary's episcopate.
Appointed	July 1147
Term ended	July 1169
Predecessor	Seffrid I
Successor	John of Greenford
Other posts	Dean of Christchurch
Orders
Consecration	3 August 1147 by Theobald of Bec
Personal details
Born	c. 1110
Died	July 1169

Hilary (c. 1110–1169) was a medieval Bishop of Chichester in England. English by birth, he studied canon law and worked in Rome as a papal clerk. During his time there, he became acquainted with a number of ecclesiastics, including the future Pope Adrian IV, and the medieval writer John of Salisbury. In England, he served as a clerk for Henry of Blois, who was the Bishop of Winchester and brother of King Stephen of England. After Hilary's unsuccessful nomination to become Archbishop of York, Pope Eugene III compensated him by promoting him to the bishopric of Chichester in 1147.

Hilary spent many years in a struggle with Battle Abbey, attempting to assert his right as bishop to oversee the abbey. He also clashed with Thomas Becket, then chancellor to King Henry II of England, later Archbishop of Canterbury; Hilary supported King Henry II's position in the conflict with Becket. Henry appointed Hilary a sheriff, and employed him as a judge in the royal courts. The papacy also used Hilary as a judge-delegate, to hear cases referred back to England. Known for supporting his clergy and as a canon lawyer, or someone trained in ecclesiastical law, Hilary worked to have Edward the Confessor, a former English king, canonized as a saint.

Hilary was probably born around 1110, and was likely of low birth, but nothing is known of his ancestry. His brother was a canon of Salisbury Cathedral, and they both may have come from around Salisbury. Hilary served as a clerk for Henry of Blois, Bishop of Winchester, and as Dean of the church of Christchurch in Twynham, Hampshire, probably receiving both offices through the influence of Henry of Blois. Christchurch was a collegiate church of secular clergy, or clergy who were not monks, and Hilary was dean of the church by 1139. He was educated as a canon lawyer, and was an advocate, or lawyer, in Rome in 1144. While in Rome, he also served in the papal chancery, or writing office, in 1146. Some of his coworkers in the chancery were Robert Pullen, John of Salisbury, and Nicholas Breakspear who later became pope, as Adrian IV.