Richard de Beaumis (died 1162)
| Richard de Beaumis | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of London | |
| Elected | 1152 |
| Term ended | 4 May 1162 |
| Predecessor | Robert de Sigello |
| Successor | Gilbert Foliot |
| Other posts | Archdeacon of Middlesex |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 20 September 1152 |
| Consecration | 28 September 1152 |
| Personal details | |
| Died | 4 May 1162 |
| Denomination | Catholic |
Richard de Belmeis (died 1162) was a medieval cleric, administrator and politician. His career culminated in election as Bishop of London in 1152. He was one of the founders of Lilleshall Abbey in Shropshire.
Richard de Belmeis belonged to an ecclesiastical and secular land-owning dynasty associated with his uncle, Richard de Belmeis I, Bishop of London from 1108 to 1127, He is generally regarded as the brother of Richard Ruffus, who was an archdeacon of Essex, and their father is given as Robert de Belmeis throughout Diana Greenway's edition of Fasti Ecclesiae. However, Eyton, the Shropshire antiquarian and historian, gave the name of Richard's father as Walter in his study of the origins of Lilleshall Abbey, and repeated this in his further work on the Belmeis family and their holdings, including a family tree. This has been accepted by successive editions of the Dictionary of National Biography.
The Belmeis family is thought to have originated in Beaumais-sur-Dive, east of Falaise, in the Calvados region of Normandy, although this is not certain. Beginning as a minor Shropshire landholder and steward of Roger Montgomery, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, the elder Richard de Belmeis skilfully avoided involvement in rebellion to become Henry I's viceroy in Shropshire and later Bishop of London. His success enable not only the younger Richard, but a considerable number of family members, to pursue lucrative ecclesiastical careers, while Philip de Belmeis, emerged as his main temporal heir.
Based on genealogy given by Eyton, supplemented by reference to Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae.
Richard Belmeis II seems initially to have held Caddington Major, an important prebend of St Paul's Cathedral. The parish of Caddington lay across the border of Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire, but the prebendal estates of Great and Little Caddington were at that time on the Hertfordshire side. They were of great importance to the chapter of St Paul's: it had very full rights of jurisdiction there and was to hold the manors until it was abolished at the end of the English Civil War in 1649.
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