Walter Branscombe

Walter Branscombe
Bishop of Exeter
Elected	23 February 1258
Installed	14 April 1258
Term ended	22 July 1280
Predecessor	Richard Blund
Successor	Peter Quinel
Other posts	Archdeacon of Surrey
Orders
Ordination	9 March 1258
Consecration	10 March 1258 by Boniface of Savoy
Personal details
Born	c. 1220
Died	22 July 1280
Buried	Exeter Cathedral
Denomination	Catholic

Walter Branscombe (c. 1220–1280) was Bishop of Exeter from 1258 to 1280.

Nothing for certain is known of Walter Branscombe's origins and education, but he is thought to have been born in Exeter in about 1220. In the opinion of William George Hoskins he was a member of the family of de Branscombe seated at the manor of Edge in the parish of Branscombe east Devon, situated about 16 miles east of Exeter; although others appear to dispute this. John Prince (1643-1723), in his Worthies of Devon, says he was a native of Exeter, and "born there of poor and mean parentage". Prince appears to be quoting an earlier authority, Bishop Francis Godwin (1562-1633), who writes of Walter Bronscombe:"Patre natus Exoniensi cive, sed tenuissimae sortis et ex plebe infimâ", and it is not clear that the Branscombe family, who filled various positions of responsibility and authority in the fourteenth century, married into the high Devonshire families of Courtenay and Champernowne, held land at Colyton, and took their name from the parish ever lived at Edge, Branscombe which, from the reign of King Edward III, was home to the Wadham family.

Branscombe held a prebend in of St Nicholas's College at Wallingford Castle, as well as a number of other benefices. He also was archdeacon of Surrey. In 1250, he acted as King Henry III of England's representative at the papal curia, and was appointed the king's proctor the next year. Besides being a royal clerk, he was often named as a papal chaplain also. Before 1254 he became a canon of Exeter Cathedral.

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