Editing Richard of Dover

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{{for|the bishop of Bayeux|Richard fitz Samson}}
{{Short description|Archbishop of Canterbury from 1173 to 1184}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| name           = Richard of Dover
| archbishop_of  = [[Archbishop of Canterbury]]
| appointed      = 3 June 1173
| ended          = 16 February 1184
| predecessor    = [[Roger de Bailleul]]
| successor      = [[Baldwin of Forde]]
| consecration   = 7 April 1174
| consecrated_by = Pope [[Pope Alexander III|Alexander III]]
| other_post     = [[Prior (ecclesiastical)|Prior]] of [[Dover Priory]]
| death_date     = 16 February 1184
| death_place    = [[Halling, Kent]]
| buried         = [[Canterbury Cathedral]]
}}

'''Richard''' (died 16 February 1184) was a medieval [[Benedictine]] monk and [[Archbishop of Canterbury]]. Employed by [[Thomas Becket]] immediately before Becket's death, Richard arranged for Becket to be buried in [[Canterbury Cathedral]] and eventually succeeded Becket at Canterbury in a contentious election. Much of Richard's time as archbishop was spent in a dispute with [[Roger de Pont L'Evêque]], the [[Archbishop of York]] over the primacy of England, and with [[St Augustine's Abbey]] in Canterbury over the archbishop's jurisdiction over the abbey. Richard had better relations with King [[Henry II of England]] than Becket had and was employed by the king on diplomatic affairs. Richard also had the trust of the papacy and served as a judge for it. Several of his questions to [[Pope Alexander III]] were collected into the ''[[Decretal]]s'', a collection of ecclesiastical laws, and his patronage of canon lawyers did much to advance the study of canon law in England.

==Early life==
[[File:Canterbury Cathedral 092 Murder of St Thomas.JPG|thumb|left|A stained glass window depicting the murder of Thomas Becket, in Canterbury Cathedral.]]
Richard was born in [[Normandy]] and became a [[monk]] at [[Canterbury]],<ref name=Knowles88>Knowles, et al. ''Heads of Religious Houses'' p. 88</ref> and a chaplain to [[Theobald of Bec]], the Archbishop of Canterbury.<ref name=Bartlett401>Bartlett ''England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings'' p. 401</ref><ref name=DNB/> At some point, he received an education, but it is not known where or who he studied with. The first notice of him in history is as a monk at Christ Church.<ref name=DNB/> He was a colleague of Thomas Becket while they both worked for Theobald. In 1157, he was appointed prior of [[Dover Priory|St. Martin's]] priory in [[Dover]]. St. Martin's was a [[Order of Saint Benedict|Benedictine]] [[priory]] and a dependent house of Christ Church Cathedral Priory in Canterbury, the [[cathedral chapter]] of the archbishops of Canterbury.<ref name=Knowles88/> Right before Becket's death Becket employed Richard to meet with [[Henry the Young King]], but was unsuccessful in the attempt.<ref name=Becket230>Barlow ''Thomas Becket'' p. 230</ref> After Becket's death, Richard took charge of Becket's body and arranged for immediate burial in Canterbury Cathedral.<ref name=Becket249>Barlow ''Thomas Becket'' p. 249</ref>

==Archbishop==
In 1173, more than two years after the murder of Becket, King Henry II of England decided to fill the vacant archbishopric of Canterbury; there were two candidates: Richard, and Odo, prior of Canterbury. Previously, Roger, the abbot of Bec Abbey, had been elected but refused the office.<ref name=Spear6>Spear "Norman Empire" ''Journal of British Studies'' p. 6</ref> On 3 June 1173,<ref name=Handbook232>Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 232</ref> Richard was chosen, although the monks preferred Odo. Both sides appealed to Rome, and Richard journeyed to Rome with [[Reginald Fitz Jocelin|Reginald fitz Jocelin]], who had recently been elected [[Bishop of Bath and Wells|Bishop of Bath]], to rebut the charges of [[simony]], [[Legitimacy (family law)|illegitimate birth]], and swearing an oath to the king that had been raised. After hearing the charges, they were dismissed, and the election was ratified on 2 April 1174; on 7 April 1174 the new archbishop was consecrated at [[Anagni]] by Pope Alexander III.<ref name=DNB>Duggan "Richard" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''</ref> Richard returned to England at the close of the year bearing his [[pallium]] which he had received directly from the pope.<ref name=Lawrence73>Duggan "From the Conquest to the Death of John" ''English Church and the Papacy'' p. 73</ref> He was also granted [[Papal legate|legatine]] powers by Alexander III.<ref name=Barlow338>Barlow ''Feudal Kingdom'' p. 338</ref>

Richard clashed with Roger de Pont L'Evêque, the Archbishop of York, over the respective rights of the two [[episcopal see|sees]] throughout his time as archbishop. In 1175, at a council held in London, there was a fight between their supporters. King Henry II secured a truce between the archbishops for five years, but Richard was soon embroiled in another dispute. This one was with Roger, abbot of St Augustine's Abbey in Canterbury, and revolved around whether or not the abbey depended directly on the pope or if the archbishop had jurisdictional rights over the abbey. In the end, the papacy arranged a settlement that left the abbey dependent on the pope direct, but gave the archbishop spiritual authority over the churches of the [[Isle of Thanet]], which the abbey had previously held.<ref name=Monastic588>Knowles ''Monastic Order'' p. 588</ref>

Richard's time as archbishop was much less stormy than Becket's had been, and he seems to have had better relations with the king. Richard attended the royal councils and was with the king in Normandy more than once. Richard was less dogmatic on the rights of the [[clergy]] than his great predecessor had been; but his compromises were regarded by the [[Monasticism|monastic]] writers and the followers of Becket as a sign of weakness.<ref name=Warren536>Warren ''Henry II'' p. 536</ref> Pope Alexander III took Richard to task when Richard acquiesced in the election of bishops in the royal chapel.<ref name=Warren553>Warren ''Henry II'' p. 553</ref> As part of his diplomatic efforts on the king's behalf, Richard escorted Henry's daughter [[Joan of England, Queen of Sicily|Joan]] to [[Provence]] on her journey in 1176 to marry King [[William II of Sicily]]. Richard also spent part of 1177 in [[Flanders]] on diplomatic business for King Henry.<ref name=DNB/>

==Patronage, death and legacy==
[[File:Canterburycathedralrichardofdoversburialsite.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Interior photograph of a stone building|Burial site of Richard of Dover in the north aisle of the nave of Canterbury Cathedral]]
Richard attracted [[canon law]]yers to his household, including [[Gerard la Pucelle]], [[Peter of Blois]], and Henry Pium of Northampton, all of whom advised him on legal matters. At the [[Synods of Westminster|Council of Westminster]] that Richard convened in May 1175, nineteen canons were put forth, dealing with clerical marriage, the oversupply of ordained clergy, the behaviour of the clergy and their dress and [[tonsure]], and simony. Another canon dealt with clandestine marriages and regulated child marriages. He was also heavily involved with trying judicial cases, both in the actual judgment and in the execution of judgments made by others. Four of his questions to Alexander III entered the ''Decretals'' and the other collections of canon law of the 13th century.<ref name=DNB/>

Richard died at [[Halling, Kent]]<ref name=DNB/> on 16 February 1184<ref name=Handbook232/> of colic and was buried in his cathedral.<ref name=DNB/> [[Austin Lane Poole|A. L. Poole]], the historian, felt that Richard was a "feeble and ineffective person."<ref name=Poole221>Poole ''Domesday Book to Magna Carta'' p. 221</ref> [[Frank Barlow (historian)|Frank Barlow]], another historian, calls him a "blameless mediocrity".<ref name=Barlow302>Barlow ''Feudal Kingdom'' p. 302</ref> [[Richard of Ilchester]], a fellow bishop, held that it was Richard of Dover's defects that prevented the English Church from profiting more from Becket's [[martyr]]dom.<ref name=Poole221/> However, Richard did much to promote the use of canon law throughout England.<ref name=Lawrence93>Duggan "From the Conquest to the Death of John" ''English Church and the Papacy'' p. 93</ref> Richard was also active in using his legatine powers to interfere in monastic affairs, deposing the abbot of [[Peterborough Cathedral|Peterborough Abbey]] in 1175 and threatening to visit other monastic houses that were exempt from episcopal interference to regulate the monastic affairs.<ref name=Monastic651>Knowles ''Monastic Order'' p. 651</ref> On a more domestic note, Richard was held to have been an able steward of the estates of Canterbury, very much interested in increasing production.<ref name=DuBoulay247>DuBoulay ''Lordship of Canterbury'' pp. 247–248</ref> He was held to be a pious and gentle man.<ref name=Barber187>Barber ''Henry Plantagenet'' p. 187</ref>

==Citations==
{{reflist|40em}}

==References==
{{refbegin|60em}}
* {{cite book |title= Henry Plantagenet 1133–1189 |last= Barber|first=Richard |author-link=Richard Barber |year=1993 |publisher= Barnes & Noble|location=New York |isbn=1-56619-363-X }}
* {{cite book |author=Barlow, Frank |title=The Feudal Kingdom of England 1042–1216|author-link=Frank Barlow (historian)|edition=Fourth |publisher=Longman |location=New York |year=1988 |isbn=0-582-49504-0 }}
* {{cite book |author=Barlow, Frank|author-link=Frank Barlow (historian) |title=Thomas Becket |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley, CA |year=1986 |isbn=0-520-07175-1 }}
* {{cite book |author=Bartlett, Robert C. |author-link=Robert Bartlett (historian)|title=England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings: 1075–1225 |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=Oxford, UK |year=2000 |isbn=0-19-822741-8 }}
* {{cite book |author= DuBoulay, F. R. H. |title= The Lordship of Canterbury: An Essay on Medieval Society  |year= 1966 |publisher=Barnes & Noble |location=New York |oclc= 310997 }}
* {{cite encyclopedia | author = Duggan, Charles |encyclopedia= The English Church and the Papacy in the Middle Ages |title= From the Conquest to the Death of John | editor-last = Lawrence| editor-first = C. H.| pages = 63–116| place = Stroud| publisher = Sutton Publishing|isbn=0-7509-1947-7 | year = 1965 |edition=1999 Reprint}}
* {{cite encyclopedia | author=Duggan, Charles |title=Richard (d. 1184)| encyclopedia=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography|publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2004 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/23514 |access-date=8 November 2007 |doi= 10.1093/ref:odnb/23514}} {{ODNBsub}}
* {{cite book |author1=Fryde, E. B. |author2=Greenway, D. E. |author3=Porter, S. |author4=Roy, I. |title=Handbook of British Chronology|edition=Third revised |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, UK |year=1996 |isbn=0-521-56350-X }}
* {{cite book |author=Knowles, David |title=The Monastic Order in England: A History of its Development from the Times of St. Dunstan to the Fourth Lateran Council, 940–1216|author-link=David Knowles (scholar) |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, UK |year=1976 |edition= Second reprint |isbn=0-521-05479-6 }}
* {{cite book |author=Poole, Austin Lane |author-link=Austin Lane Poole |title=From Domesday Book to Magna Carta, 1087–1216 |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=Oxford, UK |year=1955 |edition=Second |isbn=0-19-821707-2 }}
* {{cite journal |author= Spear, David S. |title= The Norman Empire and the Secular Clergy, 1066–1204 |date=Spring 1982  |journal= [[Journal of British Studies]] |volume= XXI |issue=2 |pages=1–10  |doi= 10.1086/385787 |jstor= 175531 |s2cid= 153511298 }}
* {{cite book |author=Warren, W. L. |author-link=W. L. Warren |title=Henry II |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley, CA |year=1973  |isbn=0-520-03494-5 }}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |author=Cheney, M. G. |title=The Council of Westminster, 1175: New Light on an Old Source |encyclopedia = Studies in Church History 11: The Materials, Sources, and Methods of Ecclesiastical History Studies in Church History |editor=Baker, D. |year=1975 |pages= 61–68}}
{{refend}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-rel|ca}}
{{s-bef | before=[[Thomas Becket]] }}
{{s-ttl| title=[[Archbishop of Canterbury]] | years=1174–1184}}
{{s-aft| after=[[Baldwin of Forde]] }}
{{s-end}}

{{Archbishops of Canterbury}}
{{Authority control}}

{{good article}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2013}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Richard of Dover}}
[[Category:Archbishops of Canterbury]]
[[Category:1184 deaths]]
[[Category:12th-century English Roman Catholic archbishops]]
[[Category:Anglo-Norman Benedictines]]
[[Category:Burials at Canterbury Cathedral]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]