Walter de Stapledon
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Walter de Stapeldon (February 1, 1261 – October 15, 1326), English bishop, was born at Annery in North Devon.
He became professor of canon law at Oxford University and chaplain to Pope Clement V and in 1307 was chosen Bishop of Exeter. He went on errands to France for both Edward I and Edward II, and attended the councils and parliaments of his time. As Lord High Treasurer of England, an office to which he was appointed in 1320, the Bishop was associated in the popular mind with the misdeeds of Edward II, and consequently, after the king fled before the advancing troops of Queen Isabella, he was murdered in London by the mob on 15 October 1326.
Stapeldon is famous as the founder of Exeter College, Oxford, which originated in Stapeldon Hall, established in 1314 by the bishop and his elder brother, Sir Richard Stapeldon, a judge of the king's bench. He also contributed very liberally to the rebuilding of his cathedral at Exeter.
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| Preceded by Thomas Bitton |
Bishop of Exeter 1308–1326 |
Succeeded by James Berkeley |
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
