Hugh Foliot

Hugh Foliot ( – 7 August 1234) was a medieval Bishop of Hereford. Related somehow to his predecessor at Hereford, he served as a priest and papal judge as well as being an unsuccessful candidate as Bishop of St David's in Wales. In 1219, he was appointed Bishop of Hereford. During his time in office, he mostly attended to ecclesiastical duties, but did occasionally serve as a royal administrator. He helped found a hospital and a priory, and died in 1234 after a months-long illness.

Early life Foliot possibly was the son of Roger Foliot and his wife Rohese. Roger held three knight's fees in Northamptonshire. Probably born sometime between 1150 and 1160, Hugh was related in some manner to Robert Foliot, his predecessor at Hereford. Foliot is a frequent witness on charters as archdeacon, but little else is known of his tenure of the office. along with William de Goldcliff, the Bishop of Llandaff, at Canterbury. Because des Roches travelled to Spain to the shrine of St James at Compostela, and it is known that Foliot accompanied him, the statement by a medieval chronicler from Dunstable that Foliot's destination was not certain, being either Rome or Compostela, should be discounted. He was also appointed to determine the size of the royal forest in Gloucestershire. Foliot also founded a hospital in Ledbury, devoted to St Katherine. He helped found Alberbury Priory, a house of the Grandmontine order. In his cathedral, he reorganised the benefices and offices of the chapter, as well as endowing further benefices.

Foliot died 7 August 1234, after an illness that began in the spring. He was buried in Hereford Cathedral, where his tomb survives. Foliot appointed his younger brother Thomas to offices in the diocese, first as precentor in the 1220s and then around 1230 as treasurer of the cathedral chapter.