Richard Beere

Richard Beere (or Bere) (born before 1493; died 20 January 1524) was an English Benedictine abbot of Glastonbury, known as a builder for his abbey, as a diplomat and scholar, and a friend of Erasmus.

Life He was installed as abbot in 1493, the election of Thomas Wasyn having been quashed by the Bishop of Bath and Wells.

In 1503, the king sent Beere, with two other ambassadors, to Rome to congratulate Pope Pius III on his elevation; A stone in the chapel exhibits his initials, surmounted by his cognisance, a cross between two beer-jugs. His initials and cognisance were also on St. Benedict's church in Glastonbury, and his initials, surmounted by a mitre, on the Lepers' Hospital at Monkton, near Taunton; both these buildings were repaired by him. Among his various works Beere built the manor-house at Sharpham, where Fielding was born.

In fiction He appears as a character in Monk and Knight (1891) by Frank W. Gunsaulus.