Walter Branscombe

Monument with effigy of Walter Branscombe, Exeter Cathedral. The effigy is contemporary with the bishop, but the chest-tomb and canopy were added in the 15th century to match the monument of Bishop Edmund Stafford (1344–1419) on the opposite side of the Lady Chapel Walter Branscombe (–1280) was Bishop of Exeter from 1258 to 1280.

Origins 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. 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 ("He was born to a father who was a citizen of Exeter, but of the least and lowest of the common people"), 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.

Career 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. He was ordained a priest on 10 March 1258, with both rites being performed by Boniface of Savoy, the Archbishop of Canterbury. He was enthroned at Exeter on 14 April 1258. He faced some problems at the start of his time as bishop, for right after the death of the previous bishop, Richard Blund, a number of Blund's officials and clerks had used Blund's seal to forge letters giving away benefices as well as Blund's property. This left Branscombe with debts and administrative issues. He also continued to perform diplomatic missions for the king, as he was at Paris in 1258 and 1263. He attended a general council of the church held at Lyons in the summer of 1274.