Silvester de Everdon

Silvester de Everdon (died 1254) was a medieval Bishop of Carlisle and Lord Chancellor of England.

Silvester de Everdon
Bishop of Carlisle
Elected	November 1246
Term ended	Spring 1254
Predecessor	Walter Mauclerk
Successor	Thomas Vipont
Other posts	Archdeacon of Chester
Orders
Consecration	13 October 1247
Personal details
Died	Spring 1254 Northampton
Lord Chancellor
In office 1244–1246
Monarch	Henry III of England
Preceded by	Ralph Neville
Succeeded by	John Maunsell

Life

Everdon came from the village of Everdon, near Daventry in Northamptonshire, but other than the fact that he was related to a locally prominent family of Thorp, nothing else is known of his ancestry.[1] He was a priest in Northamptonshire from 1219. In 1229 he entered the service of Ralph Neville, who was Bishop of Chichester and Lord Chancellor, as a chancery clerk and continued on in the chancery until his election to Carlisle.[1][2] In 1244 Everdon became Lord Chancellor (holding the post until 1246)[3] and in 1245 he became the Archdeacon of Chester.[4] He was elected to the see of Carlisle about 1 September 1246 but declined the see.[4] He probably declined the see because of concerns over being rewarded for secular work with a clerical office.[1]

King Henry III of England seems to have persuaded Everdon that election was canonical, and he was elected again in November 1246 and accepted.[1] Earlier, Matthew Paris had described Silvester as "the king's faithful clerk, dear and close, obtaining the first place in the chancery, where he served him wisely" and certainly Henry would have had the ability to persuade Silvester to accept the bishopric.[5] He was consecrated on 13 October 1247.[4] During his time as bishop he worked to settle a long-standing dispute over the finances of the see between the bishop and the canons.[1] He also served as a royal justice and attended parliament.[1] He died in the spring of 1254,[6] after being thrown from a horse[2] near Northampton while on his way to the royal court.[1]

Everdon is believed to be buried in the Temple Church in London.[7]

Citations

1. Summerson "Everdon, Silvester of" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
2. Prestwich Plantagenet England p. 62
3. Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 85
4. Greenway Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300: Volume 2: Monastic Cathedrals (Northern and Southern Provinces): Carlisle: Bishops
5. Quoted in Summerson "Everdon, Silvester of" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
6. Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 235
7. Griffith-Jones, Robin; Park, David, eds. (2010). The Temple Church in London: History, Architecture, Art. Woodbridge: Boydell Press. p. 85. ISBN 978 1 84383 498 4.

References

• Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology (Third revised ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X.
• Greenway, Diana E. (1977). Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300: Volume 2: Monastic Cathedrals (Northern and Southern Provinces): Carlisle: Bishops. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 20 October 2007.
• Prestwich, Michael (2005). Plantagenet England 1225–1360. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-922687-0.
• Summerson, Henry (2004). "Everdon, Silvester of (d. 1254)" ((subscription or UK public library membership required)). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/9002. Retrieved 20 November 2007.

Political offices
Preceded by Ralph Neville	Lord Chancellor 1244–1246	Succeeded by John Maunsell
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Walter Mauclerk	Bishop of Carlisle 1246–1254	Succeeded by Thomas Vipont