Thomas Hatfield or Thomas de Hatfield (died 1381) was
Bishop of Durham
The bishop of Durham is head of the diocese of Durham in the province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler (bishop), Paul Butler was the most recent bishop of Durham u ...
from 1345 to 1381 under
King Edward III
Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring royal authority after t ...
. He was one of the last warrior-bishops in England.
He was born around 1310, presumably in one of the several British towns named Hatfield. He entered the employment of the king (Edward III) on 26 October 1337.
Hatfield was
Receiver of the Chamber when he was selected to be
Lord Privy Seal
The Lord Privy Seal (or, more formally, the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal) is the fifth of the Great Officers of State (United Kingdom), Great Officers of State in the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord President of the Council and abov ...
in late 1344. He relinquished that office to his successor in July 1345.
[Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 94]
Hatfield was elected on 8 May 1345 in succession to
Richard de Bury
Richard de Bury (24 January 1287 – 14 April 1345), also known as Richard Aungerville or Aungervyle, was an English priest, teacher, bishop, writer, and bibliophile. He was a patron of learning and one of the first English collectors of books. ...
,
and was consecrated on 7 August 1345.
[
Thomas fought in King Edward's division at the ]Battle of Crécy
The Battle of Crécy took place on 26 August 1346 in northern France between a French army commanded by King PhilipVI and an English army led by King Edward III. The French attacked the English while they were traversing northern France ...
on 26 August 1346.[Wrottesley. ''Crecy and Calais'' p. 34]
In 1380, he drew up a covenant to leave £3000 () to endow Durham College, Oxford, which was the primary endowment of the college and enabled the construction of its quadrangle, chapel and surviving library, now part of the Durham Quadrangle of Trinity College, Oxford
Trinity College (full name: The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope (Knight)) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in E ...
.
He died on 8 May 1381.[Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 242]
He is buried near the choir stalls in Durham Cathedral
Durham Cathedral, formally the , is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Durham, England. The cathedral is the seat of the bishop of Durham and is the Mother Church#Cathedral, mother church of the diocese of Durham. It also contains the ...
beneath the Bishop's Chair.
Due to his endowment of Durham College, Hatfield's arms appear in the canton of the arms of the University of Durham
Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charter in 1837. It was the first recognised university to ...
.college
A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...
of the university, is named after him.
Citations
References
*
*
* Greenwell, William (1857). Bishop Hatfield's survey, a record of the possessions of the see of Durham, made by order of Thomas de Hatfield, bishop of Durham. With an appendix of original documents, and a glossary. https://archive.org/details/bishophatfieldss00durh/page/239/mode/2up
;
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hatfield, Thomas
Bishops of Durham
14th-century English Roman Catholic bishops
1381 deaths
Lords Privy Seal
Year of birth unknown