Silvester de Everdon (died 1254) was a medieval

Bishop of Carlisle The Bishop of Carlisle is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Carlisle in the Province of York. The diocese covers the county of Cumbria except for Alston Moor and the former Sedbergh Rural District. The see is in the city o ...

and

Lord Chancellor The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. T ...

of England.

Life

Everdon came from the village of

Everdon Everdon is a village in West Northamptonshire in England, some south of Daventry. The population of the civil parish (including Little Everdon) at the 2011 census was 356. Nearby, The Stubbs is a wood belonging to the Woodland Trust, a UK c ...

, near

Daventry Daventry ( , historically ) is a market town and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority in Northamptonshire, England, close to the border with Warwickshire. At the 2021 Census Daventry had a population of 28,123, making ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

, but other than the fact that he was related to a locally prominent family of Thorp, nothing else is known of his ancestry.Summerson "Everdon, Silvester of" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' He was a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

from 1219. In 1229 he entered the service of

Ralph Neville Ralph Neville (or Ralf NevillClanchy ''From Memory to Written Record'' p. 90 or Ralph de Neville; died 1244) was a medieval clergyman and politician who served as Bishop of Chichester and Lord Chancellor of England. Neville first appears in t ...

, who was

Bishop of Chichester The Bishop of Chichester is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the counties of East and West Sussex. The see is based in the City of Chichester where the bishop's s ...

and Lord Chancellor, as a chancery clerk and continued on in the chancery until his election to Carlisle.Prestwich ''Plantagenet England'' p. 62 In 1244 Everdon became Lord Chancellor (holding the post until 1246)Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 85 and in 1245 he became the

Archdeacon of Chester The Archdeacon of Chester is a senior ecclesiastical officer in the diocese of Chester. The area in which she, or he, has statutory duties is the Archdeaconry of Chester – those duties include some pastoral care and disciplinary supervision of th ...

.Greenway
Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300: Volume 2: Monastic Cathedrals (Northern and Southern Provinces): Carlisle: Bishops
' He was elected to the

see of Carlisle The Diocese of Carlisle was created in 11 April 1132 by Henry I out of part of the Diocese of Durham, although many people of Cumbric descent in the area looked to Glasgow for spiritual leadership. The first bishop was Æthelwold, who was the k ...

about 1 September 1246 but declined the see. He probably declined the see because of concerns over being rewarded for secular work with a clerical office. King

Henry III of England Henry III (1 October 1207 – 16 November 1272), also known as Henry of Winchester, was King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine from 1216 until his death in 1272. The son of King John and Isabella of Angoulême, Henry as ...

seems to have persuaded Everdon that election was canonical, and he was elected again in November 1246 and accepted. Earlier,

Matthew Paris Matthew Paris, also known as Matthew of Paris ( la, Matthæus Parisiensis, lit=Matthew the Parisian; c. 1200 – 1259), was an English Benedictine monk, chronicler, artist in illuminated manuscripts and cartographer, based at St Albans Abbey ...

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.Quoted in Summerson "Everdon, Silvester of" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' He was consecrated on 13 October 1247. 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. He also served as a royal justice and attended parliament. He died in the spring of 1254,Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 235 after being thrown from a horse near

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

while on his way to the royal court. Everdon is believed to be buried in the

Temple Church The Temple Church is a Royal peculiar church in the City of London located between Fleet Street and the River Thames, built by the Knights Templar as their English headquarters. It was consecrated on 10 February 1185 by Patriarch Heraclius of J ...

in London.

Citations

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Everdon, Silvester de Lord chancellors of England Bishops of Carlisle Archdeacons of Chester 13th-century English Roman Catholic bishops People from Daventry Year of birth missing 1254 deaths Burials at the Temple Church