Peter of Leicester, Bishop Godfrey Giffard of Worcester, and the Problem of Benefices in Thirteenth-Century England

In 1287, Bishop Godfrey Giffard of Worcester fell out with his clerk, Peter of Leicester, denouncing him for ingratitude. Yet the bishop faced a problem: Peter’s ecclesiastical benefices. For lords, benefices had distinct advantages in allowing them to support bureaucrats without directly affecting their own finances, but for someone of Giffard’s position, the situation was far more disagreeable—the law and the courts made benefices largely irrevocable. Giffard’s maneuvers regarding Peter’s benefices indicate that benefices were a poor instrument of accountability, a characteristic that deserves some attention.