archbishop chancellor clergyman
Giffard was born in c. 1225 in England, the son of Hugh Giffard of Boyton in Wiltshire, a royal justice, by Sibyl, a daughter and co-heiress of Walter de Cormeilles. In 1256 Giffard and his mother received the king's licence to live in Boyton Castle. Giffard's brother was Bishop Godfrey Giffard, who was Bishop of Worcester and also Lord Chancellor of England; his sister Mabel was the Abbess of Shaftesbury Abbey.
Giffard studied at Cambridge University and took his master of arts at Oxford University.
Giffard took holy orders and became a canon and archdeacon of Wells and a papal chaplain. On 22 May 1264 he was elected Bishop of Bath and Wells and received the temporalities on 1 September 1264. As the Archbishop of Canterbury, Boniface of Savoy was in France, Giffard travelled to Paris to be consecrated at Notre-Dame on 4 January 1265. Following the Battle of Evesham, on 10 August 1265 King Henry made Giffard Chancellor and awarded him a stipend of five hundred marks a year. In August of the following year he was appointed one of the arbitrators for drawing up the award of Kenilworth which provided the disinherited lords a means of recovering their estates. On 15 October 1266 Giffard was appointed by Pope Clement IV to the Archbishopric of York -
as part of this elevation he resigned the chancellorship and was enthroned on 1 November 1266, receiving his temporalities on Boxing day. Soon after his enthronement he became involved in a dispute with Archbishop Boniface of Canterbury about the right to carry his cross erect in the southern province, and ended up making an appeal to Rome. Although Giffard had family wealth and much money associated with his office, he could not keep clear of debt. Despite his own financial problems he seems to have been kind to his relatives - paying for his nephew's education and giving his brother Godfrey the Archdeaconry of York. His register contains many gifts to the poor, and he helped support schoolmasters at Beverley. He also supported the scholarly careers of two of his successors at York, John le Romeyn and William Greenfield. On 13 October 1269 Giffard officiated at the translation of Edward the Confessor's relics. When leaving England, Prince Edward (who was then heir to the throne) appointed him by will in 1270 as one of the tutors of his sons. He also assisted Edward in bringing John de Warenne the Earl of Surrey to justice for the murder of Alan la Zouche at Westminster. Giffard died at York on or about 22 April 1279.
Contemporary reports state that Giffard was a handsome, happy and genial man who was fond of luxury - as a result of this in later life he grew fat which affected both his health and his temper. He was noted at the time as being a man of high character who was able and industrious.
