BURY, RICHARD AUNGERVILLE DE. - Bishop of Durham, b. 24 Jan. 1287 at Bury St Edmunds, d. 14 Apr. 1345 at Durham. He was tutor to King Edward III, from 1323 administrator of the English provinces of Gascony and Guyenne, and in 1333 became bishop of Durham. Along with the pastoral care he combined for one year the office of Chancellor of England (1334-35) and Lord Privy Seal (1335-36). At that time he was charged with important diplomatic missions to the papal court at Avignon and to the court of France, to which he brought the declaration of war that opened the Hundred Years' War (1338-39). The last years of his episcopate, until his death on 14 Apr. 1345, he devoted to the administration of the diocese and to bibliophily.

He acquired a collection of precious books and in the pamphlet Philobiblon he left his experiences and impressions as a bibliophile. The literary authorship of the Philobiblon is still disputed (probable author Robert Holkot, Dominican); many manuscripts, editions and translations in various languages survive. B. was also in correspondence with Petrarch.

Bibliography4 works

BIBL.: Sources, studies and editions in J. de Ghellinck, Un évêque bibliophile au XIVe siècle, R. A. de B. (1343), in Revue d'hist. eccl., 18 (1922), pp. 271-312; 482-508 and 19 (1923), pp. 137-200; M. J. Husung, R. de B., Philobiblon, Weimar 1931; J. de Ghellinck, s. v. in DHG, X (1938), coll. 1405-407.

Lucchesio Spätling

@incollection{ec3_bury_richard_aungerville_de, author = {Spätling, Lucchesio}, title = {Bury, richard aungerville de}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {III}, pages = {239--240}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1949}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/bury-richard-aungerville-de} }

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Bury, Richard Aungerville de

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