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. For one year he combined pastoral care with the office of Chancellor of England (1334–35) and Keeper of the Privy Seal (1335–36). At that time he was entrusted with important diplomatic missions to the papal curia at Avignon, to the court of France, to which he carried 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 left his experiences and impressions as a bibliophile. The literary authorship of the Philobiblon is still disputed (the probable author being Robert Holcot, O.P.); many manuscripts, editions, and translations into various languages remain. B. was also in correspondence with Petrarch.