Was Richard de Belmais a Bad Man?

Was Richard de Belmais a bad man? Was he, as some say, a power-hungry meddler? In my book ‘The Welsh Warrior’s Inheritance’ I paint Bishop Richard in a bad light as someone always inciting the Welsh to fight each other and taking advantage of the chaos which then ensued. In the book, he is certainly a character readers can easily dislike but have I been fair? What do we really know about Richard de Belmais?

Although it is not certain, it is thought that Richard was born in the fief of Beaumais-sur-Dive in Normandy around 1050. It is also thought that he was one of the Normans brought across by Roger de Montgomery, a powerful landowner and Earl of Shrewsbury. We think Richard started life as a lowly clerk but suspect that by 1086 he was holding two hides of land at Preen and half a hide of land at Meadowly. A good start! When the Montgomery family fell out of grace, Richard caught the eye of Henry 1 who was always on the lookout for men who had administrative talent and by 1102 Richard became Sheriff of Shropshire.

Henry 1 began to depend on Richard to manage the affairs on the Welsh borders and even though by 1108, he had been made Bishop of London, he was still instrumental in getting involved in Welsh politics on behalf of the Norman king. From what we can see it is likely that he was intent on gaining Norman advantage. When Owain ap Cadwgan abducted Princess Nest, wife of Gerald of Windsor and mistress of King Henry 1 of England, Richard encouraged Welsh leaders to drive Owain from his lands and then was involved in assigning these lands to his allies. The death of Owain’s father and uncle and the destruction that was part of this unsettled time can be attributed in part to Bishop Richard’s interference. It also gave King Henry extra power in Welsh politics.

As a bishop of London, Richard was industrious. He constructed the new cathedral of St Paul’s putting much of his own money into its development; formed a cathedral close around St Paul’s by buying up land and houses in the area and he founded cathedral schools as well as gaining many advantages for the community from the king. There is no question of his ability and his prodigious workload but Richard also made sure that his relatives were well taken care of within the religious community. His son, and four of his nephews were beneficiaries of Richard’s influence.

There is a tradition that when Richard developed an estate for himself in Clacton-on-Sea, that he took some of the lands which were part of St Osyth’s at Chich. When the canons prayed to their saint, Richard was struck down by paralysis and only when he repented was his speech and sight returned. Richard thereafter set up a priory of Augustian canons at Chich. On his deathbed Richard confessed to lying about the tenure of a manor which he said he had held in fee when, in reality, it had only been by lease. After he had given so much of his own money to St Paul’s Cathedral it seems sad that his final confession should be such.

So was Richard a good man or a bad man? Perhaps read ‘The Warrior’s Inheritance’ to come to your own conclusion!