[A.D. 1317, trans. to Worcester 1327.] Adam Orleton This Bishop had joined the barons, under the Earl of Lancaster, against Edward II. and the Spencers; and in 1323,—two years after the defeat of the barons at Boroughbridge,—he was impeached in Parliament as having given “countenance and assistance to the rebellion.” He refused, as a Churchman, to be so tried, and was delivered to the custody of the Archbishop of Canterbury, whence he was afterwards brought before the bar of the King’s Bench. “These proceedings being looked upon as a violation of the liberties of the Church, the Archbishops of Canterbury, York, and Dublin, came immediately, with their crosses erected, into the court, and carried off the Bishop without giving him time to answer to the indictment[52].” The Bishop was tried in his absence, however,—(the first English bishop brought to trial in a temporal court,)—found guilty, and his temporalities confiscated. But these had been restored before 1326, when Bishop Orleton joined the party of Queen Isabella. He preached before her at Oxford, on the text “doleo caput,” (2 Kings iv. 19,) inferring that a distempered “head” should be removed; and the Queen proceeded with him to Hereford, where the younger Spencer was hanged. Thence the Bishop wrote his famous letter to the keepers of Edward II. at Berkeley Castle,—“Edwardum regem occidere nolite timere bonum est.” In 1327 he was translated, by the influence of the Queen, to Worcester; and in 1333 to Winchester, where he died in 1345.
[A.D. 1327-1344.] Thomas Charlton, Canon of York. In 1329 he was Treasurer of England. In 1337 he was sent to Ireland as Chancellor, and was afterwards Justiciary and “Warden” of that kingdom. In 1340 he returned to Hereford.
[A.D. 1344-1360.] John Trilleck. Little is recorded of this Bishop, whose fine brass remains in the choir of the cathedral. (Pt. I. § X.) He prohibited the performance of miracle-plays in churches within his diocese.
[A.D. 1361-1369.] Lewis Charlton; of some distinction as a theologian.
[A.D. 1370, trans. to London 1375.] William Courtenay, son of Hugh Courtenay, Earl of Devon. From London Bishop Courtenay passed to Canterbury in 1381, and died 1396. As Bishop of London, and as Archbishop, he was a strong opposer of Wickliffe. (See Canterbury Cathedral, Pt. II.)
[A.D. 1375, trans. to St. David’s 1389.] John Gilbert; was translated to Hereford from Bangor. In 1386 he was Treasurer of England.
[A.D. 1389-1404.] John Trevenant: sent on an embassy to Rome by Henry IV. in 1400.
[A.D. 1404-1416.] Robert Mascall: had been a Carmelite friar at Ludlow; whence he proceeded to Oxford, and there, by his learning, attracted the notice of Henry IV., who employed him on various embassies. He built great part of the church of the Carmelites in London, where he was buried. Bishop Mascall was present with Bishop Hallam of Salisbury, at the Council of Constance, 1415, 1416.
[A.D. 1417, trans. to Exeter 1420.] Edmund Lacy. (See Exeter Cathedral, Pt. II.)
[A.D. 1420, trans. to Chichester 1421.] Thomas Polton, Dean of York. From Chichester he passed to Worcester in 1426.