Giessen, the name of which is probably derived from the streams which pour (giessen) their waters here into the Lahn, was formed in the 12th century out of the villages Selters, Aster and Kroppach, for whose protection Count William of Gleiberg built the castle of Giessen. Through marriage the town came, in 1203, into the possession of the count palatine, Rudolph of Tübingen, who sold it in 1265 to the landgrave Henry of Hesse. It was surrounded with fortifications in 1530, which were demolished in 1547, but rebuilt in 1560. In 1805 they were finally pulled down, and their site converted into promenades.
See O. Buchner, Führer für Giessen und das Lahntal (1891); and Aus Glessens Vergangenheit (1885).
GIFFARD, GODFREY (c. 1235-1302); chancellor of England and bishop of Worcester, was a son of Hugh Giffard of Boyton, Wiltshire. Having entered the church he speedily obtained valuable preferments owing to the influence of his brother Walter, who became chancellor of England in 1265. In 1266 Godfrey became chancellor of the exchequer, succeeding Walter as chancellor of England when, in the same year, the latter was made archbishop of York. In 1268 he was chosen bishop of Worcester, resigning the chancellorship shortly afterwards; and both before and after 1279, when he inherited the valuable property of his brother the archbishop, he was employed on public business by Edward I. His main energies, however, were devoted to the affairs of his see. He had one long dispute with the monks of Worcester, another with the abbot of Westminster, and was vigilant in guarding his material interests. The bishop died on the 26th of January 1302, and was buried in his cathedral. Giffard, although inclined to nepotism, was a benefactor to his cathedral, and completed and fortified the episcopal castle at Hartlebury.
See W. Thomas, Survey of Worcester Cathedral; Episcopal Registers; Register of Bishop Godfrey Giffard, edited by J. W. Willis-Bund (Oxford, 1898-1899); and the Annals of Worcester in the Annales monastici, vol. iv., edited by H. R. Luard (London, 1869).
GIFFARD, WALTER (d. 1279), chancellor of England and archbishop of York, was a son of Hugh Giffard of Boyton, Wiltshire, and after serving as canon and archdeacon of Wells, was chosen bishop of Bath and Wells in May 1264. In August 1265 Henry III. appointed him chancellor of England, and he was one of the arbitrators who drew up the dictum de Kenilworth in 1266. Later in this year Pope Clement IV. named him archbishop of York, and having resigned the chancellorship he was an able and diligent ruler of his see, although in spite of his great wealth he was frequently in pecuniary difficulties. When Henry III. died in November 1272 the archbishopric of Canterbury was vacant, and consequently the great seal was delivered to the archbishop of York, who was the chief of the three regents who successfully governed the kingdom until the return of Edward I. in August 1274. Having again acted in this capacity during the king’s absence in 1275, Giffard died in April 1279, and was buried in his cathedral.
See Fasti Eboracenses, edited by J. Raine (London, 1863). Giffard’s Register from 1266 to 1279 has been edited for the Surtees Society by W. Brown.
GIFFARD, WILLIAM (d. 1129), bishop of Winchester, was chancellor of William II. and received his see, in succession to Bishop Walkelin, from Henry I. (1100). He was one of the bishops elect whom Anselm refused to consecrate (1101) as having been nominated and invested by the lay power. During the investitures dispute Giffard was on friendly terms with Anselm, and drew upon himself a sentence of banishment through declining to accept consecration from the archbishop of York (1103). He was, however, one of the bishops who pressed Anselm, in 1106, to give way to the king. He was consecrated after the settlement of 1107. He became a close friend of Anselm, aided the first Cistercians to settle in England, and restored Winchester cathedral with great magnificence.