Walter de Stapledon

Walter Stapledon (died 15 October 1326) was an English cleric and administrator who was Bishop of Exeter from 1308 and twice served as Lord High Treasurer of England, in 1320 and from 1322 to 1325. He founded what became Exeter College, Oxford and contributed liberally to the rebuilding of Exeter Cathedral, where his tomb and monument survive. He was killed by a mob during the London uprising. Origins Born on a 1 February in or before 1265, his parents were William and Mabel Stapledon, from a gentry family who lived in the Devon parish of Cookbury. His elder brother was Richard Stapledon (died 1326), a judge and politician. Career Educated at Oxford, where he was awarded a master's degree in 1286 and a doctorate in 1306, he entered the service of Bishop Bitton in Exeter in 1300 and succeeded him in 1308. As well as duties in the diocese, he had already been on royal duty in Aquitaine and from then on combined his episcopal activities, which he never neglected, with service as a royal adviser and envoy. He was sent often to France and also to the Low Countries, as well as taking part in negotiations with Scotland. From 1313 he sat in Parliament and from 1315 was a member of the Privy Council.