Richard of Chichester (c. 1197 – 3 April 1253), also known as Richard de Wych, is a saint (canonized 1262) of the Catholic and Anglican churches who was the Christian Bishop of Chichester from 1244 to 1253.
In Chichester Cathedral a shrine dedicated to Richard had become a richly decorated centre of pilgrimage. In 1538, during the reign of Henry VIII, the shrine was plundered and destroyed by order of Thomas Cromwell.
Richard of Chichester is the patron saint of Sussex in southern England. The Anglican Church has, since 2007, celebrated his translated saint's day on 16 June, Sussex Day.
Richard was born in the Burford area, near the town of Wyche (modern Droitwich, Worcestershire) and was an orphan member of a gentry family. On the death of their parents, Richard's elder brother was heir to the estates but he was not old enough to inherit, so the lands became subject to a feudal wardship. On coming of age, his brother took possession of his lands, but was required to pay a medieval form of death duty that left the family so impoverished that Richard had to work for him on the farm. His brother also made Richard heir to the estate. According to Richard's biographers, friends tried to arrange a match with a certain noble lady. However, Richard rejected the proposed match, suggesting that his brother might marry her instead; he also reconveyed his rights in the family estates back to his brother, preferring a life of study and the Church.
Educated at the University of Oxford, Richard soon began to teach in that university. From there he proceeded to Paris and then Bologna, where he distinguished himself by his proficiency in canon law. On returning to England in 1235, in his late thirties, Richard was elected Oxford's chancellor.
His former tutor, Edmund of Abingdon, had become by that time archbishop of Canterbury. Richard shared Edmund's ideals of clerical reform and supported papal rights even against the king. In 1237, Archbishop Edmund appointed Richard chancellor of the diocese of Canterbury. Richard joined the archbishop during his exile at Pontigny, and was with him when the archbishop died around 1240. Richard then decided to become a priest, and studied theology for two years with the Dominicans at Orléans. Upon returning again to England, Richard became the parish priest at Charing and at Deal, but soon was reappointed chancellor of Canterbury by the new archbishop Boniface of Savoy.
In 1244, Richard was elected as Bishop of Chichester. Henry III and part of the chapter refused to accept him, the king favouring the candidature of Robert Passelewe (d. 1252). Archbishop Boniface refused to confirm Passelew, so both sides appealed to the pope. The king confiscated the see's properties and revenues, but Innocent IV confirmed Richard's election and consecrated him bishop at Lyons in March 1245. Richard then returned to Chichester, but the king refused to restore the see's properties for two years, and then did so only after being threatened with excommunication. Henry III forbade anyone to house or feed Richard. At first, Richard lived at Tarring in the house of his friend Simon, the parish priest of Tarring, visited his entire diocese on foot, and cultivated figs in his spare time.
Richard's private life was said to have displayed rigid frugality and temperance. Richard was an ascetic who wore a hair-shirt and refused to eat off silver. He kept his diet simple and rigorously excluded animal flesh, having been a vegetarian since his days at Oxford.
Richard furnished the chronicler, Matthew Paris, with material for the life of St. Edmund Rich, and instituted the offerings for the cathedral at Chichester which were known later as "St. Richard's pence".
Richard was merciless to usurers, corrupt clergy and priests who mumbled the Mass. He was also a stickler for clerical privilege.
Richard's episcopate was marked by the favour which he showed to the Dominicans, a monastery of this order at Orléans having housed him during his stay in France, and by his earnestness in preaching a crusade. After dedicating St Edmund's Chapel at Dover, he died aged 56 at the Maison Dieu, Dover at midnight on 3 April 1253 — the Pope had ordered him to preach a crusade at Dover. His internal organs were removed and placed in the local chapel's altar. Richard's body was then carried to Chichester and buried, according to his wishes, in the chapel on the north side of the nave, dedicated to his patron St. Edmund. His remains were translated to a new shrine in 1276, on June 16, which also serves as his translated saint's day for Anglicans.
After the full rights of the see and its revenues were returned to him in 1246, the new bishop showed much eagerness to reform the manners and morals of his clergy, and also to introduce greater order and reverence into the services of the Church.
Richard overruled Henry on several occasions. Richard defrocked a priest who had seduced a nun out of her convent, turning aside a petition from the king in the priest's favour.
Richard was militant in protecting the clergy from abuse. When townsmen of Lewes violated the right of sanctuary by seizing a criminal in church and lynching him, Richard made them exhume the body and give it a proper burial in consecrated ground. He also imposed severe penance on knights who attacked priests.
Richard produced a body of statutes with the aid of his chapter, for the organisation of the church in his diocese and the expected conduct of its clergy. It seems that many of the clergy still secretly married, though such alliances were not recognised by canon law, and as such their women's status was that of a mistress or concubine. The bishop endeavoured to suppress the practice in his diocese with relentless austerity.
By Richard's statutes [the following is a close paraphrase not an exact quote]:
It was decreed that married clergy should be deprived of their benefices; their concubines were to be denied the privileges of the church during their lives and also after death; they were pronounced incapable of inheriting any property from their husbands, and any such bequests would be donated for the upkeep of the cathedral. A vow of chastity was to be required of candidates for ordination. Rectors were expected to reside in their parishes, to be hospitable and charitable. Tithes were to be paid on all annual crops. Anyone who did not pay their tithe would not be granted penance until they did.
Vicars were to be priests and have only one freehold to live on. They were not allowed to have another parish held under an assumed name.