Stephen de Fulbourn
archbishop

Stephen de Fulbourn (died 3 July 1288) was an English-born cleric and politician in thirteenth-century Ireland: he was Justiciar of Ireland, and Archbishop of Tuam 1286–88. He was a member of the Order of Knights Hospitallers.
Biography
A native of the village of Fulbourn, Cambridgeshire, he apparently did not attend University, but made a reputation as a skilled financier. De Fulbourn was translated to Tuam by a Papal bull dated 12 July 1286, having previously been Bishop of Waterford and Preceptor of Clerkenwell Priory, a foundation of the Knights Hospitallers. He was succeeded at Waterford by his brother Walter de Fulburn, who was Lord Chancellor of Ireland 1283-1288. He served as Treasurer of Ireland from 1274–77 and Justiciar of Ireland from 1281-88.
The History of the Popes states that his appointment took place:
after a long contest between the rival claims of two other candidates, who had been severally elected by different portions of the Chapter of Tuam. Fulburn was an Englishman, and a member of the Order of Knights Hospitallers; he twice filled the office of Lord Justice of Ireland. He held the see of Enachdune (Annaghdown) as well as that of Tuam; but not without serious opposition from a rival, John de Ufford, who had been elected Bishop and had received the King's confirmation of his appointment.
According to Otway-Ruthven, his tenure as Justiciar was plagued by accusations of corruption and inefficiency.
“Stephen de Fulbourn” enters the record as archbishop. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Stephen, Fulbourn and archbishop can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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This entry incorporates text from “Stephen de Fulbourn” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.