Waldric
eighth Lord Chancellor and Lord Keeper of England (1050-1112)
Waldric (aka Gaudry, died 1112) was the eighth Lord Chancellor and Lord Keeper of England, from 1103 to 1107. He was also Bishop of Laon from 1106 to 1112. He had been a royal chaplain as early as 3 September 1101.
At the battle of Tinchebray (1106), Orderic Vitalis states, Waldric capellanus regis captured Robert Curthose, Henry I of England's brother and leader of the opposing forces as Duke of Normandy.
As bishop he was greedy and violent, unconventional in his habits and joking, a prodigal spender on himself; he is portrayed in very unflattering terms in the 1115 chronicle Monodiae of Guibert of Nogent. He had Gerard of Quierzy murdered in the very cathedral of Laon.
His election as bishop was contested; he had been hurried into minor orders after the battle and made a canon of Rouen, but it was upheld by Pope Paschal II at the Council of Langres. He was murdered at Eastertide 1112, in the crypt of Laon Cathedral by citizens of Laon who had set up a commune in the city. Guibert's account of this event alludes to Isengrin, making it of literary-historical value.
Notes
References
Davis, H. W. C., "Waldric, the Chancellor of Henry I" The English Historical Review Vol.
The public source identifies “Waldric” as eighth Lord Chancellor and Lord Keeper of England (1050-1112). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Waldric, eighth and Lord.
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