Walter de Merton

Walter de Merton (c. 1205 – 27 October 1277) was Bishop of Rochester and founder of Merton College, Oxford. Walter was born probably at Merton in Surrey or educated there; hence the surname. He came of a land-owning family at Basingstoke; beyond that there is no definite information as to the date or place of birth. We know that his mother was Christina Fitz-Oliver and his father William, and that in 1237 both parents were dead, and Walter was a ... more

Walter de Merton (c. 1205 – 27 October 1277) was Bishop of Rochester and founder of Merton College, Oxford. Walter was born probably at Merton in Surrey or educated there; hence the surname. He came of a land-owning family at Basingstoke; beyond that there is no definite information as to the date or place of birth. We know that his mother was Christina Fitz-Oliver and his father William, and that in 1237 both parents were dead, and Walter was a clerk in Holy orders. In 1241 Walter already held a number of livings in various parts of the country; in 1256 he was an agent for Walter of Kirkham Bishop of Durham in a lawsuit; in 1259 prebendary of St. Paul's, London; and in 1262 prebendary of Exeter and canon of Wells. Walter was also prothonotary of the chancery in 1258; and in 1261 Henry III made him chancellor, in place of Nicholas of Ely. It was in this same year that Walter first set aside two manors in Surrey for the priory at Merton, for the support of "scholars residing at the... less