Walter Giffard (April 1279) was Lord Chancellor of England and Archbishop of York. Family Giffard was a son of Hugh Giffard of Boyton in Wiltshire, a royal justice, by Sibyl, a daughter and co-heiress of Walter de Cormeilles. He was born about 1225, and may have been the oldest son. Hugh and Sybil were entrusted with the care of the young Prince Edward in 1239. In 1256 Giffard and his mother received the king's licence to live in Boyton Castle. Giffard's brother was Bishop Godfrey Giffard, who was Bishop of Worcester and also Lord Chancellor of England; his sister Mabel was the Abbess of Shaftesbury Abbey. Walter was also a kinsman of William of Bitton I, who was Walter's predecessor at Bath. The family was also related to Walter de Gray, who was Archbishop of York from 1215 to 1255. Career Giffard studied at Cambridge University and took his Master of Arts at Oxford University. While at university Adam Marsh wrote to another scholar praising Giffard's scholarly skills. Giffard took holy orders and became a canon and archdeacon of Wells and a papal chaplain. On 22 May 1264 he was elected Bishop of Bath and Wells and received the temporalities on 1 September 1264. As the Archbishop of Canterbury, Boniface of Savoy was in France, Giffard travelled to Paris to be consecrated at Notre-Dame on 4 January 1265. The service was performed by Peter d'Acquablanca, the Bishop of Hereford, Giffard having first sworn that he would not take part against King Henry III. However, the barons were angered that he had ventured abroad against their will and ravaged nearly all his manors. Archbishop Boniface ordered him to excommunicate Simon de Montfort the Earl of Leicester and his party on Giffard's return to England. Following the Battle of Evesham, on 10 August 1265 King Henry made Giffard Chancellor and awarded him a stipend of five hundred marks a year. In August of the following year he was appointed one of the arbitrators for drawing up the Dictum of Kenilworth which provided the disinherited lords a means of recovering their estates. On 15 October 1266 Giffard was appointed by Pope Clement IV to the Archbishopric of York. As part of this elevation he resigned the chancellorship and was enthroned on 1 November 1266, receiving his temporalities on Boxing day. Soon after his enthronement he became involved in a dispute with Archbishop Boniface