1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Giffard, William

GIFFARD, WILLIAM (d. 1129), bishop of Winchester, was chancellor of William II. and received his see, in succession to Bishop Walkelin, from Henry I. (1100). He was one of the bishops elect whom Anselm refused to consecrate (1101) as having been nominated and invested by the lay power. During the investitures dispute Giffard was on friendly terms with Anselm, and drew upon himself a sentence of banishment through declining to accept consecration from the archbishop of York (1103). He was, however, one of the bishops who pressed Anselm, in 1106, to give way to the king. He was consecrated after the settlement of 1107. He became a close friend of Anselm, aided the first Cistercians to settle in England, and restored Winchester cathedral with great magnificence.

See Eadmer, Historia novorum, edited by M. Rule (London, 1884); and S. H. Cass, Bishops of Winchester (London, 1827).