Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Ingworth, Richard of
INGWORTH, RICHARD of (fl. 1224), Franciscan, was, according to Thomas Eccleston [q. v.], the first Minorite who preached to the peoples north of the Alps. He was among the friars who came to England with Agnellus in 1224, and was then a priest and advanced in years. With three other friars he established the first house of Franciscans in London; he then proceeded to Oxford, hired a house in St. Ebbe's, and thus founded the original convent in the university town; he also founded the friary at Northampton. After wards he became custodian of Cambridge, which was specially noted for its poverty under his rule. In 1230, when Agnellus attended the general chapter at Assisi, Richard acted as vicar of the English province. Soon after this he was appointed by the general, John Parens, provincial minister of Ireland. He was released from the office by Albert of Pisa in 1239, and set out as a missionary to the Holy Land, where he died. In the manuscripts of Eccleston his name is usually written ‘Ingewrthe’ or ‘Indewurde.’ Leland and his followers call him ‘Kingesthorp.’ The only authority for this form is a late marginal note in the Phillipps MS. of Eccleston, from which Leland made his extracts (see English Hist. Rev. for October 1890).
[Mon. Franciscana, vol. i. ed. Brewer (Rolls Ser.)]