Hugh Foliot - Bishop

Bishop

Foliot had been one of three members of the cathedral chapter from Hereford sent to King Henry III's court to secure permission for the chapter to hold an election in 1219 Foliot was elected to the see of Hereford in June 1219 and consecrated on 27 October 1219 along with William de Goldcliff, the Bishop of Llandaff, at Canterbury.

The new bishop accompanied Peter des Roches, the Bishop of Winchester, on a pilgrimage in 1221. Because des Roches travelled to Spain to the shrine of St James at Compostela, and it is known that Foliot accompanied him, the statement by a medieval chronicler from Dunstable that Foliot's destination was not certain, being either Rome or Compostela, should be discounted.

Foliot spent most of his tenure of office in his diocese, only rarely attending the royal court or being assigned governmental duties. On 30 December 1223, Foliot assumed one of those duties, when he took custody of Hereford Castle after it was surrendered by Hubert de Burgh, during the redistribution of royal castles when de Burgh ousted des Roches from power. He also was appointed to determine the size of the royal forest in Gloucestershire. Foliot also founded a hospital in Ledbury, devoted to St Katherine. He helped found Alberbury Priory, a house of the Grandmontine order. In his cathedral, he reorganized the benefices and offices of the chapter, as well as endowing further benefices.

Foliot died 7 August 1234, after an illness that began in the spring. He was buried in Hereford Cathedral, where his tomb survives. Foliot appointed his younger brother Thomas to offices in the diocese, first as precentor in the 1220s and then around 1230 as treasurer of the cathedral chapter.