Life
Breton was the son of William le Breton, a royal justice. The elder Breton, who is sometimes styled William Brito in records, came from a family who often served as justices and other legal officials. Occasionally the younger Breton appears in the records as John Bretun or John Brito. He served as Sheriff of Herefordshire from 1254 to 1257, and then as constable and bailiff of Abergavenny around 1257. In October 1259 he was sent abroad on matters pertaining to King Henry III of England, and Henry's son, the future Edward I. He then served Edward as keeper of the prince's wardrobe and then after November 1261 as the prince's steward.
In late 1261 Breton is noted as owing ₤120 in the royal records. A notation next to the debt implies that he was a canon of Hereford Cathedral at this point, but the Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300 does not identify him as such. Breton does not appear in the records from this point until after the Battle of Evesham in 1265, when he is noted as holding a grant of royal safeguarding.
Breton served as a royal justice from 1266, first in the Court of Common Pleas, and then at the King's Bench from 1268. He was elected to the see of Hereford around 6 January 1269. He was consecrated on 2 June 1269 at Waverley by Nicholas of Ely who was Bishop of Winchester. After his election and consecration, he no longer served as a royal justice.
Breton was given leave to go to the continent to meet Edward when he returned from Crusade, in 1273, but the bishop did not attend Edward's coronation.
Read more about this topic: John De Breton
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