Godfrey Giffard (ca. 1235 – 1302) was Chancellor of the Exchequer of England, Lord Chancellor of England and Bishop of Worcester.
Giffard was the son of Hugh Giffard of Boyton in Wiltshire, a royal justice, and of his wife Sibyl, daughter and co-heiress of Walter de Cormeilles. He was born about 1235 and was the younger brother of Walter Giffard who was to become Archbishop of York and whose successful career ensured the preferment of Godfrey. His sister Mabel was the Abbess of Shaftesbury Abbey.
Giffard appears to have profited from his brother's position, and held the following positions:
Complaints were later made to the Pope at Rome about the way in which the Archbishop had given this and many other benefices to his brother – as Godfrey was it was claimed, "...only in minor orders and deficient in learning".
Giffard was still Chancellor when the monks of Worcester elected him as Bishop of Worcester about 13 June 1268, on the translation of Bishop Nicholas of Ely to the See of Winchester. Henry III accepted his appointment, and he received the temporalities on 13 June 1268. After some little resistance, Archbishop Boniface of Savoy confirmed his election, but it was not until 23 September that he was consecrated by the archbishop at Canterbury and he was enthroned in Worcester Cathedral on Christmas Day 1268.
Edward I (17 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (from Latin: Malleus Scottorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons. In 1259, he briefly sided with a baronial reform movement, supporting the Provisions of Oxford. After reconciliation with his father, however, he remained loyal throughout the subsequent armed conflict, known as the Second Barons' War. After the Battle of Lewes, Edward was hostage to the rebellious barons, but escaped after a few months and joined the fight against Simon de Montfort. Montfort was defeated at the Battle of Evesham in 1265, and within two years the rebellion was extinguished. With England pacified, Edward left on a crusade to the Holy Land. The crusade accomplished little, and Edward was on his way home in 1272 when he was informed that his father had died. Making a slow return, he reached England in 1274 and he was crowned king at Westminster on 19 August.