Tomb - effigial

The National Monuments Service's description

Effigial tomb of Fulk de Saundford/Sandford, archbishop of Dublin (1256-71) who died in 1271, located in the northern choir aisle of St Patrick’s Cathedral (DU018-020269-).  Effigial tomb described in the Urban Survey of Dublin City (Bradley and King 1988, Vol. 1, 80) as; ‘In high relief on a coffin-shaped limestone slab. The figure is shown under a cusped semi-circular canopy upheld by angels’ (Hunt 1974, 140).  The effigy was described by John Hunt (1974, No. 46) as; 'In the north choir aisle is a limestone coffin-shaped slab with a figure of an archbishop in bold relief He is vested in a chasuble, dalmatic and alb, with a long pallium. He holds the remains of a cross staff in his left hand, and raises his right in benediction. He wears a low mitre upon his head which is resting on a double cushion, the upper one arranged diamond-wise, while his feet in pointed shoes rest on an animal which bites the butt of the cross staff. There was originally a cusped canopy above the head, upheld by two angels of which traces remain. The figure is in high relief. The effigy represents probably either Fulk de Saundford (1256-1271) or his brother John de Saundford (1286-1294), both of whom are said to be buried in the same tomb. The treatment is bold but clumsy, and the folds are heavy. While this figure is a great advance on the hesitant exploratory technique of the St Michan's ecclesiastic (Pl. 64, 42), it lacks the bold angularity of the Sherborne Abbot, or the freedom of the Archbishop de Gray. The flattened roundness of the modelling of the folds is provincial although the actual drawing is advanced. The figure was brought from the baptistery to its present position in 1902'.

According to St Patrick's Cathedral website this tomb is the earliest burial inside St Patrick's Cathedral (www.stpatrickscathedral.ie/1401-2/).  He was named after the town in Oxfordshire and was the first Archbishop of Dublin to be buried in Saint Patrick's Cathedral (Fenton 2012, 46). The tomb may have been originally located inside the baptistery of the cathedral beside the medieval baptismal granite font (DU018-495----) (ibid.).  According to Fenton (2012, 46) Fulk de Saundford was buried in the Lady Chapel of the Cathedral.  The Dictionary of Irish Biography recorded that Fulk de Sandford was; 'illegitimate son of either Gilbert Basset, lord of Wycombe, or Fulk Basset, bishop of London. Styled ‘magister’, he may have received an MA from Oxford. In 1244 he was appointed to the archdeaconry of Middlesex by Fulk Basset and was by that year chancellor of St Paul's cathedral, London, and later its treasurer. After papal refusal to recognise the election of Ralph of Norwich as archbishop of Dublin, de Sandford, who was at the papal curia on business, was papally provided to the archdiocese on 27 July 1256. He received his temporalities by October that year and was consecrated archbishop prior to 25 March 1257. Possibly as a result of de Sandford's current animosity towards the crown, the Montfortian regime in England chose him as justiciar of Ireland on 16 February 1265, though his appointment was ineffective. In April 1267 he received protection to go on a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostella. His problems with the royal administration and the city of Dublin were finally surmounted in 1268 when a compromise was negotiated under the direction of the justiciar, Robert de Ufford which clearly delineated the boundaries of ecclesiastical and secular jurisdiction in Dublin. Fulk de Sandford was an active reformer within his archdiocese; he consolidated the lands belonging to the see and had them meticulously catalogued, listing their tenants and the rents due. He also drew up a code of diocesan law, compiling his forty-eight statutes from various diocesan promulgations made in England. He was particularly keen to ensure that his clergy maintained their vows of chastity, and he clearly regulated their behaviour, prohibiting their involvement in professional or commercial activities. He died at his manor of Finglas [DU014-066005-] on 4 May 1271 and was buried at St Patrick's cathedral, Dublin. After his death the archdiocese was vacant for seven years' (Mackay 2009). 

Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien

References

Hunt, J. 1974 Irish medieval figure sculpture 1200-1600, 2 vols. Dublin. Irish University Press. Bradley, J. & King, H. (1988) Urban Archaeological Survey, Dublin, Volume 4. A report commissioned by the Office of Public works (Unpublished).

Mackay, R. 2009 Fulk de Sandford. In James McGuire and James Quinn (eds.), Dictionary of Irish Biography. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.

Fenton, A. 2012 Past Lives: The Memorials of Saint Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin. Dublin. Saint Patrick's Cathedral.