Savaric, Bishop of Bath and Glastonbury, and cousin of the Emperor Henry VI, date of birth unknown; d. at Rome, 1205. He was archdeacon of Canterbury, 1175, and archdeacon of Northampton, 1180. In 1191, while on the continent with the crusaders, he was elected Bishop of Bath, and the following year was ordained priest at Rome. Pope Celestine III consented to the annexation of Glastonbury Abbey to the See of Bath, and Savaric’s plan was to be joint Bishop of Bath and Glastonbury. The monks of Glastonbury objected to the incorporation and appealed to Rome, but their appeal was disallowed in 1196. In spite of the fact that Savaric had been one of the hostages at Mainz for the ransom of Richard I, the king, on his release, supported the monks, and it was not till 1199 that the bishop, after a forcible entry, was enthroned in the abbey. A second appeal of the monks to the new pope, Innocent III, was dismissed and in 1202 Savaric was again declared abbot. From that time all opposition vanished and Savaric became a considerable benefactor to Glastonbury. At Wells he instituted a daily Mass in honor of Our Lady, and left instructions for the feeding of 100 poor persons both at Wells and at Bath. Savaric also gave a charter to Wells, and persuaded King John to grant a charter from the crown to that city. Not the least of his services to Bath was his intervention to save the treasury of the abbey from being emptied for the ransom of Richard I. Savaric died whilst busying himself on behalf of Peter des Roches, episcopus designatus of Winchester.
JOSEPH CLAYTON