Champfleur (de Champfleur), Walter

Champfleur (de Champfleur), Walter (fl. 1482–98), was abbot of St Mary's Cistercian abbey in Dublin. He served as keeper of the seal on the death of the lord chancellor, William Sherwood (qv), bishop of Meath, on 3 December 1482, serving until Robert St Lawrence (qv) filled the post of chancellor on 11 January 1483. He was pardoned for his involvement with Lambert Simnel (qv), the Yorkist pretender, in 1488. As well as his duties as abbot, he served as an agent for Thomas Butler (qv) (d. 1515), 7th earl of Ormond. He received rents due to Ormond from lands in Dublin, stored money for the earl, enrolled deeds in chancery for him, and kept him informed of developments in Dublin. In this last capacity, he advised Ormond in January 1495 to protect his estate from the operation of the act of resumption by having a special bill passed by the Irish parliament that was shortly to reconvene. On 14 November 1497 and 18 February 1498, having learned that the lord deputy Gerald (Gearóid Mór) FitzGerald (qv), 8th earl of Kildare, had asked for a licence to convene a parliament in Ireland, Champfleur again counselled Ormond to have a bill drafted to protect his interests, which he subsequently did. Abbot Champfleur died between 18 February 1498 and 10 March 1500, his death causing grief for Ormond when the new abbot, John Orum, refused to return moneys that the late abbot had kept on the earl's behalf.