Richard de Pontefract O. P. (fl.

Floruit

Floruit , abbreviated fl. , is a Latin verb meaning "flourished", denoting the period of time during which something was active...

 1320) was an English Dominican friar

Friar

A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders.-Friars and monks:...

 active during the reign King Edward II

Edward II of England

Edward II , called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed by his wife Isabella in January 1327. He was the sixth Plantagenet king, in a line that began with the reign of Henry II...

. On June 25, 1320, King Edward petitioned the papacy for Richard to filled the see of Dunblane, vacant by the death of Nicholas de Balmyle

Nicholas de Balmyle

Nicholas de Balmyle , also called Nicholas of St Andrews, was a Scottish administrator and prelate in the late 13th century and early 14th century...

. Although King Edward probably did not expect to have much luck, because of the circumstances of Wars of Scottish Independence

Wars of Scottish Independence

The Wars of Scottish Independence were a series of military campaigns fought between the independent Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England in the late 13th and early 14th centuries....

, Edward claimed the right of patronage to Scottish sees. The vacant bishopric was eventually filled by Maurice

Maurice of Inchaffray

Maurice was a 14th century Scottish cleric who became Prior of Inchmahome, Abbot of Inchaffray and then Bishop of Dunblane. He was Prior of Inchmahome Priory in Menteith after 1297. He became abbot of Inchaffray Abbey in Strathearn between March 1304 and October 1305...

, the Abbot of Inchaffray

Abbot of Inchaffray

The Abbot of Inchaffray, before 1221 Prior of Inchaffray, and then by the end of the 15th century, the Commendator of Inchaffray, was the head of the community of Augustinian canons of Inchaffray Abbey and their lands. Inchaffray is in Strathearn, in southern Perthshire, Scotland...

.