Fulk Basset


Fulk Basset was archbishop of Dublin. He was the elder brother of John de Sandford, who was also Archbishop of Dublin from 1284 to 1290.
He was called Fulk de Sandford and also Fulk Basset, owing to his relationship to the prominent landowning Basset family of Devon and Cornwall. Having been Archdeacon of Middlesex and treasurer and chancellor of St Paul's Cathedral, London, he was appointed archbishop of Dublin by Pope Alexander IV in 1256. He took some slight part in the government of Ireland under Henry III and died at Finglas on 4 May 1271. He was buried in St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin: his brother John was buried in the same tomb in 1294.
His death led to a long struggle between rival candidates for the See, Fromund Le Brun and William de la Corner, which was not resolved until 1279, when they were both passed over in favour of John de Derlington, who died in England before he could take up office as Archbishop.