Hubert Walter
Hubert Walter († July 13, 1205 in Teynham , Kent ) was an English prelate . As a royal official he was Justiciar and Lord Chancellor , in addition he was Bishop of Salisbury in 1189 and Archbishop of Canterbury in 1193 . He is considered to be one of the most capable administrators in England in the 12th and early 13th centuries.
Origin and youth
Hubert Walter was probably born in West Dereham , Norfolk , during the reign of King Stephen (1136-1153) . His father was the knight Sir Hervey Walter , his mother his wife Matilda de Valognes , a daughter of Theobald de Valognes , Lord of Parham in Suffolk and Hickling in Norfolk. Hubert Walter had at least five brothers, including his brother Theobald Butler , who was strongly encouraged by Walter. Until his death, Hubert Walter had close ties to his East English homeland. His aunt Bertha de Valognes married Ranulf de Glanville , sheriff of Yorkshire and from 1180 justiciar of King Henry II. Hubert and his brother Theobald Butler were brought up by their parents in the household of Glanville. Hubert never went to school, but in Glanville's household he received extensive training in administrative and legal matters. There he was able to make contacts that had a major impact on his further career. Throughout his life, however, he also had disadvantages because of his lack of school education. In 1188 he donated the Premonstratensian Monastery of St Mary in West Dereham for the salvation of his family including his aunt Bertha and his uncle Ranulf de Glanville.
Service under Ranulf de Glanville
In the wake of his uncle, Walter came to the royal court in the 1180s. There he served as one of the Barons of the Exchequer and, together with Glanville, regularly as a judge at the Exchequer Court . As a result, he acquired extensive legal knowledge and eventually became his uncle's chief deputy. In the legal book Tractatus de legibus et consuetudinibus regni Anglie , which was attributed to his uncle and was written between 1187 and 1189, several of Walter's judgments are mentioned. It is even thought possible that Walter is the actual author of the work. In the last years of Henry II's reign, he served in the royal chancellery and as a royal envoy. He brought pay payments for the royal troops to South Wales or embassies to the French king in France. By order of the king he tried to mediate in the dispute between Archbishop Baldwin and the monks of the cathedral priory of Canterbury , who rejected Baldwin's establishment of a collegiate foundation in Lambeth . During a vacancy from the Archdiocese of York , the King appointed him Dean of York Minster in 1186 . A few months later, the cathedral chapter named him one of five candidates for the office of Archbishop of York , but the king turned down both Walter and the other four candidates.
Elected Bishop of Salisbury
When Richard the Lionheart became King of England in 1189 , Ranulf de Glanville was dismissed as Justiciar. As a result, many of his followers and officials also lost their offices. Walter remained in his favor even under the new king. Although he did not appoint Walter, but his half-brother Geoffrey as the new archbishop of the still vacant Archdiocese of York, Walter was instead elected by the order of the king on September 15, 1189 as the new bishop of Salisbury . On October 22, 1189, Walter was ordained bishop by his longtime friend Archbishop Baldwin in St Katherine's Chapel in Westminster .
Participation in the Third Crusade
As a bishop, Walter was once again involved in the dispute between Archbishop Baldwin and the monks of the cathedral priory of Canterbury, but he could hardly take care of his diocese. Like his uncle Ranulf de Glanville and many of his friends, he took a crusade vow and joined the Third Crusade under Richard the Lionheart. Until the departure of the king in December 1189, Walter stayed with him almost permanently. After that he probably visited his diocese briefly before translating to Normandy before March 1190 , where he met the king again. He then traveled to England again, but after a short stay he was back in Normandy on July 3rd. On August 5th he embarked in Marseilles for the sea voyage to Palestine . Together with his uncle Ranulf and Archbishop Balduin he reached Tire on September 16, 1190 . At the beginning of October they joined the siege army that besieged the Muslim-occupied Acre . The hygienic conditions in the siege army were catastrophic. Before the end of November 1190, Ranulf de Glanville, Archbishop Baldwin and the Earl of Derby, all the leaders of the English contingent had died of disease. As Bishop of Salisbury, Walter was the leader of the English crusaders off Acre until King Richard's arrival. He quickly took measures to improve the situation of the siege troops. As the executor of Baldwin's will, he used Baldwin's property to pay the troops their outstanding wages and to buy food for the common foot soldiers. He took care of the pastoral care of the crusaders, but also led attacks on the troops of Sultan Saladin , which had trapped the siege forces . These measures raised the morale of the Crusaders, and when King Richard arrived in Acre in June 1191, he found the troops in much better condition than Walter had found them upon arrival.
After the arrival of the king, Walter's reputation within the crusader army continued to rise. In several battles he distinguished himself through bravery, in addition he successfully mediated between the mutually distrusting leaders of the crusade contingents from England, Germany and especially France. When King Richard fell ill in August 1192, he negotiated a truce with the Muslims. Shortly thereafter, he played a leading role in the negotiations that led to the Treaty of Ramla , which ended the fighting of the Third Crusade. After the conclusion of this agreement, Walter fulfilled his crusade vows and led one of the first groups of pilgrims to visit Jerusalem, which is open to Western Christians. Together with King Richard, he left the Holy Land in October 1192. However, while the king chose a different route, Walter traveled via Sicily to Rome, where he met Pope Cölestin III in January 1193 . visited. Probably still in Rome, the first rumors reached him about Richard's arrest in Austria. Walter immediately traveled to Germany. Accompanied by William de Ste Mère-Église , an official of the Treasury, he met Richard in Ochsenfurt, Franconia, before March 1193 . This made him the first of Richard's subjects to reach the king after his capture. Walter immediately tried to negotiate for the king's release. At the end of March, he and Ste Mère-Église set out for England with letters from the king to his mother Eleanor of Aquitaine and the Justiciar Walter de Coutances , which they reached in April. In the letters, the king made the first arrangements to obtain the ransom money demanded. In a further letter to the monks of the cathedral priory of Canterbury, brought by Ste Mère-Église, the king ordered Walter to be elected archbishop of Baldwin, who died before Acre.
Archbishop and Justiciar
Election as archbishop and appointment as justiciar
The monks of the cathedral priory followed the king's invitation and elected Walter as the new archbishop in Canterbury on May 28, 1193, the day before a royal council was held in London for this purpose. On May 29, the cathedral priory informed the council about the election of Walter as the new archbishop, whereupon the suffragan bishops of Canterbury who were present approved the election. The Pope also approved the election of Walter, and on November 7, 1193, Walter was appointed archbishop by the papal nuncio and received the pallium . On Christmas 1193 the news also arrived that the imprisoned King had appointed Walter as the new justiciar.
Power struggle against Johann Ohneland
There had been riots in England during the king's absence. Johann Ohneland , the king's younger brother, had tried to gain power in England, but failed. As justiciar, Walter was finally able to break the resistance of Johann Ohneland. After a council meeting convened by him had condemned Johann and his followers, he began in February 1194 with the siege of the castles still held by Johann's followers. First, Walter captured Marlborough Castle . After its conquest, Walter himself accepted the surrender of Lancaster Castle , whose constable was his brother Theobald Walter, who had been in the service of Johann since 1185. When King Richard returned to England before March 13, 1194, John's rebellion finally collapsed. Walter obtained Richard's pardon for his brother Theobald and, as Archbishop of Canterbury, attended Richard's solemn coronation on April 17th in Winchester. A little later Richard left England to take up the fight against the French King Philip II again in Normandy . As Archbishop Walter now held the spiritual leadership and as Justiciar the secular rule of England.
Implementation of administrative reforms
Walter's four and a half year term of office as legal advisor was marked by remarkable administrative reforms. Walter succeeded in systematically completing the existing tasks and improved the government by introducing new regulations. His measures were not based on a well thought-out concept and were not individually revolutionary. Instead, the reforms became necessary because the king's wars in France constantly required new funds. Walter initially continued the work he had started under Glanville. He succeeded in increasing the efficiency of the royal administration and thereby increasing the king's income. At the same time he managed to maintain and even increase the trust of his subjects in the royal justice system. The trust that the royal judiciary had under Walter as justiciar was no longer achieved under his successors.
Reform of the administration of the crown property
Walter's innovations began in September 1194 when he was sending groups of traveling judges to the English counties. Within two months the royal judges inspected all counties, with Walter himself visiting the eastern counties. Thanks to this quick and coordinated measure, Walter was able to quickly enforce the authority of the royal judiciary after the rebellion of Johann Ohneland, and the judges also recorded the possessions and income of the expropriated rebels as well as the other crown possessions . Walter then had coroners elected from the ranks of the knighthood in each county to record future complaints and lawsuits and to submit them to the judges. In the coming year Walter continued the inspection of the crown property. In doing so, he withdrew a number of crown property from the sheriff's administration, in whose place he put special administrators. The royal judges also recorded repudiated fiefs, administrations and guardianship of crown vassals who had previously been under royal administration. For a fee, he entrusted these properties to other nobles from the region for temporary administration, who were allowed to keep the income from the goods. With the supervision of these awards he entrusted Hugh Bardolf for the north of England and William de Ste Mère-Église for the south of England.
Reform of the administration of Jewish money lending
In 1194 Walter introduced a new system for the administration of debts that Christians had incurred with Jewish moneylenders. First Walter had all Jewish possessions recorded. He then set up six or seven chambers, each consisting of two Christians, two Jews, two clerks and a royal official. From now on, a two-part document should be issued for all debts that Christians incurred with Jews. One part was to be kept in the respective chambers, the other part, which the debtor sealed, was to be given to the Jewish moneylender. All monetary transactions that Christians made with Jews should be monitored by royal officials who recorded any payments, interest or other changes in debt. With the supervision of these royal officials William de Ste Mère-Église and his official William de Chemillé were charged.
This surveillance gave the government a better overview of Jewish financial assets. Above all, it was intended to prevent fraud and not primarily serve to tax the Jews. The taxation of Jews, on the other hand, was relatively moderate during the government of Hubert Walter. The control of debts by the new chambers prevented fraudulent debtors from claiming that they had already paid their debts, while at the same time the debtors received confirmation when they had paid off their debts. Ultimately, this complex system offered advantages for all parties and prevailed in practice.
Taxation and administration of justice
From 1194, Walter had the royal forest sovereignty monitored more closely. He also raised numerous taxes to finance the king's wars. In 1194, 1195 and 1196 he raised a shield money from the barons , from 1194 the judges also made tax estimates for the valley , and in 1194 and 1198 he raised a property tax, the carucage . In 1195 he issued an appeal to keep the peace in the country , this was the first appeal since the Assize of Clarendon of 1166. Under his government traveling judges continued to crisscross the individual counties. Walter himself conducted numerous negotiations about fees and payments from people who wanted to buy the king's favor. Under him, legal negotiations were increasingly recorded in writing. In 1195 he introduced that copies of royal documents were made so that each contracting party received a copy. Presumably under him the systematic archiving of judgments of the royal court began. In 1198 he prepared a survey of the fiefs, which was finally implemented under Geoffrey Fitz Peter , his successor as legal advisor. The most important innovation of Walter's tenure, however, was the increasing division of justice. Before 1196, the Common Bench courts arose alongside the financial judges, the barons of the exchequer . As early as 1194 Walter had transferred the legal competence of the Jews to the Exchequer Court . In the autumn of 1198, after Walter's resignation as Justiciar, the Exchequer of the Jews were appointed, who were responsible for disputes between Jews and Christians. As justiciar, Walter himself was the chief judge, had sovereignty over financial matters and was responsible to the king for the Jews. After his resignation, the royal courts became increasingly specialized and separate offices were created for the individual tasks.
Government as Justiciar
Hubert Walter acted as legal advisor during the prolonged absence of King Richard in France as his deputy. For this he needed the trust of the king, but also that of the English magnates . His relationship with Richard was briefly strained in 1196 when the king sent the abbot of St-Étienne de Caen to England to check Walter's accounts. However, he died before he could complete his examination, whereupon the king no longer appointed another examiner. Whether this review was the reason for Walter's resignation, which he made in 1196, can no longer be understood. However, the king rejected the resignation and left Walter in office, whose government he consequently supported. Between June and October 1197 Walter negotiated on Richard's behalf with the French king and Count Baldwin XI. of Flanders , plus Archbishop Walter de Coutances of Rouen on the controversial building of Château Gaillard , which was built on the archbishop's property.
Like his mentor Glanville, Walter supported his family in his office, but also other gifted men, many of whom made careers as civil servants or clergy. He acquired numerous minority administrations and guardians, which he used to the benefit of his family. Walter was considered a fair judge who also showed pity. Occasionally, however, during his tenure in office there were conflicts of interest when it came to the benefit of his family.
Resistance to Walter and resignation
Even if Walter was a successful civil servant as Justiciar and had the trust of the king, the support of the other English bishops for his policy increasingly declined. His reputation had already suffered in 1196 when, on his orders, the church of St Mary-le-Bow in London was set on fire to drive the rebel William Fitz Osbert, who had fled to church, out of the church. When Walter sent a church council meeting in December 1197 King Richard's request to assign 300 more knights to serve in Normandy for a year, the bishops Hugo of Lincoln and Herbert Poor of Salisbury refused to give their consent. The meeting was then broken off without the bishops having given their consent. No action was taken against Hugo von Lincoln, who had long been a critic of Walter, but Herbert Poor suffered harshly for his opposition. Ultimately, Walter was able to set up the knights required by the king. Further criticism arose when Walter took up the attempt by Archbishop Balduin to found a collegiate foundation in Lambeth against the resistance of the cathedral priory of Canterbury . When finally the new Pope Innocent III. openly rejected the exercise of high state offices by clergy, Walter resigned and resigned as legal advisor in July 1198. As reasons, he cited his poor health and the high burden that the office brought with it. This time the king accepted Walter's resignation.
Chancellor of King Johann Ohneland
Despite his resignation, Walter remained in the king's service. At the request of the king, he traveled to France in September 1198 to negotiate a peace with the French king. He stayed in France until he learned of Richard's death in April 1199. According to the information provided by contemporary chroniclers, he immediately supported Johann Ohneland's claim to the throne, although he had put down his rebellion in 1194. On the other hand, he had known Johann von at least since 1182 or 1183, when he was brought up in the household of Ranulf de Glanville. Walter quickly succeeded in getting the magnates of Normandy on Johann's side, and his support and the support of William Marshal secured Johann's succession to the throne. On May 27, 1199, Walter crowned Johann King of England in Westminster Abbey . Johann then appointed him his chancellor on the same day . Contemporaries found it unusual for a former justiciar and archbishop to take over the office of chancellor, while otherwise a chancellor had risen to become archbishop. However, under Johann's government and through Walter's work, the importance of the chancellor continued to rise, and Walter was again one of the most important members of the government.
As Chancellor, Walter showed the same spirit of reform and the same energy that he had shown as Justiciar. Immediately after taking office, he set fixed fees for the work of the royal chancellery for the first time. Within two weeks of taking office, he introduced the chronological order of the outgoing letters and documents on rolls. Although documents had already been stored on rolls before, this was done systematically and in an orderly manner for the first time under Walter. This system had not previously been used in any other authority, neither in England nor in Europe, and probably goes back to Walter. Even as chancellor, Walter retained his considerable influence in the treasury and in the courts. He had been close friends with his successor as Justiciar Geoffrey fitz Peter since he had also started his career in the Glanville household. Geoffrey often asked Walter for advice on difficult cases, and they worked closely together on tax collection. Together they headed an embassy to the Welsh princes in 1203. In the spring of 1202 and in the spring of 1204 Walter again served as envoy in negotiations with France. As an experienced and elderly statesman, he often tried to mediate between the impetuous king and subjects who had unfortunately aroused his anger. For example, in 1200 he was able to achieve a compromise between the king and the Cistercian order . A few weeks before his death, in June 1205, together with William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke , he was able to convince the king to cancel another campaign to France after the defeat in the war with France in 1204 .
Served as Archbishop of Canterbury
In addition to his offices as Justiciar and Chancellor, Walter also conscientiously exercised his office as Archbishop of Canterbury. In addition, he was papal legate for England between 1195 and 1198 . As archbishop Walter reformed the administration of the archbishop's property and was able to increase his income. In addition, he acquired further property. Though he was rarely in Canterbury, his officials diligently directed the administration of his diocese. As the Primate of England, Walter made numerous visits to monasteries and vacant dioceses. He was able to do this all the more easily since he was also papal legate at the same time. By order of the Pope, he also headed the commissions that reviewed the canonization of Gilbert of Sempringham and Wulfstan of Worcester . He often served as a commissioned papal judge in church matters. In 1195 he issued statutes for the Archdiocese of York and 1200 for the Archdiocese of Canterbury . Above all, the statutes of Canterbury were considered ambitious and forward-looking, they served as the basis for the statutes, which Archbishop Stephen Langton issued in 1213.
Apart from his quarrel with the cathedral priory, which lasted from 1197 to 1200, Walter had a good relationship with the monks. When he was appointed archbishop, he joined the Augustinian Canons as a canon . He also had a good relationship with the Cistercian order. In 1195 he was accepted as a brother in the order. Personally, Walter was undoubtedly a devout Christian, for which he did not believe he had to live in poverty. He ran a large household that could easily rival that of the king. He did not accumulate a large fortune, but was considered particularly generous and hospitable. Walter made rich gifts to many monasteries, especially liturgical vestments. In particular, he gave it the Kartäuserniederlassung of Witham in Somerset .
death
Walter died of a high fever caused by an untreated carbuncle on his back. He was buried in the Trinity Chapel of Canterbury Cathedral on July 14, 1205, the day after his death . His grave was opened in 1890 and the vestments and liturgical vessels were removed from his grave. These are now in the cathedral library. In his will, Walter bequeathed splendid measuring utensils to the cathedral, which King John gave to Peter des Roches when he became bishop of Winchester in 1206 after the dispute over his successor . Walter's executors James Savage and Elias of Dereham found debts in excess of £ 913, but this was offset by substantial estates. His brother Theobald Walter became his heir. There was a bitter, long-standing dispute between the Pope and King John about Walter's successor as Archbishop of Canterbury.
literature
- Christopher Robert Cheney: Hubert Walter . Nelson, London 1967
- Charles R. Young: Hubert Walter, lord of Canterbury and lord of England. Duke University Press, Durham (NC) 1968
Web links
- Robert C. Stacey: Walter, Hubert (d.1205). In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , from the earliest times to the year 2000 (ODNB). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861411-X , ( oxforddnb.com license required ), as of 2004
Individual evidence
- ↑ Wilfred L. Warren: King John . University of California Press, Berkeley, 1978, ISBN 0-520-03494-5 , p. 134
- ↑ Wilfred L. Warren: King John . University of California Press, Berkeley, 1978, ISBN 0-520-03494-5 , p. 127
- ↑ Wilfred L. Warren: King John . University of California Press, Berkeley, 1978, ISBN 0-520-03494-5 , p. 49
- ↑ Wilfred L. Warren: King John . University of California Press, Berkeley, 1978, ISBN 0-520-03494-5 , p. 129
- ↑ Wilfred L. Warren: King John . University of California Press, Berkeley, 1978, ISBN 0-520-03494-5 , p. 134
- ^ Canterbury Cathedral: The Vestments of Hubert Walter. Retrieved October 10, 2016 .
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Jocelin de Bohun |
Bishop of Salisbury 1189–1193 |
Herbert Poor |
| Reginald fitz Jocelin (Elect) |
Archbishop of Canterbury 1193–1205 |
John de Gray (Elect) |
| Walter de Coutances |
Chief Justiciar of England 1194–1198 |
Geoffrey Fitz Peter, 1st Earl of Essex |
| Eustace |
Lord Chancellor of England 1199–1205 |
Walter de Gray |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Walter, Hubert |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Archbishop of Canterbury |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 12th Century |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 13, 1205 |
| Place of death | Teynham |