John Kirkby (Bishop, Carlisle)

John Kirkby († November 23, 1352 ) was an English clergyman. From 1332 he was Bishop of Carlisle .

Ascent to bishop

John Kirkby probably came from north-west England. Nothing is known about his youth and education. He is first mentioned in 1312 as a canon of the Augustinian Priory of Carlisle . He was ordained a priest on March 23, 1314. Probably in 1325, at the latest in 1330 he was elected prior of Carlisle. As prior, he became involved in a heated argument with Bishop John Ross , during which he and the canons of the cathedral chapter were excommunicated . After Ross's death in 1332, Kirkby was elected the new bishop of the Diocese of Carlisle . On May 18, he received royal approval for the election, and Archbishop Melton of York also confirmed the election on July 2. A week later, Kirkby received the diocesan temporalities , and on July 19 he was ordained bishop by Melton. The Popes had reserved the appointment of bishops for the Diocese of Carlisle, but Pope John XXII. confirmed Kirkby as bishop on December 4, 1333. As early as October 9, 1333 Kirkby had lifted the church sentences imposed by his predecessor and confirmed all rights of the cathedral priory.

Participation in the battles against Scotland

Because of Carlisle's border location, Kirkby was closely involved in the ongoing war with Scotland . Possibly he even accompanied Sir Anthony Lucy in a raid on the western Scottish Marches in March 1333 , and together with Lucy he subsequently quarreled with Ranulf Dacre , Sheriff of Cumberland , who was allowed to receive the ransom from two Scottish prisoners. On June 12, 1334 Kirkby testified to the homage of Edward Balliol , which this king of Scotland to the English King Edward III. performed in Newcastle . With 40 men-at-arms he took part in the campaign of Eduard III in July 1335. from Carlisle against Scotland. For the campaign of 1337 he had pledged to fight in the wake of Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick . He took part in attacks on Teviotdale , Moffatdale and Nithsdale in September . They then tried unsuccessfully to raise a Scottish force that had raided Redesdale and Coquetdale . Kirkby, although a clergyman, took an active part in the fighting and was therefore extremely hated by the Scots. When they invaded Cumberland in October 1337, they particularly destroyed Kirkby's Rose Estate . In November 1337, Kirkby was part of an army that terrified Edinburgh Castle . However, because he could only muster a few soldiers and in order not to raise the Scots against him, he did not take part in the further campaign to Scotland. In the spring of 1338, Kirkby asked the king for the office of administrator of Carlisle Castle , which he was granted in June 1339. He kept it with interruptions until 1345. Through this office he received additional income and soldiers, but was obliged to support Edward Balliol with soldiers. In 1343 he was to oversee the observance of an armistice with Scotland. Around Easter 1345 he, together with Sir Thomas Lucy and Sir Robert Ogle, fended off a Scottish invasion under Sir William Douglas . His horse was killed in a skirmish and he almost ended up in Scottish captivity, but in the end the Scots were put to flight. In March 1346 he was appointed defender of the western Scottish Marches. However, whether he took part in the Battle of Neville's Cross on October 17, 1346 is controversial.

Further activity as a bishop

Kirkby participated in several parliaments in Westminster in the early 1340s , but otherwise apparently lived mostly in the area of ​​his diocese. He made at least two visitations in his diocese , and issued numerous orders for the clergy under him. Kirkby's visit of 1338 led to violent disputes with several monasteries over their rights to appoint offices and benefices. In 1347 a court ruled a dispute between Kirkby and the executors of his predecessor Ross in favor of Kirkby, who had insisted that the furnishings of an episcopal chapel belonged not to the heirs of the bishop, but to the diocese. Kirkby was also involved in a lengthy argument with the Archdeacon of Carlisle. The disputes arose because Kirkby was believed to be trying to reclaim bishops' rights and possessions that had been lost during the tenure of his two predecessors, Halton and Ross. But they meant that Kirkby was apparently very unpopular in Carlisle. Attacks on him and his entourage had already occurred in 1333 and 1337. On July 31, 1345, a violent incident occurred between the citizens of Carlisle and the castle garrison. The soldiers, apparently with Kirkby's approval, went ahead armed against the citizens. Four citizens, including a town bailiff, were killed. Thereupon Kirkby was withdrawn from the administration of Carlisle Castle.

At the beginning of 1348 Kirkby was supposed to accompany the king's daughter Johanna to her marriage to the future King Peter I of Castile in Spain, but the bride died of the plague in September 1348 in Bordeaux . Presumably before April 1349, Kirkby was back in his diocese when he received instructions from Archbishop William Zouche of York on how clergymen should behave in the face of the Black Death . Kirkby's own register of documents does not contain any entries as of June 2, 1347, and nothing is known about his final years.

literature

• RK Rose: The bishops and diocese of Carlisle. Church and society on the Anglo-Scottish border, 1292-1395 . University of Edinburgh, 1983.
• CML Bouch: Prelates and people of the lake counties: a history of the diocese of Carlisle, 1133-1933 . T. Wilson, Kendal 1948

Web links

• Richard K. Rose: Kirkby, John (d.1352). 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

predecessor	Office	successor
John Ross	Bishop of Carlisle 1332-1352	John Horncastre (elect)