John Kirkby (Bishop, Ely)

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John Kirkby († March 26, 1290 in Ely ) was an English official and clergyman. From 1284 he was royal treasurer , and in 1286 he became Bishop of Ely .

origin

John Kirkby's origins are unknown. He had a brother and at least four sisters. Possibly he was related to the John Kirkby , who had served as judge in 1227 and 1236 and possibly came from Kirkby Lonsdale in Westmorland . On the other hand, the name Kirkby was not unusual at the time and there is no evidence of the relationship. Kirkby began his career as a clerk in the royal chancellery during the reign of Henry III.

Promotion as a royal official

By 1269, Kirkby had risen to the Royal Chancellery as Keeper of the Rolls . After the death of Chancellor Richard Middleton on August 7, 1272, he took over the custody of the large seal. After the death of Heinrich III. on November 16, Kirkby presented the seal to Archbishop Walter Giffard , one of the members of the Regency Council, as the heir to the throne Edward was still on his way back from his crusade . Kirkby also served in the royal chancellery under Edward I. During the absences of the new Chancellor Robert Burnell , he served as the keeper of the seals , especially in February 1278, May 1279, February 1281 and March 1283. As Burnell's protégé, he practically took over the office of Vice Chancellor, even if he did not have this title led. He had been a member of the Privy Council since 1276 at the latest .

On June 19, 1282, the king informed the sheriffs of all counties, with the exception of the sheriff of Cornwall , that Kirkby had urgent work to do. The sheriffs should give him and his deputy Walter of Amundsham all necessary assistance. Similar letters were sent to the boroughs , monasteries, and other institutions. The purpose of this urgent mission was to collect voluntary cash benefits and loans to finance the campaign to put down the uprising in Wales . By the fall of 1282, Kirkby was actually able to raise around £ 16,500 on his travels, but this also created numerous enemies. However, this money was nowhere near enough to finance the campaign. Therefore the king called councils in both York and Northampton in early 1283 . Kirkby was to lead the meeting in Northampton as representative of the king together with his cousin Edmund of Cornwall and with the treasurer Richard of Ware . The congregation eventually approved a tax on the thirteenth portion of the movable property. The sums that Kirkby had previously collected could be offset against this tax.

Service as royal treasurer

After the death of Richard Ware, Kirkby was appointed the new treasurer on January 6, 1284. He was believed to be the driving force behind reforms in the royal treasury in the 1280s. The bookkeeping was improved and the income was examined more closely. In 1284, officials forecast the crown's annual income to be only £ 26,828. The statute of Rhuddlan , issued in 1284 after the conquest of Wales, therefore also dealt with monies still owed to the crown and with the organization of the treasury. In addition, the officials should try harder to collect outstanding debts. In 1285 the review of the duties of the Crown Vassals to the King, later known as Kirkby's Quest , began . The investigation was made in the context of other reforms in the administration of the Treasury and had far-reaching consequences. Local juries should collect vassals' responses to questions about duties and debts to the crown, income, leases, property rights, judicial powers, military service, and more. The exact investigation led to resentment among the crown vassals, but since the creation of the Domesday Book 200 years earlier, no English king had had such extensive information about his kingdom. However, only a few, incomplete reports of the survey survived, and in 1285 the king ordered the treasury to be more cautious in recording debts and to accept installment payments when repaying them.

Kirkby did not only serve the king in financial matters. Presumably he was given the task of keeping records of the parliaments. He was best known for his role in the king's dispute with the City of London , which made him extremely unpopular. In June 1285 the King appointed him chairman of a special commission to investigate public order in London. A scandal broke out there when the goldsmith Lawrence Duket was murdered by friends of Alderman Ralph Crepyn . Kirkby asked Mayor Gregory de Rokesle to come to the Tower of London for questioning. This then resigned his office in protest, whereupon Kirkby immediately placed the city under royal administration. To this end, he immediately appointed representatives of the city to appear before the King at Westminster , and appointed two officials to take over the sheriff's duties and to collect fees and taxes. The king placed the city under the supervision of a warden , and it was not until 1298 that it regained its self-government.

Advancement as a clergyman

Edward I rewarded Kirkby's services with so many benefits that he was considered a particularly scandalous pluralist. Kirkby had his first known benefice in 1271 from Henry III. who gave him the rights of the Church in Melbourne and other rights, giving Kirkby an annual income of 47 shillings and 9 pence. Although he only deacon was ordained, he was a little later rector of St Buryan in Cornwall, dean of Wimbourne , canons in Wells and York and by 1272 Archdeacon of Coventry . In 1283 he was elected bishop of the Diocese of Rochester , but Archbishop Pecham refused to elect deserving officials as bishops. He put so much pressure on Kirkby that he renounced the office of bishop. Then the archbishop ordered a new election, as Kirkby was unacceptable as a candidate due to his accumulation of offices.

Bishop of Ely

On July 26, 1286, Kirkby was elected bishop of the Diocese of Ely . The king was in Melun , France, when he was notified of the election for approval on August 7th. This time, Pecham had no objections, so he confirmed the election on August 17th. Pecham himself ordained Kirkby a priest on September 21 at Faversham Abbey and a bishop the next day in Canterbury . But even as a bishop, Kirkby continued to exercise his office as treasurer. With the king still in his southwestern French possessions, Kirkby traveled to South Wales in 1287 to help put down the rebellion of Rhys ap Maredudd . The king was still in France when, in February 1289, Kirkby tried to convince the magnates in London to approve a tax. But they refused to do so in the absence of the king. Then he is said to have ordered the elevation of the valley . He did not need the consent of the magnates for this tax, but the collection was not carried out. The king approved his approach, however, because Kirkby was not one of the officials against whom after the return of the king in August 1289 was determined for misconduct.

Kirkby has been a generous patron of the Diocese of Ely. He left several houses in London to the diocese, including his home, which later became the Bishops' London townhouse as Ely Place . He died as a result of bloodletting . Weakened by the operation, he again developed a fever that he had had earlier this year. He was buried in Ely Cathedral. His brother William became his heir.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California, Berkeley 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3 , p. 234
  2. ^ Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California, Berkeley 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3 , p. 241
  3. ^ Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California, Berkeley 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3 , p. 242
  4. ↑ Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California, Berkeley 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3 , p. 237
  5. ^ Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California, Berkeley 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3 , p. 444
  6. ^ Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California, Berkeley 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3 , p. 265
  7. ^ Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California, Berkeley 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3 , p. 343
predecessor Office successor
Hugh of Balsham Bishop of Ely
1286–1290 		William of Louth
Richard of Ware Lord High Treasurer
1284-1290 		William March
personal data
SURNAME Kirkby, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English clergyman and civil servant, Bishop of Ely
DATE OF BIRTH 13th Century
DATE OF DEATH March 26, 1290
Place of death Ely