John Wogan

Picton Castle in South West Wales, which was considerably expanded by Wogan

Sir John Wogan († 1321 or 1322) was an English knight and civil servant .

Origin and promotion to Justiciar of Ireland

John Wogan came from the Cambro-Norman Wogan family from Picton in Wales . His exact origin is completely unclear, and not all details are known about his marriages and his family. As Lord of Picton in Wales, he was a vassal of William de Valence, 1st Earl of Pembroke . It is possible that he was serving Pembroke as early as 1275, and by 1280 at the latest he was its administrator in Wexford, Ireland . In the next few years Wogan served both Pembroke and the English King Edward I. In 1292 he was present at the homage of the Scottish King John Balliol before the English King. In 1293 he was appointed judge for Yorkshire before he was justiciar of Ireland on October 18, 1295 . Wogan held this office until 1308 and then again from May 16, 1309 to August 6, 1312.

Activity as justiciar

Expansion of the judiciary and parliaments

As a Justiciar, Wogan served regularly as a judge, after the Court of Justiciar was created as a permanent court in Ireland, probably in 1282, at the latest in 1285 . During Wogan's tenure, this court was established as the last judicial instance in Ireland, whose decisions could only be overturned by judgments of the king or by the English Court of King's Bench . To this end, Wogan consolidated the Parliament of Ireland , which was first occupied in 1264 and met fourteen times between 1295 and 1312. This means that parliament met more frequently during Wogan's term of office than in the previous 31 years. As head of administration, Wogan effectively pushed through English interests in parliaments without pursuing fixed political goals. In 1297, 1299 and 1310 the Irish parliaments issued their own ordinances, which, however, only dealt with local problems, above all with the relationship of English settlers to the Irish population. At the same time, English laws were introduced through the express approval of the Irish Parliament, but also through simple application in Ireland.

Support for the war against Scotland

In 1300 the representatives of the boroughs and the counties had to deal for the first time during a parliament with a demand of the king, in which this demanded financial support for the war with Scotland . Parliament approved a tax, and Ireland continued to give substantial support to the war in the years that followed. At times, during Wogan's tenure as Justiciar, almost half of the annual income was spent on the war in Scotland. During the English campaign to Scotland in 1301, Wogan commanded the approximately 3500 strong contingent of Irish knights, light riders and archers who belonged to the army of the heir to the throne Edward . With John FitzThomas and Peter de Bermingham, the army included the leading Irish magnates who participated in the campaign, probably driven by the hope of rich rewards from the king. However, this hope was not fulfilled. The continuing and high Irish contributions to the war in Scotland, however, weakened the English position vis-à-vis the native Irish population.

Settlement of conflicts between the Anglo-Irish magnates

As justiciar, Wogan had to resolve numerous conflicts between the Anglo-Irish magnates. He achieved a greater success when he was able to resolve the dispute between William de Vescy and his leading vassal, John FitzThomas von Offaly. Vescy had inherited extensive holdings in Kildare as part of the Marshal family's inheritance , but since he died childless, his vassals were eventually able to acquire his rights.

Battle for English supremacy in Ireland

The laws passed by Parliament in 1297 were intended to change the military weakness of English rule in Ireland, but also the behavior of the English settlers and prevent their assimilation to the Irish population. However, Wogan did not concern himself too much with the legal problems of English rule in Ireland, but tried first to expand English rule and jurisdiction. In fact, his judges came to remote regions. In May 1308, however, there was an uprising of the Irish population in the Wicklow Mountains , which burned the English outpost Castle Kevin . When Wogan wanted to regain control of the region himself, he was defeated by the Irish at Glenmalure in June 1308 . Shortly thereafter, the royal favorite Piers Gaveston became the governor of Ireland as King's Lieutenant , but Wogan initially retained the office of Justiciars. Gaveston quickly regained control of the Wicklow Mountains. In the autumn of 1308 Wogan resigned from his position as legal advisor and traveled to England. After Gaveston returned to England, Wogan was reappointed Justiciar of Ireland in 1309. The English administration in Ireland was now facing increasing problems and unrest. Attempts to maintain English rule were at the fore during the Kilkenny Parliament in 1310. In 1309 and 1311 Wogan led campaigns against Irish rebels. In April 1312 a force sent by Wogan suffered a humiliating defeat in Louth against the troops of the younger brothers of Theobald de Verdon . In August 1312 Wogan traveled again to England, but it was probably not until 1313 that he was officially replaced as Justiciar.

Last years, marriages and death

Wogan later returned to Ireland. Although he did not take any more offices, he advised the English government and particularly supported Roger Mortimer , the new King's Lieutenant of Ireland. At times he checked on behalf of the government which Irish nobles had supported the Scottish invasion under Edward Bruce . The government rewarded him for his services with the Rathcoffey estate in Kildare .

In Wales, Wogan had Picton Castle expanded considerably. He married Margaret de Valle , a daughter of Robert de Valle (also Dale ). She became one of his heiresses after her father's death and received part of the holdings of Walwyn's Castle . After her death in 1302 or 1304, Wogan married Avicia before 1315 , whose origin is unclear. Wogan's exact year of death is unknown, he died in 1321 or 1322. He had made foundations for the benefit of St David's Cathedral in West Wales, where he was probably buried. In 1302 he bequeathed the estate of Castlemorris in Dewsland to the bishops of St Davids. After his death, his property was divided. While his son John inherited the estates in Pembrokeshire, another son inherited the Irish estates, the center of which was in Rathcoffey.

rating

After Wogan's predecessor as Justiciar of Ireland had held the office only for a short time, Wogan was able to consolidate English rule in Ireland again during his long tenure. consolidated. On the other hand, the considerable efforts made by Wogan for the wars of Edward I in Scotland overloaded the English position in Ireland. The English administration is said not to have recovered financially from the burdens of the war in the Middle Ages.

Web links

• Geoffrey J. Hand: Wogan, Sir John (d. 1321/2). 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
• Bertie George Charles: WOGAN families, Pembrokeshire (Dictionary of Welsh Biography, National Library of Wales)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Seymour Phillips: Edward II . Yale University Press, New Haven 2010, ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7 , p. 90.
2. ^ Adrian Pettifer: Welsh Castles. A Guide by Counties. Boydell & Brewer, Woodbridge 2000, ISBN 0-85115-778-5 , p. 172.
3. ^ Dictionary of Welsh Biography: WOGAN families, Pembrokeshire. Retrieved October 20, 2018 . 
4. ↑ James F. Lydon: The Lordship of Ireland in the Middle Ages. Four Courts Press, Dublin 2003, ISBN 1-85182-736-6 , p. 130.