Ralph Baldock

Ralph Baldock († July 24, 1313 in Stepney ) was an English clergyman. From 1304 he was Bishop of London . In 1307 he served briefly as royal chancellor .

Ascent to bishop

The origin of Ralph Baldock is unknown. Possibly his family named themselves after Baldock in Hertfordshire , where his alleged brother Thomas Catel owned property. Another brother named Richard served as a royal official in 1325 and was a canon in Salisbury and York , to which a Master Robert Baldock is known, who was probably his nephew. Ralph Baldock is first mentioned in February 1275 when he became principal of Little Woolstone in Buckinghamshire . He held a benefice at St Paul's Cathedral in London and became archdeacon of Middlesex before June 1278 . In 1294 he became dean of St Paul's. As dean, he compiled a comprehensive collection of the rules and customs of the cathedral that was unique in medieval England. On February 23 or 24, 1304, he was elected Bishop of the Diocese of London . Three canons appealed to the Pope against his election, deposed by Archbishop Robert Winchelsey during the vacancy of the Diocese of London . Baldock was able to convince Pope Clement V of the legitimacy of his election and was ordained bishop on January 30, 1306 in Lyon .

Bishop of London

Pope Clement V commissioned Baldock in 1306 to investigate the miracles attributed to Bishop Thomas de Cantilupe in Hereford after his canonization had been requested. During the Parliament of Carlisle in January 1307 he was sworn in as a member of the Royal Council. In April 1307 King Edward I appointed him chancellor, but he lost this office in July of that year with the king's death. In August 1309, he proved his loyalty to the new King Edward II when he attended his parliament in Stamford . A nobility opposition formed against the king's rule, and Baldock was elected as one of five bishops in March 1310 as one of the Lords Ordainers . This committee developed the Ordinances , a reform program for the government that was published in 1311. At the end of 1311 Baldock took part in the Council of Vienne , which is why he played no role in the armed power struggle between the king and the aristocratic opposition under the Earl of Lancaster in 1312 . During Baldock's tenure, parts of St Paul's Cathedral were rebuilt, especially the Lady Chapel . In his will, he bequeathed funds to complete the chapel, in which he was finally buried. Among his executors was his presumed nephew Robert Baldock, who later also became royal chancellor.

Baldock was a trained theologian who owned 126 books at his death. His book collection consisted mainly of titles on theology and canon law , but also on medicine and history. He sponsored theological readings at St Paul's and wrote a history of England that survived in the sixteenth century but is now believed to be lost.

Web links

• HA Tipping, MC Buck: Baldock, Ralph (d. 1313). 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

1. ^ K. Edwards: The social origins and provenance of the English bishops during the reign of Edward II . In: Transactions of the Royal Historical Society , 9 (1959), p. 61.

predecessor	Office	successor
William Hamilton	Lord Chancellor 1307	John Langton
Richard of Gravesend	Bishop of London 1304-1313	Gilbert Seagrave