Ralph de Neville

Ralph de Neville (also Nevill ) († between February 1 and 4, 1244 in London ) was bishop of the English diocese of Chichester from 1222 . From 1226 until his death he was Chancellor of England .

Origin and education

Neville's parents are unknown, allegedly he was born out of wedlock. His relatives likely included the forest judge Hugh de Neville and the Chamberlain of the Household Geoffrey de Neville . Nothing is known about his training. Occasionally he was referred to as a master by supplicants , but this was probably only meant as flattery. As a bishop he later sponsored schools and had a theologian to teach at his court, and he also financially supported at least three students studying at schools in Lincoln , Oxford and Douai .

Rise in the service of the king

Neville himself made a career as a civil servant in the service of King John Ohneland . From March or April 1207 at the latest, he was part of the king's household. On December 29, 1207 he delivered money for the royal treasure kept in Marlborough Castle . Since only a few documents have survived from the following years, there is no evidence of him again until January 4, 1213, after he continued to serve the king. On December 22nd, 1213, he became custodian of the great seal under the supervision of the Justiciars and Bishop of Winchester, Peter des Roches . At this point, at the latest, his service in the royal chancellery began. In March 1214 he accompanied the king on his unsuccessful campaign in Poitou , where he held the office of Vice Chancellor. This task ended in October 1214 when he returned to England. During the turmoil over the recognition of the Magna Carta and during the First Barons' War , Neville remained in the king's service until at least May 19, 1216. After that, his whereabouts are unclear, but in May 1218 he served again at the royal court, where on November 6, 1218 he received the newly made seal of the underage King Heinrich III. took over. As Keeper of the Great Seal , he ran the day-to-day business of the royal chancellery, with Richard Marsh , who had become Bishop of Durham in 1217, still officially chancellor. Numerous documents and letters have survived from Neville's tenure, which prove that he managed the firm well and was in direct contact with numerous magnates and foreign diplomats.

Career as a clergyman

King John richly rewarded Neville for his services with church offices. On 11 April 1214 he became Dean of Lichfield Cathedral , and in the next two years he received from the king nor more sinecures . Under Henry III. Neville was supposed to become chancellor of Chichester Cathedral on October 28, 1222 , but on the same day he was elected bishop by the cathedral chapter there. On 1 November, the choice was confirmed by the King and on November 3, which were his temporalities passed, but only on April 21, 1224, he was with William Briwere and Walter Mauclerk by Archbishop Stephen Langton in the St Katherine's Chapel in Westminster to Consecrated bishop.

As a clergyman, Neville was well aware that the Church in England needed reform. He himself needed a papal dispensation twice , on the one hand for his accumulation of benefices, on the other hand for his spiritual rank, which he had achieved despite his illegitimate descent. Even as dean of Lichfield he wanted to improve the morals of the cathedral chapter, and in 1231 he is said to have not borne the travel expenses of a monk from his diocese who wanted to travel to Rome to see the Pope, since he was accused of simony . Since he was often absent as bishop because of his offices at the royal court, Neville had hired an administrator to manage the temporalities and an authorized clergyman to deal with his spiritual duties. The files obtained show that he had his possessions carefully administered. It appeared to work well with its cathedral chapter. He appointed his brother treasurer of the cathedral. In 1238 he tried to mediate in the heated dispute between Archbishop Edmund of Abingdon and the Canterbury Cathedral Chapter. He himself never went to the Curia in Rome, and only three times did papal representatives examine his conduct of office.

Neville had several opportunities to receive even higher ecclesiastical offices. The Canterbury Cathedral Chapter elected him new Archbishop on September 22, 1231, after which the election was confirmed by the King in early 1232. On the advice of Archdeacon Simon Langton , Pope Gregory IX. the election, however, of invalid, allegedly because Langton described Neville as an illiterate courtier who was not worthy of the office of head of the Church of England. Nevill would speak quickly and act rashly, with his brain in his nostril and, above all, would wish that the English Church would free itself from its dependence on the Pope. On August 28, 1238, the Cathedral Chapter of Winchester elected Neville as the new Bishop of Winchester . However, the highly respected Bishop Robert Grosseteste of Lincoln had refused to support Neville's candidacy, and the king eventually refused to approve the election. Thereupon Pope Gregory IX. 1239 this choice is also invalid.

Chancellor of England

After Richard Marsh's death, he was appointed the new chancellor before May 17, 1226 and quickly received the substantial salary to which he was entitled. Shortly after the king was declared of legal age in January 1227, Neville was named chancellor for life on February 12. This was confirmed on November 16, 1228 and June 14, 1232, and on his last confirmation he was also appointed lifelong lord seal keeper, or alternatively he was allowed to appoint a deputy. Under his administration, the Liberate Rolls and the Letters Close were run separately in 1226 , and in 1227 he reintroduced the list of Charter Rolls . According to contemporary chroniclers, Neville acted as Chancellor in a fair and equitable manner on legal issues. Through his officials he kept in close contact with the Treasury and the royal judges. At times he was involved in negotiations with the Barons of the Exchequer . He had great influence in the appointment of new royal judges and he often advised the king on other issues. When in 1230 both the King and the Justiciar Hubert de Burgh took part in a campaign in France , Neville stayed behind as regent in England. On May 4, 1233 he was also appointed chancellor of Ireland for life . In contrast to Justiciar Hubert de Burgh and Treasurer Walter Mauclerk , who were dismissed from their offices and fallen into disgrace, he was able to consolidate his position. He probably owed this to the favor of Peter des Roches , with whom he had already worked in 1213 and had become the most influential advisor to the king in 1232. Neville also survived the fall of des Roches in 1234 unscathed. With the fall of des Roches, justiciar Stephen of Seagrave was also dismissed. Henry III. did not appoint a new Justiciar , but divided the duties of this office between the Chancellor Neville and Walter Raleigh , the Lord Chief Justice . In 1236 the king tried to reshuffle the government, which is why Neville should allegedly renounce the office of Lord Seal Keeper. Neville refused to give up this office because he had received it not from the king but from the council of barons. However, when he was elected Bishop of Winchester against the will of the king in 1238 as the successor of the late des Roches, the king forced him on August 28, 1238 to resign from the office of Lord Keeper of the Seal. In return, however, he was allowed to keep the office of chancellor and the corresponding income. In 1239 the king is said to have offered him the office of lord seal keeper again, but Neville refused. Only in May 1242, when the king set out for a campaign in France during the Saintonge War , Neville took over the post of Lord Seal Keeper for the regent Archbishop Walter de Gray of York. Even after the king's return in September 1243, a few documents were still sealed by Neville, but a few months later he died in his magnificent London City Palace. He was buried in Chichester Cathedral.

As Lord Chancellor, Neville had become very wealthy. In New Street in London he built a magnificent city palace, which also served as his official residence in his function as Chancellor. New Street is said to have been named after this palace in Chancery Lane . In addition to his London palace, Neville owned houses in Eton near Windsor Castle and in Winchester, so he and his officials could accompany the royal court there. He was often given rich gifts, especially by the king. In his will he left his jewels to the king, who used them to adorn the new shrine for Edward the Confessor in Westminster Abbey . He bequeathed his lands as well as his London palace to the successive bishops of Chichester, while he bequeathed another house in London to the dean and the cathedral chapter of Chichester. He sponsored an annual bread meal for the poor in Chichester, which continued into the 20th century. Matthew Paris recognized him as a pillar of stability, loyalty and faith.

literature

• Charles R. Young: Ralph de Neville, chancellor . In: The making of the Neville family in England, 1166-1400 . Boydell, Rochester 1996, ISBN 0-85115-668-1 , pp. 64-81
• David A. Carpenter: Chancellor Ralph de Neville and plans of political reform, 1215-1258 . In: PR Coss, SD Lloyd (ed.): Thirteenth century England II: Proceedings of the Newcastle upon Tyne conference 1987. Boydell, Woodbridge 1988, ISBN 0-85115-513-8 , pp. 69-80

Web links

• Fred A. Cazel, Jr: Neville, Ralph de (d. 1244). 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. ↑ John Cannon, Robert Crowcroft: The Oxford companion to British history . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2015. ISBN 978-0-19-967783-2 , p. 489
2. ↑ Fred A. Cazel, Jr: Neville, Ralph de (d. 1244). 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
Richard Marsh	Lord Chancellor of England 1226–1244	Silvester of Everdon (as Lord Keeper of the Great Seal)
Ralph de Warham	Bishop of Chichester 1222-1244	Robert Passelewe