Ranulf de Glanville

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The ruins of Leiston Abbey, founded by Glanville

Ranulf de Glanville (also Ranulph de Glanvill ) (* around 1120 ; † October 21, 1190 near Akkon ) was an Anglo-Norman nobleman. From 1180 to 1189 he served as Justiciar of England .

Origin and early years

Glanville came from an Anglo-Norman family of the lower nobility who named themselves after the village of Glanvill near Pont-l'Évêque in Normandy . Glanville came from Suffolk , where his father Hervey de Glanville was one of the most respected noblemen. According to tradition, he was born in Stratford , which is believed to mean Stratford St Andrew near Saxmundham . There he later founded Butley Priory . Glanville is first mentioned in 1144 on the occasion of a legal dispute between his father and the Cathedral Chapter of Ely . It is possible that Glanville was one of the four leaders of the Anglo-Norman armed forces who besieged and conquered Lisbon, which was under Muslim rule in 1147 . After the death of his older brother, he inherited his father's possessions. Around 1150 Glanville, together with other relatives, confirmed various donations from his uncle Bartholomew to Bromholm Priory . At the end of the 1150s, he witnessed two documents in Suffolk from William , one of King Stephen's sons . Before 1170 Glanville married Bertha, a daughter of Theobald de Valognes . Theobald was a nobleman with estates in Parham , a domain bordering Glanville's estates in Suffolk, as well as Yorkshire . As dowry, Bertha brought several goods, including Butley in Suffolk, into the marriage. Bertha's sister Matilda married Hervey Walter , the father of the later justiciar and archbishop Hubert Walter , who was thus a nephew of Glanville.

Rise in the service of the king

Between 1163 and 1170 Glanville was sheriff of Yorkshire, where he only had connections through his wife's family. At least temporarily he was at the royal court, where he testified to a document before 1168. Because of a legal investigation he was replaced as sheriff by Robert III de Stuteville in 1170 . However, Glanville did not fall out of favor with the king, because in June or July 1171 he was part of the retinue of Henry II in France and in October 1171 in Ireland. That year, after the death of Earl Conan, he was appointed administrator of the Honor of Richmond in Yorkshire, which he remained until at least 1183. From 1173 to 1174 he was sheriff of Lancashire . The rebellion of the King's Sons from 1173 to 1174 led to Glanville's further rise. During the rebellion he was first involved in the capture of Hamo de Massy , an English ally of King William I of Scotland. When the Scottish king invaded northern England in July 1174, Glanville took command of the army to repel this attack. He is said to have led part of the army himself, with which he moved ahead of the main army. When this troop reached Alnwick Castle , covered by fog, they are said to have surprised the Scots on July 13th and put them to flight. Glanville is said to have captured the Scottish king himself. On the orders of Henry II, Glanville brought the captured king first to Southampton and then on to Normandy.

This military success led to the further rise of Glanville. Among other things, he became a royal judge in June or July 1175. Especially during the king's stays in northern England, Glanville was part of the king's retinue. In 1175 or 1176 he was again sheriff of Yorkshire, which he remained until the death of Henry II in 1189. In 1177 he became sheriff of Westmorland , which he stayed for three years. In this office, however, he was partially represented by his administrator Reiner . Taking on these positions was very profitable for Glanville. The king forgave him the debts he took up for the exercise of his offices in exchange for the delivery of two gyrfalcons . From Michaelis 1175 Glanville served with Hugh de Cressy as a traveling judge, where he was active in fifteen counties . In 1179 he became judge for the areas north of the Trent . In the service of the king Glanville probably traveled to Flanders in 1176 , where he was royal envoy in 1177. He took the oath from Count Philip of Flanders , according to which he wanted to marry his nieces only with the consent of the English king. In 1180 Glanville took part in a royal council meeting in Oxford, at which the king presented his plans for a currency conversion. In addition, he was involved in peace negotiations with King Philip II of France and the Count of Flanders.

Justiciar of England

As the successor to Richard de Luci , who resigned in 1178 , Glanville became Chief Justiciar of the King in 1180 , although the exact date of his appointment is not known. With this office, Glanville not only took on numerous administrative tasks, but also served as viceroy during the king's absence. In 1182 he undertook a campaign to Wales. In 1184 he was the tutor of Johann , the youngest son of Henry II, when he followed his father to Normandy. In 1184 he served together with Archbishop Richard of Canterbury as royal envoy to Wales and escorted Prince Rhys ap Gruffydd to the king at Hereford . In 1184 he led a council meeting in London, which refused the papal envoy in England permission to collect aid for the pope. In 1185 Glanville brokered a peace between the Welsh princes under Rhys ap Gruffydd and the Marcher Lords of Herefordshire and Chester in the Welsh Marches . He accompanied the young Johann Ohneland to Ireland , which his father had given him to rule. There, however, Johann ignored Glanville's advice, so that Johann's rule failed and he had to return to England in September 1185. In the same year Glanville traveled to France, where, after difficult negotiations, he was able to agree an armistice with the French king.

Glanville had become the mainstay of the aging Henry II. In the last year of Henry II's reign, he shuttled between England and Normandy several times to secure the king's dwindling power. After Heinrich's death, Glanville attended the coronation of Richard the Lionheart . Richard commissioned him to stop the subsequent persecution of the Jews, but he had little success. He was then replaced in 1189 as justiciar. Richard allegedly fined him £ 15,000 for abuse of office, but there is no evidence. According to the Chronicle of William of Newburgh , Glanville resigned from office for reasons of age. Together with his nephew Hubert Walter and other confidants, he took part in Richard the Lionheart's crusade . He accompanied the king as far as Marseille and finally reached the Holy Land . There he fell ill and died during the siege of Acre .

Title page of a 1780 edition of the Tractatus attributed to Glanville

rating

Glanville was a loyal follower of Henry II, and as justiciar he proved to be an eminent legal scholar, a prudent administrator, and an able military man. The King thanked Glanville in many ways. In 1175 or 1176 the king had given him properties near Leiston in Suffolk, where Glanville founded the Premonstratensian Abbey of Leiston Abbey a little later . In 1185 he became administrator of Northumberland for six months . In addition he received the property and the right of patronage of the church of Upton in Norfolk . Glanville's position as justiciar was closely linked to the power of the king. This shows that he lost his post shortly after the king's death. In general, contemporary chroniclers like Richard of Devizes already rated Glanville as a capable and good official. Gerald of Wales also praised the founding of monasteries in Butley and Leiston. After Roger von Hoveden , Glanville wrote a collection of laws, and he is considered the author of the book Tractatus de legibus et consuetudinibus regni Anglie . The book deals with royal jurisdiction and was written, or at least completed, between 1187 and 1189. It had a significant influence on the development of common law , but the authorship of Glanville is in doubt. In addition to Glanville, the later justiciare Hubert Walter and Geoffrey fitz Peter are also considered possible authors, but it is more likely that an unnamed but well-trained civil servant from Glanville's environment or from Hubert Walter was the author.

Even as sheriff of Yorkshire, Glanville had relied on confidants and relatives from East Anglia and made them civil servants. He continued this practice as justiciar, for example his brother Osbert served in the royal administration in Westminster from 1182 at the latest . The best-known relative he favored was his nephew Hubert Walter. More of his relatives also benefited from his office, including five of his relatives who were appointed sheriff during his tenure as justiciar. In addition to this nepotism , Glanville has also been shown to have abused his office to his advantage. According to the chronicler Roger von Hoveden , in 1170 he wrongly accused the country nobleman Gilbert of Plumpton from Yorkshire of seducing an heiress. He wanted to marry the heiress to his follower Reiner and therefore sentenced Plumpton to death. The intervention of Bishop Roger of Worcester did not carry out the sentence, but Plumpton is said to have remained in Glanville until his death.

Descendants and inheritance

With his wife Bertha de Valognes, Glanville had several daughters, including Matilda, Amabilla and Helewise, who survived him. Since he had no surviving sons, his daughters divided up his estates after his death.

Works

  • The treatise on the laws and customs of the realm of England, commonly called Glanvill . Nelson, London 1965

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ F. West: Justiceship England 1066-1232. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2005. ISBN 978-0-521-61964-6 , p. 54
  2. ^ F. West: Justiceship England 1066-1232. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2005. ISBN 978-0-521-61964-6 , p. 55
  3. ↑ John T. Appleby: Johann "Ohneland" - King of England . Riederer, Stuttgart 1965, p. 35
  4. ^ Frederick Pollock, Frederic William Maitland: The history of English law before the time of Edward I. Cambridge University Press, London 1968, p. 164
  5. ^ F. West: Justiceship England 1066-1232. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2005. ISBN 978-0-521-61964-6 , p. 62
predecessor Office successor
Richard de Luci Justiciar of England
1180–1189 		William de Mandeville, 3rd Earl of Essex
(with Hugh de Puiset )
personal data
SURNAME Glanville, Ranulf de
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Glanvill, Ranulph de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English nobleman, Justiciar of England
DATE OF BIRTH around 1120
DATE OF DEATH October 21, 1190
Place of death at Acre