Richard Marsh (Bishop)

Richard Marsh , actually Richard de Marisco († May 1, 1226 in Peterborough ) was Chancellor of England and Bishop of the English Diocese of Durham .

Rise in the service of the king

The origin of Marsh is unknown. Since he held the title Magister , he probably attended a university. He is first mentioned around 1196 when he was in the service of administrators Gilbert Fitz Reinfrey and Richard Brewer during the vacancy of the Diocese of Durham . Around this time he paid large sums of money to the treasury on behalf of Archbishop Hubert Walter . By this time he already had his knowledge of finance, which later distinguished him.

Under King Johann Ohneland Marsh was an official of the royal combing before 1207 and then in 1209 a senior official of the chancellery, where he continued to work for the combing. Occasionally he also served as keeper of the lord seal . Like most of King John's clergymen, Marsh remained in the king's service despite the Pope's interdict imposed over England in 1208 . The king rewarded his loyalty with a number of ecclesiastical offices and benefices. 1209 was Marsh canons in Exeter and rector of Brampton . Before November 1211 he became archdeacon of Northumberland , 1212 vicar of Kempsey in Worcestershire and in February 1213 archdeacon of Richmond . In these spiritual offices, however, he was represented by deputies, but received the corresponding income. As a senior official, Marsh undoubtedly had a great influence on the king. Together with William Brewer , Robert of Thornham and Reginald of Cornhill , he was one of the poor advisors named by the king who in 1210 demanded the expulsion of the Cistercians from England. Also in 1211 he is named as an influential advisor. When rumors of an imminent rebellion of the barons reached the king in the fall of 1212, Johann assigned Marsh the supervision of the treasurer. That year he served as Sheriff of Somerset and Dorset . Although he was a clergyman himself, Marsh was hated by numerous monks as a loyal servant to the excommunicated king.

Rise to Chancellor and eventually Bishop of Durham

When the interdict was finally lifted in 1213, Archbishop Stephen Langton Marsh threatened to suspend his ministry. Marsh then traveled to Rome himself in August 1213 to meet Pope Innocent III. to justify. At the same time he negotiated more favorable conditions for Johann Ohneland, who had submitted to the Pope, on behalf of the king in Rome. Upon his return to England, Marsh quickly resumed his work in royal administration. In 1214 he traveled to Poitou , where he prepared the ultimately unsuccessful campaign of the king . Between April and June 1214 the king tried to make him Bishop of Winchester as the successor to Peter des Roches , who was to become Archbishop of York, but when the candidacy of des Roches failed, the candidacy of Marsh was also disrupted. Marsh had returned to England before June 1214. He ordered that royal castles should be ready to defend themselves, he forced several abbeys from blank notes, which he had filled out, so that the abbeys had to forego much of their promised compensation for the lost income during the interdict. During the interdict no new monasteries or abbots were elected in the English monasteries. In many of the now numerous elections, Marsh pushed through the election of candidates for the king, the most famous being the controversial election of Hugh of Northwold as the new abbot of Bury St Edmunds . On October 29, 1214, the King appointed Marsh Chancellor of England. Even as Chancellor, Marsh continued to work closely with the Treasury and Treasury.

Marsh remained a loyal supporter of the king during the turmoil over the recognition of the Magna Carta and the ensuing First War of the Barons . In August 1215 he was back in Poitou, where he tried to raise troops for the king. In September 1215 he traveled again to Rome, where he obtained confirmation of Archbishop Langton's suspension. After King John died in October 1216, Marsh served on the Regency Council, which was responsible for the underage Heinrich III. the government continued as chancellor. He sealed the Magna Carta in November 1217, with which the new king recognized this agreement.

Already in May 1217 the papal legate Guala had it with the support of the new Pope Honorius III. appointed Bishop of Durham. On July 2, 1217, Marsh was ordained a bishop in Gloucester by Walter de Gray , Archbishop of York. Marsh renounced his previous ecclesiastical offices and mostly no longer lived at the royal court, but in his northern English diocese. Marsh did not retire from the royal service, however, but remained officially Chancellor and member of the Privy Council and continued to maintain close contact with the government. He served as an intermediary between the Regency Council and the Scottish King Alexander II , and from December 1218 to April 1219 he served as royal judge in Yorkshire and Northumberland. From November 1218, Ralph de Neville ran the chancellery as Lord Seal Keeper, but Marsh insisted on his dignity as Chancellor and angrily rejected Neville's claim to be officially confirmed as Vice Chancellor.

Bishop of Durham

As Bishop of Durham, Marsh was embroiled in almost constant conflict. First he led a violent conflict with Philip of Oldcoates , who had administered the vacant diocese during the civil war. Marsh did not shy away from violence to advance his interests. He attacked and plundered Oldcoates' properties, burning houses and capturing his adversary's followers. Marsh then led a bitter dispute with the prior and monks of Durham Cathedral Priory over the division of the income from the diocese's estates. The cathedral priory monks accused Marsh of bloodshed, adultery, simony , robbery and sacrilege before the Pope . Before the king, they accused Marsh of violating their Magna Carta rights. The Pope ordered Bishops Richard Poore of Salisbury and John of Fountains of Ely to investigate the allegations against Marsh. Marsh turned to the Pope himself, and after a process that was costly for all parties, he succeeded in getting the trial against him not in Rome but in England. On the way to the hearing in London, Marsh, who was considered a heavy drinker, died surprisingly in his sleep at Peterborough Abbey . As a result of his proceedings, he left both the cathedral priory and the diocese heavily in debt. His heir was his nephew Adam Marsh , to whom he bequeathed mainly his book collection and who became a recognized theologian.

Web links

• Robert C. Stacey: Marsh, Richard (d. 1226). 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
Walter de Gray	Lord Chancellor of England 1214–1226	Ralph de Neville
Morgan	Bishop of Durham 1217-1226	William Scot