Robert Hales (Chancellor of the Exchequer)

Contemporary depiction of the crusade against Alexandria.

Robert Hales (* around 1325 in High Halden , Kent ; † 1381 in London) was Prior of the Order of St. John and Lord High Treasurer of England.

Sources from Hale's life are only sparse. In 1358 he stayed for the Johanniter on Rhodes . In the same year he was in command of several balls in England. In 1362 he was personally back in England. In 1365 he was one of the hundred Johanniter who assisted Peter I of Cyprus in his attempt to take Alexandria . The crusade against Alexandria ended in a Crusader victory, the sacking of the city and a massacre of its people. For Hales, the endeavor ended with great personal fame, which he could use to make a career in England.

Hales was named the highest prior of the Order of St. John in England in 1372. With that he automatically held the highest baron rank in the kingdom and came ahead of all other barons in the protocol. As Lord High Treasurer, he tried to introduce a poll tax in England and made himself extremely unpopular with the people for these attempts. Hales was murdered in 1381 by the English rebels surrounding Wat Tyler during the Peasants' Revolt . These had stormed the Tower of London , Hales and his companions stormed out of the fortress and immediately executed Hales on Tower Hill .

Remarks

↑ Helen J. Nicholson : The Hospitallers and the 'Peasants' Revolt' of 1381, revisited. In: Victor Mallia-Milanes (Ed.): The Military Orders. Volume 3: History and Heritage. Ashgate, Aldershot et al. 2008, ISBN 978-0-7546-6290-7 , pp. 225-233, here p. 230.
^ Christopher Tyerman: England and the Crusades. 1095-1588. University of Chicago Press, Chicago IL et al. 1996, ISBN 0-226-82013-0 , p. 292.
↑ David Nicolle : Knights of Jerusalem. The Crusading Order of Hospitallers, 1100-1565. Osprey Publishing, Oxford et al. 2008, ISBN 978-1-8460-3080-2 , p. 119.
^ Isaac W. Stuart: Life of Captain Nathan Hale, the martyr-spy of the American revolution. FA Brown et al., Hartford et al. 1856, p. 186 .

personal data
SURNAME	Hales, Robert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Prior of the Order of St. John and Lord High Treasurer of England
DATE OF BIRTH	around 1325
PLACE OF BIRTH	High Halden , Kent
DATE OF DEATH	1381
Place of death	London

[bar230-1] Helen J. Nicholson : The Hospitallers and the 'Peasants' Revolt' of 1381, revisited. In: Victor Mallia-Milanes (Ed.): The Military Orders. Volume 3: History and Heritage. Ashgate, Aldershot et al. 2008, ISBN 978-0-7546-6290-7 , pp. 225-233, here p. 230.

[tye292-2] Christopher Tyerman: England and the Crusades. 1095-1588. University of Chicago Press, Chicago IL et al. 1996, ISBN 0-226-82013-0 , p. 292.

[nic119-3] David Nicolle : Knights of Jerusalem. The Crusading Order of Hospitallers, 1100-1565. Osprey Publishing, Oxford et al. 2008, ISBN 978-1-8460-3080-2 , p. 119.

[stu186-4] Isaac W. Stuart: Life of Captain Nathan Hale, the martyr-spy of the American revolution. FA Brown et al., Hartford et al. 1856, p. 186 .