Simon Passelewe

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Simon Passelewe († October 21, 1269 and October 1270) was an English civil servant and judge in the service of King Henry III.

origin

Simon Passelewe came from a gentry family , probably from Buckinghamshire . He had two brothers, one of whom Hamo temporarily served as sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk . His brother Robert became a clergyman and temporarily served as a senior royal official and judge. A sister of his married William of Holwell , who was temporarily Sheriff of Hertfordshire .

Rise to royal judge

Simon Passelewe entered the king's service before May 6, 1242. In December 1243 he was hired to work with Gilbert of Preston to check the records of the debts that Christian believers owed to Jews in Cambridge . In 1244 he served as administrator of the temporalities of the vacant diocese of Chichester . In 1248 he was hired to oversee a fair in Stamford and to collect royalties from the royal estates in Essex and Hertfordshire. Probably before January 1253 he joined the Exchequer as a civil servant . From February 1253 he served briefly as a judge to determine the taxation of English Jews, but in October 1253 and July 1254 he brought funds to Gascony , where King Henry III. put down a rebellion. Before February 19, 1255 he became a judge again to determine the taxation of Jews. He held this office until at least June 1258, perhaps also until June 1259. In this role he prized in November 1255 the value of the cattle of the Jewish citizens of Lincoln that after the alleged ritual murder of the boy Hugh of Lincoln had fled, executed or imprisoned. Between June and September 1259 he certainly did not work as a judge, because on September 30, 1259 he was reappointed judge for the taxation of Jews, which he remained until at least February 1262, but no longer than June 1262.

More services for the king

In addition to his service as a judge, Passelewe took on a number of other duties for the king. In the spring of 1258 he tried unsuccessfully to raise funds for the king from the monasteries of St Albans , Reading and Waltham . On May 4, 1258, the king sent him to his brother Richard of Cornwall in Germany, where he had been elected king. Probably he should Richard von Heinrichs III. To inform consent to the formation of the 24-member State Council. The king's approval only came under pressure from a nobility opposition, because the Council of State was supposed to work out a reform program for the king's government. In May 1260 Passelewe was sent to France, where he received support from the French King Louis IX. To borrow money for the English king. In August 1260 he was to negotiate a peace treaty in the Welsh Marches with the Welsh prince Llywelyn ap Gruffydd . During this time the conflict between Henry III. and the aristocratic opposition led to a serious crisis that ultimately led to the open Second War of the barons against the king. Passelewe also fell out briefly with the king, but in July 1262 he accompanied the king to France. After the king's return to England, Passelewe served as the king's lawyer in Paris in January 1263, where he tried, together with Master John of Chishall and Imbert de Montferrand , to find a balance between Henry III. and Simon de Montfort , the leader of the aristocratic opposition.

Little is known about Passelewe's activities during the actual war of the barons in 1264 and 1265. After the victory of the royal party, the king sent him again to the French king in February 1266. In February 1268 Passelewe was again in Paris, where he served as the envoy of Henry III. Peace negotiations between the English Gascony and the Kingdom of Navarre led. In the spring of 1268 he was appointed Baron of the Exchequer . He died between October 21, 1269 and October 1270, probably before March 1270.

Descendants and inheritance

Although the king wanted Passelewe to procure a spiritual benefice in 1242, Passelewe had at least one son, John of Middleton , and one daughter, Katherine Passelewe. Nothing is known about Passelewe's wife. His son inherited his estate in Compton , Surrey.

literature

  • CAF Meekings: Justices of the Jews, 1216-68: a provisional list . In: Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research , 28 (1955), pp. 173-188

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Passelewe, Simon
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English civil servant and judge
DATE OF BIRTH 12th century or 13th century
DATE OF DEATH between October 21, 1269 and October 1270