Simon of Pattishall (judge)

Simon of Pattishall (also Pateshull ) († around 1217) was an English judge.

Rise to royal judge

Simon of Pattishall was from Pattishall in Northamptonshire , where his family was a fief of the Honor of Wahull . Simon of Pattishall is first mentioned in 1190 when he was administering derelict coronations in Northamptonshire and serving as royal judge. In 1191 he became administrator of Northampton Castle . Pattishall was likely sponsored by Geoffrey Fitz Peter , who was sheriff of Northamptonshire from 1190 to 1194 and later became royal justiciar . Pattishall served as Sheriff of Essex and Hertfordshire from 1193 to 1194 . After King Richard I was released from captivity, he appointed Pattishall Sheriff of Northamptonshire in 1194. He served during the reign of Richard I and his successor Johann Ohneland as a traveling judge and as a judge on the Court of Common Pleas in Westminster .

Judge under Johann Ohneland

Until the reign of Johann Ohneland, the administration of the treasury and the judiciary were not separated. As a result, Pattishall not only served as a judge, but often had to deal with financial issues. In 1198 and 1200 he raised the Carucage , in 1198 he was responsible for the taxation of Jews in England and in 1213 he was a member of the committee that was supposed to record the damage to churches in the Archdiocese of Canterbury that had occurred during the interdict imposed on England . When Johann Ohneland was in England, Pattishall was also a regular at the royal court. In 1203 Pattishall resigned as sheriff and in 1207 as judge of the Court of Commons Pleas. Instead he was now one of the higher judges with special tasks. In 1210 he took part in the king's campaign to Ireland , where he was supposed to support the introduction of the English legal system. After all, he was considered the most important of the fifteen permanent royal judges. But even Pattishall had conflicts with Johann Ohneland. In 1207 the king sentenced him and another judge to pay a fine of 100 marks for having ended a court case with a settlement. However, they were later waived their sentences. When a nobility opposition rebelled against the king in the spring of 1215, the king ordered the confiscation of the property in Pattishall, although it is unclear whether Pattishall supported the rebels or whether his properties were in rebel-controlled areas. After the Abbot of Woburn Abbey stood up on Pattishall's behalf, the king resumed him on May 20, and by December 1215 his possessions had been regained. Before March 1216, he again served as a judge in Northamptonshire. He died around 1217. His successor as judge was his civil servant Martin of Pattishall .

Development of extensive land holdings

Through his service as a judge Pattishall was able to expand his land holdings significantly. He ended up owning almost six Knight's Fee and other small estates centered in his home village of Pattishall, plus houses in Northampton and Stamford . Johann Ohneland finally gave him the estate of Rothersthorpe in Northamptonshire and the administration of various royal possessions, including Fotheringhay Castle in 1212 .

Marriage and offspring

Pattishall had married an Anne whose origin is unknown. With her he had at least two sons:

• Walter of Pattishall († 1231 or 1232)
• Hugh of Pattishall († 1241)

Before his death, Pattishall made donations to Pipewell Abbey . His eldest son Walter became his main heir.

literature

• RV Turner: Simon of Pattishall, Northamptonshire man, early common law judge . In: Northamptonshire Past and Present, 6 (1978-1983), pp. 5-14

Web links

• Ralph V. Turner: Pattishall [Pateshull], Simon of (dc 1217). 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