Walter Langton

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Walter Langton (* 13th century ; † November 9, 1321 in London ) was an English civil servant and clergyman. From 1295 to 1307 and 1312 he was royal treasurer , and from 1296 he was Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield . He is considered to be the most colorful personality among the civil servants at the time of King Edward I.

origin

Walter Langton is believed to have come from Langton West , a village in the Church Langton parish in Leicestershire , where he owned a small estate when he died. According to his own information, his parents were called Simon Peverel († around 1304) and Amicia Peverel († 1297). Sir Robert Peverel was a younger brother of his, whose son Edmund became his heir. Contrary to various beliefs, Walter Langton was not the Walter who was a nephew of William Langton of Rotherfield , the Dean of York . The name Langton was more common in the Middle Ages, and it is considered very unlikely that Walter Langton was related to Chancellor John Langton .

Beginning of the civil servant career

There is no reliable information about Walter Langton's youth. He is described as both a poor clergyman and a young man serving the king. He was first mentioned in 1281 or 1282 as an official of the royal wardrobe . During the reign of Edward I, the wardrobe officials were not only responsible for the royal apartments, but also took on a variety of tasks. Among other things, she handled much of the royal finances, and Langton is actually mentioned for the first time when he gave Thomas Gunneys , the wardrobe overseer, accounts of the campaign to conquer Wales . In 1286 and 1289, Langton was part of the king's entourage, who during this time spent several years in Gascony , which was part of the kingdom of the English kings. Before 1287, Langton was responsible for the wardrobe 's cash as cofferer of the wardrobe . Before 1290 he was promoted to overseer, then he succeeded William of Louth administrator of the wardrobe. One of his tasks now was to improve the recording of expenses and income for the wardrobe. After the death of Chancellor Robert Burnell in 1292, he served briefly as Keeper of the Great Seal until John Langton was appointed as the new Chancellor. In 1295 Walter Langton succeeded Treasurer of the Exchequer . As treasurer, he reorganized the treasury's bookkeeping. Langton was not only concerned with finances in the service of the king, but also served as a judge and diplomat from the beginning of the 1290s. He was one of the judges who spoke out in the Great Cause , the question of the Scottish succession , in November 1292 for John Balliol as Scottish king. When it came to a conflict with France over Gascony in 1294, he advised together with the Earl of Lincoln that Gascon was temporarily handed over to the French King Philip IV . When the war with France nevertheless broke out, Langton was one of the envoys from 1296 to 1297, along with Otton de Grandson , Hugh le Despenser , John of Berwick and Count Amadeus V of Savoy , who tried to win allies for the war against France . Langton alone paid £ 35,000 in aid to potential allies. Langton was not only an able but also an unscrupulous official of the king. He was probably primarily responsible for the fact that shortly before the death of Isabel de Redvers in 1293, the king came into possession of their lands, which virtually disinherited the potential inheritance. In his private life, he ruthlessly collected his claims from loans he had granted.

Ascent to bishop

As with many other officials, the king rewarded Langton's services not with a salary, but with the granting of spiritual benefices and the administration of land. Langton's greed exceeded that of the former Chancellor Burnell, and he was considered a notorious beneficiary. After January 7, 1296. cathedral chapter of Lichfield had asked for permission to elect a new bishop, Langton was finally on February 19, as bishop of the Diocese of Coventry and Lichfield selected. Archbishop Robert Winchelsey actually opposed the election of deserving royal officials to bishops, but on June 11 he gave his approval for Langton's election. On June 16, Langton received the diocesan temporalities . On December 23, 1296 he was ordained bishop by Béraud de Got , Cardinal Bishop of Albano in Cambrai , where he was involved in peace negotiations with France. On his return to England he had to swear allegiance to Archbishop Winchelsey in front of the high altar of Canterbury Cathedral . Winchelsey deliberately tried to emphasize his rights as Archbishop of and insisted that Langton swore allegiance to him again on the Archbishopric of Teynham . Even as bishop, Langton remained royal treasurer. Because of this task and his other services as a diplomat, he had little time to take care of the administration of his diocese. Its register of documents is the oldest surviving register of a bishop in the diocese. It can be seen from him that as a rule his vicars general had taken over the administration of the diocese. From 1298 to 1308 Master Robert Redeswell , Archdeacon of Chester held the office of Vicar General and from 1312 to 1313 Master Ralph Leicester . There is little evidence that Langton regularly visited his diocese and most of his official duties were carried out outside of his diocese.

Following the example of Bishop Burnell in Wells , Langton had a crenellated wall with gatehouses built around Lichfield Cathedral . In one corner of the fortification he built an episcopal palace. In the city of Lichfield he had the Great Bridge built. To this end, he had the London residence of the bishops renovated and the episcopal palaces Eccleshall Castle and Haywood almost completely rebuilt.

Activity as a diplomat and politician

During the national crisis of 1297, Langton brought the king's approval of the Confirmatio Cartarum of Flanders to England after November 5, 1297 . In September 1299 he attended the wedding of the king with the French princess Margarete . On the Sunday following the wedding, Mass for the Queen was celebrated in the chapel of the Archbishop's Palace in Canterbury. He received the traditional wax gift from Margaret, which was then deposited at the shrine of St. Thomas . The queen later referred to Langton as the king's right eye . In January 1302 Langton was presumably the leader of the English embassy, ​​which in negotiations with a French delegation under Pierre Flote concluded an armistice in Asnières , it was also agreed that the dethroned Scottish King John Balliol would be handed over to the French.

As a clergyman who worked primarily for the king, Langton found himself in bitter conflict with Archbishop Winchelsey from 1301 at the latest. During Parliament in Lincoln in 1301, the knight John de Lovetot accused Langton of simony , the accumulation of office , corruption and the devil's service . The first allegations were certainly justified, while the accusation of devil's service was probably just an accusation common at the time with no real background. But the other allegations that Lovetot raised against Langton weighed more heavily. He accused Langton of having an adulterous relationship with Lovetot's stepmother. He would even have murdered her husband, John de Lovetot , Lovetot 's father of the same name. Lovetot allegedly made the allegations on behalf of Archbishop Winchelsey, who said he had nothing to do with it. While Winchelsey called in Parliament for Langton to be dismissed as treasurer, he stressed that as Langton's clerical superior he would not investigate him without a papal mandate. Thereupon the accusations were brought before the Curia in Rome, where Langton should now answer. As with other allegations, the king now supported Langton, whom he sent to the curia as a member of an embassy. Langton was also able to present his case on this occasion. In view of the grave allegations , Pope Boniface VIII suspended Langton from his spiritual offices in March 1302. He commissioned Winchelsey and the Dominican Thomas Jorz to investigate the allegations. Langton returned to England, but in 1303 he had to travel to Rome again to hear the verdict of the commission investigating his case. Since the king and the clergy of the diocese of Coventry and Lichfield had given convincing testimony in favor of Langton, the allegations against him could not be confirmed. Langton was clearly acquitted, but Pope Boniface VIII delayed Langton's official absolution until June 8, 1303. John de Lovetot was charged with murder and arrested. He died in prison. Whether Winchelsey was actually a personal opponent of Langton is controversial. The archbishop is even said to have promoted absolution and the return of the accused. In October 1305 Langton belonged together with the Earl of Lincoln and Otton de Grandson to an embassy of the king, who traveled to the curia because of his dispute with Archbishop Winchelsey. The mission also had the aim of asking the Pope to release the king from his oath to observe the Magna Carta . Langton took part in the coronation of the new Pope Clement V in Lyon on November 14, 1305 . To what extent Langton contributed to the suspension of Winchelsey by the new Pope in 1306 is difficult to say. Certainly, however, the removal of the archbishop, who was concerned about his rights, was a relief from the king's policy.

Towards the end of the reign of Edward I, Langton was the supreme administrator of the empire before Chancellor John Langton. Due to his diverse tasks, he had appointed William Carleton († 1309) as his deputy as treasurer. However, Langton's influence also had its limits. At the request of the heir apparent, Eduard , Langton is said to have asked the king to appoint Piers Gaveston , the heir's favorite, Count of Ponthieu . The king is said to have been so upset about this that he pulled the heir to the throne by the hair. However, the king was indulgent towards Langton, in contrast to other officials such as Jean de Grailly , Chancellor John Langton or William March . In 1305 Langton was the cause of another dispute between the king and the heir to the throne. Langton is said to have reprimanded the prince for forest crime in one of his forests, and the king fully supported Langton. Another point of contention was the high cost of the heir's household, but also his behavior towards a minister. This led to a falling out between father and son from June 1305, before the father reconciled with him because of his son's marriage negotiations in October. During his absence on a campaign to Scotland on July 2, 1306, the King appointed Langton, along with Archbishop William Greenfield of York, as Imperial Administrator . By order of the king he was to open parliament in Carlisle in January 1307 . In Carlisle, Langton was accused by John de Ferrers of manipulating the judiciary in the dispute over the Newbottle estate in Northamptonshire . Langton was found guilty by Parliament, but Ferrers' lawsuit, who claimed the Earldom Derby, was arguably primarily politically motivated. Langton was pardoned by the king, which Ferrers thought was false news. Then Langton learned of the death of Edward I at Wentworth in Yorkshire during the campaign to Scotland. Before July 23, 1307 he was in Burgh by Sands , where the king had died on July 7, to take over his duties as executor of the king's will.

The fall of Langton

Edward II, the previous heir to the throne, was now the new king and was able to take revenge on Langton. When Langton was on his way to Westminster in August 1307 to prepare for the funeral of the late king, he was arrested on the orders of the new king and imprisoned in either the Tower of London , Windsor Castle or Wallingford Castle . On August 22nd, Edward II appointed Walter Reynolds as the new treasurer. Although the royal chancellery granted Langton and the other executors 20,000 marks for the costs of the funeral of Edward I on October 1, Langton remained in the disgrace of the new king. Piers Gaveston, the king's favorite, may have been involved in the overthrow of Langton as he benefited financially from the confiscation of Langton's property, but most chroniclers agreed that the new king wanted revenge on Langton. Although the new king obstructed a bishop as executor, confiscated Church properties and then imprisoned the bishop, these violations of ecclesiastical freedoms were without consequence in Archbishop Winchelsey's absence. Langton was accused of treason, omission and other misdemeanors against the king and had to stand trial. The new Treasurer Reynolds and the Barons of the Exchequer were supposed to check according to the treasury records whether Langton had made false statements, made wrong judgments and misappropriated funds from the Exchequer into his own coffers. Other allegations included the illicit sale of timber and land, the appointment of unsuitable sheriffs, and the misappropriation of charter records during the king's absence.

Numerous files from the investigations before the Court of Exchequer and other courts from 1307 and 1311 have been preserved. Langton admitted numerous offenses. Evidently, for example, he had interpreted the Statute of Merchants more than eighty times in his favor. The Treasury found that he had the immense income of £ 2,400 on his estate in 1308. Eduard II postponed Langton's trial until after his coronation. Before April 1308, Pope Clement V pressed for Langton's release. The king, who was threatened with excommunication due to Gaveston's unauthorized return from exile , gave Langton the temporalities of his diocese on October 3, 1308 and released him on November 9. Langton was supposed to answer to Parliament in March 1309. It is not known whether he did this.

In August 1309, Pope Langton forgave an unspecified offense. In June 1311, Langton was imprisoned for suspected involvement in a murder at York Castle , but out of consideration for the rights of the Church he was placed in the care of the Archbishop and released before October 1311. In January 1312 all allegations against him were dropped, he was ultimately given back all of the lands and was given permission to collect outstanding debts and to reclaim income that was alienated during his imprisonment. Reclaiming these funds occupied Langton and his executors for almost 50 years.

Rehabilitation and final years

Langton was too good an official that Edward II ultimately did not want to do without him. On January 23, 1312 he reappointed him treasurer. Allegedly, Langton was now the king's closest confidante after Gaveston, but according to other sources, the king only trusted him partially. Possibly he was responsible for the policy of the king, who instructed the sheriffs to collect outstanding payments and otherwise increase the income of the crown. However, the Lords Ordainers complained that his appointment had not been made in accordance with the Ordinances . They violently interrupted his work in the treasury and already forced his release on May 17, 1312. Langton is said to have been excommunicated by Winchelsey when he did not accept an invitation to a provincial synod because he refused the ordinances. Langton defended himself before the Curia at Avignon , while Archbishop Winchelsey was represented by clergyman Adam Murimuth . The death of Winchelsey in May 1313 resulted in Langton's re-establishment as bishop. He also became a member of the royal council again, but was dismissed as undesirable under pressure from the Earl of Lancaster during the Parliament of Westminster in 1315 . In the conflict between the Earl of Lancaster and the king, he nevertheless played a conciliatory role with other bishops in the negotiations that led to the Treaty of Leake . He was then also a member of the permanent council established under this agreement. In 1318, he unsuccessfully sought compensation of £ 20,000 from the Crown. He eventually died in his London residence on the Strand .

Langton bequeathed liturgical vestments , a gold chalice, two vials worth £ 80 and a jeweled gold cross worth £ 200 to Lichfield Cathedral . It was placed on December 5, 1321 in the Cathedral's Lady Chapel , construction of which he began and for whose completion he had donated money, buried. However, the king confiscated this money to finance the campaign to Scotland in 1322. For the Lady Chapel, Langton had built a new shrine for the relics of St. Chad , which had cost £ 2,000.

literature

  • Jill Hughes: Walter Langton and his family . In: Nottingham Medieval Studies , 35 (1991), pp. 70-76
  • Alice Beardwood: The trial of Walter Langton, Bishop of Lichfield, 1307-1312 . American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia 1964

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California, Berkeley 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3 , p. 139
  2. ^ Kathleen Edwards: The Social Origins and Provenance of the English Bishops during the Reign of Edward II. In: Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, Vol. 9 (1959), p. 62
  3. ^ Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California, Berkeley 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3 , p. 140
  4. ^ Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California, Berkeley 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3 , p. 144
  5. ^ Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California, Berkeley 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3 , p. 391
  6. ^ Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California, Berkeley 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3 , p. 353
  7. ^ Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California, Berkeley 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3 , p. 279
  8. ^ Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California, Berkeley 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3 , p. 140
  9. ^ Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California, Berkeley 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3 , p. 154
  10. ↑ Boydell & Brewer: The Register of Walter Langton, Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, 1296-1321. Retrieved February 28, 2018 .
  11. ^ Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California, Berkeley 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3 , p. 429
  12. ^ Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California, Berkeley 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3 , p. 496
  13. ^ Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California, Berkeley 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3 , p. 549
  14. ^ Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California, Berkeley 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3 , p. 549
  15. ↑ Jeffrey Denton: Robert Winchelsey and the Crown 1294-1313. A study in the defense of ecclesiastical liberty . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2002. ISBN 0-521-89397-6 , p. 54
  16. ^ Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California, Berkeley 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3 , p. 541
  17. ↑ Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California, Berkeley 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3 , p. 551
  18. ^ Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California, Berkeley 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3 , p. 550
predecessor Office successor
John Droxford Lord High Treasurer
1295-1307 		Walter Reynolds
Walter Norwich Lord High Treasurer
1312 		Walter Norwich
Roger de Meuland Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield
1296-1321 		Roger Northburgh
personal data
SURNAME Langton, Walter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English clergyman and official
DATE OF BIRTH 13th Century
DATE OF DEATH November 9, 1321
Place of death London