William Melton

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Archbishop Melton. Stained glass in St James Church in High Melton

William Melton († April 5, 1340 in Cawood Castle ) was an English clergyman. From 1316 he was Archbishop of York , to which he served repeatedly as royal minister.

Origin and advancement as a royal official

William Melton was a son of simple parents from Melton near Hull , after which he was named. His parents' names are unknown. He became a clergyman and studied at Oxford University . Before 1297 he entered the service of the crown. Shortly after the heir to the throne Edward was named Prince of Wales , he appointed Melton to Chamberlain of Chester on April 17, 1301 , making him responsible for the heir's income. A skilled financier, Melton was responsible for the pay of the foot soldiers from Wales who served in the wake of the heir to the throne during the 1301 campaign in Scotland . Like other clergymen who served as civil servants, he received no salary, but the king provided him with a number of benefices . In this way, Melton became rector of Reepham in Lincolnshire in 1299 , and received six other rectorates over the next few years. He received further benefits at Southwell Minster and at the cathedrals of Dublin , Lincoln , York and Salisbury . Immediately after the heir to the throne had become King Edward II, he appointed Melton on July 8, 1307 as the first Keeper of the Privy Seal . The office of Leader of the King's Seal had previously been exercised by the Controller of the Wardrobe . Melton was appointed treasurer of the wardrobe , with which he was responsible for much of the royal finances. At the beginning of 1308 he accompanied the king to his wedding in France, where he also served for a short time as keeper of the great seal .

Elected Archbishop of York

The king, whom Melton apparently valued personally, procured him the office of provost of Beverley in 1309 and in 1314 a benefice at the royal church of Hastings . From 1308 to 1309 he was Archdeacon of Barnstaple and from 1308 to 1316 Dean of St Martin's-le-Grand Church in London . In June 1308 he testified to the appointment of the royal favorite Piers Gaveston as governor of Ireland. In the domestic political dispute between the king and numerous magnates , Melton held back, including when Gaveston was executed by opposition magnates in 1312. On September 18, 1312 he was replaced as Keeper of the Privy Seal and on November 30, 1314 as Treasurer of the Wardrobe. However, he retained the favor of the king, although in 1312 he had belonged to the representatives of the northern English clergy who had refused a tax in favor of the king. In 1312 he was still negotiating on behalf of the king with the Cinque Ports and in 1313 he served as envoy in negotiations with Scotland. In October 1315 the king sent him to the Earl of Lancaster and then to the Privy Council . With the support of Edward II, Melton was finally elected Archbishop of York on January 21, 1316. He traveled to the papal court in Avignon , where, however, despite the election of John XXII. as the new Pope in August 1316 delayed the confirmation of his election. It was only after repeated requests by the king and after an English embassy had interceded for him that Melton was ordained bishop on September 25, 1317. On his return trip he continued the old quarrel between the Archbishops of York and the Archbishops of Canterbury by having a cross carried forward in Kent and London, that is, in the area of ​​the ecclesiastical province of Canterbury .

Role in war with Scotland

The Archdiocese of York was increasingly the target of Scottish raids and raids during the reign of Edward II. As early as 1314, Melton was commissioned to raise taxes to defend the border with Scotland. From 1318 the Scottish raids led to Preston and Boroughbridge , and Melton himself was in personal danger when he was on visitations in the area of ​​his diocese. When a Scottish army under Sir James Douglas threatened the almost undefended York in the summer of 1319 , Melton, together with the royal chancellor John Hotham, hastily set up an army of citizens and clergy in York. However, this poorly equipped army suffered a crushing defeat on September 12 in the Battle of Myton against the Scots. Many clergymen were among the victims, while Melton and Hotham barely escaped to York. In the same year Melton served again as negotiator in negotiations with Scotland, also in 1321, which however did not lead to peace. The Pope's repeated efforts to broker peace between Scotland and England were also unsuccessful. Melton was deeply involved in these efforts, but neither the excommunication of the Scottish King Robert Bruce or the Pope's requests for a compromise with England led to a peace. Only after another failed campaign by the king to Scotland was the long-term armistice of Bishopsthorpe concluded in Melton's palace on May 30, 1323. However, since the subsequent peace negotiations were broken off unsuccessfully, there were further Scottish raids until the peace of Northampton was concluded in 1328 . Large parts of the north of England had been devastated by the repeated campaigns and raids. Numerous monasteries were impoverished, and as late as 1339 the northern English clergy declared that due to their poverty they could not pay taxes to the king.

Further activity during the reign of Edward II.

After the conclusion of the Treaty of Leake in 1318, the parliament meeting in York in October 1318 elected Melton as a member of a commission that should reform the royal budget. Out of loyalty to the king, Melton did not support the Earl of Lancaster's rebellion in 1322, although he did allow his clergy to support the rebellion financially. In the spring of 1322 he received copies of alleged letters between Lancaster, the Scottish Earl of Moray and Sir James Douglas. Melton forwarded these copies to the king, who used them as evidence of Lancaster's treachery. As archbishop, Melton had to warn his archdeacon twice that Lancaster, executed by the king as a traitor, was not canonized . Therefore, the archdeacon was supposed to prevent the population from making a pilgrimage to Lancaster's grave. Still, Melton was later reluctant to support efforts to canonize Lancaster. When Adam Orleton , the Bishop of Hereford , had to answer to Chief Justice Hervey de Staunton in 1324 , Melton and Archbishops Walter Reynolds of Canterbury and Alexander Bicknor of Dublin went in procession to the court. Together with Orleton, who was thus taken under spiritual protection, they left again.

Although Melton thus also vigorously defended ecclesiastical rights, he remained a loyal supporter of Edward II. In 1323 he was chairman of a committee to investigate corruption in the raising of troops in Nottinghamshire . When war broke out with France , Scotland's traditional ally, in 1324 , the King of Melton demanded that foreign clergymen who held offices in York be banished or transferred to remote places where they could not cause harm. Melton replied to the king that he could not find any clergy in his diocese who were so wanted. On July 3, 1325, the King appointed Melton his treasurer . As Treasurer, Melton continued his argument with Archbishop Reynolds by continuing to claim the right to have a cross carried before him in the ecclesiastical province of Canterbury. He justified this with the fact that he was then traveling on royal orders. When Melton was temporarily absent in August 1325 and therefore could not exercise his office as treasurer, it was not the experienced official Walter Norwich , but Roger Beler who took over his representation. The king finally feared an invasion of his opponents, which is why he commissioned Melton in 1326, in the event of an invasion, to support Earl Warenne in the establishment of contingents in northern England. Indeed, in September 1326, the reign of Edward II was overthrown by Queen Isabelle and her ally Roger Mortimer . Melton remained loyal to Edward II even when his rule collapsed. He handed over his office to his successor as Treasurer John Stratford on November 14th 1326 and a treasure of over £ 57,915.

Political activity under Edward III.

Even after the overthrow of Edward II, Melton remained a supporter of the king and refused his removal during parliament on January 13, 1327. On February 1, 1327 he did not take part in the coronation of the new King Edward III. part. However, he was then one of four bishops on the Council of State, which was to lead the reign for the underage king. In 1328 he directed the king's wedding with Philippa of Hainault , which took place in York Minster. The real power was not with the Council of State, but with Roger Mortimer and Queen Isabelle. In 1330 the Earl of Kent accused Melton of belonging to the conspiracy to free the supposedly still living Edward II from captivity. Melton was in April 1330 in Woodstock by Edward III. and heard by the Privy Council, but rejected the accusations. After Edward III. After Mortimer and Isabelle had been ousted by a coup d'état in October 1330, the king declared in December that he believed Melton to be completely innocent and ordered his judges to suspend further investigations. Melton served Edward III. from 1330 to 1331 again as Treasurer and from 1333 to 1334 as Keeper of the Great Seal.

Activity as archbishop

As archbishop, Melton lived righteously and chastely. He was considered humble but generous to the poor. He got up early and attended church services regularly. He made regular visits to his diocese, even if he was in danger of being captured in Scotland. Through the visitations he tried to promote the observance of spiritual discipline in the parishes and monasteries, to this end he supervised the appointment of clergy and the granting of benefices and dispensations . During his tenure, a heretical preacher, who particularly incited the women of the community, and a necromancer appeared in his diocese. Melton regulated the difficult redistribution of the possessions of the Knights Templar in the Archdiocese of York to other religious orders, but also the payment of pensions to the knights of the order, which was dissolved in 1312. However, Melton often had a difficult relationship with his suffragan bishops. He once excommunicated Louis de Beaumont , Bishop of Durham, when he opposed a visit from Melton.

At a time when corruption was common among officials, the incorruptible Melton was held in high regard. As early as 1316, Edward II thanked Melton for his good services, in which he would always have acted to the financial advantage of the king. The king declared that he would not hold Melton responsible for any possible offenses. Even as archbishop, Melton continued to operate economically. While other bishops of his time were heavily indebted, he was able to lend large sums of money to the king, but also to barons in northern England, impoverished monasteries and even to the Italian merchants of the Bardi family . In addition, he was able to acquire an extensive property. He donated £ 700 to renovate York Minster and had the grave of St. William restored at his own expense . He himself reviewed the work of indulgence dealers and fundraisers, and praised those who were responsible with the funds raised. In the last years of his life, Melton had apparently retired to the archbishop's palace in Cawood, where he also died. He was buried in York Minster.

Melton had his brother Henry's grandchildren educated in Newark at his own expense . This justified a family that for Gentry of Yorkshire was one.

literature

  • Reginald Brocklesby: The register of William Melton, archbishop of York, 1317-1340 . Boydell, Woodbridge 1997, ISBN 0-907239-56-0
  • LH Butler: Archbishop Melton, his neighbors, and his kinsmen, 1317-1340 . In: Journal of Ecclesiastical History , 2 (1951), pp. 54-68

Web links

Commons : William Melton  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Seymour Phillips: Edward II . New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7 , pp. 87
  2. ↑ Seymour Phillips: Edward II . New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7 , pp. 265
  3. ↑ Seymour Phillips: Edward II . New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7 , pp. 348
  4. ↑ Natalie Fryde: The tyranny and fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-521-54806-3 , p. 159
  5. ↑ Seymour Phillips: Edward II . New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7 , pp. 330
  6. ↑ Seymour Phillips: Edward II . New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7 , pp. 406
  7. ↑ Natalie Fryde: The tyranny and fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-521-54806-3 , p. 153
  8. ↑ Natalie Fryde: The tyranny and fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-521-54806-3 , p. 161
  9. ↑ Seymour Phillips: Edward II . New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7 , pp. 407
  10. ↑ Natalie Fryde: The tyranny and fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-521-54806-3 , p. 104
  11. ↑ Natalie Fryde: The tyranny and fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-521-54806-3 , p. 183
  12. ↑ Natalie Fryde: The tyranny and fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-521-54806-3 , p. 105
  13. ↑ Natalie Fryde: The tyranny and fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-521-54806-3 , p. 196
  14. ↑ Seymour Phillips: Edward II . New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7 , pp. 536
  15. ↑ Seymour Phillips: Edward II . New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7 , pp. 540
  16. ↑ Seymour Phillips: Edward II . New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7 , pp. 565
  17. ↑ Seymour Phillips: Edward II . New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7 , pp. 567
predecessor Office successor
William Greenfield Archbishop of York
1316-1340 		William Zouche
Office newly created Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal
1307-1312 		Roger Northburgh
Walter Stapeldon Lord High Treasurer
1325-1326 		John Stratford
Robert Wodehouse Lord High Treasurer
1331-1332 		William Airmyn
personal data
SURNAME Melton, William
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English clergyman and minister
DATE OF BIRTH 13th Century
DATE OF DEATH April 5, 1340
Place of death Cawood Castle