John de Karlell
John de Karlell (died 1393) was an English-born cleric, civil servant and judge in fourteenth-century Ireland. He served as second Baron of the Court of Exchequer, and as Chancellor of the Irish Exchequer. He became Chancellor of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, after a struggle for the office with his fellow judge Walter de Brugge.[1]
Origins
He took his family name from his birthplace, Carlisle, Cumberland; he was the brother of William de Karlell, whose career paralleled his own.[1] Disparaging remarks made by political opponents about William's "low station in life" are evidence that the brothers came from a relatively humble background, a subject on which they are known to have been sensitive, even to the point of bringing legal proceedings against those who disparaged them. William arrived in Ireland in the entourage of the King's second son Lionel of Antwerp, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, in 1361; John may have come to Ireland at the same time, though little is heard of him until after 1370.[1]
Carlisle
Career
Both brothers sat in the Irish House of Commons as members for Kilkenny City in the Parliament of 1374 and both served as Barons of the Court of Exchequer (Ireland). William was dismissed from office in 1376 after facing a flood of charges of "extortion and oppression". John was appointed second Baron "so long as he was of good behaviour".[2] They were hard-working Crown officials with wide-ranging duties, (though William at least made numerous enemies, who worked hard for his removal), and both were well rewarded for their services: John was given a licence to export wheat to France and Portugal, and to "levy profits" while absent from Ireland. He was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland in 1374 "during the King's pleasure" at the usual fee.[3] He was superseded as Chancellor in 1376 in favour of Thomas Bache. He acted as papal collector of taxes in 1381.[1]
Like many clerics of the time, he was something of a pluralist: he was prebendary of Ferns and Limerick, and became parish priest of Culfeightrin, now Ballycastle, County Antrim in 1389.[1]
Contest with Walter de Brugge
In 1376 he was nominated as Chancellor of St Patrick's Cathedral, but he had a strong rival for the office in Walter de Brugge.[4] Walter had a very similar background to John, being a fellow Baron of the Exchequer and also a clergyman noted for pluralism; like John he was in royal service, being a close associate of Lionel of Antwerp's son-in-law Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March. In 1377 de Brugge petitioned the Privy Council of Ireland, asking them to examine the evidence and pleading for justice to be done to him. His plea was unsuccessful and Karlell was confirmed as Chancellor in December 1377.[4]
Death and burial
At his death, despite his long association with St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, John chose to be buried close to his brother William (who had died ten years earlier) in St Canice's Cathedral, Kilkenny. His tomb has long since been destroyed.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f Ball, F. Elrington The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921 John Murray London 1926 Vol. 1 p. 167
- ^ Barker, Travis R. ed. "Law and Society in Later Medieval England and Ireland: Essays in honour of Paul Brand" Routledge Oxford 2018 fn.141
- ^ Close Rolls 48 Edward III 18 October 1374
- ^ a b National Archives SC 8/213/10619
