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Robert Burnell

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Robert Burnell
Installednever enthroned
Term endedabout January 29 1279
PredecessorRobert Kilwardby
SuccessorJohn Peckham
Orders
Consecrationnever consecrated
Personal details
DiedOctober 25 1292
BuriedWells Cathedral

Robert Burnell (died October 25 1292) was an English bishop who served as Lord Chancellor of England in the years 1274–1292. A native of Shropshire, he served as a royal clerk before switching to the service of the future King Edward I of England. He served as regent after the death of King Henry III of England while Edward was still on Crusade. He was twice elected Archbishop of Canterbury, but his personal life prevented his confirmation by the papacy. He was elected as Bishop of Bath and Wells in 1275, after King Edward had appointed him chancellor in 1274. Burnell continued to enjoy the king's trust until the bishop's death in 1292. Burnell went abroad on diplomatic missions for Edward, and for a time governed Gascony. Burnell's personal life included keeping a long-term mistress, who was rumored to have borne him four sons.

Early life

Burnell was born at Acton Burnell in Shropshire, first worked as a clerk in the royal chancery.[1] He was probably the son of Roger Burnell, who died about 1259. Robert had three brothers, two of whom died fighting the Welsh in 1282, while the third, Hugh, died in 1286. Hugh's son Philip was Robert's eventual heir.[2] Burnell started his career in the royal chancery but left the chancery to work in Prince Edward's household.[3] By 1257 Burnell had switched to the prince's household, and was often with the prince.[4] As a reward for his service, Burnell was awarded the prebend of Holme in the diocese of York sometime before 1267 and was named Archdeacon of York in December of 1270.[5]

Prince Edward tried to get Burnell elected to the Archbishopric of Canterbury in 1270, but was frustrated when the chapter's members elected William Chillenden, their prior, instead. In the end, Pope Gregory X set aside Chillenden and installed his own choice, Robert Kilwardby, in the see.[6] Burnell did not accompany the prince on Crusade in late 1270. Thus he was still in England when Henry III died in November 1272. Burnell acted as one of the regents of the kingdom until August 1274, when the prince, now king, returned from Palestine. With the king's return to England, Burnell was named chancellor.[7]

Chancellor and bishop

Ruins of the house that Robert built at Acton Burnell

On January 23 1275 Burnell was elected to the see of Bath and Wells. He received the temporalities of the see on March 19 1275 and was consecrated on April 7 1275.[8] Three years later Edward once more tried to secure the see of Canterbury for his favourite. Burnell was elected to the archbishopric in June or July 1278, but the election was quashed by Pope Nicholas III in January of 1279.[9] The bishop's second failure to obtain this dignity was probably due to his lifestyle, which included keeping a mistress. His lifestyle also partly accounts for the hostility between himself and the man who was eventually elected archbishop, John Peckham.[2] Edward made one last attempt in early 1280 to promote his friend to a wealthier see, when Burnell was nominated to become Bishop of Winchester. The election, however, was quashed on June 28 1280,[10] once again by Pope Nicholas III.[11]

Burnell was the chief and most influential adviser of Edward I during the first half of Edward's reign.[12] As part of his duties, Burnell spent most of his time in attendance on the king. Burnell heard many requests and petitions from people who desired patronage or other advancements, and was diligent and active in taking care of routine business.[13] The bishop took a leading role in the legistlation of King Edward. The king's major legislative acts mainly date to Burnell's tenure of the office of chancellor, from September 21 1274 until the bishop's death.[7][2] It was during Burnell's time in office that a great effort was made by Edward and the government to reassert royal rights that were felt to have been usurped by the king's subjects. These efforts were made under writs of Quo warranto,[14] which asked the recipient what royal grant or warrant gives the recipient the authority for a right or a power. They were first issued in 1278, after earlier attempts to recover royal rights through Parliament succeeded in swamping that body in too much work. Burnell was instrumental in the enforcement of the Quo Warranto writs, and also had a large hand in the legislative work enacted in Edward's reign. Some of these statutes were Statutes of Westminster, enacted in 1275, 1285, and 1290. The ones in 1275 attempted to deal with the usurpation of royal rights, which later were dealt with by Quo Warranto.[15] Keeping the peace in the realm and the extension of royal jurisdiction to cover rape was dealt with in the statues from 1285, along with a number of other issues.[16] The last statute, from 1290, regulated land law, and arose from pressure from the barons.[15]

During Burnell's time as Chancellor, the division between the king's personal household department of the Wardrobe and the governmental department of the Chancery, which was headed by the Chancellor, was erased almost entirely. There was no rivalry between the holders of the Great Seal and the Privy Seal.[17] During Burnell's time in office, the king would only use a Privy Seal warrant, or an informal set of instructions for the chancellor to issue a letter from the chancery under the Great Seal, when the king and Burnell were apart. It was after Burnell's death that the number of Privy Seal warrants increased greatly.[18][19]

Edward had such trust in his chancellor and the chancellor's clerks, that Burnell and the clerks were allowed to dispense with the hanaper system and enjoy the profits from the fees of their office.[20][21] Burnell was also responsible for decision to make the court of chancery settle down in London, rather than following the king and his court around the country. This seems to have resulted from a chancery memorandum of 1280 that ordered the chancellor, along with the other minsters, the duty of sorting the many petitions that came into the government and only passing on the most urgent to the king.[2]

Foreign service

Burnell was also active in the king's foreign policy, especially towards France, Scotland and Wales. He went on a number of diplomatic missions to those countries. Burnell served as the royal spokesman on a number of occasions, one of them being at Paris in 1286 when he made a speech detailing the history of English-French relations since the Treaty of Paris of 1259. The speech was a prelude to discussions involving the homage that Edward owed to King Philip IV of France, which were concluded successfully.[22] In the late 1280's, Burnell was employed in Gascony, helping administer that duchy and reorganizing the government. He showed himself sensitive to the Gascon desire for independence and did not attempt to impose the same systems of government that were used in England. Because of this, the first half of Edward's reign was the period when Gascony enjoyed the best government under the Plantagenets.[23] Later, in June of 1291, Burnell gave two speeches at the great council of English and Scottish nobles in Norham to decide the succession to the Scottish crown. Edward had been asked to mediate an end to the crisis over the succession, or the Great Cause as it was known in England.[24]

Death and legacy

Although Burnell died in Berwick on October 25 1292, his body, minus his heart, rests in the nave of his cathedral in Wells. His heart was buried at Bath.[25] Although he was usually busy with royal business, Burnell managed to expand his bishopric and provide for his relatives.[2] He amassed great wealth; and on his death he left numerous estates in Shropshire, Worcestershire, Somerset, Kent, Surrey and elsewhere. At his death, he owned 82 manors over 19 counties, and most of these were his personal property, not the property of the diocese of Bath and Wells.[26] In his personal life, he kept a mistress, named Juliana, even after he became a bishop. Rumors stated that she bore him four sons, and that he had a number of daughters, but Burnell denied the rumors.[13] He kept a magnificent household, enough that he was able in the autumn of 1283 to host a council resembling a parliament at Acton Burnell Castle, his home.[27] He married off a number of young female relatives to noblemen, but rumor said these were his daughters.[28]

He built extensively at Acton Burnell Castle, and large parts of his country house there still remain. It was substantially different in plan than the older hall style houses, with the private quarters at the back of a large hall. Instead, at Acton Burnell, the bishop's quarters were located well off from the main public spaces of the building, and included a latrine. The house itself was not quite a castle, but was designed to allow some defense of the property.[29] The whole form of the structure was of a fortified hall-house, much like the Norman-era hall-keeps.[30] He also built the chapel in the Bishop's Palace in Wells.[31]

Notes

  1. ^ British History Online Prebends of Holme accessed on September 11, 2007
  2. ^ a b c d e Harding "Burnell, Robert (d. 1292)" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Online Edition, Oct 2007 accessed November 8, 2007
  3. ^ Chrimes An Introduction to the Administrative History of Mediaeval England p. 134
  4. ^ Prestwich Edward I p. 23
  5. ^ British History Online Archdeacons of York accessed on September 11, 2007
  6. ^ Prestwich Edward I p. 73
  7. ^ a b Fryde Handbook of British Chronology p. 85
  8. ^ Fryde Handbook of British Chronology p. 228
  9. ^ Fryde Handbook of British Chronology p. 233
  10. ^ Fryde Handbook of British Chronology p. 276
  11. ^ British History Online Bishops of Winchester accessed on November 2, 2007
  12. ^ Prestwich Edward I p. 138
  13. ^ a b Prestwich Edward I p. 233
  14. ^ Latin for "by what warrant?"
  15. ^ a b Prestwich Plantagenet England p. 124-126
  16. ^ Prestwich The Three Edwards p. 20-21
  17. ^ Chrimes An Introduction to the Administrative History of Mediaeval England p. 140
  18. ^ Prestwich Edward I p. 136
  19. ^ The Privy Seal at this time was held by the controller of the wardrobe, who was Philip Willoughby from the accession until 18 October 1274 then Thomas Bek, (later Bishop St David's) until 20 November 1280, then William Louth (later Bishop of Ely) until 12 May 1290, then Walter Langton, acting-controller from 12 May 1290, and then appointed to office on 20 November 1290 until 1295.
  20. ^ Lyon A Constitutional and Legal History of Medieval England Second Edition p. 362-363
  21. ^ Chrimes An Introduction to the Administrative History of Mediaeval England p. 145
  22. ^ Prestwich Edward I p. 323
  23. ^ Prestwich Edward I p. 311
  24. ^ Prestwich Edward I p. 365
  25. ^ British History Online Bishops of Bath and Wells accessed on September 11, 2007
  26. ^ Moorman Church Life in England in the Thirteenth Century p. 169
  27. ^ Powell The House of Lords in the Middle Ages p. 208
  28. ^ Moorman Church Life in England in the Thirteenth Century p. 167
  29. ^ Platt Medieval England p. 83
  30. ^ Pettifer English Castles p. 209
  31. ^ Bishop's Chapel information accessed on February 1, 2007

References

  • "Bishop's Palace Chapel, Wells UK". The Bishop's Palace and Gardens. The Palace Trust. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
  • Chrimes, S. B. (1966). An Introduction to the Administrative History of Mediaeval England (Third Edition ed.). Oxford: Basil Blackwell. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)
  • Fryde, E. B. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology (Third Edition, revised ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  • Greenaway, Diana E. (2001). "British History Online: Bishops". Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300: volume 7: Bath and Wells. Institute of Historical Research. pp. p. 1-6. Retrieved 2008-02-05. {{cite web}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  • Greenaway, Diana E. (1999). "British History Online: List 9: Archdeacons: York". Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300: Volume 6: York. Institute of Historical Research. pp. p. 31-36. Retrieved 2008-02-05. {{cite web}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  • Greenaway, Diana E. (1999). "British History Online: List 29: Prebendaries: Holme". Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300: Volume 6: York. Institute of Historical Research. pp. p. 78-81. Retrieved 2008-02-05. {{cite web}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  • Greenaway, Diana E. (1971). "British History Online: Winchester: Bishops". Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300: volume 2: Monastic Cathedrals (Northern and Southern Provinces). Institute of Historical Research. pp. p. 85-87. Retrieved 2008-02-05. {{cite web}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  • Harding, Alan (2004). "Burnell, Robert (d. 1292)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oct 2007 ed.). Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
  • Lyon, Bryce Dale (1980). A Constitutional and Legal History of Medieval England (Second Edition ed.). New York: Norton. ISBN 0-393-95132-4. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)
  • Moorman, John R. H. (1955). Church Life in England in the Thirteenth Century (Revised Edition ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)
  • Pettifer, Adrian (1995). English Castles: A Guide by Counties. Woodbridge: Boydell. ISBN 0-85115-782-3.
  • Platt, Colin (1996). The Castle in Medieval England & Wales (Reprint ed.). New York: Barnes & Noble. ISBN 0-76070-054-0.
  • Powell, J. Enoch (1968). The House of Lords in the Middle Ages: A History of the English House of Lords to 1540. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  • Prestwich, Michael (1997). Edward I. New Haven, Conn: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-07157-4.
  • Prestwich, Michael (2005). Plantagenet England 1225-1360. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-922687-0.
  • Prestwich, Michael (1990). The Three Edwards: War and State in England 1272-1377. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-05133-9.
Political offices
Preceded by Lord Chancellor
1274–1292 		Succeeded by
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Bishop of Bath and Wells
1275–1292 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Archbishop of Canterbury
election quashed
1278–1278 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Bishop of Winchester
election quashed
1280 		Succeeded by
Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article "Burnell, Robert".

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