Nicholas de Clere

Last updated

Nicholas de Clere, or le Clerk (died 1303) was an English-born Crown administrator in the late thirteenth-century Ireland. He was a skilled financier who achieved high Government office, becoming Lord Treasurer of Ireland, but he faced serious charges of corruption, as a result of which he was removed from office. He was ruined financially by the huge debts he owed to the Crown, and spent his last years in prison.

Contents

Career

Little is known of his origins or his family, except that he had a brother William, to whom he was close, and who acted as Deputy Treasurer. He seems to have first entered the royal service in 1277 as a clergyman attached to the royal chapel in Nottingham Castle. He came to Ireland a few years later and was appointed the custodian of the Archdiocese of Dublin, charged with its administration while the See was vacant in 1284.

In the same year, he was one of four commissioners chosen by King Edward I to investigate the state of the Exchequer of Ireland. Their report on the condition of the Irish finances was damning, and as a result, serious charges of corruption were brought against the Treasurer, Stephen de Fulbourn, Bishop of Waterford. [1] Stephen was relieved of his official duties, but compensated by being consecrated Archbishop of Tuam in 1286. In 1285 Nicholas became Treasurer in his stead, [2] with a salary of 100 shillings each quarter year. He and his brother William flourished: Nicholas became Archdeacon of Dublin, and was granted benefices in six dioceses.

Charges of corruption

Within a few years, he was himself accused of corruption. Archbishop Fulbourn had died in 1288, but he still had powerful relatives, notably, his brother Walter de Fulburn, Bishop of Meath and Lord Chancellor of Ireland, and the Archbishop's family and supporters were probably responsible for the charges made against Nicholas. The charges were serious enough to be raised in the Parliament of England in the autumn of 1290, after a number of aggrieved citizens sent in petitions to Parliament. One such petition was from John Young, a ship-owner and merchant of Waterford, pleading that Nicholas had unlawfully seized his goods to the value of £200. [3] William de Clifford, Bishop of Emly, was another of his accusers. [4]

Hugh Tyrell, Baron of Castleknock, also complained of Nicholas's oppression, in that he was distraining Tyrell for for failure to perform his feudal duties, which were the condition on which he held Castleknock as the King's tenant-in-chief when required; [5] specifically to send three knights with horses and weapons to Dublin Castle. [5] Tyrell pleaded that precisely the same complaint had been made by Stephen de Fulbourn, but a jury had acquitted him, and it was unlawful for Nicholas to proceed against him a second time. [5]

Nicholas was removed as Treasurer in July 1291 and, following his removal, an official inquiry into his accounts began in the following December. Though he could produce satisfactory answers to many of the individual charges, the overall verdict, of corruption and gross mismanagement, was similar to his own judgment on Fulbourn: he was found to owe the Crown the enormous sum of £700. The inquiry also condemned the "low cunning of the man". He was judged to be guilty, and his lands and goods forfeited to the Crown.

Downfall

In 1292 he was thrown into the Fleet Prison, where he remained for 6 years. He was finally released in order to find sureties for his huge debt to the King, and he returned to Dublin. He was not successful in finding guarantors for the debts, and in 1300 he was again imprisoned in Dublin Castle, where he spent his last years, though he may have been free for a brief time before his death in the summer of 1303.

His fate is in notable contrast to that of Sir Walter de la Haye, the former Chief Escheator of Ireland, who faced similar charges at the same time: Haye was triumphantly acquitted, assured of the King's good regard, and died peacefully in his bed.

William de Clere

Nicholas' brother William was also briefly imprisoned at the behest of a prominent firm of Italian bankers, the Riccardi of Lucca, [6] who were effectively the English Crown's financiers, [7] and to whom he was heavily indebted (the firm failed soon afterwards when King Edward broke with them). [8] In his last years William managed to salvage his reputation. In 1309 he was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland, but died almost at once.

Sources

Notes

  1. ↑ Otway-Ruthven pp.203-4
  2. ↑ Otway-Ruthven p.205
  3. ↑ Petitions to Parliament anno 18 Edward I
  4. ↑ Calendar of Documents relating to Ireland 1271-1307
  5. 1 2 3 National Archives SC 8/258/12880
  6. ↑ Petitions to Parliament anno 18 Edward I
  7. ↑ Prestwich, Michael Edward I University of California Press 1988 pp.99-100
  8. ↑ Prestwich pp 402-3

Related Research Articles

The Lord High Chancellor of Ireland was the highest judicial office in Ireland until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. From 1721 to 1801, it was also the highest political office of the Irish Parliament: the Chancellor was Speaker of the Irish House of Lords. The Lord Chancellor was also Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of Ireland. In all three respects, the office mirrored the Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain.

Sir Richard de Exeter was an Anglo-Norman knight and baron who served as a judge in Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen de Fulbourn</span> English archbishop and official in Ireland

Stephen de Fulbourn was an English-born cleric and politician in thirteenth-century Ireland: he was Justiciar of Ireland, and Archbishop of Tuam 1286–88. He was a member of the Order of Knights Hospitallers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter de Fulburn</span>

Walter de Fulburn, or de Fulbourn was a leading English-born statesman and cleric in medieval Ireland, who held the offices of Bishop of Waterford, Bishop of Meath and Lord Chancellor of Ireland

John L'Archers, Larger or L'Archer was an English-born cleric and judge who had a distinguished career in Ireland, holding the offices of Lord Chancellor of Ireland and Deputy Justiciar. He died during the first outbreak of the Black Death in Europe and was probably a victim of it.

Richard Talbot was an English-born statesman and cleric in fifteenth-century Ireland. He was a younger brother of John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury. He held the offices of Archbishop of Dublin and Lord Chancellor of Ireland. He was one of the leading political figures in Ireland for more than thirty years, but his career was marked by controversy and frequent conflicts with other statesmen. In particular, the Talbot brothers' quarrel with the powerful Earl of Ormonde was the main cause of the Butler–Talbot feud, which dominated Irish politics for decades, and seriously weakened the authority of the English Crown in Ireland.

Christopher Bernevall, or Barnewall (1370–1446) was an Irish politician and judge of the fifteenth century, who held the offices of Vice-Treasurer of Ireland and Lord Chief Justice of Ireland. He was deeply involved in the political controversies of his time, and was a leading opponent of the powerful Anglo-Irish magnate James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond. His elder son Nicholas also held office as Lord Chief Justice, and his younger son Robert was created the first Baron Trimleston.


Hugh de Burgh was an Irish lawyer, Crown official and judge who held the offices of Lord Treasurer of Ireland and Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer, and was praised for his good service to the English Crown and pardoned of accusations of maladministration.

Robert le Poer was an Irish judge and Crown official who held the offices of Lord High Treasurer of Ireland and Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer.

Robert de Holywood was an Irish judge and landowner who held the office of Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer. He was the ancestor of the Holywood family of Artane Castle, and of the St. Lawrence family, Earls of Howth. He was a substantial landowner with property in Dublin, Meath and Louth. He became extremely unpopular, and was removed from office after numerous complaints of "oppression and extortion" were made against him. These were apparently inspired ĺargely by his close association in the mid-1370s with Sir William de Windsor, the embattled Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.

Sir Thomas de Rokeby was a soldier and senior Crown official in fourteenth-century England and Ireland, who served as Justiciar of Ireland. He was appointed to that office to restore law and order to Ireland, and had considerable early success in this task, but he was recalled to England after the military situation deteriorated. He was later re-appointed Justiciar, and returned to Ireland to take up office, but died soon afterwards.

William Chevir, or Chevyr was an Irish politician and judge, whose career was marked by accusations of oppression and corruption.

Thomas de Burley was an English-born monk who served as a Crown official and judge in fourteenth-century Ireland. He held office twice as Lord Chancellor of Ireland. He was the Irish Prior of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, whose Dublin house was at Kilmainham, from 1356 till his death. He had a reputation for corruption, and for vindictiveness towards his opponents, but he could also show courage and determination, especially in combat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Mac Cerbaill</span> Irish archbishop (died 1289)

David Mac Cerbaill, O.Cist, was Archbishop of Cashel from 1254 until his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicholas de Snyterby</span> Ireland judge

Nicholas de Snyterby, or Snitterby was a Law Officer and judge in Ireland in the fourteenth century, who held office as King's Serjeant, Baron of the Court of Exchequer (Ireland) and justice of the Court of Common Pleas (Ireland).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter de la Haye</span> English official in Ireland

Sir Walter de la Haye, or de Haye was an English-born statesman and judge in Ireland of the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, who served for many years as Sheriff of County Waterford and as Chief Escheator of Ireland, and briefly as Justiciar of Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William de Essendon</span> English-born cleric, lawyer


Sir William de Essendon, de Estdene or Eastdean was an English-born cleric, lawyer and Crown official, much of whose career was spent in Ireland in the reign of Edward I of England and his son. He served twice as Lord High Treasurer of Ireland, and had a high reputation for integrity and efficiency.

Edward Dantsey or Dauntsey was a fifteenth-century Bishop of Meath, who also held high political office in Ireland, serving as Lord High Treasurer of Ireland and twice as Deputy to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. In a curious episode in 1426, he was wrongfully charged with theft, but acquitted.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Brettan</span> Irish judge and Crown official

John Brettan or Breton was an Irish judge and Crown official. His petitions to the Irish Privy Council, of which he wrote five between 1376 and 1382, and which have survived ; cast a valuable light on the disturbed condition of English-ruled Ireland in the late fourteenth century, and especially the situation in Carlow, his home town, which was the effective seat of English government in the latter half of the fourteenth century.

Sir Thomas Fitzadam was a leading Irish administrator and judge during the reigns of King John and his son Henry III of England. He held a wide variety of official positions, including military commander, Constable of Dublin Castle, Chief Escheator of Ireland and Chief Forester of the Royal Forest of Glencree. He was one of the first three judges to be appointed an itinerant justice in Ireland.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.