Hubert Walter
Encyclopedia
Hubert Walter was an influential royal adviser in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries in the positions of Chief Justiciar
of England, Archbishop of Canterbury
, and Lord Chancellor
. As chancellor, Walter began the keeping of the Charter Roll
, a record of all charters issued by the chancery. Walter was not noted for his holiness in life or learning, but historians have judged him one of the most outstanding government ministers in English history
.
Walter owed his early advancement to his uncle Ranulf de Glanvill, who helped him become a clerk of the Exchequer
. Walter served King Henry II of England
in many ways, not just in financial administration, but also including diplomatic and judicial efforts. After an unsuccessful candidacy to the see of York
, Walter was elected Bishop of Salisbury
shortly after the accession of Henry's son Richard I
to the throne of England.
Walter accompanied Richard on the Third Crusade
, and was one of the principals involved in raising Richard's ransom after the king was captured in Germany on his return from the Holy Land. As a reward for his faithful service, Walter was selected to become Archbishop of Canterbury in 1193. He also served as Richard's justiciar until 1198, in which role he was responsible for raising the money Richard needed to prosecute his wars in France. Walter set up a system that was the precursor for the modern justices of the peace
, based on selecting four knights in each hundred to administer justice. He also revived his predecessor's dispute over setting up a church to rival Christ Church Priory
in Canterbury, which was only settled when the pope ordered him to abandon the plan. Following Richard's death in 1199, Walter helped assure the elevation of Richard's brother John
to the throne. Walter also served John as a diplomat, undertaking several missions to France.
and Norfolk
, which were inherited by Theobald. A younger brother, Osbert, became a royal justice and died in 1206. Roger, Hamo (or Hamon) and Bartholomew only appear as witnesses to charters.
Walter's family was from West Dereham
in Norfolk, which is probably where Walter was born. Walter first appears in Glanvill's household in a charter that has been dated to 1178, although as it is undated it may have been written as late as 1180. His brother Theobald also served in their uncle's household. Walter's gratitude towards his aunt and uncle is shown in the foundation charter of Walter's monastery in Dereham, where he asks the foundation to pray for the "souls of Ranulf Glanvill and Bertha his wife, who nourished us". Earlier historians asserted that Walter studied law at Bologna
, based on his name appearing in a list of those to be commemorated at a monastery in Bologna in which English students lodged. Modern historians have discounted this, as the list also includes benefactors, not just students; other evidence points to the fact that Walter had a poor grasp of Latin, and did not consider himself to be a learned man. However, this did not mean that he was illiterate, merely that he was not "book-learned", or educated at a university. His contemporary, the medieval writer Gerald of Wales said of Walter that the Exchequer was his school.
By 1184–1185 Walter had a position as a baron of the exchequer
. The king employed him on several tasks, including as a negotiator, a justice, and as a royal secretary. He was appointed Dean of York
by order of King Henry II about July 1186. The archbishopric had been vacant since 1181 and would remain so until 1189, so it was Walter's job as dean to administer the archbishopric of York. Walter was also an unsuccessful candidate to become Archbishop of York
in September 1186. The medieval chronicler Gervase of Canterbury
said that during Henry II's reign, Walter "ruled England because Glanvill sought his counsel". Documents also show that Walter was active in the administration of the diocese of York
.
At the same time he was administering York, Walter founded a Premonstratensian
house of canon
s on purchased property at West Dereham, Norfolk in 1188. His uncle and other family members had favoured the Premonstratensian Order, and this monastery was located near the family lands in Norfolk.
In 1187 Walter, along with Glanvill and King Henry II, attempted to mediate a dispute between the Archbishop of Canterbury, Baldwin of Forde, and the monks of the cathedral chapter
. Their efforts were fruitless, and Walter was later drawn back into the dispute, in early 1189 and again as archbishop. The dispute centered around the attempt by Baldwin to build a church dedicated to Saint Thomas Becket
, just outside of the town of Canterbury. The plan was to staff the church with canons instead of monks, which the monks of Canterbury's cathedral chapter feared was an attempt to take away the cathedral chapter's right to elect the archbishop. The attempt in 1189 was settled by Baldwin giving up the site near Canterbury for one further away at Lambeth
, which was less threatening to the monks.
, with the consecration
on 22 October 1189 at Westminster
. Also elected to bishoprics at this council were Godfrey de Lucy
to the see of Winchester
, Richard FitzNeal
to the see of London
, and William Longchamp
to the see of Ely
. The elevation of so many new bishops was probably meant to signal the new king's break with his father's habit of keeping bishoprics empty in order to retain the revenues of the see
s. At about the same time Glanvill was either forced out of his justiciarship or resigned, but the sources are unclear. Walter was probably elevated to a bishopric even though his uncle had lost some of his power because of political manoeuvring over the elevation of King Richard's illegitimate half-brother Geoffrey
to the see of York, which Walter had at first opposed. The bishopric was either a reward or a bribe for Walter's withdrawal of his objections to Geoffrey's election.
Soon after his appointment, Walter accompanied the king on the Third Crusade, going ahead of the king directly from Marseille
to the Holy Land in a group that included Baldwin of Forde, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Ranulf de Glanvill. The group left Marseille in August 1190, and arrived at Acre
two months later. While on crusade, he was praised by his fellow crusaders, and acted as Richard’s principal negotiator with Saladin
for a peace treaty. After the conclusion of the treaty with Saladin, Walter was in the first band of pilgrims that entered Jerusalem. Saladin entertained Walter during his stay in Jerusalem, and the Englishman succeeded in extracting a promise from Saladin that a small group of Western clergy would be allowed to remain in the city to perform divine services. Walter subsequently led the English army back to England after Richard's departure from Palestine
, but in Sicily
he heard of the king's capture, and diverted to Germany. He, along with William of Sainte-Mère-Eglise
, was among the first of Richard's subjects to find the king at Ochsenfurt
where he was being held. In April 1193 he returned to England to raise the king's ransom. Richard wrote to his mother, Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine
, that Walter should be chosen for the see of Canterbury
, as well as to the monks of the cathedral chapter, and soon after Walter's return to England, he was duly elected archbishop of Canterbury, having been transferred to the see on 29 May 1193. He was chosen as archbishop without consultation from the bishops, who normally claimed the right to help decide the new archbishop. He received his pallium
, the symbol of his archiepiscopal authority, from Pope Celestine III and was ceremonially enthroned at Canterbury on 7 November 1193.
, which began with Philip's attempts to acquire Richard's possessions on the continent. Richard made Walter Chief Justiciar about 25 December 1193. Walter remained in England, raising money for the king's wars and overseeing the administration of the kingdom. The constant warfare forced Walter to find new means of raising money through taxation
. The historian Doris Stenton
wrote that the Pipe Rolls
, or financial records, during Walter's time as justiciar "give the impression of a country taxed to the limit". Walter was also responsible for choosing royal justices, and many of his choices were connected with, or had previously worked with, the archbishop in the royal administration. Because of Richard's absence from England, Walter was able to exercise more authority as justiciar than any of his predecessors. All that Walter needed to do was keep Richard's monetary needs satisfied. Combined with Walter's position as archbishop, Walter wielded a power unseen in England since the days of Lanfranc
.
One of Walter's first acts as justiciar was in February 1194, when he presided over a feudal judgement of John
, Richard's younger brother. After Richard's release from captivity, John, intending to begin a rebellion, had prepared his castles for defence. His letters ordering the preparations were intercepted and John was deprived of his lands. When John showed no signs of submitting, Walter called an ecclesiastical council at Westminster
for the purposes of excommunicating
John unless he submitted. John refused to submit, and was excommunicated. To defeat the rebellion, Walter was required to lay siege to Marlborough Castle
himself. Walter employed his brother Theobald in similar actions in Lancaster
, and rewarded him with the office of sheriff
of Lancaster. Eventually in May 1194, John made peace with Richard, and was restored to favour, although the restoration of his lands did not occur until late in 1195.
Walter's chief administrative measures were his instructions to the itinerant justices of 1194 and 1198, his ordinance of 1195, an attempt to increase order in the kingdom, and his plan of 1198 for the assessment of a land tax. In 1194 the justices were ordered to secure the election of four coroner
s by each county court. The coroners were to keep, or register, royal pleas, which had previously been a duty of the sheriff. The juries were to be chosen by a committee of four knights, also elected by the county court. This introduction of coroners and constables eventually led to a change in the role of sheriffs, and a lessening of their importance in royal administration. Although he probably did not take part in the decision to set up a special exchequer for the collection of Richard's ransom, Walter did appoint the two escheators, or guardians of the amounts due, who were Hugh Bardulf
in the north of England and William of Sainte-Mère-Eglise in the south. His instructions for the eyre, or circuits of traveling justices, are the first that survive in English history. It was during his tenure of the justiciarship that the judicial role of the Exchequer became separated from the purely financial aspects.
He also worked to introduce order into the lending of money by Jewish moneylenders, and organised a system where the royal officials worked to combat fraud by both parties in the business of Jewish money lending. Walter was probably the originator of the custom of keeping an archival copy of all charter
s, letters
, patents
and feet of fines, or record of agreements reached in the royal courts, in the chancery
. The first recorded "foot of the fine" is endorsed with the statement "This is the first chirograph
that was made in the king's court in the form of three chirographs, according to the command of his lordship of Canterbury and other barons of the king, to the end that by this form a record can be made to be passed on to the treasurer to put in the treasury." The agreement concerns Walter's brother Theobald, who was the plaintiff.
Walter also helped with the creation of a more professional group of royal justices. Although the group, which included Simon of Pattishall
, Ralph Foliot
, Richard Barre
, William de Warenne, Richard Herriard
, and Osbert Fitz Hervey, had mostly already served as justices prior to Walter's term of office, it was Walter who used them extensively. It appears likely that Walter chose them for their ability, not for any familial ties to himself. This group of men replaced the previous system of using mostly local men, and are the first signs of a professional judiciary.
In 1195 Walter issued an ordinance by which four knights were appointed in every hundred to act as guardians of the peace, a precursor to the office of Justice of the Peace. His use of the knight
s, who appear for the first time in political life, is the first sign of the rise of this class who, either as members of parliament
or justices of the peace, later became the mainstay of English government. In 1198, Walter requested a carucage
, or plough-tax, of five shillings on every plough-land, or carucate
, under cultivation. However, difficulties arose over the assessments, so the justiciar ordered them to be made by a sworn jury in every hundred. It is likely that those jurors were elected.
In foreign affairs, Walter negotiated with Scotland in 1195 and with the Welsh in 1197. Scotland claimed Northumbria
, or northern England. Negotiations broke down, but relations between the two countries remained good throughout the rest of Richard's reign. Talks with the Welsh began after the English lords
Roger Mortimer
and William de Briouze
expanded into Welsh territory in 1195, causing a concern that the Welsh lord Rhys ap Gruffydd
would strike back across the border. In 1196, Walter quickly suppressed a popular uprising in London led by William Fitz Osbern
. FitzOsbern was an orator who harnessed the discontent of the poor residents of London against high taxes. His oratory provoked a riot in London, and he was apprehended and hanged on Walter's orders.
from Pope Celestine III from 1195 to 1198, which enabled him to act with the pope's delegated authority within the English Church. Walter actively investigated ecclesiastical misconduct, and deposed several abbot
s, including Robert of Thorney Abbey
in 1195 and an abbot of St Mary's in the province of the Archbishop of York. At the monastic cathedral of Worcester
, he disciplined the monks between the death of Henry de Sully
and the election of John of Coutances
, as was his right as the archbishop of the province. In his own diocese, he granted markets and fairs to towns, was granted the privilege of minting coins at Shrewsbury, and worked to recover lands and manors that had been lost to the archdiocese.
Walter revived the scheme of his predecessor, Baldwin of Forde, to found a church in Canterbury
that would be secular
and not monastic
. He promised that the new foundation's canons would not be allowed to vote in archiepiscopal elections nor would the body of Saint Thomas Becket ever be moved to the new church, but the monks of his cathedral chapter were suspicious and appealed to the papacy. The dispute from the time of Baldwin of Forde flared up again, with the papacy supporting the monks and the king supporting the archbishop. Finally, Pope Innocent III
ruled for the monks and ordered Walter to destroy what had been built.
The archbishop held ecclesiastical councils, including one at York
in 1195 that legislated that the clergy should collect their tithe
s in full, "...without any reduction." Another council was held at London in 1200 to legislate the size and composition of clerical retinues, and also ruled that the clergy, when saying Mass
, should speak clearly and not speed up or slow down their speech. At the request of the papacy, Walter also led inquiries into the canonization
s of Gilbert of Sempringham
and Wulfstan of Worcester
. Walter refused to acquiesce in the election of Gerald of Wales to the see of St David's
in Wales and opposed the efforts of Gerald and others to elevate St David's to an archbishopric.
In the later part of Richard's reign, the pressures mounted on Walter. Conflicts between his ecclesiastical duties and his government duties made him the target of criticism from both sides. A dispute in December 1197, over Richard's demand that the magnates of England provide 300 knights to serve in France, led to renewed grumbling among the clergy and barons. Richard was also dissatisfied with the results of the carucage in 1198, so Walter resigned his position of chief justiciar on 11 July of that year. Walter may have resigned willingly, as he had talked of resigning his secular duties since 1194. Some medieval sources, however, stated that he was forced out of office by the king.
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According to the Life of William Marshal, which dates to soon after 1219, when word reached William Marshal
, one of the richest and most influential barons, that Richard was dead, he consulted with Walter and discussed whom to support as the next king. Marshal's choice was John, but Walter initially leaned towards John's young nephew Arthur of Brittany
. When Marshall was insistent on John, who was an adult, the author of the Life has Walter say in reply " 'So be it then,' said the archbishop, 'but mark my words, Marshal, you will never regret anything in your life as much as this.'" This is almost certainly a retrospective comment that has been inserted into the biography, however, based on John's later behaviour. Once John knew he had the support of Walter and William Marshal, he sent Walter ahead to England to request all free men to pledge fealty
to the new king. On 27 May 1199 Walter crowned John, supposedly making a speech that promulgated, for the last time, the theory of a king's election by the people. This story is only contained in the writings of Matthew Paris
, however, and although it seems certain that Walter made a speech, it is not certain what the exact contents were. On his coronation day, John appointed Walter Lord Chancellor. W. L. Warren, historian and author of a biography of John, says of Walter that "No one living had a firmer grasp of the intricacies of royal government, yet even in old age his mind was adaptable and fecund with suggestions for coping with new problems."
One of Walter's first suggestions was to lower the fees for having charters confirmed, from nine pounds
and five shilling
s to eighteen shillings and four pence
. Accompanying this measure was a requirement that no charter would be accepted in a king's court without having been confirmed by King John. Not only did this reduce forgeries, it led to the establishment of the Charter Roll, an administrative copy of all charters issued and confirmed by the government. In his relations with other officers, Walter worked closely with the justiciar Geoffrey Fitz Peter
, on the collection of taxation, and both men went to Wales in 1203 on a diplomatic mission. Another joint action of the two men concerned a tax of a seventh part of all movables collected from both lay and ecclesiastical persons. The medieval chronicler Roger of Wendover
said that the king "had Archbishop Hubert of Canterbury to act for him in the matter of the church property, Geoffrey fitz-Peter in the matter of lay property; and these two spared no one in carrying out their orders." Walter was also responsible for the keeping of copies of other royal letters in the Close Roll
s and the Patent Rolls
. The Patent rolls record letters that were issued in "patent", or openly and not sealed, and the Close rolls record letters issued sealed, or letters close. The various rolls are extant from 1199 for the Charter roll, 1201 for the Patent roll, and 1204 for the Close roll. Walter also continued to innovate in local government, as the earliest record of the coroner's rolls, or county records, being used to cross-check oral testimony in the county courts date from 1202 and 1203, during Walter's chancellorship.
In 1201 Walter went on a diplomatic mission to Philip II of France, which was unsuccessful, and in 1202 he returned to England as regent while John was abroad. In April 1204 Walter returned to France with John de Gray
the Bishop of Norwich
, Eustace
the Bishop of Ely
, William Marshal, and Robert de Beaumont
the Earl of Leicester
to seek peace with Philip Augustus. Philip insisted that John hand over Arthur of Brittany, Arthur's sister Eleanor
, and renounce all of his continental possessions before the French king would make peace. John refused to do this, and the embassy returned to England not long before Philip conquered Normandy
.
Besides sending Walter on diplomatic missions, King John gave Walter custody of Rochester Castle
on 20 July 1202, but as Walter was already accounting for the taxes and fees of the city of Rochester to the Exchequer in 1200, it is possible that he held the castle before 1202. John also upheld the right of the archbishop to mint coins, which Walter held until his death in 1205.
Under John, Walter continued to be active in ecclesiastical affairs, and in September 1200 held a provincial church council at London. This council set forth 14 canons, or decrees, which dealt with a number of subjects, including doctrinal concerns, financial affairs, and the duties of the clergy. It drew heavily on earlier church decrees, including those of the Third Lateran Council
of 1179. Walter also interceded with Pope Innocent III in 1200, mediating between the pope and the king over a royal dispute with the Cistercians. Walter's intercession prevented the dispute from escalating, and kept the pope from imposing sanctions on the king for his threats to the Cistercians. It was in 1200 that the church court records of the archdiocese of Canterbury began to be recorded and kept, although after Walter's death in 1205 the records become sparse until the 14th century.
described his death as taking four days, and related that he gave vestments, jewelry, and altar furnishings to his monks, which were confiscated by King John after Walter's death. He was buried in the Trinity Chapel
in Canterbury Cathedral
, next to Saint Thomas Becket, where his tomb can still be seen. The tomb occupied a highly visible spot in the Trinity Chapel, and Walter was the first archbishop to be buried there since the 1170s, when all of the tombs but Becket's had been relocated to focus attention on Becket's shrine. His remained the only ecclesiastic to be buried there until the 14th century. The use by the archbishops of Canterbury of the title "Primate of All England" dates from Walter's archiepiscopal tenure.
The medieval chronicler Matthew Paris retold the story that when King John heard of Walter's death, the king exclaimed "Now for the first time I am king of England". This story, however entertaining, is apocryphal. More secure is the story that another chronicler, Roger of Wendover, relates about Walter's Christmas celebrations in 1200. Roger reports that Walter distributed clothing to those attending his Christmas feast, which angered King John. The chronicler says that Walter "wished to put himself on a par with the king".
Walter was not a holy man, although he was, as John Gillingham, a historian and biographer of Richard I, says, "one of the most outstanding government ministers in English History". Hugh of Lincoln
, a contemporary and later canonized, is said to have asked forgiveness of God for not having rebuked Walter as often as he probably should have. Modern historians tend not to share the older view that Walter was the driving force behind the administrative changes during Richard's reign, that Richard was uninterested in government, and that he left all decisions in the hands of his ministers, especially Longchamp and Walter. The studies of James Holt and others have shown that Richard was highly involved in government decisions, and that it was more a partnership between the king and his ministers. Walter was, however, very innovative in his approach to government. Walter continued to enjoy the support of Richard's brother John, and it was during John's reign that a number of Walter's administrative reforms took place, although how much royal initiative was behind the innovations is unknown, given John's interest in government and administration.
Walter was the butt of jokes about his lack of learning, and was the target of a series of tales from the pen of the chronicler Gerald of Wales, an enemy of the archbishop. Even Walter's supporters could only state that he was "moderately literate". Walter employed several canon lawyers who had been educated at Bologna in his household, including John of Tynemouth, Simon of Southwell
, and Honorius of Kent
. He also employed the architect Elias of Dereham
, who was one of Walter's executors. Elias is traditionally credited as being the architect of Salisbury Cathedral
after Walter's death. Another scholar employed by Walter was Peter of Blois
, who served both Walter and his predecessor as a Latin secretary.
We know little of his appearance, although he was described by Gerald of Wales as tall and handsome. Gerald also praises his intelligence and cleverness.
W. L. Warren advances the theory that either Walter or Geoffrey Fitz Peter, instead of Ranulf Glanvill, was the author of Tractatus de legibus et consuetudinibus regni Angliae
, a legal treatise on the laws and constitutions of the English. Chrimes agrees that Glanvill was probably not the author, and feels that Walter likely was, although he could not be certain. If he was the author, he composed what Chrimes called a "great literary memorial of Henry II's government". Neither of Walter's two modern biographers, however, feel that he was the author of the Tractatus, and the historian Ralph Turner agrees. The historian Michael Clanchy
says of Walter "The proliferation of documents was a European and a continuing phenomenon, yet if it were to be associated in England with one man, he would be Hubert Walter."
Justiciar
In medieval England and Ireland the Chief Justiciar was roughly equivalent to a modern Prime Minister as the monarch's chief minister. Similar positions existed on the Continent, particularly in Norman Italy. The term is the English form of the medieval Latin justiciarius or justitiarius In...
of England, Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
, and Lord Chancellor
Lord Chancellor
The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...
. As chancellor, Walter began the keeping of the Charter Roll
Charter Roll
The Charter Roll is the administrative record created by the medieval office of the chancery that recorded all the charters issued by that office. In the medieval Kingdom of England, the first Charter Roll was started in 1199 under the Chancellorship of Hubert Walter...
, a record of all charters issued by the chancery. Walter was not noted for his holiness in life or learning, but historians have judged him one of the most outstanding government ministers in English history
History of England
The history of England concerns the study of the human past in one of Europe's oldest and most influential national territories. What is now England, a country within the United Kingdom, was inhabited by Neanderthals 230,000 years ago. Continuous human habitation dates to around 12,000 years ago,...
.
Walter owed his early advancement to his uncle Ranulf de Glanvill, who helped him become a clerk of the Exchequer
Exchequer
The Exchequer is a government department of the United Kingdom responsible for the management and collection of taxation and other government revenues. The historical Exchequer developed judicial roles...
. Walter served King Henry II of England
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
in many ways, not just in financial administration, but also including diplomatic and judicial efforts. After an unsuccessful candidacy to the see of York
Archbishop of York
The Archbishop of York is a high-ranking cleric in the Church of England, second only to the Archbishop of Canterbury. He is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and metropolitan of the Province of York, which covers the northern portion of England as well as the Isle of Man...
, Walter was elected Bishop of Salisbury
Bishop of Salisbury
The Bishop of Salisbury is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers much of the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset...
shortly after the accession of Henry's son Richard I
Richard I of England
Richard I was King of England from 6 July 1189 until his death. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Count of Nantes, and Overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period...
to the throne of England.
Walter accompanied Richard on the Third Crusade
Third Crusade
The Third Crusade , also known as the Kings' Crusade, was an attempt by European leaders to reconquer the Holy Land from Saladin...
, and was one of the principals involved in raising Richard's ransom after the king was captured in Germany on his return from the Holy Land. As a reward for his faithful service, Walter was selected to become Archbishop of Canterbury in 1193. He also served as Richard's justiciar until 1198, in which role he was responsible for raising the money Richard needed to prosecute his wars in France. Walter set up a system that was the precursor for the modern justices of the peace
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
, based on selecting four knights in each hundred to administer justice. He also revived his predecessor's dispute over setting up a church to rival Christ Church Priory
Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England and forms part of a World Heritage Site....
in Canterbury, which was only settled when the pope ordered him to abandon the plan. Following Richard's death in 1199, Walter helped assure the elevation of Richard's brother John
John of England
John , also known as John Lackland , was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death...
to the throne. Walter also served John as a diplomat, undertaking several missions to France.
Early life
Hubert Walter was the son of Hervey Walter and his wife Maud de Valoignes, one of the daughters (and co-heiresses) of Theobald de Valoignes, who was lord of Parham in Suffolk. Walter was one of six brothers. The eldest brother, Theobald Walter, and Walter himself, were helped in their careers by their uncle, Ranulf de Glanvill. Glanvill was the chief justiciar for Henry II; and was married to Maud de Valoignes' sister, Bertha. Walter's father and paternal grandfather held lands in SuffolkSuffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
and Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
, which were inherited by Theobald. A younger brother, Osbert, became a royal justice and died in 1206. Roger, Hamo (or Hamon) and Bartholomew only appear as witnesses to charters.
Walter's family was from West Dereham
West Dereham
West Dereham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.It covers an area of and had a population of 440 in 176 households as of the 2001 census....
in Norfolk, which is probably where Walter was born. Walter first appears in Glanvill's household in a charter that has been dated to 1178, although as it is undated it may have been written as late as 1180. His brother Theobald also served in their uncle's household. Walter's gratitude towards his aunt and uncle is shown in the foundation charter of Walter's monastery in Dereham, where he asks the foundation to pray for the "souls of Ranulf Glanvill and Bertha his wife, who nourished us". Earlier historians asserted that Walter studied law at Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
, based on his name appearing in a list of those to be commemorated at a monastery in Bologna in which English students lodged. Modern historians have discounted this, as the list also includes benefactors, not just students; other evidence points to the fact that Walter had a poor grasp of Latin, and did not consider himself to be a learned man. However, this did not mean that he was illiterate, merely that he was not "book-learned", or educated at a university. His contemporary, the medieval writer Gerald of Wales said of Walter that the Exchequer was his school.
Early assignments
Exchequer
The Exchequer is a government department of the United Kingdom responsible for the management and collection of taxation and other government revenues. The historical Exchequer developed judicial roles...
. The king employed him on several tasks, including as a negotiator, a justice, and as a royal secretary. He was appointed Dean of York
Dean of York
The Dean of York is the member of the clergy who is responsible for the running of the York Minster cathedral.-11th–12th centuries:* 1093–c.1135: Hugh* c.1138–1143: William of Sainte-Barbe...
by order of King Henry II about July 1186. The archbishopric had been vacant since 1181 and would remain so until 1189, so it was Walter's job as dean to administer the archbishopric of York. Walter was also an unsuccessful candidate to become Archbishop of York
Archbishop of York
The Archbishop of York is a high-ranking cleric in the Church of England, second only to the Archbishop of Canterbury. He is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and metropolitan of the Province of York, which covers the northern portion of England as well as the Isle of Man...
in September 1186. The medieval chronicler Gervase of Canterbury
Gervase of Canterbury
Gervase of Canterbury was an English chronicler.- Life :...
said that during Henry II's reign, Walter "ruled England because Glanvill sought his counsel". Documents also show that Walter was active in the administration of the diocese of York
Diocese of York
The Diocese of York is an administrative division of the Church of England, part of the Province of York. It covers the city of York, the eastern part of North Yorkshire, and most of the East Riding of Yorkshire....
.
At the same time he was administering York, Walter founded a Premonstratensian
Premonstratensian
The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré, also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines, or in Britain and Ireland as the White Canons , are a Catholic religious order of canons regular founded at Prémontré near Laon in 1120 by Saint Norbert, who later became Archbishop of Magdeburg...
house of canon
Canon (priest)
A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....
s on purchased property at West Dereham, Norfolk in 1188. His uncle and other family members had favoured the Premonstratensian Order, and this monastery was located near the family lands in Norfolk.
In 1187 Walter, along with Glanvill and King Henry II, attempted to mediate a dispute between the Archbishop of Canterbury, Baldwin of Forde, and the monks of the cathedral chapter
Cathedral chapter
In accordance with canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese in his stead. These councils are made up of canons and dignitaries; in the Roman Catholic church their...
. Their efforts were fruitless, and Walter was later drawn back into the dispute, in early 1189 and again as archbishop. The dispute centered around the attempt by Baldwin to build a church dedicated to Saint Thomas Becket
Thomas Becket
Thomas Becket was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his murder in 1170. He is venerated as a saint and martyr by both the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion...
, just outside of the town of Canterbury. The plan was to staff the church with canons instead of monks, which the monks of Canterbury's cathedral chapter feared was an attempt to take away the cathedral chapter's right to elect the archbishop. The attempt in 1189 was settled by Baldwin giving up the site near Canterbury for one further away at Lambeth
Lambeth
Lambeth is a district of south London, England, and part of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is situated southeast of Charing Cross.-Toponymy:...
, which was less threatening to the monks.
Bishop and archbishop
After the death of King Henry in 1189, the new King Richard I appointed Walter Bishop of Salisbury; the election took place on 15 September 1189 at PipewellPipewell
Pipewell is situated at the edge of the Kettering borough, a mile away from Corby. With 63 inhabitants, it is one of the smallest hamlets in Northamptonshire....
, with the consecration
Consecration
Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service, usually religious. The word "consecration" literally means "to associate with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different groups...
on 22 October 1189 at Westminster
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
. Also elected to bishoprics at this council were Godfrey de Lucy
Godfrey de Lucy
-Life:De Luci was the second son of Richard de Luci and his wife Rohese. He had an elder brother Geoffrey, and three sisters, Maud, Alice and Avelina....
to the see of Winchester
Diocese of Winchester
The Diocese of Winchester forms part of the Province of Canterbury of the Church of England.Founded in 676, it is one of the oldest and largest of the dioceses in England.The area of the diocese incorporates:...
, Richard FitzNeal
Richard FitzNeal
Richard FitzNeal Richard FitzNeal Richard FitzNeal (or FitzNigel; circa (c. 1130 – 10 September 1198), sometimes called Richard of Ely, was a churchman and bureaucrat in the service of Henry II of England.-Life:...
to the see of London
Diocese of London
The Anglican Diocese of London forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England.Historically the diocese covered a large area north of the Thames and bordered the dioceses of Norwich and Lincoln to the north and west. The present diocese covers and 17 London boroughs, covering most of Greater...
, and William Longchamp
William Longchamp
William Longchamp , sometimes known as William de Longchamp or William de Longchamps, was a medieval Lord Chancellor, Chief Justiciar, and Bishop of Ely in England. Born to a humble family in Normandy, he owed his advancement to royal favour. Although contemporary writers accused Longchamp's father...
to the see of Ely
Diocese of Ely
The Diocese of Ely is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury. It is headed by the Bishop of Ely, who sits at Ely Cathedral in Ely. There is one suffragan bishop, the Bishop of Huntingdon. The diocese now covers Cambridgeshire and western Norfolk...
. The elevation of so many new bishops was probably meant to signal the new king's break with his father's habit of keeping bishoprics empty in order to retain the revenues of the see
Episcopal See
An episcopal see is, in the original sense, the official seat of a bishop. This seat, which is also referred to as the bishop's cathedra, is placed in the bishop's principal church, which is therefore called the bishop's cathedral...
s. At about the same time Glanvill was either forced out of his justiciarship or resigned, but the sources are unclear. Walter was probably elevated to a bishopric even though his uncle had lost some of his power because of political manoeuvring over the elevation of King Richard's illegitimate half-brother Geoffrey
Geoffrey, Archbishop of York
Geoffrey was an illegitimate son of Henry II, King of England, who became Bishop-elect of Lincoln and Archbishop of York. The identity of his mother is uncertain, but she may have been named Ykenai...
to the see of York, which Walter had at first opposed. The bishopric was either a reward or a bribe for Walter's withdrawal of his objections to Geoffrey's election.
Soon after his appointment, Walter accompanied the king on the Third Crusade, going ahead of the king directly from Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
to the Holy Land in a group that included Baldwin of Forde, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Ranulf de Glanvill. The group left Marseille in August 1190, and arrived at Acre
Acre, Israel
Acre , is a city in the Western Galilee region of northern Israel at the northern extremity of Haifa Bay. Acre is one of the oldest continuously inhabited sites in the country....
two months later. While on crusade, he was praised by his fellow crusaders, and acted as Richard’s principal negotiator with Saladin
Saladin
Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb , better known in the Western world as Saladin, was an Arabized Kurdish Muslim, who became the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and founded the Ayyubid dynasty. He led Muslim and Arab opposition to the Franks and other European Crusaders in the Levant...
for a peace treaty. After the conclusion of the treaty with Saladin, Walter was in the first band of pilgrims that entered Jerusalem. Saladin entertained Walter during his stay in Jerusalem, and the Englishman succeeded in extracting a promise from Saladin that a small group of Western clergy would be allowed to remain in the city to perform divine services. Walter subsequently led the English army back to England after Richard's departure from Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
, but in Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
he heard of the king's capture, and diverted to Germany. He, along with William of Sainte-Mère-Eglise
William of Sainte-Mère-Eglise
William of Sainte-Mère-Eglise was a medieval Bishop of London.-Life:...
, was among the first of Richard's subjects to find the king at Ochsenfurt
Ochsenfurt
Ochsenfurt is a town in the district of Würzburg, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the left bank of the River Main, here crossed by a stone bridge, 13 miles south from Würzburg by the railway to Munich, and at the junction of a line to Röttingen. Pop. 11,600...
where he was being held. In April 1193 he returned to England to raise the king's ransom. Richard wrote to his mother, Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine
Eleanor of Aquitaine
Eleanor of Aquitaine was one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in Western Europe during the High Middle Ages. As well as being Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right, she was queen consort of France and of England...
, that Walter should be chosen for the see of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
, as well as to the monks of the cathedral chapter, and soon after Walter's return to England, he was duly elected archbishop of Canterbury, having been transferred to the see on 29 May 1193. He was chosen as archbishop without consultation from the bishops, who normally claimed the right to help decide the new archbishop. He received his pallium
Pallium
The pallium is an ecclesiastical vestment in the Roman Catholic Church, originally peculiar to the Pope, but for many centuries bestowed by him on metropolitans and primates as a symbol of the jurisdiction delegated to them by the Holy See. In that context it has always remained unambiguously...
, the symbol of his archiepiscopal authority, from Pope Celestine III and was ceremonially enthroned at Canterbury on 7 November 1193.
Justiciar
After Richard was freed, he spent little time in England, instead concentrating on the war with King Philip II of FrancePhilip II of France
Philip II Augustus was the King of France from 1180 until his death. A member of the House of Capet, Philip Augustus was born at Gonesse in the Val-d'Oise, the son of Louis VII and his third wife, Adela of Champagne...
, which began with Philip's attempts to acquire Richard's possessions on the continent. Richard made Walter Chief Justiciar about 25 December 1193. Walter remained in England, raising money for the king's wars and overseeing the administration of the kingdom. The constant warfare forced Walter to find new means of raising money through taxation
Taxation in medieval England
Taxation in medieval England was the system of raising money for royal and governmental expenses. During the Anglo-Saxon period, the main forms of taxation were land taxes, although custom duties and fees to mint coins were also imposed. The most important tax of the late Anglo-Saxon period was the...
. The historian Doris Stenton
Doris Mary Stenton
-Life:Born Doris Mary Parsons, she was the daughter of John Parsons and his wife Amelia Wadhams. She was their only child and was born in Reading, Berkshire on 27 August 1894. Her father was a cabinet-maker. She attended the Abbey School in Reading before entering the University College at Reading...
wrote that the Pipe Rolls
Pipe Rolls
The Pipe rolls, sometimes called the Great rolls, are a collection of financial records maintained by the English Exchequer, or Treasury. The earliest date from the 12th century, and the series extends, mostly complete, from then until 1833. They form the oldest continuous series of records kept by...
, or financial records, during Walter's time as justiciar "give the impression of a country taxed to the limit". Walter was also responsible for choosing royal justices, and many of his choices were connected with, or had previously worked with, the archbishop in the royal administration. Because of Richard's absence from England, Walter was able to exercise more authority as justiciar than any of his predecessors. All that Walter needed to do was keep Richard's monetary needs satisfied. Combined with Walter's position as archbishop, Walter wielded a power unseen in England since the days of Lanfranc
Lanfranc
Lanfranc was Archbishop of Canterbury, and a Lombard by birth.-Early life:Lanfranc was born in the early years of the 11th century at Pavia, where later tradition held that his father, Hanbald, held a rank broadly equivalent to magistrate...
.
One of Walter's first acts as justiciar was in February 1194, when he presided over a feudal judgement of John
John of England
John , also known as John Lackland , was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death...
, Richard's younger brother. After Richard's release from captivity, John, intending to begin a rebellion, had prepared his castles for defence. His letters ordering the preparations were intercepted and John was deprived of his lands. When John showed no signs of submitting, Walter called an ecclesiastical council at Westminster
Westminster
Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...
for the purposes of excommunicating
Excommunication
Excommunication is a religious censure used to deprive, suspend or limit membership in a religious community. The word means putting [someone] out of communion. In some religions, excommunication includes spiritual condemnation of the member or group...
John unless he submitted. John refused to submit, and was excommunicated. To defeat the rebellion, Walter was required to lay siege to Marlborough Castle
Marlborough Castle
Marlborough Castle, locally known and recorded in historical documents as The Mount, was an 11th-century royal castle located in the civil parish of Marlborough, a market town in the English county of Wiltshire, on the Old Bath Road, the old main road from London to Bath...
himself. Walter employed his brother Theobald in similar actions in Lancaster
Lancaster, Lancashire
Lancaster is the county town of Lancashire, England. It is situated on the River Lune and has a population of 45,952. Lancaster is a constituent settlement of the wider City of Lancaster, local government district which has a population of 133,914 and encompasses several outlying towns, including...
, and rewarded him with the office of sheriff
Sheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
of Lancaster. Eventually in May 1194, John made peace with Richard, and was restored to favour, although the restoration of his lands did not occur until late in 1195.
Walter's chief administrative measures were his instructions to the itinerant justices of 1194 and 1198, his ordinance of 1195, an attempt to increase order in the kingdom, and his plan of 1198 for the assessment of a land tax. In 1194 the justices were ordered to secure the election of four coroner
Coroner
A coroner is a government official who* Investigates human deaths* Determines cause of death* Issues death certificates* Maintains death records* Responds to deaths in mass disasters* Identifies unknown dead* Other functions depending on local laws...
s by each county court. The coroners were to keep, or register, royal pleas, which had previously been a duty of the sheriff. The juries were to be chosen by a committee of four knights, also elected by the county court. This introduction of coroners and constables eventually led to a change in the role of sheriffs, and a lessening of their importance in royal administration. Although he probably did not take part in the decision to set up a special exchequer for the collection of Richard's ransom, Walter did appoint the two escheators, or guardians of the amounts due, who were Hugh Bardulf
Hugh Bardulf
Hugh Bardulf or Hugh Bardolf was a medieval English administrator and royal justice. Known for his legal expertise, he also served as a financial administrator. He served three kings of England before his death....
in the north of England and William of Sainte-Mère-Eglise in the south. His instructions for the eyre, or circuits of traveling justices, are the first that survive in English history. It was during his tenure of the justiciarship that the judicial role of the Exchequer became separated from the purely financial aspects.
He also worked to introduce order into the lending of money by Jewish moneylenders, and organised a system where the royal officials worked to combat fraud by both parties in the business of Jewish money lending. Walter was probably the originator of the custom of keeping an archival copy of all charter
Charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified...
s, letters
Letters close
Letters close are a type of legal document which is a closed letter issued by a monarch or government granting a right, monopoly, title, or status to someone or some entity such as a corporation. These letters are personal in nature and were delivered folded sealed so that only the recipient can...
, patents
Letters patent
Letters patent are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch or president, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, title, or status to a person or corporation...
and feet of fines, or record of agreements reached in the royal courts, in the chancery
Chancery (medieval office)
Chancery is a general term for a medieval writing office, responsible for the production of official documents. The title of chancellor, for the head of the office, came to be held by important ministers in a number of states, and remains the title of the heads of government in modern Germany,...
. The first recorded "foot of the fine" is endorsed with the statement "This is the first chirograph
Chirograph
A chirograph is the term given to a medieval document, which has been written in duplicate, triplicate or very occasionally quadruplicate on a single piece of parchment, where the Latin word "chirographum" has been written across the middle, and then cut through...
that was made in the king's court in the form of three chirographs, according to the command of his lordship of Canterbury and other barons of the king, to the end that by this form a record can be made to be passed on to the treasurer to put in the treasury." The agreement concerns Walter's brother Theobald, who was the plaintiff.
Walter also helped with the creation of a more professional group of royal justices. Although the group, which included Simon of Pattishall
Simon of Pattishall
Simon of Pattishall was an English judge and civil servant who is considered the first Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. The first appearance of Pattishall in the records was in 1190, where he served as the escheator for Northamptonshire and also as a judge, serving in Westminster and as a...
, Ralph Foliot
Ralph Foliot
Ralph Foliot was a medieval English clergyman and royal justice.Foliot was a nephew of Gilbert Foliot, first Bishop of Hereford and later Bishop of London, but the names of Ralph's parents and his place of birth are unknown...
, Richard Barre
Richard Barre
Richard Barre was a medieval English justice, clergyman, and scholar. He was educated at the law school of Bologna, and entered royal service under King Henry II of England, later working for Henry's son and successor Richard I. He was also briefly in the household of Henry's son Henry the Young...
, William de Warenne, Richard Herriard
Richard Herriard
Richard Herriard was an English royal justice.Herriard's first appearance in the historical record is in 1184, when he is mentioned in connection with the pardoning of payment of scutage on some land he held in Wiltshire. At that time, he was a knight serving Robert, the Earl of Leicester...
, and Osbert Fitz Hervey, had mostly already served as justices prior to Walter's term of office, it was Walter who used them extensively. It appears likely that Walter chose them for their ability, not for any familial ties to himself. This group of men replaced the previous system of using mostly local men, and are the first signs of a professional judiciary.
In 1195 Walter issued an ordinance by which four knights were appointed in every hundred to act as guardians of the peace, a precursor to the office of Justice of the Peace. His use of the knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
s, who appear for the first time in political life, is the first sign of the rise of this class who, either as members of parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
or justices of the peace, later became the mainstay of English government. In 1198, Walter requested a carucage
Carucage
Carucage was a medieval English land tax introduced by King Richard I in 1194, based on the size—variously calculated—of the estate owned by the taxpayer. It was a replacement for the danegeld, last imposed in 1162, which had become difficult to collect because of an increasing number of exemptions...
, or plough-tax, of five shillings on every plough-land, or carucate
Carucate
The carucate or ploughland was a unit of assessment for tax used in most Danelaw counties of England, and is found for example in Domesday Book. The carucate was based on the area a plough team of eight oxen could till in a single annual season...
, under cultivation. However, difficulties arose over the assessments, so the justiciar ordered them to be made by a sworn jury in every hundred. It is likely that those jurors were elected.
In foreign affairs, Walter negotiated with Scotland in 1195 and with the Welsh in 1197. Scotland claimed Northumbria
Northumbria
Northumbria was a medieval kingdom of the Angles, in what is now Northern England and South-East Scotland, becoming subsequently an earldom in a united Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England. The name reflects the approximate southern limit to the kingdom's territory, the Humber Estuary.Northumbria was...
, or northern England. Negotiations broke down, but relations between the two countries remained good throughout the rest of Richard's reign. Talks with the Welsh began after the English lords
Peerage of England
The Peerage of England comprises all peerages created in the Kingdom of England before the Act of Union in 1707. In that year, the Peerages of England and Scotland were replaced by one Peerage of Great Britain....
Roger Mortimer
Roger Mortimer of Wigmore
Roger de Mortimer was a medieval marcher lord, residing at Wigmore Castle in the English county of Herefordshire.He was the son of Hugh de Mortimer and Matilda Le Meschin. He was born before 1153.-Early life:...
and William de Briouze
William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber
William de Braose, , 4th Lord of Bramber , court favourite of King John of England, at the peak of his power, was also Lord of Gower, Abergavenny, Brecknock, Builth, Radnor, Kington, Limerick, Glamorgan, Skenfrith, Briouze in Normandy, Grosmont, and White Castle.-Lineage:William was the most...
expanded into Welsh territory in 1195, causing a concern that the Welsh lord Rhys ap Gruffydd
Rhys ap Gruffydd
Rhys ap Gruffydd or ap Gruffudd was the ruler of the kingdom of Deheubarth in south Wales. He is commonly known as The Lord Rhys, in Welsh Yr Arglwydd Rhys, but this title may not have been used in his lifetime...
would strike back across the border. In 1196, Walter quickly suppressed a popular uprising in London led by William Fitz Osbern
William Fitz Osbern (1196)
William Fitz Osbert or William with the long beard was a citizen of London who took up the role of the advocate of the poor in a popular uprising in the spring of 1196. The events are significant in that they illustrate how rare popular revolt by the poor and peasants in England was in the 12th...
. FitzOsbern was an orator who harnessed the discontent of the poor residents of London against high taxes. His oratory provoked a riot in London, and he was apprehended and hanged on Walter's orders.
Ecclesiastical affairs and resignation
Walter held a legateshipPapal legate
A papal legate – from the Latin, authentic Roman title Legatus – is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic Church. He is empowered on matters of Catholic Faith and for the settlement of ecclesiastical matters....
from Pope Celestine III from 1195 to 1198, which enabled him to act with the pope's delegated authority within the English Church. Walter actively investigated ecclesiastical misconduct, and deposed several abbot
Abbot
The word abbot, meaning father, is a title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the head of a monastery...
s, including Robert of Thorney Abbey
Thorney Abbey
Thorney Abbey was on the island of Thorney in The Fens of Cambridgeshire, England.- History :The earliest documentary sources refer to a mid-7th century hermitage destroyed by a Viking incursion in the late 9th century. A Benedictine monastery was founded in the 970s, and a huge rebuilding...
in 1195 and an abbot of St Mary's in the province of the Archbishop of York. At the monastic cathedral of Worcester
Anglican Diocese of Worcester
The Diocese of Worcester forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England.The diocese was founded in around 679 by St Theodore of Canterbury at Worcester to minister to the kingdom of the Hwicce, one of the many Anglo Saxon petty-kingdoms of that time...
, he disciplined the monks between the death of Henry de Sully
Henry de Sully
Henry de Sully was a medieval monk, Bishop of Worcester and Abbot of Glastonbury.-Life:Henry became prior of Bermondsey Abbey in 1186. In September 1189, following the death of Henry II of England, Richard I of England appointed him Abbot of Glastonbury...
and the election of John of Coutances
John of Coutances
-Life:He was a nephew of Walter of Coutances, Bishop of Lincoln and was treasurer of the diocese of Lisieux before his uncle appointed him Archdeacon of Oxford sometime before December of 1184. He also was dean of Rouen, and retained the treasurership of Lisieux while archdeacon.He was elected in...
, as was his right as the archbishop of the province. In his own diocese, he granted markets and fairs to towns, was granted the privilege of minting coins at Shrewsbury, and worked to recover lands and manors that had been lost to the archdiocese.
Walter revived the scheme of his predecessor, Baldwin of Forde, to found a church in Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
that would be secular
Secular clergy
The term secular clergy refers to deacons and priests who are not monastics or members of a religious order.-Catholic Church:In the Catholic Church, the secular clergy are ministers, such as deacons and priests, who do not belong to a religious order...
and not monastic
Monk
A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...
. He promised that the new foundation's canons would not be allowed to vote in archiepiscopal elections nor would the body of Saint Thomas Becket ever be moved to the new church, but the monks of his cathedral chapter were suspicious and appealed to the papacy. The dispute from the time of Baldwin of Forde flared up again, with the papacy supporting the monks and the king supporting the archbishop. Finally, Pope Innocent III
Pope Innocent III
Pope Innocent III was Pope from 8 January 1198 until his death. His birth name was Lotario dei Conti di Segni, sometimes anglicised to Lothar of Segni....
ruled for the monks and ordered Walter to destroy what had been built.
The archbishop held ecclesiastical councils, including one at York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
in 1195 that legislated that the clergy should collect their tithe
Tithe
A tithe is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash, cheques, or stocks, whereas historically tithes were required and paid in kind, such as agricultural products...
s in full, "...without any reduction." Another council was held at London in 1200 to legislate the size and composition of clerical retinues, and also ruled that the clergy, when saying Mass
Mass
Mass can be defined as a quantitive measure of the resistance an object has to change in its velocity.In physics, mass commonly refers to any of the following three properties of matter, which have been shown experimentally to be equivalent:...
, should speak clearly and not speed up or slow down their speech. At the request of the papacy, Walter also led inquiries into the canonization
Canonization
Canonization is the act by which a Christian church declares a deceased person to be a saint, upon which declaration the person is included in the canon, or list, of recognized saints. Originally, individuals were recognized as saints without any formal process...
s of Gilbert of Sempringham
Gilbert of Sempringham
Saint Gilbert of Sempringham became the only Englishman to found a conventual order, mainly because the abbot of Cîteaux declined his request to assist him in helping a group of women living with lay brothers and sisters, in 1148...
and Wulfstan of Worcester
Wulfstan, Bishop of Worcester
Wulfstan , Bishop of Worcester, was the last surviving pre-Conquest bishop and the only English-born bishop after 1075. Wulfstan is a Christian saint.-Denomination:His denomination as Wulfstan II is to indicate that he is the second Bishop Wulfstan of Worcester...
. Walter refused to acquiesce in the election of Gerald of Wales to the see of St David's
Bishop of St David's
The Bishop of St David's is the ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of St David's.The succession of bishops stretches back to Saint David who in the 6th century established his seat in what is today the city of St David's in Pembrokeshire, founding St David's Cathedral. The current Bishop of St...
in Wales and opposed the efforts of Gerald and others to elevate St David's to an archbishopric.
In the later part of Richard's reign, the pressures mounted on Walter. Conflicts between his ecclesiastical duties and his government duties made him the target of criticism from both sides. A dispute in December 1197, over Richard's demand that the magnates of England provide 300 knights to serve in France, led to renewed grumbling among the clergy and barons. Richard was also dissatisfied with the results of the carucage in 1198, so Walter resigned his position of chief justiciar on 11 July of that year. Walter may have resigned willingly, as he had talked of resigning his secular duties since 1194. Some medieval sources, however, stated that he was forced out of office by the king.
Under John
William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke
Sir William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke , also called William the Marshal , was an Anglo-Norman soldier and statesman. He was described as the "greatest knight that ever lived" by Stephen Langton...
, one of the richest and most influential barons, that Richard was dead, he consulted with Walter and discussed whom to support as the next king. Marshal's choice was John, but Walter initially leaned towards John's young nephew Arthur of Brittany
Arthur I, Duke of Brittany
Arthur I was Duke of Brittany between 1194 and 1202. He was the posthumous son of Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany and Constance, Duchess of Brittany...
. When Marshall was insistent on John, who was an adult, the author of the Life has Walter say in reply " 'So be it then,' said the archbishop, 'but mark my words, Marshal, you will never regret anything in your life as much as this.'" This is almost certainly a retrospective comment that has been inserted into the biography, however, based on John's later behaviour. Once John knew he had the support of Walter and William Marshal, he sent Walter ahead to England to request all free men to pledge fealty
Fealty
An oath of fealty, from the Latin fidelitas , is a pledge of allegiance of one person to another. Typically the oath is made upon a religious object such as a Bible or saint's relic, often contained within an altar, thus binding the oath-taker before God.In medieval Europe, fealty was sworn between...
to the new king. On 27 May 1199 Walter crowned John, supposedly making a speech that promulgated, for the last time, the theory of a king's election by the people. This story is only contained in the writings of Matthew Paris
Matthew Paris
Matthew Paris was a Benedictine monk, English chronicler, artist in illuminated manuscripts and cartographer, based at St Albans Abbey in Hertfordshire...
, however, and although it seems certain that Walter made a speech, it is not certain what the exact contents were. On his coronation day, John appointed Walter Lord Chancellor. W. L. Warren, historian and author of a biography of John, says of Walter that "No one living had a firmer grasp of the intricacies of royal government, yet even in old age his mind was adaptable and fecund with suggestions for coping with new problems."
One of Walter's first suggestions was to lower the fees for having charters confirmed, from nine pounds
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
and five shilling
Shilling
The shilling is a unit of currency used in some current and former British Commonwealth countries. The word shilling comes from scilling, an accounting term that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times where it was deemed to be the value of a cow in Kent or a sheep elsewhere. The word is thought to derive...
s to eighteen shillings and four pence
Penny
A penny is a coin or a type of currency used in several English-speaking countries. It is often the smallest denomination within a currency system.-Etymology:...
. Accompanying this measure was a requirement that no charter would be accepted in a king's court without having been confirmed by King John. Not only did this reduce forgeries, it led to the establishment of the Charter Roll, an administrative copy of all charters issued and confirmed by the government. In his relations with other officers, Walter worked closely with the justiciar Geoffrey Fitz Peter
Geoffrey Fitz Peter, 1st Earl of Essex
Geoffrey Fitz Peter, Earl of Essex was a prominent member of the government of England during the reigns of Richard I and John. The patronymic is sometimes rendered Fitz Piers, for he was the son of Piers de Lutegareshale, forester of Ludgershall.-Life:He was from a modest landowning family that...
, on the collection of taxation, and both men went to Wales in 1203 on a diplomatic mission. Another joint action of the two men concerned a tax of a seventh part of all movables collected from both lay and ecclesiastical persons. The medieval chronicler Roger of Wendover
Roger of Wendover
Roger of Wendover , probably a native of Wendover in Buckinghamshire, was an English chronicler of the 13th century.At an uncertain date he became a monk at St Albans Abbey; afterwards he was appointed prior of the cell of Belvoir, but he forfeited this dignity in the early years of Henry III,...
said that the king "had Archbishop Hubert of Canterbury to act for him in the matter of the church property, Geoffrey fitz-Peter in the matter of lay property; and these two spared no one in carrying out their orders." Walter was also responsible for the keeping of copies of other royal letters in the Close Roll
Close Roll
The Close Roll is the administrative record created by the medieval office of the chancery that recorded all the letters close issued by the chancery. In the medieval Kingdom of England, the first Close Roll was started in 1204 under the Chancellorship of Hubert Walter...
s and the Patent Rolls
Patent Rolls
The Patent Rolls are primary sources for English history, a record of the King of England's correspondence, starting in 1202....
. The Patent rolls record letters that were issued in "patent", or openly and not sealed, and the Close rolls record letters issued sealed, or letters close. The various rolls are extant from 1199 for the Charter roll, 1201 for the Patent roll, and 1204 for the Close roll. Walter also continued to innovate in local government, as the earliest record of the coroner's rolls, or county records, being used to cross-check oral testimony in the county courts date from 1202 and 1203, during Walter's chancellorship.
In 1201 Walter went on a diplomatic mission to Philip II of France, which was unsuccessful, and in 1202 he returned to England as regent while John was abroad. In April 1204 Walter returned to France with John de Gray
John de Gray
John de Gray was Bishop of Norwich in the English county of Norfolk, as well as being elected Archbishop of Canterbury, but was never confirmed as archbishop.-Life:...
the Bishop of Norwich
Bishop of Norwich
The Bishop of Norwich is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Norwich in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers most of the County of Norfolk and part of Suffolk. The see is in the City of Norwich where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided...
, Eustace
Eustace, Dean of Salisbury
Eustace was the twenty-third Lord Chancellor of England, from 1197 to 1198. He was also Dean of Salisbury and Bishop of Ely.-Early life:...
the Bishop of Ely
Bishop of Ely
The Bishop of Ely is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Ely in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese roughly covers the county of Cambridgeshire , together with a section of north-west Norfolk and has its see in the City of Ely, Cambridgeshire, where the seat is located at the...
, William Marshal, and Robert de Beaumont
Robert de Beaumont, 4th Earl of Leicester
Robert de Beaumont, 4th Earl of Leicester was an English nobleman, the last of the Beaumont earls of Leicester. He is sometimes known as Robert FitzPernel....
the Earl of Leicester
Earl of Leicester
The title Earl of Leicester was created in the 12th century in the Peerage of England , and is currently a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, created in 1837.-Early creations:...
to seek peace with Philip Augustus. Philip insisted that John hand over Arthur of Brittany, Arthur's sister Eleanor
Eleanor, Fair Maid of Brittany
Eleanor the "Fair Maid of Brittany", 5th Countess of Richmond , also known as Damsel of Brittany or Pearl of Brittany for her peerless beauty, was the eldest daughter of Geoffrey Plantagenet and Constance, Duchess of Brittany...
, and renounce all of his continental possessions before the French king would make peace. John refused to do this, and the embassy returned to England not long before Philip conquered Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
.
Besides sending Walter on diplomatic missions, King John gave Walter custody of Rochester Castle
Rochester Castle
Rochester Castle stands on the east bank of the River Medway in Rochester, Kent, England. The 12th-century keep or stone tower, which is the castle's most prominent feature, is one of the best preserved in England or France. Located along the River Medway and Watling Street, Rochester was a...
on 20 July 1202, but as Walter was already accounting for the taxes and fees of the city of Rochester to the Exchequer in 1200, it is possible that he held the castle before 1202. John also upheld the right of the archbishop to mint coins, which Walter held until his death in 1205.
Under John, Walter continued to be active in ecclesiastical affairs, and in September 1200 held a provincial church council at London. This council set forth 14 canons, or decrees, which dealt with a number of subjects, including doctrinal concerns, financial affairs, and the duties of the clergy. It drew heavily on earlier church decrees, including those of the Third Lateran Council
Third Council of the Lateran
The Third Council of the Lateran met in March 1179 as the eleventh ecumenical council. Pope Alexander III presided and 302 bishops attended.By agreement reached at the Peace of Venice in 1177 the bitter conflict between Alexander III and Emperor Frederick I was brought to an end...
of 1179. Walter also interceded with Pope Innocent III in 1200, mediating between the pope and the king over a royal dispute with the Cistercians. Walter's intercession prevented the dispute from escalating, and kept the pope from imposing sanctions on the king for his threats to the Cistercians. It was in 1200 that the church court records of the archdiocese of Canterbury began to be recorded and kept, although after Walter's death in 1205 the records become sparse until the 14th century.
Death and legacy
Walter died on 13 July 1205, after a long illness that permitted a reconciliation with his monks. The medieval chronicler Ralph of CoggeshallRalph of Coggeshall
Ralph of Coggeshall , English chronicler, was at first a monk and afterwards sixth abbot of Coggeshall, an Essex foundation of the Cistercian order....
described his death as taking four days, and related that he gave vestments, jewelry, and altar furnishings to his monks, which were confiscated by King John after Walter's death. He was buried in the Trinity Chapel
Trinity Chapel
Trinity Chapel in Canterbury Cathedral forms part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The chapel was added by William the Englishman as a shrine for the relics of St. Thomas Becket. The shrine became one of the most popular pilgrimage sites in England....
in Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England and forms part of a World Heritage Site....
, next to Saint Thomas Becket, where his tomb can still be seen. The tomb occupied a highly visible spot in the Trinity Chapel, and Walter was the first archbishop to be buried there since the 1170s, when all of the tombs but Becket's had been relocated to focus attention on Becket's shrine. His remained the only ecclesiastic to be buried there until the 14th century. The use by the archbishops of Canterbury of the title "Primate of All England" dates from Walter's archiepiscopal tenure.
The medieval chronicler Matthew Paris retold the story that when King John heard of Walter's death, the king exclaimed "Now for the first time I am king of England". This story, however entertaining, is apocryphal. More secure is the story that another chronicler, Roger of Wendover, relates about Walter's Christmas celebrations in 1200. Roger reports that Walter distributed clothing to those attending his Christmas feast, which angered King John. The chronicler says that Walter "wished to put himself on a par with the king".
Walter was not a holy man, although he was, as John Gillingham, a historian and biographer of Richard I, says, "one of the most outstanding government ministers in English History". Hugh of Lincoln
Hugh of Lincoln
Hugh of Lincoln was at the time of the Reformation the best-known English saint after Thomas Becket.-Life:...
, a contemporary and later canonized, is said to have asked forgiveness of God for not having rebuked Walter as often as he probably should have. Modern historians tend not to share the older view that Walter was the driving force behind the administrative changes during Richard's reign, that Richard was uninterested in government, and that he left all decisions in the hands of his ministers, especially Longchamp and Walter. The studies of James Holt and others have shown that Richard was highly involved in government decisions, and that it was more a partnership between the king and his ministers. Walter was, however, very innovative in his approach to government. Walter continued to enjoy the support of Richard's brother John, and it was during John's reign that a number of Walter's administrative reforms took place, although how much royal initiative was behind the innovations is unknown, given John's interest in government and administration.
Walter was the butt of jokes about his lack of learning, and was the target of a series of tales from the pen of the chronicler Gerald of Wales, an enemy of the archbishop. Even Walter's supporters could only state that he was "moderately literate". Walter employed several canon lawyers who had been educated at Bologna in his household, including John of Tynemouth, Simon of Southwell
Simon of Southwell
Simon of Southwell was a medieval English canon lawyer and canon who became treasurer of the cathedral chapter of Lichfield Cathedral....
, and Honorius of Kent
Honorius of Kent
Honorius of Kent was a medieval English Archdeacon of Richmond and canon lawyer.Honorius was given the title of magister, signifying that he had a university education. A native of Kent, he was a student at Paris sometime between 1185 and 1192...
. He also employed the architect Elias of Dereham
Elias of Dereham
Elias of Dereham was a master stonemason designer, closely associated with Bishop Jocelin of Wells.Elias became a Canon of Salisbury, and oversaw the construction of Salisbury Cathedral. He was also responsible for building work at Clarendon Palace.The chapter house at Salisbury Cathedral displays...
, who was one of Walter's executors. Elias is traditionally credited as being the architect of Salisbury Cathedral
Salisbury Cathedral
Salisbury Cathedral, formally known as the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England, considered one of the leading examples of Early English architecture....
after Walter's death. Another scholar employed by Walter was Peter of Blois
Peter of Blois
Peter of Blois or Petrus Blesensis was a French poet and diplomat who wrote in Latin. Peter studied law in Bologna and theology in Paris...
, who served both Walter and his predecessor as a Latin secretary.
We know little of his appearance, although he was described by Gerald of Wales as tall and handsome. Gerald also praises his intelligence and cleverness.
W. L. Warren advances the theory that either Walter or Geoffrey Fitz Peter, instead of Ranulf Glanvill, was the author of Tractatus de legibus et consuetudinibus regni Angliae
Tractatus of Glanvill
The Tractatus de legibus et consuetudinibus regni Angliae is the earliest treatise on English law. Commonly attributed to Ranulf de Glanvill and dated ca. 1188, it was revolutionary in its systematic codification that defined legal process and introduced writs, innovations that have survived to...
, a legal treatise on the laws and constitutions of the English. Chrimes agrees that Glanvill was probably not the author, and feels that Walter likely was, although he could not be certain. If he was the author, he composed what Chrimes called a "great literary memorial of Henry II's government". Neither of Walter's two modern biographers, however, feel that he was the author of the Tractatus, and the historian Ralph Turner agrees. The historian Michael Clanchy
Michael Clanchy
Michael T. Clanchy is a Professor Emeritus of Medieval History at the Institute of Historical Research, University of London, and a Fellow of the British Academy....
says of Walter "The proliferation of documents was a European and a continuing phenomenon, yet if it were to be associated in England with one man, he would be Hubert Walter."
External links
- Online reprint of the Pipe Roll Society publication of the Feet of Fines for Henry II and first seven years of Richard I – hosted by Brigham Young UniversityBrigham Young UniversityBrigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...