John Morice
Encyclopedia
John Morice was an English born statesman in fourteenth-century Ireland.
He was born in Bedfordshire
and was a knight of the shire for Bedfordshire in 1322. He is first heard of in Ireland in 1324 in the entourage of the justiciar John Darcy. Morice himself held the office of justiciar or deputy justiciar on several occasions and was briefly Lord Chancellor of Ireland
in 1345. He was also Escheator of Ireland from 1329 to 1336, and sat on a number of special commissions in England.
As Justiciar he was charged with an ambitious programme of reform prompted by numerous complaints about maladministration by Crown officials in Ireland. It involved a thorough inquiry into all aspects of the Crown administration, wholesale replacement of existing civil servants, immediate collection of all Crown debts and resumption of all grants of Crown lands since 1307. The programme has been described as " unrealistic and impractical " and it does not seem that Morice made any real effort to implement it. He did undertake a number of military campaigns against Irish clans who threatened the Pale
.
His brief tenure as Chancellor was clearly not a success: a plaintive letter survives complaining of disturbance of the peace, high prices and public hostility, and asking if he was entitled to act at all, since his Commission as Chancellor had not arrived.
He returned to England in 1349 and died there in 1362.
He was born in Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region.It borders Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east....
and was a knight of the shire for Bedfordshire in 1322. He is first heard of in Ireland in 1324 in the entourage of the justiciar John Darcy. Morice himself held the office of justiciar or deputy justiciar on several occasions and was briefly Lord Chancellor of Ireland
Lord Chancellor of Ireland
The office of Lord 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.-13th century:...
in 1345. He was also Escheator of Ireland from 1329 to 1336, and sat on a number of special commissions in England.
As Justiciar he was charged with an ambitious programme of reform prompted by numerous complaints about maladministration by Crown officials in Ireland. It involved a thorough inquiry into all aspects of the Crown administration, wholesale replacement of existing civil servants, immediate collection of all Crown debts and resumption of all grants of Crown lands since 1307. The programme has been described as " unrealistic and impractical " and it does not seem that Morice made any real effort to implement it. He did undertake a number of military campaigns against Irish clans who threatened the Pale
The Pale
The Pale or the English Pale , was the part of Ireland that was directly under the control of the English government in the late Middle Ages. It had reduced by the late 15th century to an area along the east coast stretching from Dalkey, south of Dublin, to the garrison town of Dundalk...
.
His brief tenure as Chancellor was clearly not a success: a plaintive letter survives complaining of disturbance of the peace, high prices and public hostility, and asking if he was entitled to act at all, since his Commission as Chancellor had not arrived.
He returned to England in 1349 and died there in 1362.