John de Gray or de Grey (died 18 October 1214) was an English prelate who served as
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 bishop of Norwich is Graham Usher.
The see is in the ...
, and was elected but unconfirmed
Archbishop of Canterbury
The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...
. He was employed in the service of Prince
John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Secon ...
even before John became king, for which he was rewarded with a number of ecclesiastical offices, culminating in his
''pro forma'' election to Norwich in 1200. De Gray continued in royal service after his elevation to the
episcopate
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
, lending the King money and undertaking diplomatic missions on his behalf. In 1205 King John attempted to further reward de Gray with a
translation
Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...
to the archbishopric of Canterbury, but a disputed election process led to de Gray's selection being quashed by Pope
Innocent III in 1206.
Innocent consecrated
Stephen Langton
Stephen Langton (c. 1150 – 9 July 1228) was an English Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and Archbishop of Canterbury between 1207 and his death in 1228. The dispute between King John of England and Pope Innocent III over his ...
as archbishop against John's wishes, triggering a long dispute between the papacy and the King. The pope imposed various sanctions on England and John; at one point de Gray was one of only two bishops still legitimately holding office in England. In 1209 he became
governor of Ireland for John, and spent until 1213 attempting to impose a royal government on the Anglo-Norman barons and the native Irish in that country. Recalled to England to help defend against a threatened invasion by the French, de Gray then travelled to Rome to secure a papal pardon after the final settlement of John and Innocent's dispute over the bishop's abortive elevation to Canterbury. After securing his pardon de Gray was appointed
Bishop of Durham
The Bishop of Durham is the Anglican bishop responsible for the Diocese of Durham in the Province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler has been the Bishop of Durham ...
, but he died on his way back to England.
De Gray built a palace in his diocese and several castles in Ireland. Although he was reviled by one contemporary writer as an "evil counsellor" to the King,
[ modern historians have been more forgiving; one praised his intelligence and others stated that de Gray was one of the few men King John trusted throughout his life. De Gray's nephew, ]Walter de Gray
Walter de Gray (died 1 May 1255) was an English prelate and statesman who was Archbishop of York from 1215 to 1255 and Lord Chancellor from 1205 to 1214. His uncle was John de Gray, who was a bishop and royal servant to King John of England. Af ...
, secured the office of Lord Chancellor
The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. The ...
with his uncle's help in 1205.
Early life
Some describe de Gray as a native of Norfolk
Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
; he was likely descended from the Norman
Norman or Normans may refer to:
Ethnic and cultural identity
* The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries
** People or things connected with the Norm ...
knight Anchetil de Greye Anchetil de Greye (c. 1046 – after 1086) was a Norman chevalier and vassal of William FitzOsbern, 1st Earl of Hereford, one of the great magnates of early Norman England.
He is regarded as the ancestor of the noble House of Grey, branches of whi ...
.[Haines "Gray, John de" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''] De Gray was the uncle of Walter de Gray, later Archbishop of York
The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers th ...
.[ The elder de Gray was instrumental in securing the selection of his nephew as Lord Chancellor,][ as he was a surety for Walter's payment of a fine of 5000 ]marks
Marks may refer to:
Business
* Mark's, a Canadian retail chain
* Marks & Spencer, a British retail chain
* Collective trade marks, trademarks owned by an organisation for the benefit of its members
* Marks & Co, the inspiration for the novel '' ...
to acquire the position.[Harding ''England in the Thirteenth Century'' p. 236]
By 1196, de Gray was in the service of King Richard I
Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and was overl ...
's brother John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Secon ...
, and was keeper of John's seal by 1198.[Greenway ''Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300: Volume 6: York: Archdeacons of Cleveland''] John ascended the throne of England in 1199, with de Gray becoming Archdeacon of Cleveland
The Archdeacon of Cleveland is a senior ecclesiastical officer of an archdeaconry, or subdivision, of the Church of England Diocese of York, diocese and Province of York, province of York Minster, York. The Archdeaconry of Cleveland stretches west ...
in March 1200,[ and ]Archdeacon of Gloucester
The Archdeacon of Gloucester is a senior ecclesiastical officer in the Diocese of Gloucester, England whose responsibilities include the care of clergy and church buildings within the area of the ''Archdeaconry of Gloucester.''
History
The first ...
before April that year.[Greenway ''Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300: Volume 2: Monastic Cathedrals (Northern and Southern Provinces): Worcester: Archdeacons of Gloucester''] He also served as John's secretary,[Warren ''King John'' pp. 160–162] and frequently as a deputy for the Lord Chancellor
The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. The ...
, Hubert Walter
Hubert Walter ( – 13 July 1205) 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 b ...
.[Young ''Hubert Walter'' p. 149] Shortly after John became king, de Gray began travelling between England and the continent on royal business, and for the first two years of John's reign was active in the royal chancery, sealing royal charters.[
De Gray was elected Bishop of Norwich on about 7 September 1200,][ although the election was purely ''pro forma'',][ as acknowledged by a contemporary writer ]Roger of Howden
Roger of Howden or Hoveden (died 1202) was a 12th-century English chronicler, diplomat and head of the minster of Howden in the East Riding of Yorkshire.
Roger and Howden minster
Roger was born to a clerical family linked to the ancient minste ...
, who stated that the new bishop "succeeded to the bishopric of Norwich by the gift of King John".[Quoted in Warren ''King John'' p. 160] De Gray was consecrated
Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...
on 24 September.[Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 261] His consecration took place together with that of the new Bishop of Hereford
The Bishop of Hereford is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Hereford in the Province of Canterbury.
The episcopal see is centred in the Hereford, City of Hereford where the bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is in the Hereford Cathedr ...
Giles de Braose
Giles de Braose (or Giles de Bruse; died 17 November 1215) was Bishop of Hereford from 1200 to 1215.
Early life
Giles was the second son of William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber.Barrow "Briouze, Giles de" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biograp ...
at Westminster
Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster.
The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...
, at the conclusion of a provincial church council held by Archbishop Walter, which de Gray had been attending.[Cheney ''Hubert Walter'' p. 65] Walter performed the ceremony in a chapel of Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...
.[
]
Bishop of Norwich
While bishop, de Gray often lent the king money, and on one occasion held the royal regalia
Regalia is a Latin plurale tantum word that has different definitions. In one rare definition, it refers to the exclusive privileges of a sovereign. The word originally referred to the elaborate formal dress and dress accessories of a sovereig ...
as security
Security is protection from, or resilience against, potential harm (or other unwanted coercive change) caused by others, by restraining the freedom of others to act. Beneficiaries (technically referents) of security may be of persons and social ...
for the repayment of a loan; he also served as a royal justice. In 1203 de Gray accompanied Archbishop Hubert Walter and several papal legate
300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the pope's legate.
A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the ancient Roman title ''legatus'') is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic ...
s on an unsuccessful diplomatic mission to King Philip II of France
Philip II (21 August 1165 – 14 July 1223), byname Philip Augustus (french: Philippe Auguste), was King of France from 1180 to 1223. His predecessors had been known as kings of the Franks, but from 1190 onward, Philip became the first French ...
.[ Philip had demanded that John's niece Eleanor of Brittany or his nephew ]Arthur of Brittany
Arthur I ( br, Arzhur 1añ; french: link=no, Arthur 1er de Bretagne) (29 March 1187 – presumably 1203) was 4th Earl of Richmond and Duke of Brittany between 1196 and 1203. He was the posthumous son of Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany, and Constan ...
be surrendered to him together with all of John's lands on the continent, none of which John was prepared to concede. Philip invaded Normandy
Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
after the bishops returned to England.[Powicke ''Loss of Normandy'' p. 260]
In 1203 some of de Gray's knights were part of the garrison at the castle of Vaudreuil in Normandy, serving under the command of Robert FitzWalter
Robert FitzwalterAlso spelled Fitzwater, FitzWalter, fitzWalter, etc. (died 9 December 1235) was one of the leaders of the baronial opposition against John of England, King John, and one of the twenty-five sureties of ''Magna Carta''. He was Eng ...
. Although they had provisions and John was moving in support of the troops, in the summer of 1203 the garrison surrendered to Philip, shortly after a siege had begun.[Powicke ''Loss of Normandy'' p. 162] When John abandoned Normandy in late 1203, effectively relinquishing control of the duchy to Philip, de Gray was one of his companions on the journey to the port of Barfleur
Barfleur () is a commune and fishing village in Manche, Normandy, northwestern France.
History
During the Middle Ages, Barfleur was one of the chief ports of embarkation for England.
* 1066: A large medallion fixed to a rock in the harbour ...
, and went on to England with the king.[Powicke ''Loss of Normandy'' p. 169 and footnote 251]
Archbishop-elect
John's attempt to impose de Gray's election as Archbishop of Canterbury in 1205 was the beginning of the king's long quarrel with Pope Innocent III. After Hubert Walter's death in July 1205, the selection of a successor was hindered by doubts about what the proper procedure should be, something that commonly happened with elections to Canterbury. John postponed a decision while delegations from the bishops of England and the monks of the cathedral chapter
According to both Catholic and Anglican canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics ( chapter) formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese during the vacancy. In ...
went to Rome to seek guidance from the pope.[ The bishops of the province of Canterbury claimed the right to a say in who was elected, as whoever was chosen would be their superior,][Harding ''England in the Thirteenth Century'' p. 266] but according to canon law
Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...
the monks of the cathedral chapter had the right to elect the new archbishop. The king also had a say in the election,[Lyon ''Constitutional and Legal History'' pp. 306–307] as the archbishop was a major tenant-in-chief
In medieval and early modern Europe, the term ''tenant-in-chief'' (or ''vassal-in-chief'') denoted a person who held his lands under various forms of feudal land tenure directly from the king or territorial prince to whom he did homage, as op ...
and was traditionally one of the principal royal advisers.[Huscroft ''Ruling England'' pp. 195–196]
While the delegations from the various parties were in Rome, the monks of Canterbury secretly elected one of their own, Reginald
Reginald is a masculine given name in the English language.
Etymology and history
The meaning of Reginald is “King". The name is derived from the Latin ''Reginaldus'', which has been influenced by the Latin word ''regina'', meaning "queen". Th ...
, as archbishop, and subsequently sent him to Rome to join the delegation. When John discovered that Reginald had been elected without any royal input he forced the monks to elect de Gray as archbishop.[ Some stories have Reginald's election taking place before the despatch of the first delegation to the papal curia. Another source, ]Gervase of Canterbury
Gervase of Canterbury (; Latin: Gervasus Cantuariensis or Gervasius Dorobornensis) (c. 1141 – c. 1210) was an English chronicler.
Life
If Gervase's brother Thomas, who like himself was a monk of Christ Church, Canterbury, was Thomas of Ma ...
, has the king telling the chapter they could choose their own nominee after six months, while the king secretly sent envoys to Rome to secure de Gray's election.[Jones ''King John and Magna Carta'' pp. 35–37] A further story, from Roger of Wendover
Roger of Wendover (died 6 May 1236), 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 ...
, states that the monks elected Reginald before Walter was even buried and that only a few members of the cathedral chapter – the younger ones – participated in the election. Wendover wrote in the 1230s and was not a monk of Canterbury, therefore it is unlikely he has recorded a true account.[Knowles "Canterbury Election" ''English Historical Review'' pp. 212–215]
De Gray was postulated or nominated, to Canterbury on 11 December 1205,[ which presented Innocent with two candidates for the office. In an effort to reach a compromise,][Lyon ''Constitutional and Legal History'' p. 240] the pope quashed both nominations on about 30 March 1206;[Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 232] Innocent's reason for invalidating de Gray's candidacy was that any election was invalid if an earlier one was still under appeal to the papacy.[Turner ''King John'' p. 116] The monks then elected Stephen Langton
Stephen Langton (c. 1150 – 9 July 1228) was an English Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and Archbishop of Canterbury between 1207 and his death in 1228. The dispute between King John of England and Pope Innocent III over his ...
, with Innocent's approval.[ John did not accept Langton's candidacy, however, and Innocent's consecration of Langton in 1207 led to an eight-year struggle between John and the pope over the rights of the king to secure the election of his choice as archbishop.][ John refused to allow Langton to enter England and exiled the Canterbury monks.][ Innocent placed an interdict on England in 1208, which John countered by confiscating the income and estates of any clergy who enforced it. Innocent went on to ]excommunicate
Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...
John in 1209, in a dispute that led to the exile of many of the English clergy and John's imposition of heavy financial demands on the church in England;[ by 1209 de Gray and ]Peter des Roches
Peter des Roches (died 9 June 1238) ( Latinised as ''Peter de Rupibus'' ("Peter from the rocks")) was bishop of Winchester in the reigns of King John of England and his son Henry III. He was not an Englishman, but rather a native of the Tourain ...
, the Bishop of Winchester
The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The Bishop of Winchester has always held ''ex officio'' (except dur ...
, were the only living English bishops not in exile.[ But it was not until 1213,][ when Innocent began to support John's deposition, that the king became concerned and reached a settlement with the papacy.][Huscroft ''Ruling England'' pp. 196–197]
In Ireland
By 1209 de Gray was in Ireland serving as the king's governor,[Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 161] an office sometimes referred to as justiciar
Justiciar is the English form of the medieval Latin term ''justiciarius'' or ''justitiarius'' ("man of justice", i.e. judge). During the Middle Ages in England, the Chief Justiciar (later known simply as the Justiciar) was roughly equivalent ...
for Ireland.[Wood "Office of Chief Governor" ''Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy'' p. 219] One possible reason for his appointment was to save him from being accused of ignoring the interdict on England. As a bishop, it was de Gray's ecclesiastical duty to enforce the interdict, but by going to Ireland, which was not under interdict, he could continue to serve the king without provoking the papacy.[Warren ''King John'' pp. 195–196] De Gray's chief policy in Ireland was to extend English rule, to which end he was involved in battles on the River Shannon
The River Shannon ( ga, Abhainn na Sionainne, ', '), at in length, is the longest river in the British Isles. It drains the Shannon River Basin, which has an area of , – approximately one fifth of the area of the island of Ireland.
The Shan ...
and in Fermanagh
Historically, Fermanagh ( ga, Fir Manach), as opposed to the modern County Fermanagh, was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland, associated geographically with present-day County Fermanagh. ''Fir Manach'' originally referred to a distinct kin group of al ...
.[Otway-Ruthven ''History of Medieval Ireland'' p. 83] He also replaced the Irish coinage with English, and attempted unsuccessfully to make English laws applicable in Ireland.[Barlow ''Feudal Kingdom'' pp. 408–409] De Gray's term of office in Ireland coincided with a time of change in Irish governmental practices.[Gillingham ''Angevin Empire'' p. 55]
During John's persecution of William de Braose in 1209, William Marshal
William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke (1146 or 1147 – 14 May 1219), also called William the Marshal (Norman French: ', French: '), was an Anglo-Norman soldier and statesman. He served five English kings— Henry II, his sons the "Young King" ...
gave de Braose shelter on his Irish lands. De Gray demanded that Marshal surrender de Braose to him as a traitor, but Marshal refused, claiming that since he held some lands from de Braose, it would be an act of treason to surrender his lord to an outside authority.[Powicke ''Loss of Normandy'' p. 295] Marshal's refusal does not seem to have embittered de Gray, however, as three years later the bishop was praising him in a letter to John.[Warren ''King John'' p. 201]
John led an expedition to Ireland in 1210 in an effort to bring the Anglo-Norman barons under control. He opened talks with the native Irish kings, and some accounts state that his negotiations were so successful that the native Irish submitted to him. In contrast, the historian Seán Duffy has argued that the native Irish nobility were just as resistant to John as the Anglo-Norman barons. After John's return to England he ordered de Gray to build three new castles in Connacht
Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Delbhn ...
,[ one of them at ]Athlone
Athlone (; ) is a town on the border of County Roscommon and County Westmeath, Ireland. It is located on the River Shannon near the southern shore of Lough Ree. It is the second most populous town in the Midlands Region with a population of ...
.[Orpen "Athlone Castle" ''Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries'' p. 261] Associated with the castle building were two military invasions of Connacht by the royal government – one from Meath and Leinster and the other from Munster.[Duffy "John and Ireland" ''King John'' pp. 241–242] De Gray left Ireland in 1211 to lead a military campaign against the Welsh,[ leaving his deputy Richard de Tuit in charge of the country.][
De Gray also faced resistance from the northern Irish. In 1212 he led a campaign against Áed Méith, in the promotion of which he constructed castles at Cáel Uisce, Belleek, and ]Clones
Clone or Clones or Cloning or Cloned or The Clone may refer to:
Places
* Clones, County Fermanagh
* Clones, County Monaghan, a town in Ireland
Biology
* Clone (B-cell), a lymphocyte clone, the massive presence of which may indicate a pathologi ...
, bases for raids against the Ua Néill territory in the north. A naval campaign was also launched but to no avail.[ De Gray suffered a defeat at the hands of Cormac O'Melaghlin in 1212 at Fircal, Offaly,][ and left Ireland the following year.][Turner ''King John'' p. 108] He continued to hold the office of governor for a time, but by July 1213 he had been replaced by Henry de Loundres
Henry de Loundres (died 1228) was an Anglo-Norman churchman who was Archbishop of Dublin, from 1213 to 1228. He was an influential figure in the reign of John of England, an administrator and loyalist to the king, and is mentioned in the text o ...
, the Archbishop of Dublin
The Archbishop of Dublin is an archepiscopal title which takes its name after Dublin, Ireland. Since the Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic successions to the title: one in the Catholic Church and the other in the Church of Irelan ...
.[ One of de Gray's final acts as justiciar was to take a force of ]Irish knights
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
to England to help repel a threatened invasion by the French king Philip II.[
]
Episcopal affairs and later career
As bishop, de Gray settled a long-running dispute between the monks of his cathedral chapter and his predecessors as bishop.[Harper-Bill "John and the Church" ''King John'' p. 294] He also allowed the monks of his cathedral chapter the right to appoint and replace the clergy of the dependent churches of the cathedral.[Cheney ''From Becket to Langton'' p. 121 footnote 7] De Gray received a 1203 missive from Innocent III decrying the marriages of some secular clergy
In Christianity, the term secular clergy refers to deacons and priests who are not monastics or otherwise members of religious life. A secular priest (sometimes known as a diocesan priest) is a priest who commits themselves to a certain geogra ...
, in contravention of canon law.[Cheney ''From Becket to Langton'' p. 137] In more secular matters, he granted the town of Bishop's Lynn
King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, no ...
(now King's Lynn
King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, no ...
) the right to hold a weekly market and two fair
A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks.
Types
Variations of fairs incl ...
s per year. He also built a palace at Gaywood.[
De Gray's ability to raise money made him useful to John. In 1213 de Gray mustered 500 knights during a period when Philip II was threatening to invade England,][ bringing this force over from Ireland along with mounted men-at-arms to support the king in England.][Warren ''King John'' p. 204] In May 1213, John and Innocent finally resolved the dispute over Langton's election to Canterbury, and part of the settlement was that John gave Ireland and England to Innocent and received them back from the pope, making John a papal vassal.[ The settlement was sealed with a treaty, to which de Gray was one of the witnesses.][Powell and Wallis ''House of Lords'' p. 121] After John settled with the papacy, de Gray was not included in the general pardon and had to go to Rome to be pardoned.[ While in that city the bishop was named as one of the guarantors of a new financial arrangement between the king and the pope dealing with feudal payments from England, which lowered the lump sum that had to be paid before Innocent would lift the interdict.][Vincent ''Peter des Roches'' p. 92] After Innocent pardoned de Gray, the pope recommended his election as Bishop of Durham
The Bishop of Durham is the Anglican bishop responsible for the Diocese of Durham in the Province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler has been the Bishop of Durham ...
in 1213;[Warren ''King John'' p. 212][Greenway ''Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300: Volume 2: Monastic Cathedrals (Northern and Southern Provinces): Durham: Bishops''] but de Gray died during his journey back to England on 18 October 1214, at Saint-Jean-d'Angély
Saint-Jean-d'Angély (; Saintongeais: ''Sént-Jhan-d'Anjhéli'') is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department in southwestern France.
The commune has its historical origins in the Abbey of Saint-Jean-d'Angély.
Royal abbey
Founded in the ...
in Poitou
Poitou (, , ; ; Poitevin: ''Poetou'') was a province of west-central France whose capital city was Poitiers. Both Poitou and Poitiers are named after the Pictones Gallic tribe.
Geography
The main historical cities are Poitiers (historical c ...
.[ He was buried in ]Norwich Cathedral
Norwich Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Norwich, Norfolk, dedicated to the Holy and Undivided Trinity. It is the cathedral church for the Church of England Diocese of Norwich and is one of the Norwich 12 heritage sites.
The cathedral ...
, but his tomb has not survived.[
As well as encouraging his nephew's career, de Gray took into his household two of Hubert Walter's household clerks: David, and Robert of Ruddeby.][Young ''Hubert Walter'' p. 58] Another clerk employed by de Gray, Robert de Bingham, was in the bishop's household during the papal interdict on England; he went on to become a tutor in theology at Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, and 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. The see is in the City of Salisbury where the bishop's seat ...
in 1228.[Vincent ''Peter des Roches'' p. 83 and footnote 203]
De Gray remained close to John for most of the bishop's life,[Turner ''King John'' p. 46] and one of the King's chief fundraisers.[ ]Sidney Painter
Sidney Painter (September 23, 1902 – January 12, 1960) was an American medievalist and historian. He was a fellow of the Mediaeval Academy and professor of history and chairman of the department of history at Johns Hopkins University.
Painter ...
, a historian and biographer of John, said of de Gray that he was "probably the only man whom John trusted absolutely and without reservation for the whole period of their association".[Quoted in Turner ''King John'' p. 46] The medievalist Ralph Turner called de Gray "one of John's greatest favourites",[Turner ''King John'' p. 61] and another of John's biographers, , described de Gray as "one of the best brains of the royal administration".[ ]Matthew Paris
Matthew Paris, also known as Matthew of Paris ( la, Matthæus Parisiensis, lit=Matthew the Parisian; c. 1200 – 1259), was an English Benedictine monk, chronicler, artist in illuminated manuscripts and cartographer, based at St Albans Abbey ...
, a medieval writer, called him an "evil counsellor",[Quoted in Haines "Gray, John de" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''] and blamed many of the difficulties of John's later reign on de Gray's failed election to Canterbury.[
]
Notes
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, John De
12th-century births
1214 deaths
13th-century English Roman Catholic bishops
13th-century English Roman Catholic archbishops
Archbishops of Canterbury
Archdeacons of Cleveland
Archdeacons of Gloucester
Bishops of Norwich
Burials at Norwich Cathedral
Lords Lieutenant of Ireland
People from Rotherfield Greys
Year of birth unknown
John de Gray
John de Gray or de Grey (died 18 October 1214) was an English prelate who served as Bishop of Norwich, and was elected but unconfirmed Archbishop of Canterbury. He was employed in the service of Prince John even before John became king, for wh ...