Admiral of the Fleet Sir Ralph de Spigurnell or Ralph Spigurnell (c. 1317-1373), was a

Medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

knight, diplomatic envoy and English naval commander who was appointed Admiral of all the Fleets of the English Navy,

Warden of the Cinque Ports The Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports is a ceremonial official in the United Kingdom. The post dates from at least the 12th century, when the title was Keeper of the Coast, but may be older. The Lord Warden was originally in charge of the Cinqu ...

and

Constable of Dover Castle The Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports is a ceremonial official in the United Kingdom. The post dates from at least the 12th century, when the title was Keeper of the Coast, but may be older. The Lord Warden was originally in charge of the Cinq ...

who served under King

Edward III of England Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring ro ...

from 1337 to 1373.

Career

The first known account of Ralph Spigurnell appears in April 1337 when he was part of a group of advisers to the

Bishop of Lincoln The Bishop of Lincoln is the ordinary (diocesan bishop) of the Church of England Diocese of Lincoln in the Province of Canterbury. The present diocese covers the county of Lincolnshire and the unitary authority areas of North Lincolnshire and ...

, under orders from King Edward III who was sent along with the

Earl of Huntington Earl of Huntingdon is a title which has been created several times in the Peerage of England. The medieval title (1065 creation) was associated with the ruling house of Scotland ( David of Scotland). The seventh and most recent creation dates ...

and

Earl of Salisbury Earl of Salisbury is a title that has been created several times in English and British history. It has a complex history, and is now a subsidiary title to the marquessate of Salisbury. Background The title was first created for Patrick de S ...

to officiate the marriage between the eldest son of the

Count of Flanders The count of Flanders was the ruler or sub-ruler of the county of Flanders, beginning in the 9th century. Later, the title would be held for a time, by the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire and Spain. During the French Revolution, in 1790, the co ...

, Louis II and the Princess Joan. In November 1344 by this time knighted he was sent on a mission as Envoy of the King to see Pope

Clement VI Pope Clement VI ( la, Clemens VI; 1291 – 6 December 1352), born Pierre Roger, was head of the Catholic Church from 7 May 1342 to his death in December 1352. He was the fourth Avignon pope. Clement reigned during the first visitation of the Bla ...

. During the 1350s he advanced up the ranks as part of the household Roger Mortimer the Young. In 1355 he then served as deputy to the

Earl of March Earl of March is a title that has been created several times in the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of England. The title derived from the "marches" or borderlands between England and either Wales (Welsh Marches) or Scotland (Scottish Marche ...

and in 1359 he entered Royal service. In December 1359 he was appointed a

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

to try felonies being committed in County Hereford and County Kent. On 1 May 1360 he and Sir John Buckingham were authorized to remove the

King of France France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the Kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions. Classical French historiography usually regards Clovis I () as the first ...

from

Somerton Castle __NOTOC__ Somerton Castle is located approximately west of the village of Boothby Graffoe in Lincolnshire, England and to the south of the city of Lincoln, England. The site is on low-lying land between the Lincoln Edge and the River Witham. ...

to transport him to

Berkhamsted Castle Berkhamsted Castle is a Norman motte-and-bailey castle in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire. The castle was built to obtain control of a key route between London and the Midlands during the Norman conquest of England in the 11th century. Robert of Mo ...

, this was in response to a feared invasion. In October 1360 accompanying the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

he was present at the signing of the

Treaty of Brétigny The Treaty of Brétigny was a treaty, drafted on 8 May 1360 and ratified on 24 October 1360, between Kings Edward III of England and John II of France. In retrospect, it is seen as having marked the end of the first phase of the Hundred Years' ...

. On 7 July 1364 he was appointed

Admiral of the South, North and West The Admiral of the South, North and West formally known as Admiral of the Kings Southern, Northern and Western Fleets or Admiral of all the Fleets about England was a senior English Navy appointment and Commander-in-Chief of the English Navy ...

succeeding Admiral of the Fleet Sir Robert de Herle. He was additionally appointed

, and

. He was succeeded as Warden of the Cinque Ports, between the 10 May and 6 July 1370, by Sir Richard de Penbrugge. Sir Ralph Spigurnell died on 13 January 1373 and was interned at

Greyfriars, London In London, the Greyfriars was a Conventual Franciscan friary that existed from 1225 to 1538 on a site at the North-West of the City of London by Newgate in the parish of St Nicholas in the Shambles. It was the second Franciscan religious ho ...

he left his estate to his widow .

Family

There are no records to ascertain who his parents were but records do exist of possible relatives such as Sir Henry Spigurnell, a justice of the

King's Bench The King's Bench (), or, during the reign of a female monarch, the Queen's Bench ('), refers to several contemporary and historical courts in some Commonwealth jurisdictions. * Court of King's Bench (England), a historic court court of commo ...

may have been his father and a Sir John Spigurnell of Buckinghamshire, who were noted in official documents as living during the reign of King Edward II. He died on 13 January 1373. At the time of his death he was married to Elizabeth de Spigurnell who was residing in the Manor of Selgrave she sold the estate in 1397 to the Prior and Convent of Christchurch in Canterbury.

Footnotes

Bibliography

# Chaplais, Pierre (2003). English diplomatic practice in the Middle Ages. London, England: A&C Black. . # Cushway, Graham (2011). Edward III and the war at sea : the English Navy, 1327-1377. Woodbridge, England: Boydell Press. . # Hardy, Thomas Duffus (1869). Calendar of State Papers: Vol 1, 1066 to 1377. London, England: Longman's Green and Co. # Harris, Sir Nicholas (1847). A History of the Royal Navy: 1327-1422. London, England: R. Bentley. # Edward Hasted, The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 6 (Canterbury, 1798), British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol6 ccessed 21 February 2019 # Tucker, St George (1996). Blackstone's commentaries (in Introduction). Clark, New Jersey, USA.: The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. {{ISBN, 9781886363168. 1317 births 1373 deaths 14th-century English Navy personnel English admirals