Stephen de Fulbourn (died 3 July 1288) was an English-born cleric and politician in thirteenth-century
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
: he was
Justiciar of Ireland
The chief governor was the senior official in the Dublin Castle administration, which maintained English and British rule in Ireland from the 1170s to 1922. The chief governor was the viceroy of the English monarch (and later the British monarch ...
, and
Archbishop of Tuam
The Archbishop of Tuam ( ; ga, Ard-Easpag Thuama) is an archbishop which takes its name after the town of Tuam in County Galway, Ireland. The title was used by the Church of Ireland until 1839, and is still in use by the Catholic Church.
Histor ...
1286–88. He was a member of the Order of Knights Hospitallers.
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...
, he apparently did not attend
University
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...
, but made a reputation as a skilled financier. De Fulbourn was translated to
Tuam
Tuam ( ; ga, Tuaim , meaning 'mound' or 'burial-place') is a town in Ireland and the second-largest settlement in County Galway. It is west of the midlands of Ireland, about north of Galway city. Humans have lived in the area since the Bronz ...
by a Papal bull dated 12 July 1286, having previously been
Bishop of Waterford
The Bishop of Waterford was a medieval prelate, governing the Diocese of Waterford from its creation in the 11th century until it was absorbed into the new Roman Catholic Diocese of Waterford and Lismore in the 14th century. After the creation o ...
and Preceptor of
Clerkenwell Priory
Clerkenwell Priory was a priory of the Monastic Order of the Knights Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem, in Clerkenwell, London. Run according to the Augustinian rule, it was the residence of the Hospitallers' Grand Prior in England, and was ...
, a foundation of the
Knights Hospitallers
The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...
Treasurer of Ireland
The Lord High Treasurer of Ireland was the head of the Exchequer of Ireland, chief financial officer of the Kingdom of Ireland. The designation ''High'' was added in 1695.
After the Acts of Union 1800 created the United Kingdom of Great Britain ...
from 1274–77 and
Justiciar of Ireland
The chief governor was the senior official in the Dublin Castle administration, which maintained English and British rule in Ireland from the 1170s to 1922. The chief governor was the viceroy of the English monarch (and later the British monarch ...
from 1281-88.
''The History of the Popes'' states that his appointment took place:
''after a long contest between the rival claims of two other candidates, who had been severally elected by different portions of the Chapter of Tuam. Fulburn was an Englishman, and a member of the Order of
Knights Hospitallers
The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...
; he twice filled the office of
Lord Justice of Ireland
The Lords Justices (more formally the Lords Justices General and General Governors of Ireland) were deputies who acted collectively in the absence of the chief governor of Ireland (latterly the Lord Lieutenant) as head of the executive branch o ...
. He held the see of Enachdune (Annaghdown) as well as that of Tuam; but not without serious opposition from a rival,
John de Ufford
John de Ufford (died 20 May 1349) was chancellor and head of the royal administration to Edward III of England, Edward III as well as being appointed to the Archbishopric of Canterbury.
Early life
His family held the estate of The Offords, Offo ...
, who had been elected Bishop and had received the King's confirmation of his appointment.''
According to Otway-Ruthven, his tenure as Justiciar was plagued by accusations of corruption and inefficiency. How much truth there was in the charges is difficult to say: the activities of Stephen and his brother Walter, who acted as his Deputy, prompted an official inquiry in 1284, during which numerous charges and grievances were aired, including debasing the coinage by the issue of inferior pennies, and ransacking
Dublin Castle
Dublin Castle ( ga, Caisleán Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a former Motte-and-bailey castle and current Irish government complex and conference centre. It was chosen for its position at the highest point of central Dublin.
Until 1922 it was the s ...
for its valuables, but he remained Justiciar until his death. He was a man of considerable financial acumen, which was then the reason for making him Treasurer, and his success at moneymaking is not in itself proof that he was corrupt. The moving force behind many of the charges was Nicholas de Clere (or le Clerk), his successor as Treasurer. Nicholas was himself accused of corruption a few years later, and died in prison, having been unable to prove his innocence, or pay his debts to the English Crown. Some of the charges against him almost certainly originated with Stephen's relatives, seeking revenge (Stephen himself had died three years earlier).
Envy of the Fulbourn brothers' wealth and power no doubt played a part in the campaign against them: in 1285 the King received a report complaining that the brothers "were everything, and without them there is nothing".
Stephen gave his name to the
steeping
Steeping is the soaking of an organic solid, such as leaves, in a liquid (usually water) to extract flavours or to soften it. The specific process of teas being prepared for drinking by leaving the leaves in heated water to release the flavour ...
, a debased form of the sterling silver penny. The steeping was outlawed by Edward I.''Oxford English Dictionary'', 1st ed. "scalding, ''n.1''. Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1910.
Stephen was certainly a very wealthy man, whatever the origin of his fortune, as shown by the inventory of his possessions made after his death. The list of valuables was considered particularly striking in a man who had taken a
vow of poverty
Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little
gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...
and
silver
Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...
, furs, fifteen horses, silk shoes and luxurious foodstuffs like
figs
The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of small tree in the flowering plant family Moraceae. Native to the Mediterranean and western Asia, it has been cultivated since ancient times and is now widely grown throughout the world ...
and almonds.
De Fulbourn received possession of the
temporalities
Temporalities or temporal goods are the secular properties and possessions of the church. The term is most often used to describe those properties (a ''Stift'' in German or ''sticht'' in Dutch) that were used to support a bishop or other religious ...
of the Archdiocese of Tuam in September 1286. He died in
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...
on 3 July 1288 and was buried in
Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin
Christ Church Cathedral, more formally The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, is the cathedral of the United Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough and the cathedral of the ecclesiastical province of the United Provinces of Dublin and Cashel in the ( ...
. His executor was Alexander of London, clerk.''Red Book of the Irish Exchequer''