Thomas Cranley DD a.k.a. Thomas Craule ( c.1340–1417) was a leading statesman,

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

and cleric in early fifteenth-century Ireland, who held the offices of

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

of Oxford University,

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 ...

and

Lord Chancellor of Ireland The Lord High Chancellor of Ireland (commonly known as 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 ...

Early career

He was born in England about 1340; little seems to be known about his family. He entered the

Carmelite , image = , caption = Coat of arms of the Carmelites , abbreviation = OCarm , formation = Late 12th century , founder = Early hermits of Mount Carmel , founding_location = Mount Car ...

order. He is recorded as a Fellow of

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the Colleges of Oxford University, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the ...

, in 1366. He became

Warden A warden is a custodian, defender, or guardian. Warden is often used in the sense of a watchman or guardian, as in a prison warden. It can also refer to a chief or head official, as in the Warden of the Mint. ''Warden'' is etymologically ident ...

of New College in 1389 and Chancellor of the University of Oxford in 1390. He was a

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...

and a

Irish career

In 1397, on the death of Richard Northalis, he was made

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

of Dublin and arrived in Ireland the following year. After the accession of King Henry IV, Cranley undertook a

diplomatic Diplomatics (in American English, and in most anglophone countries), or diplomatic (in British English), is a scholarly discipline centred on the critical analysis of documents: especially, historical documents. It focuses on the conventions, p ...

mission to Rome, and was made Lord Chancellor of Ireland in 1401. When Henry's son Thomas, Duke of Clarence, was made

Lord Deputy of Ireland The Lord Deputy was the representative of the monarch and head of the Irish executive (government), executive under English rule, during the Lordship of Ireland and then the Kingdom of Ireland. He deputised prior to 1523 for the Viceroy of Ireland ...

, Cranley was appointed to his council. A letter which he sent to the King around the end of 1402 painted a grim picture of the state of English rule in Ireland. Cranley assured the King of his absolute loyalty to both the King and his son, but implored the King to send over money and men since "''your son is so destitute of money that he has not a penny in the world ... and his soldiers have departed from him, and the people of his household are on the point of leaving''". The King, who was generally short of money, is not known to have responded to this plea. Cranley himself could probably have contributed something to the Deputy's expenses: certainly, he was sufficiently well off to lend the Mayor of Dublin 40 marks in 1402. On the other hand there is no doubt that Crown revenue in Ireland was at a very low ebb, which contributed to the weakening of English rule in Ireland through the early fifteenth century. The pressure of official business, combined with the effects of ill health and old age, made Cranley increasingly unfit to perform his duties, and in his later years the functions of the Chancellor were usually carried out by his deputies, first

Thomas de Everdon Thomas de Everdon (c. 1320–1413) was an English-born cleric and judge, who was a trusted Crown official in Ireland for several decades. In a career which spanned almost fifty years, he served as Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Master of the R ...

, then

Laurence Merbury Sir Laurence Merbury (died after 1423) was an English-born statesman in Ireland who held the office of Treasurer of Ireland and was also Deputy to the Lord Chancellor of Ireland. Family He was born at Marbury, Cheshire, one of the three sons o ...

, and then

Roger Hawkenshaw Roger Hawkenshaw or Hakenshawe (died 1434) was an Irish judge and Privy Councillor.Ball p.173 He was Irish people, Irish by birth. He was possibly the son, but more likely the grandson, of an earlier Roger Hawkenshaw, or Hackenshawe, a senior Eng ...

. Cranley resigned as Chancellor in 1410, but in 1413 the new King Henry V reappointed him to that office. This is a tribute to the high regard in which the

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (), or more formally Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 until the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the Kingdo ...

, the Earl of Shrewsbury, held him. He also acted as Justiciar of Ireland, following the sudden death of Sir John Stanley, although in view of his age and ill health it was understood that this was only a temporary appointment. As Justiciar he was assisted by a military council, made up of such noted soldiers as the

Gascony Gascony (; french: Gascogne ; oc, Gasconha ; eu, Gaskoinia) was a province of the southwestern Kingdom of France that succeeded the Duchy of Gascony (602–1453). From the 17th century until the French Revolution (1789–1799), it was part o ...

-born knight Sir

Jenico d'Artois Sir Jenico d'Artois, Dartas, Dartass or Dartasso (c.1350 – November 1426) was a Gascony-born soldier and statesman, much of whose career was spent in Ireland. He enjoyed the trust and confidence of three successive English monarchs, and became a ...

.Otway-Ruthven, A.J. ''History of Medieval Ireland'' New York Barnes and Noble reissue 1993 pp.343-8 He became prebendary of

Clonmethan Clonmethan ( ga, Gleann Meáin; formerly also Clonmelkin, Kilmethan, or Glimmethan) is a townland and a civil parish in the ancient barony of Balrothery West, Fingal in Ireland. It is bordered by the parishes of Palmerstown to the west, Grallag ...

in north County Dublin in 1410: in 1414 he was sued by the Crown for recovery of the profits of the prebend for the previous two years, on the grounds that he had been an absentee prebend, but the lawsuit was dismissed when Cranley produced the King's

letters patent Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) ( always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, titl ...

authorising his absence.

Death

In 1417 he was asked to present a memorial on the state of Ireland, which was highly critical of Lord Shrewsbury's record as Lord Lieutenant, to the English Crown. He reached England, but he was an old man even by modern standards, and in frail health. The journey proved to be too much for his constitution, and he died at Faringdon in

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

on 25 May. He was buried in New College, Oxford: his memorial brass survives, and the inscription on his tomb hails him as "''the flower of prelates''".

Appearance and character

Early historians praised Cranley for both his mental and physical qualities: "''thou art fair beyond the children of men, grace is diffused through thy lips because of thine eloquence''" wrote one particularly eloquent admirer. He was described as tall and commanding in appearance, with fair hair and a ruddy complexion; his personality was witty, eloquent and learned. As a cleric, he was described as charitable to the poor, a notable preacher and a great builder of churches. The Parliament of Ireland in 1421 praised him as the model of what a good chief governor should be.Beresford, David "Cranley, Thomas" ''Dictionary of Irish Biography'' Cambridge University Press

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cranley, Thomas 1337 births 1417 deaths Carmelites Archbishops of Dublin Fellows of Merton College, Oxford Wardens of New College, Oxford Chancellors of the University of Oxford 14th-century English people 15th-century English people Lord chancellors of Ireland Lords Lieutenant of Ireland 15th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Ireland Wardens of Winchester College 14th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Ireland