Thomas de Montpellier, or de Monte Pessulano (died after 1347) was a fourteenth-century Anglo-

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

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 Crown official, much of whose career was spent in Ireland. He held a number of important lay and clerical offices including

Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral The Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral is the senior cleric of the Protestant St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, elected by the chapter of the cathedral. The office was created in 1219 or 1220, by one of several charters granted to the cathedral by Ar ...

, Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland and, briefly, Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer.Ball, F. Elrington ''The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921'' John Murray London 1926 Vol.i p.68 His family, who came to England from

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

in France in the late thirteenth century, had a tradition of service to

Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassal o ...

and formed part of the royal entourage. Thomas himself is recorded as being in the service of the Crown by 1307, and in his official capacity, he visited Ireland on several occasions. Peter de Montpellier, who was Royal Physician to the English Court from c. 1303 to the end of the reign of

Edward II Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir apparent to t ...

, was probably Thomas's brother or cousin.Hamilton, J.S. ''Some Notes on "Royal" Medicine in the Reign of Edward II'' in "Fourteenth Century England" Chris Given-Wilson editor; Boydell Press 2002 Vol.2 p.33 He became a prebendary in the Diocese of Ossory in 1318 and was subsequently made prebendary of Lusk; he was appointed Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, about 1338. He made the pilgrimage to the shrine of St James the Great in Santiago de Compostela in 1319. He was appointed Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer in 1327, with a salary of £10 a year, but seems only to have served in that office for a few months. National Archives "''Officers in Ireland anno primo R. Edwardi III with their yearly fees''" He was made Chancellor of the Irish Exchequer the following year. In the same year, Robert de Wodehouse appointed him his Irish attorney.''Patent Roll Edward III Vol. 1'' In 1332 Alexander de Bicknor, 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 ...

, appointed him as one of his attorneys while the Archbishop was in England, along with his colleague

Nicholas de Snyterby Nicholas de Snyterby, or Snitterby (died after 1354) was a Law Officer and judge in Ireland in the fourteenth century, who held office as King's Serjeant, Baron of the Court of Exchequer (Ireland) and justice of the Court of Common Pleas (Ireland) ...

.''Patent Roll 6 Edward III'' Montpellier himself repeatedly visited England. In 1335 he returned to the Court of Exchequer (Ireland) as the second baron but was quickly transferred to the

Court of Common Pleas (Ireland) The Court of Common Pleas was one of the principal courts of common law in Ireland. It was a mirror image of the equivalent court in England. Common Pleas was one of the four courts of justice which gave the Four Courts in Dublin, which is still ...

.''Patent Roll 9 Edward III'' He went to England in 1341. Shortly afterwards he was removed from the Bench: whether this was at his own wish or not is unclear. He was still Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral in 1347, but nothing seems to be known of him after that date.

References

{{authority control Deans of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin 14th-century Irish judges Irish people of French descent Chief Barons of the Irish Exchequer 14th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests