William de Rodyard, de Rodiard, or de Rudyard (c.1275- c. 1349) was an English-born
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 fourteenth-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 held office as
Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas
The chief justice of the Common Pleas for Ireland was the presiding judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Ireland, which was known in its early years as the Court of Common Bench, or simply as "the Bench", or "the Dublin bench". It was one of the s ...
; he was also
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 ...
, and briefly Deputy Lord Treasurer of Ireland. He was the first
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 the
Medieval University of Dublin
The medieval University of Dublin () was an early but generally unsuccessful attempt to establish a university in Dublin, the capital city of the Lordship of Ireland. Founded in 1320, it maintained an intermittent existence for the next two cent ...
(not to be confused with
Trinity College Dublin
, name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin
, motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin)
, motto_lang = la
, motto_English = It will last i ...
, which was a much later foundation).
[Gallagher, Niav "Rodyard (Rudyard), William de" ''Cambridge Dictionary of Irish Biography'' 2009]
Career
Little is known of his background or his early life, although he was probably born in
Rudyard, Staffordshire
Rudyard is a lakeside village in the county of Staffordshire, England, west of Leek and on the shore of Rudyard Lake. Population details as taken at the 2011 census can be found under Horton.
The Rudyard railway station was opened by the North St ...
, and took his name from the village.
[ A few official records give his first name as John.][ The National Archives ''Officers in Ireland anno primo R. Edward III and their yearly fees'' ] He was in holy orders, and must have been a 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, t ...
graduate since he was often termed "Magister (Master)", a title which was given at the time only to those with a University degree
An academic degree is a qualification awarded to students upon successful completion of a course of study in higher education, usually at a college or university. These institutions commonly offer degrees at various levels, usually including unde ...
; it is unlikely that he would have been selected to head a University without a degree.
He is first heard of in Dublin in 1307 as Treasurer of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin
Saint Patrick's Cathedral ( ir, Ard-Eaglais Naomh Pádraig) in Dublin, Ireland, founded in 1191 as a Roman Catholic cathedral, is currently the national cathedral of the Church of Ireland. Christ Church Cathedral, also a Church of Ireland ca ...
;[Ball F. Elrington ''The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921'' John Murray London 1926 Vol.1 p. 69] he was elected Dean of St Patrick's in 1312,[ and apparently served in that capacity until his elevation to the Bench in 1327. He already had considerable practical experience of the duties of Dean, as his predecessor ]Thomas de Chaddesworth
Thomas de Chaddesworth, de Chedworth or de Chadsworth (c.1230-1311) was an English-born Crown servant and cleric who spent some fifty years in Ireland, and died there at a great age.
He was Deans of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, Dean of St ...
had been in failing health for some time prior to his death in 1311 (he had been in the Crown service for 50 years), and William had acted as his deputy.[
From the sketchy information we have about his personality, he seems to have been an able administrator and a man who was "learned in the law". He acted for a time as an ]itinerant justice
An eyre or iter, sometimes called a general eyre, was the name of a circuit travelled by an itinerant justice in medieval England (a justice in eyre), or the circuit court over which they presided, or the right of the monarch (or justices acting ...
. He played a considerable part in the defence of Dublin during the Bruce campaign in Ireland
The Bruce campaign was a three-year military campaign in Ireland by Edward Bruce, brother of the Scottish king Robert the Bruce. It lasted from his landing at Larne in 1315 to his defeat and death in 1318 at the Battle of Faughart in County Lo ...
in 1315-18, and later excommunicated
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 ...
the leaders of the Bruce invasion
An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing con ...
, together with those clergy who had supported them.[
]
Candidate for Archbishop of Dublin
In 1311 he was one of the three canons nominated for the office of 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 ...
, the others being Alexander de Bicknor
Alexander de Bicknor (1260s? – 14 July 1349; usually spelt "Bykenore" in original Middle English sources) was an official in the Plantagenet kingdom under Edward I of England, Edward II of England, and Edward III of England. Best known to histor ...
and Walter de Thornbury
Walter de Thornbury (died 1313) was an English-born statesman and cleric in 14th century Ireland who held the office of Lord Chancellor of Ireland. His efforts to secure confirmation of his election as Archbishop of Dublin were cut short by his d ...
.[ William, however, withdrew his name from the running, and the death of Thornbury, who ]drowned
Drowning is a type of suffocation induced by the submersion of the mouth and nose in a liquid. Most instances of fatal drowning occur alone or in situations where others present are either unaware of the victim's situation or unable to offer as ...
while on his way to Avignon
Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of So ...
to lobby for his own appointment, left Bicknor the undisputed choice as Archbishop. Bicknor could by all accounts be a difficult and quarrelsome individual, but his relations with Rodyard seem to have been amicable enough.[
]
Kilkenny witch trials
He became a Doctor of Civil Law
Doctor of Civil Law (DCL; la, Legis Civilis Doctor or Juris Civilis Doctor) is a degree offered by some universities, such as the University of Oxford, instead of the more common Doctor of Laws (LLD) degrees.
At Oxford, the degree is a higher ...
in 1320. In 1324 he was sent to Kilkenny
Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512.
Kilken ...
to sit as one of the judges at the witch trials
A witch-hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. The classical period of witch-hunts in Early Modern Europe and Colonial America took place in the Early Modern per ...
of the celebrated Witch of Kilkenny, Alice Kyteler
Dame Alice Kyteler (1263 – after 1325) was the first recorded person condemned for witchcraft in Ireland. She fled the country to either England or Flanders, and there is no record of her after her escape from persecution. Her servant Petronill ...
and her associates.[ He granted Alice ]bail
Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required.
In some countries ...
, thus enabling her and one of her co-accused, Basilia, to flee the country, although her servant Petronilla de Meath
Petronilla de Meath (c. 1300 – 3 November 1324) was the maidservant of Dame Alice Kyteler, a Hiberno-Norman noblewoman who lived in Ireland in what is now County Kilkenny. After the death of Kyteler's fourth husband, Kyteler was accused of pra ...
was burned at the stake
Death by burning (also known as immolation) is an execution and murder method involving combustion or exposure to extreme heat. It has a long history as a form of public capital punishment, and many societies have employed it as a punishment f ...
.
Later, in 1328/9, he presided over the high-powered Commission of inquiry which cleared Alice's brother-in-law Roger Utlagh
Roger Utlagh, or Roger Outlawe ( 1260 – 1341) was a leading Irish cleric, judge and statesman of the fourteenth century who was Prior of Kilmainham, and held the office of Lord Chancellor of Ireland. He was the brother-in-law of the celebrated ...
, Prior of Kilmainham
Kilmainham (, meaning " St Maighneann's church") is a south inner suburb of Dublin, Ireland, south of the River Liffey and west of the city centre. It is in the city's Dublin 8 postal district. The area was once known as Kilmanum.
History
In th ...
, and other officials involved in the trials of any wrongdoing, despite the accusations levelled by the Bishop of Ossory
The Bishop of Ossory () is an Episcopal polity, episcopal title which takes its name after the ancient of Kingdom of Ossory in the Provinces of Ireland, Province of Leinster, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remain ...
, Richard de Ledrede
Richard de Ledrede (died 1360/1361), also known as Richard Ledred, was a 14th-century churchman in Ireland who served as Bishop of Ossory. His long tenure as Bishop was marked by bitter controversies and repeated quarrels with his colleagues, bot ...
, the moving force behind the witch hunt
A witch-hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. The classical period of witch-hunts in Early Modern Europe and Colonial America took place in the Early Modern perio ...
. In particular, Ledrede alleged they had connived at the escape of Alice and Basilia. Curiously Ledrede made no accusations against Rodyard himself even though it was he who had granted the fugitives' bail. [
]
Papal legate
At the same time he was appointed 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 ...
, with a specific brief to inquire into the conduct of the Irish Franciscans
, image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg
, image_size = 200px
, caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans
, abbreviation = OFM
, predecessor =
, ...
, whose loyalty to the English Crown
This list of kings and reigning queens of the Kingdom of England begins with Alfred the Great, who initially ruled Wessex, one of the seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms which later made up modern England. Alfred styled himself King of the Anglo-Sax ...
had been suspect ever since the Bruce invasion of 1315-18.[ In due course he reported that the loyalty of many of the ]Gaelic
Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...
-born friars
A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the o ...
was doubtful, and that they were "a danger to the King's peace". He recommended that with a few exceptions the rebellious friars be distributed among the Franciscan Order's other Monasteries
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...
and that no Irish-born friar should be appointed to a position of authority.[
]
Later life
He became a justice of 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 ...
in 1327. He was appointed Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas in 1329, but served for only two years, although he was praised for his diligence in carrying out his official duties. He was briefly deputy to the Lord 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 a ...
in 1331. He was dead by 1349.[
]
Medieval University of Dublin
Pope Clement V
Pope Clement V ( la, Clemens Quintus; c. 1264 – 20 April 1314), born Raymond Bertrand de Got (also occasionally spelled ''de Guoth'' and ''de Goth''), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 5 June 1305 to his de ...
issued a Papal brief
A papal brief or breve is a formal document emanating from the Pope, in a somewhat simpler and more modern form than a papal bull.
History
The introduction of briefs, which occurred at the beginning of the pontificate of Pope Eugene IV (3 Marc ...
in 1311 for the foundation of a University in Dublin, but the project was hampered from the beginning by inadequate funds, and the University did not open until 1320.Cardinal Newman
John Henry Newman (21 February 1801 – 11 August 1890) was an English theologian, academic, intellectual, philosopher, polymath, historian, writer, scholar and poet, first as an Anglican priest and later as a Catholic priest and cardi ...
"The Ancient University of Dublin" in ''The Rise and Progress of Universities'' (1872) pp.207-212. From the beginning it was closely associated with St Patrick's Cathedral, and de Rodyard, as Dean of St. Patrick's, was the obvious choice to be the first chancellor.
Although a number of Chairs were endowed, including chairs of Theology and Law, the University, due to lack of proper financial or political support, never flourished, and it was suppressed at the Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
.[ The present ]University of Dublin
The University of Dublin ( ga, Ollscoil Átha Cliath), corporately designated the Chancellor, Doctors and Masters of the University of Dublin, is a university located in Dublin, Ireland. It is the degree-awarding body for Trinity College Dubl ...
was founded in 1592.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodyard, William de
14th-century Irish judges
Chief Justices of the Irish Common Pleas
Deans of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin