Alexander de Balscot, also known as Alexander Petit (died 1400) was one of the leading Irish

clerics Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

and statesmen of the late fourteenth century, who held the offices of

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 ...

Bishop of Meath The Bishop of Meath is an episcopal title which takes its name after the ancient Kingdom of Meath. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains as a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with another bishopric. History Unti ...

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 ...

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 ...

Family

He was born at

Balscote Balscote or Balscott is a village in the civil parish of Wroxton, Oxfordshire, about west of Banbury. The Domesday Book of 1086 records the place-name as ''Berescote''. '' Curia regis'' rolls from 1204 and 1208 record it as ''Belescot''. An e ...

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 ...

; Nicholas de Balscote,

Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer The Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer was the Baron (judge) who presided over the Court of Exchequer (Ireland). The Irish Court of Exchequer was a mirror of the equivalent court in England and was one of the four courts which sat in the buildin ...

1313-1319, was probably his cousin, though of an earlier generation. John Balscot, 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 1354, and Ralph Balscote, a clerk in the royal service, may also have been relatives.

Bishop

Alexander is first heard of in Ireland in 1358; he became

vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

Dungarvan Dungarvan () is a coastal town and harbour in County Waterford, on the south-east coast of Ireland. Prior to the merger of Waterford County Council with Waterford City Council in 2014, Dungarvan was the county town and administrative centre of ...

in 1359, Bishop of Ossory in 1371 and Bishop of Meath in 1386. He was criticised for spending large sums of money to influence his election to the See of Ossory, and for visiting the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

without permission, but received a

royal pardon In the English and British tradition, the royal prerogative of mercy is one of the historic royal prerogatives of the British monarch, by which they can grant pardons (informally known as a royal pardon) to convicted persons. The royal preroga ...

to cover any possible wrongdoing.

Statesman

He was appointed Treasurer of Ireland in 1372 and again in 1376-7; he acted as

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) ...

in 1379, but was not appointed to the office permanently, due to ill health. In 1377 he and

John Brettan John Brettan or Breton (died after 1382) was an Irish judge and Crown official. His regular petitions to the Crown and to the Irish Privy Council, of which he wrote five which have survived between 1376 and 1382 (others by his own account have been ...

, Baron of the Court of Exchequer (Ireland) were much occupied on the King's business in

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

,''Close Roll 51 Edward III'' although the

Council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

refused their subsequent request to cross to England to put the matter before King

Edward III 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 r ...

and the English Council. In 1378 he petitioned the Crown that the warrant appointing John Warner as

High Sheriff of County Cork The High Sheriff of County Cork was the Sovereign's judicial representative in County Cork. Initially an office for lifetime, assigned by the Sovereign, the High Sheriff became an annual appointment following the Provisions of Oxford in 1258. B ...

and that he not intermeddle in the office.National Archives SC 8/63/3137

Richard II Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, and Joan, Countess of Kent. Richard's father died ...

appointed him Lord Chancellor in 1386. He was a key member of the Irish government of the pre-eminent

royal favourite Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a c ...

Robert de Vere, Duke of Ireland Robert de Vere, Duke of Ireland, KG (16 January 1362 – 22 November 1392) was a favourite and court companion of King Richard II of England. He was the ninth Earl of Oxford and the first and only Duke of Ireland and Marquess of Dublin. He ...

. Following de Vere's downfall at the

Battle of Radcot Bridge The Battle of Radcot Bridge was fought on 19 December 1387 in medieval England between troops loyal to Richard II, led by court favourite Robert de Vere, and an army captained by Henry Bolingbroke, Earl of Derby. It took place at Radcot Bridge, ...

in 1388, de Balscot was dismissed from office, along with most of his colleagues, including John Stanley, 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 ...

James Butler, 3rd Earl of Ormond James Butler, 3rd Earl of Ormond (c. 1359 – 7 September 1405), was a noble in the Peerage of Ireland. He acceded to the title in 1382, and built Gowran Castle three years later in 1385 close to the centre of Gowran, making it his usual residence, ...

, the Governor, and Sir

Robert Crull Sir Robert Crull (1349–1408) was the Treasurer of Ireland during the reigns of Richard II and Henry IV. Crull is an important figure in the history of English Ireland during the reign of Richard II (1382–1399) for two reasons: his involveme ...

, the

Lord High 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 ...

. Later that year, King

reappointed all of them to their old positions. De Balscot later also acted as Chancellor and Justiciar at intervals until his death in 1400. In 1395 the King relieved him of his duties as Chancellor on account of old age.

National Library of Ireland The National Library of Ireland (NLI; ga, Leabharlann Náisiúnta na hÉireann) is the Republic of Ireland's national library located in Dublin, in a building designed by Thomas Newenham Deane. The mission of the National Library of Ireland is ...

f.2639 p.1546 In 1399 he delivered a lengthy and pessimistic address on the condition of Ireland to the King: "no soldiers for the defence of this realm and no money to pay for them... the King hath no profit from this realm.. The Irish enemies are strong and arrogant and of great power...The English rebels are allies of the Irish enemies".

Last years

He died at his official residence at

Ardbraccan Ardbraccan ( ga, Ard Breacáin) is an ancient place of Christian worship in County Meath, Ireland. It is the location of the former residence of the Roman Catholic, then, after the Reformation, the Church of Ireland Bishop of Meath. It is approx ...

County Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin, Dublin to ...

, and was buried in

Trim Trim or TRIM may refer to: Cutting * Cutting or trimming small pieces off something to remove them ** Book trimming, a stage of the publishing process ** Pruning, trimming as a form of pruning often used on trees Decoration * Trim (sewing), or ...

at St. Mary's Abbey, Trim. His policy was to buy off the Gaelic clans of the

Pale Pale may refer to: Jurisdictions * Medieval areas of English conquest: ** Pale of Calais, in France (1360–1558) ** The Pale, or the English Pale, in Ireland *Pale of Settlement, area of permitted Jewish settlement, western Russian Empire (179 ...

. He was a strong supporter of the

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the establis ...

magnates and opposed to the appointment of Englishmen to Irish offices. He repeatedly but unsuccessfully urged the Crown to provide more support for the Irish.Beresford, David "Balscot, Alexander of" ''Cambridge Dictionary of Irish Biography''

Reputation

Elrington Ball describes him as a man of great wisdom and learning. He was out of favour for part of his career, but he was always restored to a position of influence, as his advice was considered indispensable. O'FlanaganO'Flanagan, J. Roderick ''Lives of the Lord Chancellors of Ireland'' London 1870 similarly refers to his extraordinary reputation for wisdom and learning.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Balscot, Alexander De 14th-century Irish judges Lord chancellors of Ireland Clergy from Oxfordshire Year of birth unknown 1400 deaths Roman Catholic bishops of Ossory Bishops of Meath 14th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Ireland Lords Lieutenant of Ireland People from Dungarvan