John de Ufford (died 20 May 1349) was chancellor and head of the royal administration to
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 ...
as well as being appointed to the Archbishopric of Canterbury.
Early life
His family held the estate of
Offord Dameys,
Huntingdonshire
Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire and a historic county of England. The district council is based in Huntingdon. Other towns include St Ives, Godmanchester, St Neots and Ramsey. The popu ...
. His brother was
Andrew Offord.
[ Offord,_John_de (DNB 1885-1900), ]Charles Lethbridge Kingsford
Charles Lethbridge Kingsford, FBA (25 December 1862 – 29 November 1926) was a scholarly English historian and author.
Biography
Kingsford was born on 25 December (Christmas Day) 1862 in Ludlow, Shropshire, the third son of Rev. Sampson Kingsfor ...
Career
De Ufford was sent, along with Nicholas de Luna and Hugh Neville to
Avignon
Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label= Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the commune had ...
in the summer of 1344 as envoys to a council held by Pope
Clement VI
Pope Clement VI ( la, Clemens VI; 1291 – 6 December 1352), born Pierre Roger, was head of the Catholic Church from 7 May 1342 to his death in December 1352. He was the fourth Avignon pope. Clement reigned during the first visitation of the Bl ...
to mediate peace during the Peace of Malestroit (January 1343 – September 1346), a breathing space for both sides during the
Hundred Years War
The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of England and France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French throne between the English House of Plantagene ...
. The mediation came to naught.
[Fowler ''King's Lieutenant'' p. 49]
De Ufford was the chancellor to Edward III, keeper of both the great seal and the privy seal. He was entrusted with the privy seal in 1342 (thus becoming
Lord Privy Seal
The Lord Privy Seal (or, more formally, the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal) is the fifth of the Great Officers of State in the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord President of the Council and above the Lord Great Chamberlain. Originally, ...
),
[Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 94] and the great seal on 26 October 1345, which was the duty of the
Lord Chancellor
The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. Th ...
.
[ but held the office of Chancellor until his death.][
De Ufford held the position of ]Dean of Lincoln
The Dean of Lincoln is the head of the Chapter of Lincoln Cathedral in the city of Lincoln, England in the Church of England Diocese of Lincoln. Christine Wilson was installed as Dean on 22 October 2016. from 1344 to 1348.[Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 86]
Archbishop of Canterbury
After the death of Archbishop John de Stratford
John de Stratford ( – 1348) was Archbishop of Canterbury, Bishop of Winchester, Treasurer and Chancellor of England.
Early life
Stratford was born into the landed Stratford family of Stratford-on-Avon around 1275. His father was Robert de ...
, Edward chose de Ufford as Archbishop of Canterbury
The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Just ...
, though the canons of the chapter had elected Thomas Bradwardine
Thomas Bradwardine (c. 1300 – 26 August 1349) was an English cleric, scholar, mathematician, physicist, courtier and, very briefly, Archbishop of Canterbury. As a celebrated scholastic philosopher and doctor of theology, he is often ca ...
, the king's trusted confessor, a great intellectual and diplomat. De Ufford was appointed to the see of Canterbury
The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Just ...
by papal bull dated 24 September 1348 and was granted the temporalities of the see on 14 December 1348.[Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 233]
Death and afterward
Any developing contention between the chapter and the king was rendered a dead issue when de Ufford, already aged and infirm, was carried off by the Black Death
The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causi ...
, before being consecrated, on 20 May 1349.[
]
Notes
Citations
References
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External links
British History Online
Folio xxvii–xxvii b.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ufford, John de
1349 deaths
14th-century deaths from plague (disease)
Archbishops of Canterbury
14th-century English Roman Catholic archbishops
Lord chancellors of England
Lords Privy Seal
Deans of Lincoln
Year of birth unknown
Burials at Canterbury Cathedral