Richard FitzRalph (also Fitz Ralph; c. 1300 – 16 December 1360) was a scholastic philosopher, theologian, and Norman Irish

Archbishop of Armagh 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 archdio ...

during the 14th century. His thought exerted a significant influence on

John Wycliffe John Wycliffe (; also spelled Wyclif, Wickliffe, and other variants; 1328 – 31 December 1384) was an English scholastic philosopher, theologian, biblical translator, reformer, Catholic priest, and a seminary professor at the University of O ...

's.

Life

FitzRalph was born into a well-off

burgess __NOTOC__ Burgess may refer to: People and fictional characters * Burgess (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Burgess (given name), a list of people Places * Burgess, Michigan, an unincorporated community * Burgess, Missouri, U ...

family of

Anglo-Norman Anglo-Norman may refer to: *Anglo-Normans, the medieval ruling class in England following the Norman conquest of 1066 * Anglo-Norman language **Anglo-Norman literature * Anglo-Norman England, or Norman England, the period in English history from 10 ...

Hiberno-Norman From the 12th century onwards, a group of Normans invaded and settled in Gaelic Ireland. These settlers later became known as Norman Irish or Hiberno-Normans. They originated mainly among Cambro-Norman families in Wales and Anglo-Normans from ...

descent in

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...

, Ireland. He is noted as an ex-fellow and teacher of

Balliol College Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

, at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

in 1325 (which is the earliest known record of him). By 1331, he was a

Regent master Regent master (''Magister regens'') was a title conferred in the medieval universities upon a student who had acquired a master's degree. The degree meant simply the right to teach, the ''Licentia docendi'', a right which could be granted, in the ...

in Theology, and soon after was made

Vice-Chancellor A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth and former Commonwealth n ...

of the university; this was an almost unparalleled achievement for someone still in his early thirties, let alone an Irishman (although Prince, in his "Worthies of Devon" makes the case for him being a Devonian). As Vice-Chancellor, FitzRalph was faced with the crisis caused by the famous secession of masters and students to found a university at Stamford in Lincolnshire, and it is thought that this issue may have caused his first visit to the

Papal Court The papal household or pontifical household (usually not capitalized in the media and other nonofficial use, ), called until 1968 the Papal Court (''Aula Pontificia''), consists of dignitaries who assist the pope in carrying out particular ceremoni ...

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 ...

in 1334. He returned to England the following year having been appointed

Dean of Lichfield The Dean of Lichfield is the head (''primus inter pares'' – first among equals) and chair of the chapter of canons, the ruling body of Lichfield Cathedral. The dean and chapter are based at the ''Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and S ...

— ''"notwithstanding that he has canonries and prebends of Crediton and Bosham, and has had provision made for him of the Chancellorship of Lincoln and the canonries and prebends of Armagh and Exeter, all of which he is to resign"''. In 1337 he was again compelled to visit Avignon, where he remained until 1344. On 31 July 1346, he was consecrated

. In both of these positions, he was revered as a thoughtful and competent administrator. From 1344, FitzRalph began to keep an account in diary form of his sermons. The shorter, less consequential ones were summarised, while the longer, more learned theological sermons were written in full. This was especially true for those he preached at Avignon. Both forms were written in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, and show his love of learning, shared by friends such as

Richard of Bury Richard de Bury (24 January 1287 – 14 April 1345), also known as Richard Aungerville or Aungervyle, was an English priest, teacher, bishop, writer, and bibliophile. He was a patron of learning and one of the first English collectors of books. ...

. He is also believed to have sent many of his priests to study at Oxford to further their learning. His writings include his thoughts on

infinity Infinity is that which is boundless, endless, or larger than any natural number. It is often denoted by the infinity symbol . Since the time of the ancient Greeks, the philosophical nature of infinity was the subject of many discussions amo ...

predestination Predestination, in theology, is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of the individual soul. Explanations of predestination often seek to address the paradox of free will, whereby G ...

and

free will Free will is the capacity of agents to choose between different possible courses of action unimpeded. Free will is closely linked to the concepts of moral responsibility, praise, culpability, sin, and other judgements which apply only to actio ...

. Like his fellow Irishmen

Henry Crumpe Henry Crumpe ( fl.1380–1401) was Anglo-Irish Cistercian. Life Crumpe was an Oxford-based cleric from Ireland. He wrote sermons against John Wycliffe's views on dominion, though he was later condemned by the church as his views on the sacrame ...

and Dr. John Whitehead he was involved in a controversy with the

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

friars. He also clashed with 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 ...

John de St Paul John de St Paul ( 1295 – 1362), also known as John de St. Pol, John de Owston and John de Ouston, was an English-born cleric and judge of the fourteenth century. He was Archbishop of Dublin 1349–62 and Lord Chancellor of Ireland 1350–56. H ...

, as they continued the century-old controversy over which of them had the right to claim the

Primacy of Ireland The Primacy of Ireland was historically disputed between the Archbishop of Armagh and the Archbishop of Dublin until finally settled by Pope Innocent VI. ''Primate'' is a title of honour denoting ceremonial precedence in the Church, and in ...

. The texts demonstrate that FitzRalph was pre-occupied with social problems in Ireland – twenty-nine sermons were given in

Drogheda Drogheda ( , ; , meaning "bridge at the ford") is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. It is located on the Dublin–Belfast corridor on the east coast of Ireland, mostly in County Louth ...

, Dublin and various places in Meath to churchmen (whom he criticised for their laxity of vocation), merchants (whom he attacked for wasteful extravagances and underhanded trading practises) and the general population, among whom he was very popular as a preacher. At a time of often hostile racial relations between the colonists and natives, he took an honourable stand in denouncing discrimination against 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 ...

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

. At times severe, this was balanced by his very fair and serious approach as pastor of his flock, be they English,

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 ...

, or

. He undertook a third visit to Avignon from 1349 to 1351, where he is believed to have participated in the negotiations between the

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and

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 Bla ...

. His report on 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 ...

is the first firm evidence of its arrival in Ireland. From his return to Ireland in 1351 he became involved in what eventually became a very personal and bitter attack on various orders of mendicant friars. He wished to have their privileges withdrawn in regard to the act of confession, preaching, and other acts as they were undermining his secular clergy. As a result, he undertook a fourth visit to Avignon in 1357 to discuss the matter with

Pope Innocent VI Pope Innocent VI ( la, Innocentius VI; 1282 or 1295 – 12 September 1362), born Étienne Aubert, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 18 December 1352 to his death in September 1362. He was the fifth Avignon pope a ...

. He died there on 16 December 1360. In 1370, his remains were interred at St Nicholas's Church,

, where his memory was venerated for several centuries and miracles were reported in connection to him. It is possible that FitzRalph was

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 in 1360.

Writings

* Lectura on the Sentences * Summa de Quaestionibus Armenorum * Commentary on the Physics (lost)

References

Sources

* ''"Latin Learning and Literature in Ireland, 1169–1500"'', A.B. Scott, in ''"A New History of Ireland"'', volume one, 2005.
Biography

New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia
'.

External links

*
The FitzRalph Society
working towards furthering the study of and improving the public awareness of Richard of Dundalk.

* ttp://www.oxforddnb.com/templates/article.jsp?articleid=9627&back= Biography in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
Biography in A Compendium of Irish Biography (1878)

— a less than flattering overview of Fitzralph's career by the lexicographer Professor

Terence Dolan Terence Dolan (8 April 1943 – 20 April 2019) was an Irish lexicographer and radio personality. He was professor of Old and Middle English in the School of English and Drama at University College Dublin. He acted as the School's Research Co-or ...

(

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...

MP3 audio of a program broadcast in September 2006) {{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzralph, Richard 1300 births 1360 deaths People from Dundalk Irish expatriates in France Irish expatriates in the United Kingdom 14th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Ireland Archbishops of Armagh Scholastic philosophers 14th-century Latin writers Irish writers Fellows of Balliol College, Oxford Vice-Chancellors of the University of Oxford Chancellors of the University of Oxford Deans of Lichfield Irish people of Norman descent