Robert Burnell

Robert Burnell (sometimes spelled Robert Burnel;[1]circa 1239 – 25 October 1292) was an English bishopwho served as Lord Chancellor of England from 1274 to1292. A native of Shropshire, he served as a minor royalofficial before entering into the service of Prince Edward,the future King Edward I of England. When Edward wenton the Eighth Crusade in 1270, Burnell stayed in Englandto secure the prince’s interests. He served as regent afterthe death of King Henry III of England while Edwardwas still on crusade. He was twice elected Archbishopof Canterbury, but his personal life—which included along-term mistress who was rumoured to have borne himfour sons—prevented his confirmation by the papacy. In1275 Burnell was elected Bishop of Bath andWells, afterEdward had appointed him Lord Chancellor in 1274.Burnell was behind the efforts of the royal officials to en-force royal rights during his term of office as chancel-lor, including the implementation of the Quo warrantoprocedures. He also helped with the legislative and legalreforms of Edward’s reign. During Burnell’s tenure thechancellor’s office and records became fixed in Londonrather than travelling with the king. Burnell went abroadon diplomatic missions for Edward, and for a time gov-erned Gascony. He continued to enjoy the king’s trustuntil his death in 1292; one historian has suggested thatBurnell may have been the most important royal officialof the 13th century.

1 Early life

By 1198 Burnell’s family had bestowed its name on thevillage of Acton Burnell in Shropshire,[2] where Burnellwas born[3] probably in about 1239, as he was close inage to King Edward. His father was probably Roger Bur-nell, who died in about 1259. He had three brothers, twoof whom died fighting the Welsh at the Battle of Moel-y-don in 1282; the third, Hugh, died in 1286. Hugh’sson Philip was Robert’s eventual heir. Burnell worked asa clerk in the royal chancery,[4][lower-alpha 1] the office re-sponsible for the writing of documents,[6] before movingto the household of Prince Edward, later King Edward Iof England.[4] By 1257 Burnell was spending most of histime with the prince and the prince’s household.[7] Af-ter Simon de Montfort's victory at the Battle of Lewes in1264, Burnell continued to serve Edward, and was namedthe prince’s clerk in December 1264.[8] As a reward forhis service, Burnell was given the prebend ofHolme in thediocese of York some time before 1267, and was named

Archdeacon of York in December 1270.[9] He also heldthe office of chancellor to Edward from the time of theBattle of Evesham in 1265 until 1270, when Edward lefton crusade.[8]

Prince Edward tried to have Burnell elected to theArchbishopric of Canterbury in 1270, but was frustratedby the Canterbury cathedral chapter's members, who in-stead elected their prior, William Chillenden. Eventu-ally Pope Gregory X set Chillenden aside and installedhis own choice in the see, Robert Kilwardby.[10] Bur-nell did not accompany the prince on crusade in late1270, although he had originally planned to do so. In-stead, he was appointed one of the four lieutenants wholooked after Edward’s interests while the prince wasaway.[2][lower-alpha 2] Thus he was still in England whenHenry III died in November 1272. Burnell acted as oneof the regents of the kingdom until August 1274, whenthe prince, now king, returned from Palestine. Duringthe regency Burnell supervised a parliament, dealt withraids on the Welsh Marches and resolved a trade con-flict with Flanders.[12] After the king’s return to EnglandBurnell was made chancellor.[13] The historian RichardHuscroft considers that Burnell gained valuable experi-ence governing England during Edward’s absence, ensur-ing Burnell’s dominance in the English government afterEdward’s return.[14]

2 Chancellor and bishop

On 23 January 1275 Burnell was elected to the see ofBath and Wells. He received the temporalities of thesee on 19 March 1275 and was consecrated on 7 April1275.[13] Three years later Edward once more tried tosecure the see of Canterbury for his favourite. Burnellwas elected to the archbishopric in June or July 1278, butthe election was quashed by Pope Nicholas III in January1279.[15] King Edward sent a deputation,[16] including theeventual appointee, John Peckham, to secure Nicholas’confirmation of the election.[17] The pope named threecardinals as investigators, and then appointed Peckhaminstead.[16] The bishop’s second failure to obtain the arch-bishopric was probably a consequence of his lifestyle,which included keeping a mistress.[2] Edward made onefinal attempt to promote his friend to a wealthier seein early 1280, when Burnell was nominated to becomeBishop of Winchester,[18] but Pope Nicholas III quashedthe election[19] on 28 June 1280.[18]

Burnell was the chief and most influential of Edward

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2 3 FOREIGN SERVICE

I’s advisers during the first half of his reign.[20] As partof his duties Burnell spent most of his time in atten-dance on the king. He heard many requests and peti-tions from those who desired patronage or other advance-ments, and was diligent and active in dealing with routinebusiness.[21] Burnell played a leading role in the legisla-tion introduced by King Edward. The king’s major leg-islative acts mainly date to Burnell’s tenure of the office ofchancellor, from 21 September 1274 until Burnell’s deathin 1292.[2][22] Burnell was instrumental in the enforce-ment of royal writs and enactments, including the Statutesof Westminster, enacted in 1275, 1285, and 1290. Thoseof 1275 attempted to deal with the usurpation of royalrights.[23] Keeping the peace in the realm and the exten-sion of royal jurisdiction to cover rape was dealt within the statutes from 1285, along with a number of otherissues.[24] The last statute, from 1290, regulated land law,the result of pressure from the magnates, the leading lay-men of England.[23]

During Burnell’s time in office Edward and his royal of-ficials made great efforts to reassert royal rights that werefelt to have been usurped by the king’s subjects. These ef-forts were made under writs of Quo warranto,[lower-alpha 3]which asked the recipient what royal grant or warrantgives the recipient the authority to exercise a right or apower. They were first issued in 1278, after earlier at-tempts to recover royal rights through parliament unin-tentionally resulted in too much work for that body.[23]Through these writs, attempts were made to enforce therule that the only correct way to receive a privilege orgrant of land was through a written charter, which mighthave deprived most of the magnates of England of theirlands and rights. Most lands at that time were held notby documentary grants, but by the force of custom. Bythe 1290s the government was forced to back down andpermit rights as they had been allowed from “time out ofmind”.[25]

The distinction between the king’s personal householddepartment of the Wardrobe and the governmental de-partment of the Chancery, which was headed by thechancellor, disappeared almost entirely during Burnell’speriod of office.[26] The Wardrobe had developed as aless formal department for the collection and distribu-tion of money, but under Edward had effectively be-come a treasury for warfare.[27] There was no rivalry be-tween the holders of the Great Seal,[26] the official seal ofgovernment and used for formal documents,[28] and thePrivy Seal,[26] used to authenticate the king’s less formalletters.[29] During Burnell’s time in office the king onlyused a Privy Seal warrant, or an informal set of instruc-tions for the chancellor to issue a letter from the Chanceryunder the Great Seal, when the king and Burnell wereapart; after Burnell’s death the number of Privy Seal war-rants increased greatly.[21][lower-alpha 4]

Edward had such trust in his chancellor and the chancel-lor’s clerks that Burnell and the clerks were allowed todispense with the hanaper system,[31][32] which required

fees for sealing charters to be paid into the hanaper de-partment of the Chancery for disbursal.[33] Robert and hisclerks were permitted to enjoy the profits from the feesof their office.[31][32] Burnell was also responsible for thedecision to force the Court of Chancery to settle in Lon-don, rather than following the king and his court aroundthe country. A Chancery memorandum of 1280 recordsthat the chancellor, along with the other ministers, nowhad the duty of sorting the many petitions that came intothe government and only passing on the most urgent tothe king.[2]

As bishop, Burnell built a wall around the cathedral atWells, which helped to improve the security of the cathe-dral and its outlying buildings. He left the court each yearat Lent, when he returned to his diocese and attended toits affairs. Peckham appointed Burnell to be his deputywhen the archbishop went toWales in 1282. It was proba-bly Burnell who suggested a compromise in 1285 over thejurisdictions of the royal and ecclesiastical courts, whichallowed royal officials to return cases involving only reli-gious matters to the church courts.[2]

3 Foreign service

Burnell was active in the king’s foreign policy, especiallytowards France, Scotland and Wales, and undertook anumber of diplomatic missions to those countries. Bur-nell served as the royal spokesman on several of these oc-casions, one of them being at Paris in 1286 when he madea speech detailing the history of English–French relationssince the Treaty of Paris of 1259. The speech was a pre-lude to discussions, successfully concluded, involving thehomage that Edward owed to King Philip IV of France,for Edward’s land in France.[34] Burnell was employed inGascony during the late 1280s, helping to administer thatduchy and to reorganise its government. He showed him-self sensitive to the Gascon desire for independence anddid not attempt to impose the same systems of govern-ment that were used in England. The historian MichaelPrestwich therefore argues that the first half of Edward’sreign was the period when Gascony enjoyed its most suc-cessful government under the Plantagenets.[35] Later, inJune 1291, Burnell gave two speeches at the great coun-cil of English and Scottish nobles in Norham to decidethe succession to the Scottish crown. Edward had beenasked to mediate an end to the crisis over the succession,or the Great Cause as it was known in England.[36]

In Welsh affairs, Burnell attended a number of councilsdealing with Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales, andin 1277 he escorted Llywelyn toWestminster, where Lly-welyn pledged homage to Edward. Burnell was presentduring Edward’s conquest of Wales in the 1280s; he wit-nessed documents in Rhuddlan in 1282, and subsequentlyat Conwy and Caernarfon.[2]

Sometime before 1290 Burnell vowed to go on crusade

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to help reinforce the crusader city of Acre, which wasthreatened by Muslims in the late 1280s, but he neverfulfilled his obligation.[37]

4 Death and legacy

Burnell died in Berwick, on 25 October 1292. His body,without his heart, is interred in the nave of Wells Cathe-dral; his heart was buried at Bath Abbey.[38] Although hewas usually busy with royal business, Burnell managed toexpand his bishopric and provide for his relatives.[2] Heamassed great wealth, and acquired numerous estates inShropshire, Worcestershire, Somerset, Kent, Surrey andelsewhere. At his death, he owned 82 manors over 19counties, most of them his personal property rather thanthat of the diocese of Bath and Wells.[39]

Even after he became a bishop Burnell kept a mistress,Juliana. Rumours circulated that she bore him four sons,and that he had a number of daughters, all of which Bur-nell denied.[40] He kept a magnificent household, suffi-cient for him to be able to host a parliament at his homein Acton Burnell in autumn 1283.[41] He married off anumber of young female relatives, rumoured to be hisdaughters, to noblemen.[42] Amabilla Burnell married amember of a royal justice’s family, and a Joan Burnellwas the subject of a guarantee to the bishop that the sonof William of Greystoke would marry her. A WilliamBurnell was dean of Wells Cathedral, and was named asone of the bishop’s executors. Robert Burnell’s eventualheir was his nephew, Philip.[2]

Burnell built extensively at Acton Burnell Castle, andlarge parts of his house have survived. It was substantiallydifferent in plan from the older hall-style houses, whichhad the private quarters at the back of a large hall. AtActon Burnell the bishop’s quarters were well away fromthe building’s main public spaces, and included a latrine.The house was not quite a castle, but it was designed tohave some defensive capability.[43] The overall form ofthe structure was of a fortified hall-house, much like theNorman-era hall-keeps.[44] He also built the chapel andgreat hall in the Bishop’s Palace in Wells.[45]

Burnell was a dominant figure during the first part ofEdward’s reign, and he controlled most aspects of royaladministration.[14] He was involved not only in domes-tic issues but also in foreign relations,[46] a responsibil-ity he retained for two decades after Edward’s return toEngland in 1274.[47] Huscroft argues that he may havebeen the most important royal administrator of the 13thcentury.[48]

5 Notes

[1] During this period, a clerk meant a man who was a mem-ber of the secular clergy.[5]

[2] Exactly what happened and when in August 1270 is con-fused, and as this is the time when Burnell was put for-ward for Canterbury as well as when he planned to ac-company Edward on crusade, the exact reasons why thischange happened thus remain a matter of guesswork. Thehistorian Richard Huscroft explored the issues in an arti-cle in 2001.[11]

[3] Latin for “by what warrant?"

[4] The Privy Seal at this timewas held by the controller of theWardrobe, who was PhilipWilloughby from the accessionuntil 18 October 1274 then Thomas Bek, (later Bishop StDavid’s) until 20 November 1280, then William Louth(later Bishop of Ely) until 12 May 1290, then WalterLangton, acting controller from 12 May 1290, and thenappointed to office on 20 November 1290 until 1295.[30]

6 Citations[1] Harding England in the Thirteenth Century p. 159

[2] Harding “Burnell, Robert” Oxford Dictionary of NationalBiography

[3] Greenway Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300: Volume6: York: Prebends: Holme

[4] Chrimes Introduction p. 134

[5] Coredon Dictionary pp. 75–76

[6] Coredon Dictionary p. 66

[7] Prestwich Edward I p. 23

[8] Studd “Chancellors of the Lord Edward” Bulletin of theInstitute of Historical Research p. 183

[9] Greenway Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300: Volume6: York: Archdeacons: York

[10] Prestwich Edward I p. 73

[11] Huscroft “Should I Stay or Should I Go?" NottinghamMe-dieval Studies pp. 97–109

[12] Prestwich Plantagenet England p. 123

[13] Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 85

[14] Huscroft “Robert Burnell and the Government of Eng-land” Thirteenth Century England VIII p. 59

[15] Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 233

[16] Harding England in the Thirteenth Century p. 243

[17] Jordan “English Holy Men” Cistercian Studies Quarterly p.74

[18] Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 276

[19] Greenway Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300: Vol-ume 2: Monastic Cathedrals (Northern and SouthernProvinces): Winchester: Bishops

[20] Prestwich Edward I p. 138

4 7 REFERENCES

[21] Prestwich Edward I p. 233

[22] Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 228

[23] Prestwich Plantagenet England pp. 124–126

[24] Prestwich Three Edwards pp. 20–21

[25] Clanchy From Memory to Written Record p. 3

[26] Chrimes Introduction p. 140

[27] Saul “Government” Companion to Medieval England pp.115–118

[28] Coredon Dictionary p. 143

[29] Coredon Dictionary p. 227

[30] Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 79

[31] Lyon Constitutional and Legal History pp. 362–363

[32] Chrimes Introduction p. 145

[33] Coredon Dictionary p. 148

[34] Prestwich Edward I p. 323

[35] Prestwich Edward I p. 311

[36] Prestwich Edward I p. 365

[37] Tyerman England and the Crusades p. 236

[38] Greenway Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300: Volume7: Bath and Wells: Bishops

[39] Moorman Church Life p. 169

[40] Prestwich Edward I p. 136

[41] Powell and Wallis House of Lords p. 208

[42] Moorman Church Life p. 167

[43] Platt Castle p. 83

[44] Pettifer English Castles p. 209

[45] "Bishop’s Palace Chapel Wells, UK" Palace Trust

[46] Huscroft “Robert Burnell and the Government of Eng-land” Thirteenth Century England VIII p. 70

[47] Huscroft “Should I Stay or Should I Go?" NottinghamMe-dieval Studies pp. 108–109

[48] Huscroft “Should I Stay or Should I Go?" NottinghamMe-dieval Studies p. 97

7 References• “Bishop’s Palace Chapel, Wells UK”. The Bishop’sPalace and Gardens. The Palace Trust. Archivedfrom the original on 1 January 2008. Retrieved 5February 2008.

• Chrimes, S. B. (1966). An Introduction to the Ad-ministrative History of Mediaeval England (Thirded.). Oxford, UK: Basil Blackwell. OCLC270094959.

• Clanchy, M. T. (1993). From Memory to Writ-ten Record: England 1066–1307 (Second ed.).Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 978-0-631-16857-7.

• Coredon, Christopher (2007). A Dictionary of Me-dieval Terms & Phrases (Reprint ed.). Woodbridge,UK: D. S. Brewer. ISBN 978-1-84384-023-7.

• Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I.(1996). Handbook of British Chronology (Third re-vised ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UniversityPress. ISBN 0-521-56350-X.

• Greenway, Diana E. (2001). Fasti Ecclesiae Angli-canae 1066–1300: Volume 7: Bath andWells: Bish-ops. Institute of Historical Research. pp. 1–6. Re-trieved 5 February 2008.

• Greenway, Diana E. (1999). Fasti Ecclesiae Angli-canae 1066–1300: Volume 6: York: Archdeacons:York. Institute of Historical Research. pp. 31–36.Retrieved 5 February 2008.

• Greenway, Diana E. (1999). Fasti Ecclesiae An-glicanae 1066–1300: Volume 6: York: Prebends:Holme. Institute of Historical Research. pp. 78–81. Retrieved 5 February 2008.

• Greenway, Diana E. (1971). Fasti Ecclesiae An-glicanae 1066–1300: Volume 2: Monastic Cathe-drals (Northern and Southern Provinces): Winch-ester: Bishops. Institute of Historical Research. pp.85–87. Retrieved 5 February 2008.

• Harding, Alan (2004). “Burnell, Robert (d.1292)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biogra-phy (October 2007 ed.). Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/4055. Retrieved 5 February2008.(subscription or UK public library member-ship required)

• Harding, Alan (1993). England in the ThirteenthCentury. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UniversityPress. ISBN 0-521-31612-X.

• Huscroft, Richard (1997). “Robert Burnell and theGovernment of England”. In Prestwich, Michael;Britnell, Richard; Frame, Robin. Thirteenth CenturyEngland VIII. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell Press. pp.59–70. ISBN 978-0-85115-719-1.

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• Huscroft, Richard (2001). “Should I Stay orShould I Go? Robert Burnell, the Lord Edward’sCrusade and the Canterbury vacancy of 1270–3”. Nottingham Medieval Studies XLV: 97–109.doi:10.1484/J.NMS.3.322 (inactive 2015-04-28).

• Jordan, William Chester (2008). “The English HolyMen of Pontigny”. Cistercian Studies Quarterly 43(1): 63–75.

• Lyon, Bryce Dale (1980). A Constitutional and Le-gal History of Medieval England (Second ed.). NewYork: Norton. ISBN 0-393-95132-4.

• Moorman, John R. H. (1955). Church Life in Eng-land in the Thirteenth Century (Revised ed.). Cam-bridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. OCLC213820968.

• Pettifer, Adrian (1995). English Castles: A Guide byCounties. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell Press. ISBN0-85115-782-3.

• Platt, Colin (1996). The Castle in Medieval England&Wales (Reprint ed.). New York: Barnes &Noble.ISBN 0-7607-0054-0.

•

• Prestwich, Michael (1997). Edward I. New Haven,CT: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-07157-4.

• Prestwich, Michael (2005). Plantagenet England1225–1360. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.ISBN 978-0-19-922687-0.

• Prestwich, Michael (1990). The Three Edwards:War and State in England 1272–1377. New York:Routledge. ISBN 0-415-05133-9.

• Saul, Nigel (2000). “Government”. A Companion toMedieval England 1066–1485. Stroud, UK: Tem-pus. ISBN 0-7524-2969-8.

• Studd, J. R (November 1978). “Chancellors of theLord Edward”. Bulletin of the Institute of HistoricalResearch 51 (124): 181–183. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2281.1978.tb01878.x.

• Tyerman, Christopher (1988). England and theCrusades, 1095–1588. Chicago, IL: University ofChicago Press. ISBN 0-226-82013-0.

8 Further reading• Huscroft, Richard (2000). “Correspondence ofRobert Burnell”. Archives 25 (102).

• Maddicott, J. R. (1986). “Edward I and the Lessonsof Baronial Reform”. In Peter R. Coss, Lloyd,Simon. Thirteenth Century England I. Boydell &Brewer. pp. 1–9. ISBN 978-0-85115-452-7.

6 9 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

9 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

9.1 Text• Robert Burnell Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert%20Burnell?oldid=659609317 Contributors: Deb, Jdforrester, Ugen64, JohnK, Uriber, Tpbradbury, Lord Emsworth, Gentgeen, Michael Devore, Keith Edkins, D6, Rich Farmbrough, Wadewitz, Bobkey, Man vyi,Rodw, FeanorStar7, Kosher Fan, Tabletop, BD2412, Rjwilmsi, Koavf, Ground Zero, NeoChrono Ryu, Choess, CJLL Wright, Jaraalbe,EamonnPKeane, RussBot, Danbarnesdavies, Tony1, Doncram, Nikkimaria, Dr pda, Fuhghettaboutit, Tim riley, Ohconfucius, Gobonobo,Neddyseagoon, Iridescent, ChrisCork, CmdrObot, Chicheley, Cydebot, Ntsimp, Malleus Fatuorum, Nick Number, Johnbod, Juliancolton,GimmeBot, TwilligToves, Ealdgyth, Altzinn, All Hallow’s Wraith, Plastikspork, Piledhigheranddeeper, Brianboulton, Dank, Laser brain,Addbot, Giants2008, Daicaregos, Lightbot, Gail, Scrivener-uki, Yobot, Arla, Materialscientist, Tlle1, Citation bot, Jsmith1000, Noctur-neNoir, RjwilmsiBot, H3llBot, Jay-Sebastos, Brad78, BabbaQ, ClueBot NG, Helpful Pixie Bot, TFA Protector Bot, Vycl1994, Xenxax,Monkbot, DavidBrooks-AWB, Biblioworm, Bholcombe21, BigBadWolf315 and Anonymous: 16

9.2 Images• File:ActonBurnellCastlec.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/ActonBurnellCastlec.jpg License: CC BY3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: A. R. Yeo MortimerCat

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