Ralph Neville

Ralph Neville (or Ralf Nevill;[1] died 1244)

was a medieval clergyman and politician
who served as Bishop of Chichester and
Lord Chancellor of England. Neville first
appears in the historical record in 1207 in
the service of King John, and remained in
royal service throughout the rest of his
life. By 1213 Neville had custody of the
Great Seal of England, although he was
not named chancellor, the office
responsible for the seal, until 1226. He
was rewarded with the bishopric of
Chichester in 1222. Although he was also
briefly Archbishop-elect of Canterbury
and Bishop-elect of Winchester, both
elections were set aside, or quashed, and
he held neither office.
 Ralph Neville
Bishop of Chichester

Province Canterbury

Elected before 1 November

1222

Term ended 1–4 February 1244

Predecessor Ranulf of Wareham

Successor Robert Passelewe

Other posts Lord Chancellor

Archbishop-elect of
Canterbury
Bishop-elect of
Winchester

Orders

Consecration 21 April 1224

Personal details

Died 1–4 February 1244

 London, England

Buried Chichester Cathedral

Lord Chancellor (Keeper of the Great Seal)

In office
1226–1238

Monarch Henry III

Preceded by Richard Marsh

Succeeded by Richard le Gras

Lord Chancellor
In office
1242–1244

Monarch Henry III

Preceded by Richard le Gras

Succeeded by Silvester de Everdon

As keeper of the seal, and subsequently
as chancellor, Neville was noted for his
impartiality, and he oversaw a number of
changes in the way the chancery
operated. Neville was deprived of the
Great Seal in 1238 after quarrelling with
the king, but continued to hold the title of
chancellor until his death. He died in his
London palace, built on a street later
renamed Chancery Lane owing to his
connection with the chancery.

Early life
Neville, who was illegitimate,[2] had at
least three brothers: Nicholas de Neville,
a canon at Chichester Cathedral; William
de Neville, treasurer of the see of
Chichester; and Robert de Neville, holder
of a prebend at Chichester.[3] The identity
of their father is unknown,[4] but another
likely sibling was Roger, who held land in
Lincolnshire.[2] Robert became
Chancellor of the Exchequer, and
Nicholas a baron of the Exchequer.[5]
Ralph Neville was also related to Hugh de
Neville, King John of England's chief
forester.[3]

Neville was a royal clerk to King John in

the spring of 1207, and in December of
that year was at Marlborough Castle on
royal business.[6] Earlier references to a
Ralph Neville who in 1207 delivered
items to Hugh de Neville, or the Ralph
Neville who was the same Hugh de
Neville's chaplain, may be to the future
bishop, but the evidence is inconclusive.
Hugh de Neville and Neville subsequently
worked together, and corresponded on
both business and personal affairs. Both
men claimed the other as a kinsman.[7]

Neville's activities during the years

immediately after 1207 are unknown,
owing to the lack of royal records, but in
December 1213 he was given custody of
the Great Seal of the kingdom.[6] He was
Dean of Lichfield by 11 April 1214, at
which time he held a prebend in the
diocese of London.[8] Neville was
appointed to the royal chancery in about
1214, largely through the patronage of
Peter des Roches, the Bishop of
Winchester and one of the king's
favourites.[9] From March to October
1214, Neville was in France with the king.
After the king returned to England after
1214, Neville remained in royal service
until at least May 1216, although without
custody of the Great Seal. His activities
during the final period of John's reign
prior to the king's sudden death in
October 1216 are unknown.[6][10]

Royal service and Bishop of

Chichester
Neville was keeper of the royal seal under
the new king, Henry III (r. 1216–1272)[a]
from about 6 November 1218.[12][13] He
had been at the royal court since May
1218, and was given custody of the seal
as soon as it was made up.[6] One of the
first documents subsequently sealed
was a declaration that no charters or
other rights would be granted in
perpetuity until Henry attained his
majority.[14] Neville was also vice-
chancellor of England under the
chancellorship of Richard Marsh, who
had been elected as Bishop of Durham in
1217 and spent most of his time
attending to ecclesiastical affairs in his
northern diocese. In fact, if not in name,
Neville was responsible for all the duties
of the chancellorship, and he exercised
most of the power of that office,[6][15]
although Marsh continued to hold the
title of chancellor until his death in
1226.[12] When instability threatened the
royal government in May and June 1219
Neville was ordered by Pandulf, the papal
legate, to remain in London with the
Great Seal while a royal council was held
at Gloucester. The council resulted in
royal government coming under the
control of Hubert de Burgh the Justiciar,
Pandulf, and Peter des Roches, the
Bishop of Winchester.[16]
Neville received a papal dispensation for
his illegitimacy on 25 January 1220,[3][b]
on the recommendation of the king,
Stephen Langton the Archbishop of
Canterbury, other bishops, and the papal
legate Cardinal Guala Bicchieri, all of
whom testified to his good reputation
and character.[18] In late October he was
named chancellor of the see of
Chichester,[3] but was then elected
Bishop of Chichester on about 1
November 1222. He was given control of
the temporalities of the bishopric on 3
November 1222, and was consecrated
on 21 April 1224.[19] In April 1223 Neville
was ordered by Pope Honorius III to
cease using the Great Seal on the
command of the justiciar or other
members of the minority council, but
instead to do so only at the king's
command,[20] essentially ending the royal
minority. But it did not finally end until
December 1223, and even then, as the
king had not yet been officially declared
of age, the ban on grants without a fixed
time limit remained in force.[21]

Lord Chancellor
Neville was named Lord Chancellor of
England on 17 May 1226.[12] The
appointment was made by the great
council during the minority of King Henry
III, and Neville obtained a grant of the
office for life.[22] Unlike Hubert de Burgh,
who lost his offices when Henry III
attained his majority and took control of
the government,[c] Neville remained
chancellor with only slight
disagreements until 1238,[15] although a
confirmation of the lifetime nature of his
tenure was made in 1232.[24] Under
Neville, the first signs that the chancery
was becoming a department of the
government, rather than just a royal
department that was part of the royal
household, began to emerge.[25] The
contemporary writer Matthew Paris
praised Neville for his actions as
chancellor, claiming that he treated all
equally and was transparent in
discharging his duties, which was
important, as the chancellor's office
controlled access to the king.[26] Neville
oversaw a number of changes in
chancery procedures, splitting off the
liberate rolls from the letters close in
1226 and reviving the keeping of the
Charter Rolls in 1227. He also issued
writs on his own authority, the so-called
writs de cursu.[6] Neville received a
number of gifts and privileges from the
king while chancellor, including the right
of exemption from the seizure of his
possessions by any royal or other secular
official. The king also agreed not to
interfere with the execution of Neville's
last will and testament.[18]
Surviving letters from the precentor of
Chichester Cathedral beg the bishop to
come to Chichester over Easter to
celebrate the Easter Mass and to deal
with pressing issues in the diocese.
Neville's duties as chancellor kept him
from attending to much of the business
of his diocese,[27] but he employed
clerics to administer the ecclesiastical
offices of his diocese and in general his
relationship with his cathedral chapter
appears to have been good. He employed
a teacher of theology for his cathedral,
and supported students at schools in
Lincoln, Oxford, and Douai.[6] He worked
to protect the rights, lands, and privileges
of his diocese and cathedral chapter
from encroachment by others, both
secular and clerical. On one occasion he
threatened to excommunicate the Earl of
Arundel or the earl's men for hunting on
land the bishop considered to be his
own.[28]

Neville was elected Archbishop of

Canterbury on about 24 September 1231
by the monks of Canterbury, but his
election was quashed in early 1232 by
Pope Gregory IX,[6][29] on the grounds that
Neville was an illiteratus or illiterate, even
though he had been found to be literatus
in 1214 when appointed dean; literatus in
this sense meant "learned" rather than
"literate".[30] Other concerns were that
Simon Langton, the Archdeacon of
Canterbury, described Neville as a
courtier instead of a true priest, and
claimed that Neville's goal was to free
England from its feudal ties to the
papacy.[6]

As well as his chancery duties, Neville

occasionally sat with the barons of the
exchequer or with royal justices, and he
had a role in the appointment of royal
justices. In 1230 he was regent of
England while Henry was absent in
France,[6] during which time he met with
Llywelyn the Great in an unsuccessful
attempt to negotiate an agreement that
would resolve the disputes between the
English and the Welsh.[31] In 1232, during
the events surrounding the de Burgh's
downfall Neville, along with Ranulf, the
Earl of Chester, urged that de Burgh
should not be dragged from sanctuary to
face the royal accusations against him.
Neville's pleas prevailed for a time, but
eventually de Burgh was removed from
sanctuary.[32]

The king attempted to deprive Neville of

the chancellorship in 1236, which the
bishop countered by claiming that as he
had been appointed during the royal
minority with the consent of the great
council, only the council could dismiss
him.[33] In 1238 the cathedral chapter of
the see of Winchester elected as Bishop
of Winchester first William de Raley in
opposition to the king's choice of William
the Bishop of Valence, and when that
election was quashed, they elected
Neville. His election to Winchester was
quashed in 1239,[3] leading to a quarrel
with Henry III.[15] Valence was the uncle
of Eleanor of Provence, whom Henry had
married in 1236. Valence had gained
much influence with the king quite
quickly, and worked to eliminate the older
royal officials and institute reforms in the
royal administration. This, along with the
disputed election to Winchester, was the
cause of Neville's fall from favour.[34]
Although Henry deprived Neville of the
custody of the Great Seal from 1238 until
1242, Neville retained the title of
chancellor until his death,[15] thus
entitling him to the revenues he would
normally have received from the
office.[35] The Great Seal itself was held
by a number of minor officials, probably
to allow Henry greater control over its
use by preventing the establishment of
another powerful official who might
interfere with his plans.[36] But they
lacked the power base that Neville had
possessed, which enabled him to oppose
the king.[37]

In 1239 Neville may have been offered

the custody of the Great Seal, which he
refused. In May 1242 Neville was once
again responsible for the seal while
Henry was in France, a responsibility
apparently shared with the regent.[d] After
the king's return in September 1243
Neville did seal a few documents with
the Great Seal until his death a few
months later.[6]

Death and writings

Ralph Neville was buried behind the high altar in

Chichester Cathedral
Neville died between 1 and 4 February
1244[19] at the palace he had built in
London in what was then New Street,
subsequently renamed Chancery Lane
because of his being Lord Chancellor. He
was buried in Chichester Cathedral,
behind the high altar.[6] After Neville's
death Matthew Paris described him as "a
man laudable in all things, and a pillar of
fidelity in the business of the kingdom
and the king".[38] Some of the provisions
of his will are known: he left some
jewellery and gems to the king, some of
his lands were given to his successors as
bishop, and other lands and items were
bequeathed to his cathedral chapter at
Chichester. He also endowed a
distribution of bread to the poor
residents of Chichester, a gift that
continued into the 20th century.[6] Neville
also endowed a chapel near Chichester
with two clergy to pray for the soul of
King John.[39]

Many of Neville's letters survive, as they

were collected by him during his lifetime.
They are currently in the National
Archives of the United Kingdom, having
previously formed part of the Public
Record Office.[6] The letters were
published in Sussex Archaeological
Collections volume 3 in 1850 and were
edited by William Henry Blaauw.[40]
Neville was instrumental in promoting
the career of his brother William,[6] but
non-relatives also benefited from his
patronage: one of Neville's clerks,
Silvester de Everdon, was a member of
the chancery until 1246, when he was
selected as Bishop of Carlisle.[41]

Notes
a. Henry was crowned king on 28
October 1216, at the age of 9.[11]
b. This dispensation allowed Neville to
be ordained a priest, as priests were
required by canon law to be
legitimate.[17]
c. Henry III was declared of age for
some purposes in 1223, but did not
 totally assume control of the
government until 1227.[11] De Burgh
was ousted from power in 1232.[23]
d. The regent during this absence was
Walter de Gray, the Archbishop of
York.[11]

Citations
1. Clanchy From Memory to Written
Record p. 90
2. Vincent "Origins of the
Chancellorship" English Historical
Review pp. 111–112
3. Greenway Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae
1066–1300: Volume 5: Chichester:
Bishops
 4. Young Making of the Neville Family
p. xiii
5. Vincent "Origins of the
Chancellorship" English Historical
Review pp. 109–110
6. Cazel "Neville, Ralph de" Oxford
Dictionary of National Biography
7. Young Making of the Neville Family
p. 35
8. Greenway Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae
1066–1300: Volume 5: Chichester:
Chancellors
9. Vincent Peter des Roches p. 477
10. Clanchy England and its Rulers p.
192
11. Fryde, et al. Handbook of British
Chronology pp. 37–38
12. Fryde, et al. Handbook of British
Chronology p. 85
13. Powell and Wallis House of Lords p.
173
14. Carpenter Minority of Henry III pp.
94–95
15. Chrimes Introduction pp. 109–114
16. Carpenter Minority of Henry III pp.
128–131
17. Barber Two Cities p. 28
18. Young Making of the Neville Family
pp. 67–68
19. Fryde, et al. Handbook of British
Chronology p. 239
20. Carpenter Minority of Henry III pp.
301–302
21. Carpenter Minority of Henry III pp.
321–322
22. Chrimes Introduction p. 87
23. Clanchy England and its Rulers p.
203
24. Vincent Peter des Roches p. 297
25. Pegues "Clericus in Legal
Administration" English Historical
Review p. 538
26. Carpenter Struggle for Mastery pp.
351–352
27. Moorman Church Life pp. 164–165
28. Young Making of the Neville Family
pp. 77–78
29. Fryde, et al. Handbook of British
Chronology p. 233
30. Clanchy From Memory to Written
Record p. 229
31. Young Making of the Neville Family
p. 73
32. Vincent Peter des Roches pp. 314–
315
33. Carpenter Struggle for Mastery p.
358
34. Prestwich Plantagenet England pp.
88–90
35. Warren Governance of Norman and
Angevin England p. 190
36. Maddicott Origins of the English
Parliament pp. 169–170
37. Maddicott Origins of the English
Parliament p. 178
38. Quoted in Young Making of the
Neville Family p. 79
39. Young Making of the Neville Family
p. 65
40. Moorman Church Life p. xv
41. Prestwich Plantagenet England p. 62

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Medieval Europe 1050–1320. London:
Routledge. ISBN 0-415-09682-0.
Carpenter, David (1990). The Minority of
Henry III. Berkeley, CA: University of
California Press. ISBN 0-520-07239-1.
Carpenter, David (2004). The Struggle for
Mastery: The Penguin History of Britain
1066–1284. New York: Penguin. ISBN 0-14-
014824-8.
Cazel Jr., Fred A. (2004). "Neville, Ralph de
(d. 1244)" . Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography. Oxford University Press.
doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/19949 . Retrieved
8 November 2007. (subscription or UK public
library membership required)

Chrimes, S. B. (1966). An Introduction to the

Administrative History of Mediaeval England
(Third ed.). Oxford, UK: Basil Blackwell.
OCLC 270094959 .
Clanchy, M. T. (2006). England and its
Rulers: 1066–1307. Blackwell Classic
Histories of England (Third ed.). Oxford, UK:
Blackwell. ISBN 1-4051-0650-6.
Clanchy, M. T. (1993). From Memory to
Written Record: England 1066–1307
(Second ed.). Malden, MA: Blackwell
Publishing. ISBN 978-0-631-16857-7.
Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy,
I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology
(Third revised ed.). Cambridge, UK:
Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-
56350-X.
Greenway, Diana E. (1996). Fasti Ecclesiae
Anglicanae 1066–1300: Volume 5:
Chichester: Bishops . Institute of Historical
Research. Archived from the original on 8
February 2012. Retrieved 13 January 2012.
Greenway, Diana E. (1996). Fasti Ecclesiae
Anglicanae 1066–1300: Volume 5:
Chichester: Chancellors . Institute of
Historical Research. Archived from the
original on 9 August 2011. Retrieved
13 January 2012.
Maddicott, J. R. (2010). The Origins of the
English Parliament, 924–1327: The Ford
Lectures delivered in the University of Oxford
in the Hilary Term 2004. Oxford, UK: Oxford
University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-958550-2.
Moorman, John R. H. (1955). Church Life in
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ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University
Press. OCLC 213820968 .
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Clericus in the Legal Administration of
Thirteenth-Century England". The English
Historical Review. 71 (281): 529–559.
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JSTOR 556837 .
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Vincent, Nicholas (2002). Peter des Roches:
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85115-668-1.
 Political offices

Lord
Preceded by Chancellor Succeeded by
Richard 1226–1238 Richard le
Marsh (Keeper of the Gras
Great Seal)

Preceded by
Richard le
Lord Succeeded by
Gras
Chancellor Silvester de
(Keeper of
1242–1244 Everdon
the Great
Seal)

Catholic Church titles

Preceded by Bishop of Succeeded by

Ranulf of Chichester Robert
Wareham 1224–1244 Passelewe
Preceded by Archbishop- Succeeded by
Richard le elect of John of
Grant Canterbury Sittingbourne
1231–1232

Preceded by Bishop-elect Succeeded by

Peter des of Winchester William de
Roches 1238–1239 Raley

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