Richard FitzNeal

Richard FitzNeal
Bishop of London
Appointed	15 November 1189
Term ended	10 September 1198
Predecessor	Gilbert Foliot
Successor	William of Sainte-Mère-Eglise
Other posts	Dean of Lincoln
Orders
Consecration	31 December 1189
Personal details
Born	c. 1130
Died	10 September 1198
Denomination	Catholic


4th Lord Treasurer
In office 1156–1196
Monarch	Henry II
Preceded by	Nigel, Bishop of Ely
Succeeded by	William of Ely

Richard FitzNeal (or FitzNigel; c. 1130 – 10 September 1198), sometimes called Richard of Ely, was a churchman and bureaucrat in the service of Henry II of England.

Life

In 1158 or 1159 Nigel, Bishop of Ely paid Henry II to appoint his natural son, Richard FitzNeal, as the king's treasurer.^[1]^[2] Richard was the great nephew of Roger, bishop of Salisbury, who had organized the exchequer under Henry I, when it was separated from the Chamberlain's office in the king's household. Henry II, who was an astute judge of character and inspired great loyalty, was well served by Richard, who held the post of Lord Treasurer at the head of Henry's exchequer for almost the next 40 years. Concurrently Richard was Dean of Lincoln, a major administrative position in an important English diocese. In 1184 he was made Prebendary of Aylesbury.^[3] He also held the prebend of Chiswick in the diocese of London.^[2]

In 1177 Henry II asked FitzNeal to write a book about his work. The book, Dialogue Concerning the Exchequer (Dialogus de Scaccario), is the first administrative treatise of the Middle Ages, a unique source of information on royal finances and the methods of collecting them in the twelfth century. Its preface instructs the novice in governance that it is not the function of the exchequer officials to decide on the merit of royal policy, merely to execute it. The secular bureaucracy is the instrument of the king's will, and the royal power ebbs and flows according to whether his treasury is full or empty. He wrote at the end of the work that he had "laid my axe to the virgin and rough wood and cut for the royal buildings timber that a more skilled builder may smooth with his adze."^[4] It is in the Dialogue that Richard recorded an oral story told to him by Henry of Blois, grandson of William the Conqueror and Bishop of Winchester, about the origins of Domesday Book, which according to Henry of Blois's story was made so that "every man might be content with his own rights, and not encroach unpunished on those of others."^[5]

As well as being treasurer, FitzNeal was rewarded with the position of bishop of London from 1189 until his death in 1198. He was nominated on 15 September 1189 and consecrated on 31 December 1189.^[6]^[7] The Diocese of London ranks third in honour in the Church of England after the Archdioceses of Canterbury and York.

Evidence from FitzNeal's writings shows that Richard had read the Institutes but that he seems to have not read the Digest, although he may have known of it.^[8]

FitzNeal was replaced as treasurer in 1196 by William of Ely.^[1] He died on 10 September 1198.^[6]

Citations

1 2 Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 103
1 2 Greenway Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300: Volume 1, St. Paul's, London: Prebendaries: Chiswick
↑ Prebendaries 1092 to 1842 – Aylesbury accessed on 3 September 2007
↑ Quoted in Clanchy From Memory to Written Record p. 19
↑ Clanchy From Memory to Written Record p. 25
1 2 Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 258
↑ Greenway Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300: Volume 1, St. Paul's, London: Bishops
↑ Turner "Roman Law" Journal of British Studies p. 14

References

Clanchy, C. 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: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X.
Greenway, Diana E. (1968). Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300: Volume 1, St. Paul's, London: Bishops. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 28 October 2007.
Greenway, Diana E. (1968). Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300: Volume 1, St. Paul's, London: Prebenderies: Chiswick. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 28 October 2007.
Turner, Ralph V. (Autumn 1975). "Roman Law in England Before the Time of Bracton". Journal of British Studies 15 (1): 1–25. doi:10.1086/385676. JSTOR 175236.

Political offices
Preceded by Nigel, Bishop of Ely	Lord Treasurer 1159–1196	Succeeded by William of Ely
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Gilbert Foliot	Bishop of London 1189–1198	Succeeded by William of Sainte-Mère-Eglise

Deans of Lincoln

High Medieval	Ranulph Simon Bloet Philip of Harcourt Adelelm Geoffrey Richard FitzNeal Hamo Roger de Rolleston William de Thornaco Roger Weseham Henry of Lexington Richard of Gravesend Robert de Mariscis William of Lexington Richard de Mepham John de Maidenstan Oliver Sutton Nicholas de Hegham Philip Willoughby

Late Medieval	Joceline Kirmington Raymond de Got Roger Martival Henry Mansfield Antony Bek William Bateman John de Ufford Thomas Bradwardine Simon Briselee John Stretley Richard Ravenser John Sheppey John Mackworth Robert Flemming George Fitzhugh Geoffrey Simeon Thomas Wolsey John Constable George Heneage John Taylor

Early modern	Matthew Parker Francis Mallet John Whitgift William Wickham Ralph Griffin John Rainolds William Cole Laurence Stanton Roger Parker Anthony Topham Michael Honywood Daniel Brevint Samuel Fuller Abraham Campion Richard Willis Robert Cannon Edward Gee Edward Willes Thomas Cheney William George John Green Hon James Yorke Robert Richardson Richard Cust Sir Richard Kaye

Late modern	George Gordon John Ward Thomas Garnier James Jeremie Joseph Blakesley William Butler Edward Wickham Thomas Fry Robert Mitchell David Dunlop Hon Oliver Fiennes Brandon Jackson Alec Knight Philip Buckler

Bishops of London

Post-Augustine	Mellitus Cedd Wine Earconwald Waldhere Ingwald Ecgwulf Wigheah Eadberht Eadgar Coenwalh Eadbald Heathoberht Osmund Æthelnoth Ceolberht Deorwulf Swithwulf Heahstan Wulfsige Æthelweard Leofstan Theodred Brihthelm Dunstan Ælfstan Wulfstan Ælfhun Ælfwig Ælfweard Robert of Jumièges Spearhafoc

Post-Conquest	William the Norman Hugh d'Orevalle Maurice Richard de Belmeis I Gilbert Universalis Anselm (quashed) Robert de Sigello Richard de Belmeis II Gilbert Foliot Richard FitzNeal William of Sainte-Mère-Eglise Eustace of Fauconberg Roger Niger Fulk Basset Henry Wingham Richard Talbot Henry of Sandwich John Chishull Fulke Lovell Richard Gravesend Ralph Baldock Gilbert Segrave Richard Newport Stephen Gravesend Richard de Wentworth Ralph Stratford Michael Northburgh Simon Sudbury William Courtenay Robert Braybrooke Roger Walden Nicholas Bubwith Richard Clifford John Kemp William Grey Robert FitzHugh Robert Gilbert Thomas Kempe Richard Hill Thomas Savage William Warham William Barons Richard FitzJames Cuthbert Tunstall

During the Reformation	John Stokesley Edmund Bonner (1st) Nicholas Ridley Edmund Bonner (2nd)

Post-Reformation	Edmund Grindal Edwin Sandys John Aylmer Richard Fletcher Richard Bancroft Richard Vaughan Thomas Ravis George Abbot John King George Montaigne William Laud William Juxon Gilbert Sheldon Humphrey Henchman Henry Compton John Robinson Edmund Gibson Thomas Sherlock Thomas Hayter Richard Osbaldeston Richard Terrick Robert Lowth Beilby Porteus John Randolph William Howley Charles Blomfield Archibald Tait John Jackson Frederick Temple Mandell Creighton Arthur Winnington-Ingram Geoffrey Fisher William Wand Henry Montgomery Campbell Robert Stopford Gerald Ellison Graham Leonard David Hope Richard Chartres

Authority control	VIAF: 89018676 ISNI: 0000 0001 1030 7397 GND: 10095930X SUDOC: 03035482X BNF: cb12178723k (data)

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, January 18, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.

Richard FitzNeal

Life

See also

Citations

References

Further reading