John Kirkby (bishop of Ely)

John Kirkby (died 26 March 1290) was an English ecclesiastic and statesman.

John Kirkby
Bishop of Ely
Elected	26 July 1286
Installed	24 December 1286
Predecessor	Hugh de Balsham
Successor	William of Louth
Other posts	Archdeacon of Coventry
Orders
Ordination	22 September 1286
Consecration	22 September 1286 by John Peckham
Personal details
Died	26 March 1290 Ely
Buried	Ely Cathedral
Denomination	Catholic
Treasurer
In office January 1284 – 26 March 1290
Monarch	Edward I of England
Preceded by	Richard Ware
Succeeded by	William of March

Life

Kirkby first appears in the historical record in the chancery during the reign of King Henry III of England. When Henry's son Edward I came to the throne, Kirkby was given the title vice-chancellor, because he often had custody of the Great Seal when the Chancellor, Robert Burnell, was absent from England.[1] Often considered Burnell's protégé,[2] Edward used Kirkby in 1282 as a collector of moneys for the king's Welsh campaigns.[3] Edward rewarded him with a number of benefices, although Kirkby had not yet been ordained a priest.[1] One such benefice was Archdeacon of Coventry.[4]

Kirkby was Lord Treasurer from January 1284 to his death.[4] Kirkby was probably behind the reforms that took place in the treasury and exchequer. Book-keeping methods were updated, information on sources of income improved, and efforts to collect debts to the crown intensified.[5] Kirkby's Quest is the name given to a survey of various English counties which was made under Kirkby's direction in 1285 as part of this effort. The inquest investigated debts owed to the king, the status of vills, and the holding of knight's fees.[6] Also in 1285, Edward I appointed Kirkby to oversee a judicial commission investigating disorder in London. Kirkby summoned the lord mayor and the aldermen of London to the Tower of London to appear before the commission. When the lord mayor of London resigned in protest at Kirkby's summons, Kirkby occupied the city and no lord mayor took office until 1298.[7]

In 1283 Kirkby was elected Bishop of Rochester, but the Archbishop of Canterbury, John Peckham, opposed the appointment and Kirkby did not become bishop there.[8] Pecham objected to his being bishop of Rochester because Kirkby was a pluralist.[9] On 26 July 1286 he was elected Bishop of Ely, and was ordained as a priest and then consecrated on 22 September 1286 by Peckham, who did not object on pluralism grounds this time.[9] He was enthroned at Ely Cathedral on 24 December 1286.[10]

Kirkby died at Ely on 26 March 1290,[11] after a botched attempt to bleed him.[12] He was buried in Ely Cathedral. When he died, he left a brother Sir William (died without issue 1302) as his heir and four married sisters (Margarite, Alice, Mabell and Maud).[13] Kirkby was a benefactor to his see, to which he left some property in London, including Ely Place.[1] A marble tomb slab, now located in the north choir aisle, may possibly be from his tomb.[14]

Citations

1. Prestwich "Kirkby, John" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
2. Prestwich Edward I p. 234
3. Prestwich Edward I p. 238
4. Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 104
5. Prestwich Edward I pp. 241–242
6. Prestwich Edward I pp. 236–237
7. Prestwich Edward I p. 265
8. Greenway Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300: Volume 2: Monastic Cathedrals (Northern and Southern Provinces): Rochester: Bishops Archived 14 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine
9. Prestwich Edward I pp. 234–235
10. Greenway Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300: Volume 2: Monastic Cathedrals (Northern and Southern Provinces): Ely: Bishops Archived 14 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine
11. Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 244
12. Prestwich Edward I p. 343
13. Vincent's Visitation of the County of Leicestershire 1619
14. Sayers "Once 'Proud Prelate'" Journal of the British Archaeological Association p. 80-84

References

• 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. (1971). Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300: Volume 2: Monastic Cathedrals (Northern and Southern Provinces): Ely: Bishops. Institute of Historical Research. Archived from the original on 14 February 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2007.
• Greenway, Diana E. (1971). Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300: Volume 2: Monastic Cathedrals (Northern and Southern Provinces): Rochester: Bishops. Institute of Historical Research. Archived from the original on 14 February 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2007.
• Prestwich, Michael (1997). Edward I. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-07157-4.
• Prestwich, Michael (2004). "Kirkby, John (d. 1290)" ((subscription or UK public library membership required)). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (January 2008 revised ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/15655. Retrieved 4 April 2008.
• Sayers, Jane (2009). "A Once Proud Prelate: An Unidentified Episcopal Monument in Ely Cathedral". Journal of the British Archaeological Association. 162: 67–87. doi:10.1179/006812809x12448232842376.