Thomas de Burley(died c.1371) was an English-born monk who served as a Crown official andjudgein fourteenth-centuryIreland.He held office twice asLord Chancellor of Ireland.He was the Irish Prior of theOrder of St. John of Jerusalem,whoseDublinhouse was atKilmainham,from 1356 till his death. He had a reputation forcorruption,and for vindictiveness towards his opponents, but he could also show courage and determination, especially incombat.
Little is known of his life before 1356, when he was appointed both Prior of Kilmainham and Lord Chancellor of Ireland.[1]Like most of the Priors of Kilmainham in the fourteenth century he was English by birth, (a fact sometimes resented by the Irish monks), and he had entered the Order of St. John in England. He was superseded as both Prior and Chancellor byJohn Frowyk,but later regained both these offices. D'Alton tells us that he was Prior for "many years"; in fact, it seems to have been for about 15 years.[2]It has been suggested that he was an unwelcome choice as Prior, but this may simply reflect his later unsavoury reputation.
The Knights of St John were a fighting Order ofmonks,and the Prior had long played a key role in the defence of Dublin andthe Palesurrounding it. Burley, for all his faults, was well suited to a martial role. In 1359 thePrivy Councilordered him to be paid £43 as a reward for his good services in defence of Dublin against the O'Tooles ofCounty Wicklow,and mounting a punitive campaign against them, at a time when theExchequer of Irelandsimply had no money to pay for regulartroops.[3]A later entry in the Close Rolls orders payment to him of £200 for maintaining his own troops in County Meath and elsewhere "for the preservation of the peace".[3]
He clashed with many of his judicial colleagues, notablyRichard White,theLord Chief Justice of Ireland,and numerous complaints of maladministration and corruption were made against him. He was removed as Lord Chancellor in 1364, after theIrish House of Commonssent a powerful delegation, including White andMaurice Fitzgerald, 4th Earl of Kildare,to England to complain of his misconduct; the precise complaint being that he had seriously misrepresented to KingEdward IIIthe state of affairs in Ireland. The King gave an order that the delegation should not be "troubled" for their mission on their return to Ireland; this suggests that they were afraid of reprisals from Burley or his allies, which in turn suggests that Burley had a name for being vindictive.[4]
AtDroghedathe following year he was tried before a special court, presided over by theLord Lieutenant of Ireland,on numerous charges ofbribery,corruption andtheft.[5]The juryacquittedhim of all charges.[5]
He was alsopreceptorof the Order's house inShropshire.[6]
In 1367 it was proposed to reappoint him Lord Chancellor in place of the quarrelsome and unpopularThomas le Reve,Bishop of Lismore and Waterford.A brief power struggle developed, from which Burley emerged the victor. The same year he complained that the Order's manor atLeixlipwas being wrongfullydistrainedfor debts it did not owe. A royalwarrantto revoke his appointment was issued in 1368, but it was never acted on and was later vacated.[7]As Chancellor he was occupied with organising the defence of Dublin against the O'Tooles, whose raids on Dublin were a perennial source of worry to the Crown.[7]
In 1367-8 the Bermingham family and their retainers began a private war inCounty Meath.[7]Burley was appointed to negotiate a treaty with them, together with John Fitzrichard,High Sheriff of Meath,and Robert Tyrrel,Baron of Castleknock.[7]Aparleywas arranged atCarburybut the Berminghams, in breach of the agreement, took the commissioners captive.[7]Burley was quickly released in exchange for James Bermingham, who was then a prisoner inTrim Castle;the others were required to pay aransom.He does not seem to have been ill-treated by his captors.[2]
He probably died in 1371, whenWilliam Tanysucceeded him as Prior.[2]
References
edit- ^Ball, F. ElringtonThe Judges in Ireland 1221-1921John Murray London 1926 Vol. 1 p.83
- ^abcD'Alton, JohnHistory of the County of DublinHodges and Smith Dublin 1836 pp.615-6
- ^abClose Roll 42 Edward III
- ^Crooks, Peter"Hobbes", "Dogs" and politics in the Ireland of Lionel of Clarence c. 1361-6The Denis Bethell Prize Essay 2005
- ^abArchdall, MervynMonasticon Hibernicum; or a History of the Abbeys Priories and other Religious Houses of IrelandDublin W.B. Kelly 1863
- ^Ball p.83
- ^abcdeOtway-Ruthven, A.J.A History of Medieval IrelandBarnes and Noble reissue New York 1993 p.296