John Maunsell

For the British-American neuroscientist, seeJohn H. R. Maunsell.For the British Army cavalry general, seeJohn Mansel.

Sir John Maunsell
Lord High Chancellor of England
In office 1248–1249
Monarch	Henry III
Preceded by	John Lexington
Succeeded by	John Lexington
In office 1246–1247
Preceded by	Silvester de Everdon
Personal details
Born	1190/1195
Died	1265 (aged 69-75)

Sir John Maunsell(c.1190/1195 – 1265),Provost of Beverley Minster,was aking's clerkand ajudge.He served aschancellortoKingHenry IIIand wasEngland'sfirstsecretary of state.

Life

His grandfather, Robert Mansel, was aTemplarunderBaronGilbert de LacyinPalestine.Robert led a small force ofWelshandAquitaniansby night to put to rout a much larger force ofTurksunderSultanNur ad-Din Zangi,at his camp outsideDamascusduring the reign of King Henry II. His father, Walter, adeacon,was Napkin Bearer to the King. John Maunsell is first heard of when he was sent fromScotlandasoratorfrom Alexander, King of Scotland in 1215 to thecourtofJohn.As the son of a deacon under orders, his birth status periodically came into question eventually resulting in a letter fromPope Innocent IVratified byPope Alexander IVin 1259 stating "Approbation, addressed to John Mansel, Chancellor of London, the King's Clerk, of the dispensation given to him, at the King's request, by Pope Innocent, to be ordained and promoted, notwithstanding that his mother married his father, a man of noble birth, not knowing that he was a deacon, and was accounted for the time being his lawful wife; his father, after some time, repenting, resumed his orders, a divorce having been declared by theirdiocesan.The dispensation is approved, even if his mother's plea of ignorance and the reputation of a lawful marriage cannot be sustained. "

Maunsell became a favorite of the young King Henry III and was appointed to the vacantprebendofThameby Henry, butRobert Grosseteste,a reformingbishopwith strong feelings about ecclesiastical rights and privileges, refused to admit him. Reportedly, Maunsell took the Thame church by force before giving up his claim to the prebend (a specific type ofbenefice). Grosseteste, having thus vindicated his right, bestowed upon Maunsell the more lucrativebeneficeofMaidstone.Despite the loss of the Thamebenefice,Maunsell probably obtained morebeneficesthan any other contemporary clergyman as he amassed his plurality. Maunsell'sbeneficesincluded the livings of Haughley,HowdenandBawburghand prebends of Tottenhall, South Malling and Chichester. He was alsoProvost of Beverley(1247), Chancellor ofSt. Paul's,London, Dean ofWimborn,Rector ofWigan,Papal chaplain, and King's chaplain.

He fought with a contingent ofEnglishunderHenry de Turbevillein the aid ofFrederick II,King of Germanyin the north ofItalyin 1238. Frederick II was married to Henry's sisterIsabellain 1235. He fought alongside Henry III in theBattle of Taillebourgduring theSaintonge War(20–24 July 1242) and took Peter Orige, seneschal of theCount of Boulogne,prisoner. He was reckoned not least among brave men in this unsuccessful venture againstLouis IX of France.He was seriously wounded while leading an assault in siege of theVerinesmonastery.

During 1246 and 1247 he served asLord Chancellorof England.

John Maunsell established theAugustinianprioryatBilsington,nearRomneyin 1253 prudently reflecting that "the king's favour is not hereditary or worldly prosperity of lasting duration." He is however spoken of disparagingly by the chronicling monkMatthew Paris,of St Albans Abbey, for unfairly denying legal judgment in the Abbey's favour after a monk had been attacked and robbed by his protégé Geoffrey of Childwick.

He enjoyed great secular power; the 1258Provisions of Oxfordgave four men the power to elect a council of fifteen to govern thetreasuryand thechancery.These four men were theEarl Marshal(the Earl of Norfolk),Hugh Bigod,John Maunsell, and theEarl of Warwick(John du Plessis). Not only did he arrange the marriage of Henry III daughter,Margaret of EnglandtoAlexander III of Scotlandin 1249, but he entertained the courts of England and Scotland on King Alexander's visit toLondonin 1256. Such a feat would not have been possible but for the income from his pluralities. He was namedSeneschal of Gasconyin 1243 a post later held bySimon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicesterand subsequently by PrinceEdward.Alfonso of Castilehad his eyes on Gascony and John Maunsell helped to defuse the situation by arranging the marriage of Edward to Alfonso's half-sister,Eleanorin 1254. Sedgwick castle came into his hands in 1249. In 1261 he was named Constable of the Tower of London. He was mediator along with Simon de Montfort in arranging the marriage of Henry's daughterBeatricewithJohn of Brittanyin 1259. John Maunsell was inFrancewithQueen EleanorandEdmundwhen Simon de Montfort vanquished Henry III at theBattle of Lewes,14 May 1264. Shortly thereafter, Simon de Montfort took possession of Maunsell's estates in August 1264. John Maunsell died 20 January 1265 inFlorenceand was buried inYork Minster.Among his contemporaries were the better knownSimon de Montfort, 6th Earl of LeicesterandRoger Bacon.

Family and issue

Burke held that Maunsell married Joan, daughter of Simon de Beauchamp of Bedford, and had the following issue:

• Thomas Maunsell
• William Maunsell
• Henry Maunsell

However, Maunsell was inmajor orders,making marriage unlikely. Furthermore, he left property not to these supposed male heirs, but to his sister and niece, the rest of his estate reverting to the Crown.

Bibliography

Books

• Charles Greenstreet Addison(1842).The History of the Knights Templars, The Temple Church, and the Temple.London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans.
• Maunsell, Charles A.; Statham, Edward Phillips (1917–1920).History of the Family of Maunsell(Mansell, Mansel).Tiptree Essex: Anchor Press Ltd.
• Nicholas Harris Nicolas(1826).Testamenta Vetusta, Being Illustrations from Wills, of Manners, Customs, &c.Vol. 1. London: Nichols & Son.
• George Lyttelton, Baron Lyttelton (1767–1771).The History of the Life of King Henry the Second, and of the age in which he lived, in five books: to which is prefixed a history of the revolutions of England from the death of Edward the Confessor to the birth of Henry the Second.Vol. iii. London: W. Sandby and J. Dodsley.
• Powicke, F. Mauriceand E. B. Fryde (1961).Handbook of British Chronology.London: Royal Historical Society.
• Calendar Patent Rolls,Henry III
• Papal Letters Vol i., pp. 218, 262–3, 269, 362. (Pope Innocent IV & Pope Alexander IV)
• Foedera, Rymer, Vol i., pp. 48, 67, 135, 408, 415.
• History of the Exchequer,Thomas Madox;Vol. ii. p. 51
• Henry II and the Church,F. A. Gasquet;p. 196 et seq.
• England Under the Normans and Angevins,H. W. C. Davis
• Chronica Majora,Matthew Paris;Vol i. pp. 440,422.
• Chronica Majora, Matthew Paris; Vol iii. p. 153.
• Chronica Majora, Matthew Paris; Vol iv. pp. 294, 375, 601, 623–4.
• Chronica Majora, Matthew Paris; Vol v. pp. 101, 129, 179, 223, 238–9, 268–9, 355, 450, 505, 507, 690, 719.
• Winifred F. Knox,The Court of a Saint
• Royal and Other Historical Letters, Shirley, Vol i., pp. 145–6.
• Royal and Other Historical Letters, Shirley, Vol ii., pp. 175, 206.
• Chronicles of the Reigns of Edward I and Edward II, Vol i., pp. 60, 64, 66

External links

Electronic articles and journals

• http://www.sacred-texts.com/sro/hkt/hkt05.htmThe History of the Knights Templars
• https://web.archive.org/web/20050222094527/http://home.earthlink.net/~plantagenet60/plantagenet06.htm
• http://www.biodatabase.de/Secretary%20of%20State
• http://www.british-history.ac.uk/
• https://web.archive.org/web/20050222094527/http://home.earthlink.net/~plantagenet60/plantagenet06.htm
• British History Onlinehttp://www.british-history.ac.uk/
• Houses of the Austin Canonshttp://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=38204