Gervase de Cornhill
Gervase de Cornhill | |
|---|---|
| Justice of London | |
| In office 1147 –c.1183 | |
| Sheriff of London | |
| In office 1155–1157 | |
| Sheriff of London | |
| In office 1160–1161 | |
| Sheriff of Surrey | |
| In office 1167–1174 | |
| Sheriff of Kent | |
| In office 1163 – c. 1183 | |
| Royal Justice | |
| In office 1170 – c. 1183 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Gervase c. 1110 |
| Died | c. 1183 |
| Spouse(s) | Agnes, daughter of Edward of Cornhill |
| Children | |
Gervase de Cornhill(sometimesGervase of Cornhill;c.1110 – c. 1183) was anAnglo-Normanroyal official andsheriff.Beginning his royal service as a justice in London in 1147, he continued to serve both KingStephen of EnglandandHenry IIuntil his death around 1183. He played a minor role in theBecket controversyin 1170.
Early life
[edit]According to medievalistKatharine Keats-Rohan,Gervase was the son of Roger, who was the nephew of Hubert, the queen's chamberlain.[1]Other scholars are less sure that Gervase was Roger's son, and argue that Gervase was Hubert's nephew. Gervase was likely born around 1110.[2][a]He married Agnes, the daughter of Edward of Cornhill. After his marriage, he became known asde Cornhillbecause of his wife's property.[1]
Royal administrator
[edit]Gervase was royal justice in London in 1147,[1]and continued to claim that title through the 1170s on his personal seal.[2]He was one of the members of the royal administration under KingStephen of England.[3]Gervase was also a merchant[4]and financier. Around 1143 he loaned money to Stephen's wifeMatilda of Boulogne,and received in pledge land atGamlingayin Cambridgeshire. The queen was unable to repay the debt, and the lands pledged eventually became Gervase's.[5]Gervase also loaned money toHugh Tirel,son ofWalter Tirel,in 1146 to enable Hugh to go on theSecond Crusade.In return, Hugh pledged the manor ofLanghamin Essex to Gervase.[6]
Gervase held the office ofSheriff of Londonin 1155 through 1157,[2]1160 and 1161,[1]and may have held that office between 1159 and 1160 as well. He also held the office ofSheriff of Surreyfrom 1163 until his death as well as the office ofSheriff of Kentfrom 1167 to 1174.[2]Gervase was named a judge on one of theeyrecircuits in 1170.[7]
Later life
[edit]In 1170, Gervase was involved with attempts to keep Thomas Becket, who had been in exile, from returning to England. Working with Gervase wereRoger de Pont L'ÉvêquetheArchbishop of York,Gilbert FoliottheBishop of London,Josceline de BohontheBishop of Salisbury,Reginald de WarennetheSheriff of Sussex,andRanulf de Broc.[8]Gervase was part of the party that met Becket atSandwichon 1 December 1170 when the archbishop returned to England. The lay members of the group, led by Gervase, complained that the archbishop was sowing dissension in the land by his excommunication of the three ecclesiastics who were with the group, but Becket managed to calm the officials by stating he would consider the matter and reply to them the next day. The next day the group was accompanied by some clergy sent by the ecclesiastics who had been excommunicated by Becket. Nothing further was accomplished by this meeting except further offers from Becket to consider other options.[9]Afterwards, Gervase and Ranulf de Broc tried to discover which of the citizens of London had welcomed Becket back into the kingdom, but were frustrated by refusal of the London clergy to appear and by the laymen refusing to answer to anything but royalwrits.[10]
Gervase may be identical with the Gervase who in 1174 presented a loyalty speech to KingHenry IIfrom the citizens of London.[2]In 1177 Gervase, along withRichard de Luci,thejusticiarandRoger fitzReinfrid,assessed land taxes and heard judicial cases inMiddlesexandHampshire.[11]
Gervase held lands in London inherited from his father-in-law, lands in Kent from his father,[2]and lands in Gamlingay which he got through a mortgage. He also acquired other lands in Essex and Surrey. He also gave lands atGreenwichand East Lewisham toSt. Peter's AbbeyinGhentand other lands toHoly Trinity PrioryatAldgate.[2]
Death and legacy
[edit]Gervase died betweenMichaelmasin 1183 and Michaelmas 1184.[2]Gervase's offspring wereHenry,Reginald(or Rainald), and Ralph.[1]Ralph was also Sheriff of Kent (1191–1192) and Surrey (1191–1194).[2]The medieval writerWilliam of Canterburysaid that Gervase was "thinking of his usurious two-thirds and hundredths rather than of what was good and right".[12]
Notes
[edit]- ^A thirteenth-century account states that Gervase was the son of Hubert of Caen, but this account is unlikely because Gervase held lands atChalk, Kentthat had previously been held by Roger.[2]
Citations
[edit]- ^abcdeKeats-RohanDomesday Descendantsp. 411
- ^abcdefghijHarvey "Cornhill, Gervase of"Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
- ^WarrenHenry IIp. 34
- ^KingKing Stephenp. 366
- ^KingKing Stephenp. 190
- ^KingKing Stephenp. 231
- ^StentonEnglish Justicep. 73
- ^BarlowThomas Becketp. 223
- ^BarlowThomas Becketpp. 224–227
- ^BarlowThomas Becketp. 231
- ^WestJusticiarship in Englandp. 47
- ^Quoted in Harvey "Cornhill, Gervase of"Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
References
[edit]- Barlow, Frank(1986).Thomas Becket.Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.ISBN0-520-07175-1.
- Harvey, P. D. A. (2004)."Cornhill, Gervase of (c.1110–1183/4)".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/52168.Retrieved11 January2013.(subscription orUK public library membershiprequired)
- Keats-Rohan, K. S. B.(1999).Domesday Descendants: A Prosopography of Persons Occurring in English Documents, 1066–1166: Pipe Rolls to Cartae Baronum.Ipswich, UK: Boydell Press.ISBN0-85115-863-3.
- King, Edmund (2010).King Stephen.The English Monarchs Series. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.ISBN978-0-300-11223-8.
- Stenton, Doris Mary(1964).English Justice Between the Norman Conquest and the Great Charter 1066–1215.Philadelphia, PA: American Philosophical Society.
- Warren, W. L.(1973).Henry II.Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.ISBN0-520-03494-5.
- West, Francis (1966).The Justiciarship in England 1066–1232.Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.