William Rokeby (died 29 November 1521) was a leading statesman and cleric in early sixteenth-century Ireland, who held the offices of Bishop of Meath, Archbishop of Dublin and Lord Chancellor of Ireland. He is commemorated in the Rokeby Chapels in two Yorkshire churches, St Oswald's Church, Kirk Sandall, and Halifax Minster.
He was born at Kirk Sandall, near Doncaster, eldest of the five sons of John Rokeby (died 1506). [1] His younger brother Sir Richard Rokeby (died 1523) was Comptroller of the Household to Cardinal Wolsey and later Treasurer of Ireland. [1] William retained a deep affection for Kirk Sandall and returned there to die. He went to school at Rotherham; studied at Oxford [2] and became a fellow of King's Hall, later Trinity College, Cambridge. He became vicar of his home parish in 1487 and was transferred to Halifax, another town for which he had a deep attachment, in about 1499. [1] In 1507 he was made Bishop of Meath. [3]
On the death of Walter Fitzsimon in 1511, Rokeby became Archbishop of Dublin. It has been suggested that his elevation was due at least in part to his English birth, as the Crown was anxious to place Englishmen high up in the Irish hierarchy. No doubt his brother's close connection to Wolsey also played a part. He was Lord Chancellor of Ireland from 1512 to 1513 and from 1516 to 1522. [4]
O'Flanagan believes that he was a good and diligent Lord Chancellor, although he did not leave behind many written judgments. He was clearly a trusted servant of the Crown: in particular, the Lord Deputy, Surrey, with the approval of Henry VIII, chose Rokeby in 1520 as mediator in the feud, which had become exceptionally bitter, between Maurice FitzGerald, 9th Earl of Desmond and Piers Butler, 8th Earl of Ormond. [5]
As Archbishop he made a reputation as a peacemaker, settling a long and bitter dispute between the Dean and Chapter of St. Patrick's Cathedral. [1] He gave permission to Gerald FitzGerald, 9th Earl of Kildare for the original foundation of Maynooth College, which was suppressed in 1535. [1] He was frequently at the English Court, so often indeed that he was accused of neglecting his official duties back in Ireland. He participated in the christening of the future Queen Mary I in 1516 and the ceremony by which Wolsey received his cardinal's hat. [5]
As Archbishop of Dublin, he is best remembered for the Synod of 1518. [1] The Synod prohibited the use of any tin chalice at Mass, and the disposal of Church property by laymen; and attempted to regulate the procedure for dealing with intestate estates, the payment of tithes and burial fees and the rules for admission to the clergy. [1] Rather comically, Rokeby strictly forbade clergymen to play football. [6]
He was appointed Archdeacon of Surrey on 27 March 1519. [7] By 1521 his health was failing: he retired to Kirk Sandall and died there on 29 November. [4] In his will he left £200 to rebuild St. Mary's Church, Beverley, whose tower had collapsed the previous year. [1]
Rokeby made elaborate provisions in his will for the disposal of his remains. In accordance with his wishes, his body was buried in St Oswald's Church, Kirk Sandall, but his heart and bowels were buried in the Church of St John the Baptist, Halifax (now known as Halifax Minster). Mortuary chapels were erected at both spots, [5] which still exist today.
O'Flanagan praises Rokeby as a good man, a good bishop and, so far as we can tell from the scanty records, a good judge. [5] Elrington Ball, while acknowledging his good qualities, suggests that he was a failure as Irish Lord Chancellor, due partly to his frequent absences in England. [4]
Adam Loftus was Archbishop of Armagh, and later Dublin, and Lord Chancellor of Ireland from 1581. He was also the first Provost of Trinity College Dublin.
The Lord High Chancellor of Ireland was the highest judicial office in Ireland until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. From 1721 to 1801, it was also the highest political office of the Irish Parliament: the Chancellor was Speaker of the Irish House of Lords. The Lord Chancellor was also Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of Ireland. In all three respects, the office mirrored the Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain.
Halifax Minster is the minster church of Halifax, Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England. The church is dedicated to St John the Baptist. The parish church of the town, it was granted minster status in 2009. Halifax Minster is one of three churches in the county of West Yorkshire to be given this honorific title; the other two are Dewsbury Minster and Leeds Minster.
Alexander Plunket was an Irish statesman and judge of the fifteenth century.
Thomas Jones was Archbishop of Dublin and Lord Chancellor of Ireland. He was also Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral and Bishop of Meath. He was the patrilineal ancestor of the Viscounts Ranelagh.
John Alen was an English priest and canon lawyer, whose later years were spent in Ireland. He held office as Archbishop of Dublin and Lord Chancellor of Ireland, and was a member of the Privy Council of Ireland. In the latter office, for a few years, he played a central role in the government of Ireland.
Michael Boyle, the younger was a Church of Ireland bishop who served as Archbishop of Dublin from 1663 to 1679 and Archbishop of Armagh from 1679 to his death. He also served as Lord Chancellor of Ireland, the last time a bishop was appointed to that office.
John Barnewall, 3rd Baron Trimleston, was an Irish nobleman, judge and politician. He was the eldest son of Christopher Barnewall, 2nd Baron Trimlestown and his wife Elizabeth Plunket, daughter of Sir Thomas Fitz-Christopher Plunket of Rathmore, Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench in Ireland and his second wife Marian Cruise. He succeeded his father as 3rd Baron in about 1513. His father, like most of the Anglo-Irish aristocracy, had supported the claim of the pretender Lambert Simnel to the English throne in 1487. After the failure of Simnel's rebellion, he received a royal pardon.
St Oswald's Church is a redundant Anglican church in Kirk Sandall, near Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building, and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.
Nicholas St Lawrence, 4th Baron Howth was a leading Irish nobleman, soldier and statesman of the early Tudor period, who held the office of Lord Chancellor of Ireland.
Thomas Chase, or Chace was a 15th-century judge, scholar and cleric who was Chancellor of the University of Oxford, and subsequently held the office of Lord Chancellor of Ireland.
Walter Fitzsimon or Fitzsimons was a statesman and cleric in Ireland in the reign of Henry VII, who held the offices of Archbishop of Dublin and Lord Chancellor of Ireland.
Hugh Inge or Ynge(c. 1460 – 3 August 1528) was an English-born judge and prelate in sixteenth century Ireland who held the offices of Bishop of Meath, Archbishop of Dublin and Lord Chancellor of Ireland.
Sir John Alan was a leading English-born statesman in sixteenth century Ireland. He was a member of the Irish House of Commons, and held the offices of Master of the Rolls in Ireland, Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland and Lord Chancellor of Ireland. Though he was childless himself, one of his brothers, William, founded a prominent landowning dynasty in County Kildare. The family's holdings included lands at Celbridge, St. Wolstan's and Kilteel, County Kildare, as well as substantial lands in County Dublin. They also acquired a baronetcy.
Sir Thomas Cusack (also spelt Cusacke or Cusake) (1490–1571) was an Anglo-Irish judge and statesman of the sixteenth century, who held the offices of Master of the Rolls in Ireland, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, and Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland, and sat in the Irish House of Commons. He was one of the most trusted and dependable Crown servants of his time, although he led a somewhat turbulent private life.
Patrick Bermingham (c.1460–1532) was an Irish judge and statesman of the Tudor period who held the offices of Lord Chief Justice of Ireland and Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland. He was a firm supporter of English rule in Ireland and enjoyed the confidence of Henry VIII, who regarded him as a mainstay of the Irish administration.
John Rycardes, or Rychard was an English-born cleric and judge in sixteenth-century Ireland. He held the offices of Master of the Rolls in Ireland and Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin.
Robert Dyke, Dyck or Dyche was an English-born cleric and judge who held high office in fifteenth-century Ireland. He was appointed to the offices of Archdeacon of Dublin, Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland, Lord High Treasurer of Ireland, and Master of the Rolls in Ireland, as well as holding several Church benefices.
Events from the year 1521 in Ireland.
The archdeacon of Meath is a senior ecclesiastical officer within the united Diocese of Meath and Kildare.
| Authority control databases: People |
|---|
