John Hotham (died 1337) was a medieval Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lord High Treasurer, Lord Chancellor and

Bishop of Ely The Bishop of Ely is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Ely in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese roughly covers the county of Cambridgeshire (with the exception of the Soke of Peterborough), together with a section of nor ...

. He was also effective Governor of Ireland for a time. Hotham was the son of Alan and Matilda Hotham of Hotham and nephew of William Hotham,

Archbishop of Dublin The Archbishop of Dublin is an archepiscopal title which takes its name after Dublin, Ireland. Since the Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic successions to the title: one in the Catholic Church and the other in the Church of Ireland ...

. His early career was spent in Ireland, where he became

Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland The Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland was the head of the Exchequer of Ireland and a member of the Dublin Castle administration under the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in the Kingdom of Ireland. In early times the title was sometimes given as ...

until 1310. He was then appointed, on 13 December 1312,

Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Ch ...

in England, a post he held until June 1316. Due to his knowledge of Irish affairs, he spent a good part of the Bruce Campaign in Ireland in that country, overseeing the Irish defences and exercising temporary powers of government. His firm action is generally credited with helping to bring about the failure of the Scots invasion. Hotham was elected to Ely on about 20 June 1316 and consecrated on 3 October 1316.Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 244 Later that year he went to meet the pope in Avignon with the earl of Pembroke, partly to plead the case for the promotion of Alexander Bicknor as Archbishop of Dublin. After returning from Avignon, he was appointed

Lord High Treasurer The post of Lord High Treasurer or Lord Treasurer was an English government position and has been a British government position since the Acts of Union of 1707. A holder of the post would be the third-highest-ranked Great Officer of State ...

of England on 27 May 1317 but left that office in June 1318.Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 104 when he was promoted as

Lord Chancellor The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. Th ...

of England on 11 June 1318, an office he held until 26 January 1320.Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 86 Although close to King Edward II, Hotham switched allegiance to Queen Isabella when she successfully invaded to depose the king in September 1326. He was consequently appointed chancellor for the second time by her on behalf of the young

King Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring r ...

on 28 January 1327. He retired from government in 1328. Memorial to Bishop Hotham in Ely Cathedral

Hotham died about 14 January 1337 after two years of paralysis and was buried in

Ely Cathedral Ely Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, is an Anglican cathedral in the city of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. The cathedral has its origins in AD 672 when St Etheldreda built an abbey church. The present ...

Citations

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hotham, John Year of birth unknown 1337 deaths Chancellors of the Exchequer of Ireland Chancellors of the Exchequer of England Lord chancellors of England Lord High Treasurers of England Bishops of Ely