Nicholas Fastolf (??? - 1330) was an English-born judge who was a leading member of the early Irish judiciary; according to the most reliable source, he was the first judge to hold the office of

Lord Chief Justice of Ireland The Court of King's Bench (or Court of Queen's Bench during the reign of a Queen) was one of the senior courts of common law in Ireland. It was a mirror of the Court of King's Bench in England. The Lord Chief Justice was the most senior judge ...

. He was probably the direct ancestor of

Sir John Fastolf Sir John Fastolf (6 November 1380 – 5 November 1459) was a late medieval English landowner and knight who fought in the Hundred Years' War. He has enjoyed a more lasting reputation as the prototype, in some part, of Shakespeare's charact ...

, who is generally thought to have inspired Shakespeare's character Falstaff.

Family

He was born in

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the Nor ...

, one of the four sons of Thomas Fastolf of Reedham and

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside town and unparished area in, and the main administrative centre of, the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. A pop ...

.Ball F. Elrington ''The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921'' John Murray London 1926 Vol. 1 p.66 His brothers were

Thomas Fastolf Thomas Fastolf, sometimes spelt Fastolfe (died June 1361), was an English canon lawyer and Bishop of St David's from 1352 until his death. Probably educated at Cambridge and then overseas, he held the degree of Doctor of Laws and his first care ...

Bishop of St David's The Bishop of St Davids is the ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of St Davids. The succession of bishops stretches back to Saint David who in the 6th century established his seat in what is today the city of St Davids in Pembrokeshire, ...

, Lawrence Fastolf,

auditor An auditor is a person or a firm appointed by a company to execute an audit.Practical Auditing, Kul Narsingh Shrestha, 2012, Nabin Prakashan, Nepal To act as an auditor, a person should be certified by the regulatory authority of accounting and a ...

of the

prerogative court In law, a prerogative is an exclusive right bestowed by a government or state and invested in an individual or group, the content of which is separate from the body of rights enjoyed under the general law. It was a common facet of feudal law. ...

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of t ...

, and Alexander, who was twice

bailiff A bailiff (from Middle English baillif, Old French ''baillis'', ''bail'' "custody") is a manager, overseer or custodian – a legal officer to whom some degree of authority or jurisdiction is given. Bailiffs are of various kinds and their o ...

of Great Yarmouth.Baker, J.H. "Thomas Fastolf" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' Nicholas' wife was called Cicely or Cecilia: they had several children. Elrington Ball believed that he was the direct ancestor of Sir

John Fastolf Sir John Fastolf (6 November 1380 – 5 November 1459) was a late medieval English landowner and knight who fought in the Hundred Years' War. He has enjoyed a more lasting reputation as the prototype, in some part, of Shakespeare's charact ...

. Hugh Fastolf, who was MP for Great Yarmouth from 1361 to 1377, is thought to have been his nephew, a son of his brother Alexander.

Career

He served at least one term as bailiff of Great Yarmouth, sat as a burgess for

in the

Parliaments In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

of 1309 and 1314 and became a

Serjeant-at-law A Serjeant-at-Law (SL), commonly known simply as a Serjeant, was a member of an order of barristers at the English and Irish Bar. The position of Serjeant-at-Law (''servientes ad legem''), or Sergeant-Counter, was centuries old; there are wri ...

. In 1324 he was sent to

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

as Lord Chief Justice. Elrington Ball regarded his appointment as a step of great importance in the development of the Irish judiciary, since, while some sources name

Walter l'Enfant Sir Walter l'Enfant the younger (died c.1317), lord of Carnalway, County Kildare was an Irish judge and landowner.Ball p.56 He was the son of Sir Walter l'Enfant, or l'Enfaunt (died c.1294) who, like his son, was a judge of the Court of the Justic ...

, in about 1300, as the first Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, Ball believed that Fastolf was the first.Ball pp.25-6 That, however, was not his contemporary title: he was usually referred to as "the justice following the

Justiciar of Ireland The chief governor was the senior official in the Dublin Castle administration, which maintained English and British rule in Ireland from the 1170s to 1922. The chief governor was the viceroy of the English monarch (and later the British monarch ...

".''Patent Roll 20 Edward II'' He exchanged the position for that of

Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas The chief justice of the Common Pleas for Ireland was the presiding judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Ireland, which was known in its early years as the Court of Common Bench, or simply as "the Bench", or "the Dublin bench". It was one of the ...

in 1328, but returned to his earlier office the following year. His salary was 40 marks a year. National Archives ''Officers in Ireland anno primo R. Edwardi 111 with their yearly fees'' As a special favour the Crown promised him the custody of any

heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Offic ...

who became a royal

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

, and the right to hold his lands during his minority, if the lands were worth less than £20.''Patent Roll 1 Edward III'' He was granted lands in

County Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the ...

: in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

he lived in considerable state in an impressive mansion on Rochel Street (now Back Lane) near

Dublin Castle Dublin Castle ( ga, Caisleán Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a former Motte-and-bailey castle and current Irish government complex and conference centre. It was chosen for its position at the highest point of central Dublin. Until 1922 it was the s ...

. He made a special contract with the

Mayor of Dublin The Lord Mayor of Dublin ( ga, Ardmhéara Bhaile Átha Cliath) is the honorary title of the chairperson ( ga, Cathaoirleach, links=no ) of Dublin City Council which is the local government body for the city of Dublin, the capital of Ireland. The ...

for a private water supply, which involved inserting a narrow pipe into the

cistern A cistern (Middle English ', from Latin ', from ', "box", from Greek ', "basket") is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. Cisterns are distinguished from wells by ...

of his neighbour and fellow judge Walter de Islip. He returned to England in 1330, and is heard of there acting as an itinerant justice, but died soon after 1330; his executors were his widow and his brother Lawrence. Elrington Ball calls him "a man of wealth and distinction".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fastolf, Nicholas 1330 deaths People from Great Yarmouth Year of birth unknown Lords chief justice of Ireland Chief Justices of the Irish Common Pleas