William de Raley (died 1250) was a medieval judge, administrator and bishop. Most historians now believe that he was the author of the great law book ''Bracton''.

Life

In 1212 Raley was presented by the King to the church living at

Bratton Fleming Bratton Fleming is a large village, civil parish and former manor near Barnstaple, in Devon, England. It lies a few miles west of Exmoor. The parish is surrounded, clockwise from the north, by the parishes of Challacombe, Brayford, Stoke River ...

, in the archdeaconry of Barnstaple, wherein his occupation was described as "clerk", when he studied law.Pegues "''Clericus'' in Legal Administration" ''English Historical Review'' p. 543 He is known to have served as a clerk of the bench in 1214, and again from 1219 to 1229. From 1225 to 1229 he was the personal clerk of

Martin of Pattishall Martin of Pattishall (died 14 November 1229) was an English judge. He took his name from the village of Pattishall in Northamptonshire and was the clerk of Simon of Pattishall, although they were apparently unrelated. By 1201 he was already res ...

, with whom he travelled the Eyre in Cumberland and

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...

between 1226 and 1227, where he acted as a commissioner for the assessment of

Tallage Tallage or talliage (from the French ''tailler, i.e. '' a part cut out of the whole) may have signified at first any tax, but became in England and France a land use or land tenure tax. Later in England it was further limited to assessments by the ...

. He became justice of the bench in 1229 following Pattishall's retirement, with

Roger of Thirkleby Roger of Thirkleby (died 1260) was an English judge. The "Thirkleby" of his name was a hamlet in the parish of Kirby Grindalythe, Yorkshire. The first record of his work in the judicial system is in 1230, when he was appointed a clerk of the benc ...

being appointed as his clerk in 1231.Pegues "''Clericus'' in Legal Administration" ''English Historical Review'' p. 544 Raley took part in an Eyre in

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

in 1229, and seven more Eyres elsewhere between 1232 and 1233. In 1233 he was made

Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas The chief justice of the Common Pleas was the head of the Court of Common Pleas, also known as the Common Bench or Common Place, which was the second-highest common law court in the English legal system until 1875, when it, along with the other ...

, a position he held until 1234 when he was appointed to the more senior position of Chief Justice of the King's Bench, becoming the most senior of the King's judges after the title of Justiciar, which was allowed to lapse. Raley was a trusted royal councillor as well as a judge, and between 1236 and 1239 was one of the King's chief advisors, being responsible for part of the

Statute of Merton The Statute of Merton or Provisions of Merton (Latin: ''Provisiones de Merton'', or ''Stat. Merton''), sometimes also known as the Ancient Statute of Merton, was a statute passed by the Parliament of England in 1235 during the reign of Henry II ...

in 1236, as well as other legal reforms. In February 1239 he was elected

Bishop of Coventry The Bishop of Coventry is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Coventry in the Province of Canterbury. In the Middle Ages, the Bishop of Coventry was a title used by the bishops known today as the Bishop of Lichfield. The presen ...

and

Bishop of Lichfield The Bishop of Lichfield is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Lichfield in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers 4,516 km2 (1,744 sq. mi.) of the counties of Powys, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Warwickshire and Wes ...

, which he declined. He was elected to the see of Norwich on 10 April, which he then accepted; and was consecrated at Norwich Cathedral on 25 September.Crook "Raleigh, William of" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' Raley was translated to the

see of Winchester The Diocese of Winchester forms part of the Province of Canterbury of the Church of England. Founded in 676, it is one of the older dioceses in England. It once covered Wessex, many times its present size which is today most of the historic enla ...

on 1 September 1242,Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 276 where he was at first rejected. After three votes at the monks in chapter, they appealed to the Pope for arbitration. But King

Henry III of England Henry III (1 October 1207 – 16 November 1272), also known as Henry of Winchester, was King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine from 1216 until his death in 1272. The son of King John and Isabella of Angoulême, Henry a ...

still objected and appealed to Pope

Innocent IV Pope Innocent IV ( la, Innocentius IV; – 7 December 1254), born Sinibaldo Fieschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 June 1243 to his death in 1254. Fieschi was born in Genoa and studied at the universitie ...

, who rejected the appeal. Finally Raley was enthroned in Winchester Cathedral on 20 November 1244. For the Pope's intercession he paid 6000 Marks, which he struggled to repay for the rest of his life.Greenway
Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300: volume 2: Monastic cathedrals (northern and southern provinces): Winchester: Bishops
' Raley retired to Tours, France where he died shortly before 1 September 1250, the date he was buried in the Church of St Martin.

Notes

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References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Raley, William de 1250 deaths Bishops of Norwich Bishops of Winchester Chief Justices of the Common Pleas Justices of the Common Pleas Justices of the King's Bench Year of birth unknown 13th-century English Roman Catholic bishops

Life

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Notes

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References