Ralph Foliot (died c. 1198) was a medieval English clergyman and

royal justice Royal justices were an innovation in the law reforms of the Angevin kings of England. Royal justices were roving officials of the king, sent to seek out notorious robbers and murderers and bring them to justice. The first important step dates fro ...

Earlyl career

Foliot was a nephew of

Gilbert Foliot Gilbert Foliot ( c. 1110 – 18 February 1187) was a medieval English monk and prelate, successively Abbot of Gloucester, Bishop of Hereford and Bishop of London. Born to an ecclesiastical family, he became a monk at Cluny Abbey in ...

, first Bishop of Hereford and later

Bishop of London A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or offic ...

, but the names of Ralph's parents and his place of birth are unknown. He first appears in a charter of his uncle in 1144, while Gilbert was at Hereford, and Ralph is described as "nepote episcopi" or the "bishop's nephew." Probably Ralph was encouraged in an ecclesiastical career by his uncle.Turner ''English Judiciary'' p. 91 Ralph probably studied in the schools at Hereford, which were some of the most well known schools of higher learning of the time. After his uncle left Hereford for London in 1163, it appears that Ralph remained at Hereford as a member of the new bishop's household until at least 1180.Turner ''English Judiciary'' pp. 94–95

Canon at Hereford

Foliot was a

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western can ...

Hereford Cathedral Hereford Cathedral is the cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Hereford in Hereford, England. A place of worship has existed on the site of the present building since the 8th century or earlier. The present building was begun in 1079. S ...

by 2 December 1178, possibly as soon as 25 April 1178.Barrow ''Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300: volume 8: Hereford: Canons whose prebends cannot be identified'' He first occurs as

Archdeacon of Hereford The Archdeacon of Hereford is a senior ecclesiastical officer in the Church of England Diocese of Hereford. The archdeacon is the senior priest with responsibility over the area of the archdeaconry of Hereford. History The first recorded archdeac ...

in a document dated 15 March in a year between 1179 and 1181. His last occurrence as archdeacon was on 28 October 1195, and was deceased by 1199. He may have died as early as 1197, but more probably died in 1198 or 1199. He was commemorated at Hereford on 20 December.Barrow ''Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300: volume 8: Hereford: Archdeacons of Hereford'' Foliot may also have been a canon of

Salisbury Cathedral Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England. The cathedral is the mother church of the Diocese of Salisbury and is the seat of the Bishop of Salisbury. The buil ...

, as a Ralph Foliot occurs as a canon there in spring of 1193, but it is not clear this is the same Ralph.

Royal service

Foliot also was a member of the royal

chancery Chancery may refer to: Offices and administration * Chancery (diplomacy), the principal office that houses a diplomatic mission or an embassy * Chancery (medieval office), responsible for the production of official documents * Chancery (Scotlan ...

,Turner ''English Judiciary'' p. 73 and attested charters of King

Henry II of England Henry II (5 March 1133 – 6 July 1189), also known as Henry Curtmantle (french: link=no, Court-manteau), Henry FitzEmpress, or Henry Plantagenet, was King of England from 1154 until his death in 1189, and as such, was the first Angevin king ...

in 1181 and 1182 as the king's ''sigillarius''. He also served Henry on diplomatic missions, once meeting with

papal legates 300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the pope's legate. A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the ancient Roman title ''legatus'') is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic ...

, and another time accompanying William Marshall to Paris.Turner ''English Judiciary'' p. 101 Henry rewarded Foliot by petitioning the monastery of Northampton to appoint Foliot as parson of the church at Potton, Bedfordshire, which the monastery controlled. Other rewards included a portion of the

tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more ...

s from Teilleul and a church in Worcestershire that was controlled by

Tewkesbury Abbey The Abbey Church of St Mary the Virgin, Tewkesbury–commonly known as Tewkesbury Abbey–is located in the English county of Gloucestershire. A former Benedictine monastery, it is now a parish church. Considered one of the finest examples of No ...

.Turner ''English Judiciary'' pp. 110–111 By the reign of King

Richard I Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and was ove ...

, Henry's son, Foliot was a royal justice and from 1194 appears regularly as a royal justice, along with

Richard Barre Richard Barre ( c. 1130 – c. 1202) was a medieval English justice, clergyman and scholar. He was educated at the law school of Bologna and entered royal service under King Henry II of England, later working for Henry's son and successor ...

William of Sainte-Mère-Eglise William is a masculine given name of Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conq ...

Richard Herriard Richard Herriard (sometimes Richard of Herriard) (died 1208) was an English royal justice. Herriard's first appearance in the historical record is in 1184 when he is mentioned in connection with the pardoning of payment of scutage on some land he h ...

, and William de Warenne. He had previously served as a justice of eyre in 1190 and 1192.Turner ''English Judiciary'' p. 79

Legacy

Foliot had a brother William, who was precentor of the Hereford cathedral chapter. Foliot left 20 books to Hereford Cathedral on his death, including

glosses A gloss is a brief notation, especially a marginal one or an interlinear one, of the meaning of a word or wording in a text. It may be in the language of the text or in the reader's language if that is different. A collection of glosses is a '' ...

on the Bible,

Honorius of Autun Honorius Augustodunensis (c. 1080 – c. 1140), commonly known as Honorius of Autun, was a very popular 12th-century Christian theologian who wrote prolifically on many subjects. He wrote in a non-scholastic manner, with a lively style, and his wor ...

's ''Gemma Animae'', and

Peter Lombard Peter Lombard (also Peter the Lombard, Pierre Lombard or Petrus Lombardus; 1096, Novara – 21/22 July 1160, Paris), was a scholastic theologian, Bishop of Paris, and author of ''Four Books of Sentences'' which became the standard textbook of ...

's ''

Sentences ''The Four Books of Sentences'' (''Libri Quattuor Sententiarum'') is a book of theology written by Peter Lombard in the 12th century. It is a systematic compilation of theology, written around 1150; it derives its name from the '' sententiae'' ...

''. Foliot also was friends with the writer and ecclesiastic

Gerald of Wales Gerald of Wales ( la, Giraldus Cambrensis; cy, Gerallt Gymro; french: Gerald de Barri; ) was a Cambro-Norman priest and historian. As a royal clerk to the king and two archbishops, he travelled widely and wrote extensively. He studied and taugh ...

, who wrote a letter of condolence to William Foliot after Ralph's death.

Citations

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Foliot, Ralph Archdeacons of Hereford 12th-century English judges 1190s deaths Year of birth unknown