Richard Barre
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

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 Henry II () was King of England The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the form of government used by the United Kingdom by which a hereditary monarch reigns as the head of state, with the ...
, later working for Henry's son and successor
Richard I Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199), known as Richard the Lionheart or Richard Cœur de Lion () because of his reputation as a great military leader and warrior, was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ru ...
. He was also briefly in the household of Henry's son
Henry the Young King Henry the Young King (28 February 1155 – 11 June 1183) was the eldest son of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine to survive childhood. In 1170, he became titular King of England, Duke of Normandy, Count of Anjou and Maine. Henry th ...
. Barre served the elder Henry as a diplomat and was involved in a minor way with the king's quarrel with
Thomas Becket Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then as Archbishop of Canterbury fr ...
, which earned Barre a condemnation from Becket. After King Henry's death, Barre became a royal justice during Richard's reign and was one of the main judges in the period from 1194 to 1199. After disagreeing with him earlier in his career, Barre was discharged from his judgeship during
John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...
's reign as king. Barre was also archdeacon of Ely and the author of a work of
biblical The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...
extracts dedicated to one of his patrons,
William Longchamp William de Longchamp (died 1197) was a medieval Lord Chancellor, Chief Justiciar, and Bishop of Ely in England. Born to a humble family in Normandy, he owed his advancement to royal favour. Although contemporary writers accused Longchamp's f ...
, the
Bishop of Ely The Bishop of Ely is the Ordinary (officer), 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 ...
and
Chancellor of England The Lord Chancellor, formally titled Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom. The lord chancellor is the minister of justice for England and Wales and the highest-ra ...
.


Early life

Whether Barre was a native of England or of Normandy is unknown, but his surname appears to derive from the Norman village of La Barre, near Bernay, in the present-day department of
Eure Eure ( ; ; or ) is a department in the administrative region of Normandy, northwestern France, named after the river Eure. Its prefecture is Évreux. In 2021, Eure had a population of 598,934.Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...
. Barre had a relative, Hugh Barre, who was
Archdeacon of Leicester The Archdeacon of Leicester is a senior ecclesiastical officer in the Church of England Diocese of Leicester. History The first archdeacon of Leicester is recorded before 1092 – around the time when archdeacons were first appointed in England ...
in the 1150s. Barre studied law at
Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...
in Italy before 1150 and was a student there with
Stephen of Tournai Stephen of Tournai (18 March 1128 - 11 September 1203) was a Canon regular of Sainte-Geneviève (Paris), and Roman Catholic canonist who became bishop of Tournai in 1192. Biography He was born at Orléans in 1128; died at Tournai in Septembe ...
, who became Bishop of Tournai in 1192. Another fellow student wrote a short verse addressed to Barre: "''Pontificum causas regumque negocia tractes, Qui tibi divicias deliciasque parant''", which translates to "May you manage the causes of bishops and the affairs of kings, Who provide riches and delights for you."Quoted and translated in Duggan "Roman, Canon, and Common Law" ''Historical Research'' p. 26 After finishing his schooling, Barre seems to have worked for either
Robert de Chesney Robert de Chesney (died December 1166) was a medieval English Bishop of Lincoln. He was the brother of an important royal official, William de Chesney, and the uncle of Gilbert Foliot, successively Bishop of Hereford and Bishop of London. Educate ...
, the
Bishop of Lincoln The Bishop of Lincoln is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary (diocesan bishop) of the Church of England Diocese of Lincoln in the Province of Canterbury. The present diocese covers the county of Lincolnshire and the unitary authority areas of Nort ...
, or
Nicholas Nicholas is a male name, the Anglophone version of an ancient Greek name in use since antiquity, and cognate with the modern Greek , . It originally derived from a combination of two Ancient Greek, Greek words meaning 'victory' and 'people'. In ...
, Archdeacon of Huntingdon; the main evidence for this is that Barre witnessed charters for both men from 1160 to 1164. By 1165, Barre had joined the household of King Henry II of England.Turner "Richard Barre and Michael Belet" ''Judges, Administrators and the Common Law'' pp. 182–185


Service to King Henry

Barre served King Henry during the king's quarrel with
Thomas Becket Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then as Archbishop of Canterbury fr ...
, the
Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...
, who had gone into exile in 1164 over the dispute about the limits of royal authority over the English Church.Huscroft ''Ruling England'' pp. 192–195 Because of Barre's close ties to King Henry, Becket considered him one of the king's "evil counselors", and Barre was the subject of denunciations by the archbishop. In late August 1169, Barre was in Normandy with Henry, where Barre was part of a group of ecclesiastics advising the king on how to resolve the Becket dispute.Barlow ''Thomas Becket'' p. 189 In September 1169, Barre was sent along with two other clerks to Rome to complain about the behaviour of papal envoys during negotiations with Becket held at the beginning of September. The papal negotiators at first agreed to a compromise, but the next day claimed that the proposal was unacceptable. With the failure of the negotiations, Becket restored the sentences of excommunication on a number of royal officials, but Barre was not included among those specifically named even though many of his colleagues were. The historian Frank Barlow argues that Barre was not specifically named in the restoration of excommunications, as Becket considered him already excommunicated because of his association with those under the church's ban.Barlow ''Thomas Becket'' pp. 190–192 During January and February 1170 the king sent Barre on a diplomatic mission to the pope in Rome, on a matter related to the king's dispute with Becket.Turner "Richard Barre and Michael Belet" ''Judges, Administrators and the Common Law'' pp. 186–187 The mission attempted to secure the rescinding of the excommunication of those whom Becket had placed under clerical ban, but it was unsuccessful; rumours circulated that the mission sought and secured papal permission for the coronation of King Henry's eldest living son by someone other than Becket. When Becket protested to Pope Alexander III over this usurpation of the right of the archbishop to crown English kings, Alexander not only stated that no such permission had been granted but threatened to suspend or depose any bishop who crowned Henry's heir.Warren ''Henry II'' pp. 501–502 Barlow thinks it possible that Barre received a verbal agreement from the pope in January to allow the coronation, but there is no written evidence that Alexander agreed to allow the coronation in 1170.Barlow ''Thomas Becket'' p. 204 After Becket's murder in December 1170 King Henry sent Barre to Rome, accompanied by the Archbishop of Rouen, the bishops of Évreux and Worcester, and other royal clerks, to plead the royal case with the papacy.Warren ''Henry II'' p. 305 The mission's objective was to make it clear to Alexander that Henry had had nothing to do with Becket's murder and that the king was horrified that it had taken place. Barre was at first refused a meeting with Alexander, but eventually the envoys were allowed to meet with the pope. Although the mission was not a complete success, the royal commission did manage to persuade the papacy not to impose an
interdict In Catholic canon law, an interdict () is an ecclesiastical censure, or ban that prohibits certain persons or groups from participating in particular rites, or that the rites and services of the church are prohibited in certain territories for ...
, or ban on clerical rites, on England or to excommunicate the king.Coredon ''Dictionary of Medieval Terms & Phrases'' p. 164 Shortly afterwards Barre was granted the office of Archdeacon of
Lisieux Lisieux () is a Communes of France, commune in the Calvados (department), Calvados Departments of France, department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy Regions of France, region in northwestern France. It is the capital of the Pa ...
, probably as a reward for his efforts in Rome in 1171. In September he was named a royal justice.Sharpe "Richard Barre's ''Compedium''" ''Journal of Medieval Latin'' p. 128 He was named
chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...
to King Henry's eldest living son
Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...
for a brief period in 1172 and 1173, but when the younger Henry rebelled against his father and sought refuge at the French royal court, Barre refused to join him in exile and returned to the king's service. Barre took with him the younger Henry's seal. In addition to the Lisieux archdeaconry, Barre held the
prebend A prebendary is a member of the Catholic or Anglican clergy, a form of canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in particular seats, usually at the back of the choir ...
of Hurstborne and Burbage in the
Diocese of Salisbury The Diocese of Salisbury is a Church of England diocese in the south of England, within the ecclesiastical Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the historic county of Dorset (which excludes the deaneries of Bournemouth and Christchurch, ...
from 1177Greenway "Prebendaries of Hurstborne and Burbage" ''Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300'': Volume 4: Salisbury and the prebend of Moreton and Whaddon in the
Diocese of Hereford The Diocese of Hereford is a Church of England diocese based in Hereford, covering Herefordshire, southern Shropshire and a few parishes within Worcestershire in England, and a few parishes within Powys and Monmouthshire in Wales. The cathedral i ...
from 1180 through 1184.Barrow "Prebendaries of Moreton and Whaddon" ''Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300'': Volume 8: Hereford He continued to hold the archdeaconry at Lisieux until 1188,Greenway "Ely: Archdeacons of Ely" '' Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300'': Volume 2: Monastic Cathedrals (Northern and Southern Provinces) and was at Lisieux for most of the late 1170s and 1180s.Sharpe "Richard Barre's ''Compendium''" ''Journal of Medieval Latin'' p. 129 In 1179 he was at Rouen for the display of the body of Saint Romanus and was one of the witnesses to the event. While holding his Norman archdeaconry, he gave land to the abbey of St-Pierre-sur-Dives along with Ralph, Bishop of Lisieux.Spear ''Personnel of the Norman Cathedrals'' pp. 176–177 In February or March 1198, King Henry sent Barre on a diplomatic mission to the continent with letters to
Frederick Barbarossa Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (; ), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death in 1190. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March 115 ...
, the German Emperor; Béla II, the King of Hungary; and
Isaac II Angelos Isaac II Angelos or Angelus (; September 1156 – 28 January 1204) was Byzantine Emperor from 1185 to 1195, and co-Emperor with his son Alexios IV Angelos from 1203 to 1204. In a 1185 revolt against the Emperor Andronikos Komnenos, Isaac ...
, the Emperor at Constantinople,Neocleous "Byzantines and Saladin" ''Al-Masaq'' p. 214 seeking assistance for his projected crusade.Warren ''Henry II'' p. 607 Barre carried letters to the three rulers requesting passage through their lands and the right to procure supplies. Nothing came of this mission, as Henry died in 1189 before the crusade could set off.Bartlett ''England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings'' p. 113


Later years and death

After the death of King Henry, Barre joined the service of William Longchamp, the Bishop of Ely, who was justiciar and Lord Chancellor. Longchamp named Barre as Archdeacon of Ely, with the appointment occurring before 4 July 1190. Longchamp sent Barre as a royal justice to the counties near Ely in 1190. However, Longchamp was driven into exile in late 1191 owing to the hostility of the English nobility and Richard's brother Prince
John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...
during Richard's absence on the
Third Crusade The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt led by King Philip II of France, King Richard I of England and Emperor Frederick Barbarossa to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by the Ayyubid sultan Saladin in 1187. F ...
.Barlow ''Feudal Kingdom of England'' pp. 373–376 Longchamp's exile meant that Barre did not serve as a royal justice again until King Richard I returned to England in 1194. Although Longchamp eventually returned to England, he did not return to his diocese, and much of the administration of Ely would have devolved on Barre during Longchamp's absence. Barre was one of the main royal justices between 1194 and 1199.Turner "Richard Barre and Michael Belet" ''Judges, Administrators and the Common Law'' pp. 188–189 He also served as a lawyer for the new Bishop of Ely,
Eustace Eustace ( ) is the rendition in English of two phonetically similar Greek given names: *Εὔσταχυς (''Eústachys'') meaning "fruitful", "fecund"; literally "abundant in grain"; its Latin equivalents are ''Fæcundus/Fecundus'' *Εὐστά ...
, who was elected in August 1197.Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 244 But Barre had incurred the hostility of the king's younger brother Prince John, and when John succeeded Richard as king in 1199, Barre ceased to be employed as a royal justice, instead returning to Ely and business in his clerical office. His last sure mention in the historical record is on 9 August 1202, when he was serving as a judge-delegate for
Pope Innocent III Pope Innocent III (; born Lotario dei Conti di Segni; 22 February 1161 – 16 July 1216) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1198 until his death on 16 July 1216. Pope Innocent was one of the most power ...
, but he may have been alive as late as 1213, as he was part of a papal panel deciding a case that can only be securely dated to between 1198 and 1213.Turner "Richard Barre and Michael Belet" ''Judges, Administrators and the Common Law'' p. 190 Barre maintained his friendship with Stephen of Tournai, who corresponded with him later in their lives.Turner "Richard Barre and Michael Belet" ''Judges, Administrators and the Common Law'' p. 196


Literary work

Barre wrote a work on the Bible entitled ''Compendium de veteri et novo testamento'', which he dedicated to Longchamp. The work arranged passages from the Bible under topics, and then annotated the passages with marginal notations such as were done with glosses on
Roman law Roman law is the law, legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (), to the (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor Justinian I. Roman law also den ...
. It is still extant in two manuscript (MS) copies, MS
British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...
Harley 3255, and
Lambeth Palace Lambeth Palace is the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is situated in north Lambeth, London, on the south bank of the River Thames, south-east of the Palace of Westminster, which houses Parliament of the United King ...
MS 105.Rigg "Barre, Richard" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' The Harley manuscript is shorter than the Lambeth manuscript. Richard Sharpe, a modern historian who studied both works, stated that the Harley manuscript "provides well structured and systematic (though not complete) coverage of the whole Bible." Because of the dedication to William Longchamp as "bishop, legate, and chancellor", it is likely that the work was composed between January 1190 and October 1191, as Longchamp only held those three offices together during that period.Sharpe "Richard Barre's ''Compendium''" ''Journal of Medieval Latin'' p. 134 The prologue to the work describes it as something to be used privately, and thus Sharpe feels that it was not intended to be a publicly published work; instead Barre may have intended it for Longchamp's private use in preparing sermons.Sharpe "Richard Barre's ''Compendium''" ''Journal of Medieval Latin'' pp. 135–138 A third copy of Barre's ''Compendium'' may have existed at
Leicester Abbey The Abbey of Saint Mary de Pratis, more commonly known as Leicester Abbey, was an Augustinian religious house in the city of Leicester, in the East Midlands of England. The abbey was founded in the 12th century by the Robert de Beaumont, 2nd E ...
, where a late-15th-century library catalogue records a work by Barre on the Bible that the catalogue titles "Compendium Ricardi Barre super utroque testamento". The title and contents make this manuscript likely to be a copy of the ''Compendium''. The same catalogue also records five books once owned by Barre—copies of Gratian's ''Decretum'',
Justinian Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565. His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was ...
's ''
Codex The codex (: codices ) was the historical ancestor format of the modern book. Technically, the vast majority of modern books use the codex format of a stack of pages bound at one edge, along the side of the text. But the term ''codex'' is now r ...
'', glossed copies of the
Psalter A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the emergence of the book of hours in the Late Middle Ages, psalters were ...
and some of the ''
Epistles An epistle (; ) is a writing directed or sent to a person or group of people, usually an elegant and formal didactic letter. The epistle genre of letter-writing was common in ancient Egypt as part of the scribal-school writing curriculum. The ...
'' of
Paul Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...
, as well as
Peter Lombard Peter Lombard (also Peter the Lombard, Pierre Lombard or Petrus Lombardus; 1096 – 21/22 August 1160) was an Italian scholasticism, scholastic theologian, Bishop of Paris, and author of ''Sentences, Four Books of Sentences'' which became the s ...
's ''
Sentences The ''Sentences'' (. ) is a compendium of Christian theology written by Peter Lombard around 1150. It was the most important religious textbook of the Middle Ages. Background The sentence genre emerged from works like Prosper of Aquitaine's ...
''. Also, another Leicester Abbey manuscript records some satirical verses that were said to have been written by Barre.


Notes


Citations


References

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Further reading

*


External links


British Library catalogue entry for MS Harley 3255

Lambeth Palace Library catalog entry for MS 105
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barre, Richard 1130s births 1200s deaths 12th-century writers in Latin Anglo-Normans Archdeacons of Ely 12th-century English writers 12th-century English jurists