Thomas Cranley DD a.k.a. Thomas Craule (c. 1340–1417) was a leading statesman,

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

and cleric in early fifteenth-century Ireland, who held the offices of

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 ...

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

Archbishop of Dublin The Archbishop of Dublin () is an Episcopal polity, archiepiscopal title which takes its name from Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Since the Reformation in Ireland, Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic successions to the title: ...

and

Lord Chancellor of Ireland The Lord High Chancellor of Ireland, commonly known as the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, was the highest ranking judicial office in Ireland until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. From 1721 until the end of 1800, it was also the hi ...

Early career

He was born in England about 1340; little seems to be known about his family. He entered the

Carmelite The Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel (; abbreviated OCarm), known as the Carmelites or sometimes by synecdoche known simply as Carmel, is a mendicant order in the Catholic Church for both men and women. Histo ...

order. He is recorded as a

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 126 ...

, in 1366. He became

Warden A warden is a custodian, defender, or guardian. Warden is often used in the sense of a watchman or guardian, as in a prison warden. It can also refer to a chief or head official, as in the Warden of the Mint. ''Warden'' is etymologically ident ...

of New College in 1389 and Chancellor of the University of Oxford in 1390. He was a

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (DD or DDiv; ) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity (academic discipline), divinity (i.e., Christian theology and Christian ministry, ministry or other theologies. The term is more common in the Englis ...

and a

Irish career

In 1397, on the death of Richard Northalis, he was made

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

and arrived in Ireland the following year. After the accession of King Henry IV, Cranley undertook a

diplomatic Diplomatics (in American English, and in most anglophone countries), or diplomatic (in British English), is a scholarly discipline centred on the critical analysis of documents, especially historical documents. It focuses on the conventions, pr ...

mission to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, and was made Lord Chancellor of Ireland in 1401. When Henry's son

Thomas, Duke of Clarence Thomas of Lancaster, Duke of Clarence (c. autumn 1387 – 22 March 1421) was a medieval English prince and soldier, the second son of Henry IV of England, brother of Henry V, and heir to the throne in the event of his brother's death. He acted ...

, was made

Lord Deputy of Ireland The Lord Deputy was the representative of the monarch and head of the Irish executive (government), executive under English rule, during the Lordship of Ireland and then the Kingdom of Ireland. He deputised prior to 1523 for the Viceroy of Ireland ...

, Cranley was appointed to his council. A letter which he sent to the King around the end of 1402 painted a grim picture of the state of English rule in Ireland. Cranley assured the King of his absolute loyalty to both the King and his son, but implored the King to send over money and men since "''your son is so destitute of money that he has not a penny in the world ... and his soldiers have departed from him, and the people of his household are on the point of leaving''". The King, who was generally short of money, is not known to have responded to this plea. Cranley himself could probably have contributed something to the Deputy's expenses: certainly, he was sufficiently well off to lend the

Mayor of Dublin The Lord Mayor of Dublin () is the honorary title of the chairperson ( ) of Dublin City Council which is the local government body for the city of Dublin, the capital of Ireland. The incumbent, since December 2024, is Fine Gael councillor Emma ...

40 marks in 1402. On the other hand there is no doubt that Crown revenue in Ireland was at a very low ebb, which contributed to the weakening of English rule in Ireland through the early fifteenth century. The pressure of official business, combined with the effects of ill health and old age, made Cranley increasingly unfit to perform his duties, and in his later years the functions of the Chancellor were usually carried out by his deputies, first Thomas de Everdon, then

Laurence Merbury Sir Laurence Merbury (died after 1423) was an English-born statesman in Ireland who held the office of Treasurer of Ireland and was also Deputy to the Lord Chancellor of Ireland. Family He was born at Marbury, Cheshire, one of the three sons ...

, and then

Roger Hawkenshaw Roger Hawkenshaw or Hakenshawe (died 1434) was an Irish judge and Privy Councillor.Ball p.173 He was Irish people, Irish by birth. He was possibly the son, but more likely the grandson, of an earlier Roger Hawkenshaw, or Hackenshawe, a senior Eng ...

. Cranley resigned as Chancellor in 1410, but in 1413 the new

King Henry V Henry V (16 September 1386 – 31 August 1422), also called Henry of Monmouth, was King of England from 1413 until his death in 1422. Despite his relatively short reign, Henry's outstanding military successes in the Hundred Years' War against ...

reappointed him to that office, with a part payment of two-thirds of the annual salary of £500.Jones, Ranulph ''Lost and found: a missing Exchequer issue Roll of 1414 rediscovered'' Published by the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland This is a tribute to the high regard in which the

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (), or more formally Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 until the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the K ...

, the Earl of Shrewsbury, held him. He also became

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 monar ...

, following the sudden death of Sir John Stanley in January 1414, although in view of his age and ill health it was understood that this was only a temporary appointment. He recalled the Irish Parliament which Stanley had summoned in

the previous November. It reconvened in February, but refused to grant the taxes he requested.As Justiciar he was assisted by a military council, made up of such noted soldiers as the

Gascony Gascony (; ) was a province of the southwestern Kingdom of France that succeeded the Duchy of Gascony (602–1453). From the 17th century until the French Revolution (1789–1799), it was part of the combined Province of Guyenne and Gascon ...

-born knight Sir

Jenico d'Artois Sir Jenico d'Artois, Dartas, Dartass or Dartasso (c.1350 – November 1426) was a Gascony-born soldier and statesman, much of whose career was spent in Ireland. He enjoyed the trust and confidence of three successive English monarchs, and became ...

. Despite their expertise, in 1414 the

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the State rel ...

suffered one of their worst military defeats of the era, when they were crushed by O'Connor Fahy and his army in

County Offaly County Offaly (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is named after the Ancient Ireland, ancient Kingdom of Uí ...

.Otway-Ruthven, A.J. ''History of Medieval Ireland'' New York Barnes and Noble reissue 1993 pp.343-8 He became

prebendary A prebendary is a member of the Catholic Church, Catholic or Anglicanism , Anglican clergy, a form of canon (priest) , canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in part ...

Clonmethan Clonmethan (; formerly also Clonmelkin, Kilmethan, or Glimmethan) is a townland and a civil parish in the ancient barony of Balrothery West, Fingal in Ireland. It is bordered by the parishes of Palmerstown to the west, Grallagh to the north, Ho ...

in north County Dublin in 1410: in 1414 he was sued by the Crown for recovery of the profits of the prebend for the previous two years, on the grounds that he had been an absentee prebend, but the lawsuit was dismissed when Cranley produced the King's

letters patent Letters patent (plurale tantum, plural form for singular and plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, President (government title), president or other head of state, generally granti ...

authorising his absence.

Death

In 1417 he was asked to present a memorial on the state of Ireland, which was highly critical of Lord Shrewsbury's record as Lord Lieutenant, to the English Crown. He reached England, but he was an old man even by modern standards, and in frail health. The journey proved to be too much for his constitution, and he died at

Faringdon Faringdon is a historic market town in the Vale of White Horse, Oxfordshire, England, south-west of Oxford, north-west of Wantage and east-north-east of Swindon. Its views extend to the River Thames in the north and the highest ground visib ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

on 25 May. He was buried in New College, Oxford: his memorial brass survives, and the inscription on his tomb hails him as "''the flower of prelates''".

Appearance and character

Early historians praised Cranley for both his mental and physical qualities: "''thou art fair beyond the children of men, grace is diffused through thy lips because of thine eloquence''" wrote one particularly eloquent admirer. He was described as tall and commanding in appearance, with fair hair and a ruddy complexion; his personality was witty, eloquent and learned. As a cleric, he was described as charitable to the poor, a notable preacher and a great builder of churches. The

Parliament of Ireland The Parliament of Ireland () was the legislature of the Lordship of Ireland, and later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1297 until the end of 1800. It was modelled on the Parliament of England and from 1537 comprised two chambers: the Irish Hou ...

in 1421 praised him as the model of what a good chief governor should be.Beresford, David "Cranley, Thomas" ''Dictionary of Irish Biography'' Cambridge University Press

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cranley, Thomas 1337 births 1417 deaths Carmelites Archbishops of Dublin Fellows of Merton College, Oxford Wardens of New College, Oxford Chancellors of the University of Oxford 14th-century English people 15th-century English people Lord chancellors of Ireland Lords Lieutenant of Ireland 15th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Ireland Wardens of Winchester College 14th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Ireland