Walter Mauclerk (or Walter Mauclerc; died 1248) was a medieval

Bishop of Carlisle The Bishop of Carlisle is the Ordinary (officer), Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Carlisle in the Province of York. The diocese covers the county of Cumbria except for Alston Moor and the former Sedbergh Rural District. The Episcop ...

and

Lord High Treasurer The Lord High Treasurer was an English government position and has been a British government position since the Acts of Union of 1707. A holder of the post would be the third-highest-ranked Great Officer of State in England, below the Lord H ...

of England.

Life

Mauclerk's origins are unknown, although he had a brother who was

prior The term prior may refer to: * Prior (ecclesiastical), the head of a priory (monastery) * Prior convictions, the life history and previous convictions of a suspect or defendant in a criminal case * Prior probability, in Bayesian statistics * Prio ...

Reading Abbey Reading Abbey is a large, ruined abbey in the centre of the town of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire. It was founded by Henry I in 1121 "for the salvation of my soul, and the souls of King William, my father, and of King William, ...

. Another kinsman, possibly a nephew, Robert Barri was named prior of

Carlisle Cathedral Carlisle Cathedral, formally the , is a Listed building, Grade I listed Anglicanism, Anglican cathedral in the city of Carlisle, Cumbria, Carlisle, Cumbria, England. It was founded as an Augustinian priory and became a cathedral in 1133. It is a ...

while Walter was bishop. He is first recorded as a financial clerk in Normandy in 1202, and then later that same year as holding a church in Falaise. With the loss of Normandy, he returned to England and the king's court,Vincent "Mauclerk, Walter" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' and received a prebend in Exeter in 1203. In 1204 and 1205 he helped administer Lincolnshire, collecting

tallage Tallage or talliage (from the French , 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 crown up ...

other taxes.Pegues "''Clericus'' in Legal Administration" ''English Historical Review'' pp. 534–535 He served King

John of England John (24 December 1166 – 19 October 1216) was King of England from 1199 until his death in 1216. He lost the Duchy of Normandy and most of his other French lands to King Philip II of France, resulting in the collapse of the Angevin Empi ...

in Rome as an envoy to 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 ...

in 1214 where he was expected to neutralise any baronial agents that might be sent. At the time, he was still a royal clerk.Jones ''King John and Magna Carta'' p. 50 In 1215, he was sent to Ireland, although only for a short time. He served as a

royal justice Royal justices were judges in medieval England with the power to hear pleas of the Crown. They were roving officials of the History of the English monarchy, king of England, sent to seek out notorious robbers and murderers and bring them to justic ...

in the Midlands in 1218, and as a royal justice in Nottingham in 1219, and in 1221 appointed as a forest justice in York, but was instead sent to Cumberland. He served as Sheriff of Cumberland from 1222 to 1233.Carpenter "Decline of the Curial Sheriff" ''English Historical Review'' p. 11 He was a

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

of Carlisle CathedralGreenway
Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300: Volume 2: Monastic Cathedrals (Northern and Southern Provinces): Carlisle: Bishops
' before he was elected to the see of Carlisle about 22 August 1223 and was consecrated that winter.Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 235 Mauclerk continued to serve 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 John, King of England, King John and Isabella of Ang ...

, going to

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

in 1225 as part of a diplomatic mission attempting to arrange a marriage between the king and a daughter of the duke of Austria. In 1227 he was in

Poitou Poitou ( , , ; ; Poitevin: ''Poetou'') was a province of west-central France whose capital city was Poitiers. Both Poitou and Poitiers are named after the Pictones Gallic tribe. Geography The main historical cities are Poitiers (historical ...

on the king's business. He was Treasurer from 1228 to 1233,Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 103 when he was expelled from office even though he had been granted the office for life. This was a side effect of the fall from power of

Hubert de Burgh Hubert de Burgh, Earl of Kent ( , ; – before 5 May 1243) was an English nobleman who served as Chief Justiciar of England (1215–1232) and Justiciar of Ireland (1232) during the reigns of King John and his son and successor King Henry I ...

during King Henry III's reign.Powell and Wallis ''House of Lords'' p. 154 However, with the fall from power of

Peter des Roches Peter des Roches (died 9 June 1238) (List of Latinised names, Latinised as ''Petrus de Rupibus'' ("Peter from the rocks")) was bishop of Winchester in the reigns of King John of England and his son Henry III of England, Henry III. He was not an ...

Walter returned to royal service. In 1235 he was once more in charge of an embassy attempting to find a bride for King Henry, this time to

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

for a daughter of the count of

Ponthieu Ponthieu (; ; ) was one of six feudal counties that eventually merged to become part of the Province of Picardy, in northern France.Dunbabin.France in the Making. Ch.4. The Principalities 888-987 Its chief town is Abbeville. History Ponthieu p ...

. Mauclerk resigned the see on 26 June 1246 and died about 28 October 1248 at

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

. He resigned the bishopric to become a Dominican at Oxford. During his time as bishop, he set the financial affairs of his diocese on a firm footing, and left most of his property to the diocese or to the Dominicans at Oxford.

Citations

References

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mauclerk, Walter 1248 deaths Bishops of Carlisle Lord high treasurers of England 13th-century English Roman Catholic bishops High sheriffs of Cumberland Year of birth unknown