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, 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 re ...

, with whom he travelled the Eyre in

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

and

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

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

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 ...

. He became justice of the bench in 1229 following Pattishall's retirement, with Roger of Thirkleby 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 counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

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 (England), Court of Common Pleas, also known as the Common Bench, which was the second-highest Common law#History, common law court in the English law, English lega ...

, a position he held until 1234 when he was appointed to the more senior position of

Chief Justice of the King's Bench The Lord or Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales is the head of the judiciary of England and Wales and the president of the courts of England and Wales. Until 2005 the lord chief justice was the second-most senior judge of the English a ...

, becoming the most senior of the King's judges after the title of

Justiciar Justiciar is the English form of the medieval Latin term or (meaning "judge" or "justice"). The Chief Justiciar was the king's chief minister, roughly equivalent to a modern Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The Justiciar of Ireland was ...

, 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'') ( 20 Hen. 3), sometimes also known as the Ancient Statute of Merton, was a statute passed by the Parliament of England in 1235 during the rei ...

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

Bishop of Coventry The Bishop of Coventry is the Ordinary (officer), 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 Lichf ...

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 West M ...

, 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 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 John, King of England, King John and Isabella of Ang ...

still objected and appealed to Pope

Innocent IV Pope Innocent 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 universities of Parma and Bolo ...

, 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.

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* * * * {{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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