Hubert Walter ( – 13 July 1205) was an influential royal adviser in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries in the positions of Chief Justiciar of England, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Lord Chancellor. As chancellor, Walter began the keeping of the Charter Roll, a record of all charters issued by the chancery. Walter was not noted for his holiness in life or learning, but historians have judged him one of the most outstanding government ministers in English history.
Walter owed his early advancement to his uncle Ranulf de Glanvill, who helped him become a clerk of the Exchequer. Walter served King Henry II of England in many ways, not just in financial administration, but also including diplomatic and judicial efforts. After an unsuccessful candidacy to the see of York, Walter was elected Bishop of Salisbury shortly after the accession of Henry's son .
Walter accompanied Richard on the Third Crusade and was one of the principal figures in raising Richard's ransom after the king was captured in Germany on his return from the Holy Land. As a reward for his faithful service, Walter was selected to become Archbishop of Canterbury in 1193. He also served as Richard's justiciar until 1198, in which role he was responsible for raising the money Richard needed to prosecute his wars in France. Walter set up a system that was the precursor for the modern justices of the peace, based on selecting four knights in each hundred to administer justice. He also revived his predecessor's dispute over setting up a church to rival Christ Church Priory in Canterbury, which was only settled when the pope ordered him to abandon the plan. Following Richard's death in 1199, Walter helped assure the elevation of Richard's brother John to the throne. Walter also served John as a diplomat, undertaking several missions to France.
Early life
Hubert Walter was the son of Hervey Walter and his wife Maud de Valoignes, one of the daughters (and co-heiresses) of Theobald de Valoignes, who was lord of Parham in Suffolk. Glanvill was the chief justiciar for Henry II; and was married to Maud de Valoignes' sister, Bertha. A younger brother, Osbert, became a royal justice and died in 1206. Roger, Hamo (or Hamon), and Bartholomew only appear as witnesses to charters.
Walter's family was from West Dereham in Norfolk, which is probably where Walter was born. Walter first appears in Glanvill's household in a charter that has been dated to 1178, although as it is undated,ce it may have been written as late as 1180. His brother Theobald also served in their uncle's household. Walter's gratitude towards his aunt and uncle is shown in the foundation charter of Walter's monastery in Dereham, where he asks the foundation to pray for the "souls of Ranulf Glanvill and Bertha his wife, who nourished us". Earlier historians asserted that Walter studied law at Bologna, based on his name appearing in a list of those to be commemorated at a monastery in Bologna in which English students lodged. Modern historians have discounted this, as the list also includes benefactors, not just students; other evidence points to the fact that Walter had a poor grasp of Latin, and did not consider himself to be a learned man. However, this did not mean that he was illiterate, merely that he was not "book-learned", or educated at a university. His contemporary, the medieval writer Gerald of Wales said of Walter that the Exchequer was his school. Walter was also an unsuccessful candidate to become Archbishop of York in September 1186. Documents also show that Walter was active in the administration of the diocese of York.
At the same time he was administering York, Walter founded a Premonstratensian house of canons on purchased property at West Dereham, Norfolk in 1188. His uncle and other family members had favoured the Premonstratensian Order, and this West Dereham Abbey was located near the family lands in Norfolk.
In 1187, Walter, along with Glanvill and King Henry II, attempted to mediate a dispute between the Archbishop of Canterbury, Baldwin of Forde, and the monks of the cathedral chapter. Their efforts were fruitless, and Walter was later drawn back into the dispute in early 1189 and again as archbishop. The dispute centred on Baldwin's attempt to build a church dedicated to Saint Thomas Becket just outside the town of Canterbury. The plan was to staff the church with canons instead of monks, which the monks of Canterbury's cathedral chapter feared was an attempt to take away the cathedral chapter's right to elect the archbishop. The attempt in 1189 was settled by Baldwin giving up the site near Canterbury for one further away at Lambeth, which was less threatening to the monks.
Bishop and archbishop
After the death of King Henry in 1189, the new king Richard appointed Walter Bishop of Salisbury; the election took place on 15 September 1189 at Pipewell, with the consecration on 22 October 1189 at Westminster. Also elected to bishoprics at this council were Godfrey de Lucy to the see of Winchester, Richard FitzNeal to the see of London, and William Longchamp to the see of Ely. The elevation of so many new bishops was probably meant to signal the new king's break with his father's habit of keeping bishoprics empty to retain the revenues of the sees. At about the same time, Glanvill was either forced out of his justiciarship or resigned, but the sources are unclear. Walter was probably elevated to a bishopric even though his uncle had lost some of his power because of political manoeuvring over the elevation of King Richard's illegitimate half-brother Geoffrey to the see of York, which Walter had at first opposed. The bishopric was either a reward or a bribe for Walter's withdrawal of his objections to Geoffrey's election.
Soon after his appointment, Walter accompanied the king on the Third Crusade, going ahead of the king directly from Marseille to the Holy Land in a group that included Baldwin of Forde, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Ranulf de Glanvill. The group left Marseille in August 1190, and arrived at Acre two months later. While on crusade, he was praised by his fellow crusaders, and acted as Richard's principal negotiator with Saladin for a peace treaty. After the conclusion of the treaty with Saladin, Walter was in the first band of pilgrims that entered Jerusalem. Walter subsequently led the English army back to England after Richard departed from Palestine, but in Sicily he heard of the king's capture, and diverted to Germany. and soon after Walter's return to England, he was duly elected archbishop of Canterbury, having been translated to the see on 29 May 1193. He was chosen as archbishop without consultation from the bishops, who normally claimed the right to help decide the new archbishop. He received his pallium, the symbol of his archiepiscopal authority, from Pope Celestine III and was ceremonially enthroned at Canterbury on 7 November 1193.
Justiciar
After Richard was freed, he spent little time in England, instead concentrating on the war with King Philip II of France, which began with Philip's attempts to acquire Richard's possessions on the continent. Richard made Walter Chief Justiciar about 25 December 1193. Walter remained in England, raising money for the king's wars and overseeing the administration of the kingdom. The constant warfare forced Walter to find new means of raising money through taxation. Walter was also responsible for choosing royal justices, and many of his choices were connected with, or had previously worked with, the archbishop in the royal administration. Because of Richard's absence from England, Walter was able to exercise more authority as justiciar than any of his predecessors. All that Walter needed to do was keep Richard's monetary needs satisfied. Combined with Walter's position as archbishop, Walter wielded a power unseen in England since the days of Lanfranc.
One of Walter's first acts as justiciar was in February 1194, when he presided over a feudal judgement of John, Richard's younger brother. After Richard's release from captivity, John, intending to begin a rebellion, had prepared his castles for defence. His letters ordering the preparations were intercepted and John was deprived of his lands. When John showed no signs of submitting, Walter called an ecclesiastical council at Westminster for the purposes of excommunicating John unless he submitted. John refused to submit, and was excommunicated. To defeat the rebellion, Walter was required to lay siege to Marlborough Castle himself. Walter employed his brother Theobald in similar actions in Lancaster, and rewarded him with the office of sheriff of Lancaster. Eventually in May 1194, John made peace with Richard, and was restored to favour, although the restoration of his lands did not occur until late in 1195.
Walter's chief administrative measures were his instructions to the itinerant justices of 1194 and 1198, his 1195 ordinance to increase order in the kingdom, and his 1198 plan for the assessment of a land tax. In 1194 the justices were ordered by a document now known as the Articles of Eyre to secure the election of four coroners by each county court. The coroners were to keep, or register, royal pleas, which had previously been a duty of the sheriff. The juries were to be chosen by a committee of four knights, also elected by the county court. This introduction of coroners and constables eventually led to a change in the role of sheriffs, and a lessening of their importance in royal administration. Although he probably did not take part in the decision to set up a special exchequer for the collection of Richard's ransom, Walter did appoint the two escheators, who were Hugh Bardulf in the north of England and William of Sainte-Mère-Eglise in the south. His instructions for the eyre, are the first that survive in English history. It was during his tenure of the justiciarship that the judicial role of the Exchequer became separated from the purely financial aspects.
He also worked to introduce order into the lending of money by Jewish moneylenders, and organised a system where the royal officials worked to combat fraud by both parties in the business of Jewish money lending. Walter was probably the originator of the custom of keeping an archival copy of all charters, letters, patents and feet of fines, or record of agreements reached in the royal courts, in the chancery. The first recorded "foot of the fine" is endorsed with the statement "This is the first chirograph that was made in the king's court in the form of three chirographs, according to the command of his lordship of Canterbury and other barons of the king, to the end that by this form a record can be made to be passed on to the treasurer to put in the treasury." The agreement concerns Walter's brother Theobald, who was the plaintiff.