Ralph Neville (or Ralf Nevill or Ralph de Neville; but another likely sibling was Roger, who held land in Lincolnshire. Robert became Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Nicholas a baron of the Exchequer. Ralph Neville was also related to Hugh de Neville, King John of England's chief forester.
Neville was a royal clerk to King John in the spring of 1207, and in December of that year was at Marlborough Castle on royal business. Earlier references to a Ralph Neville who in 1207 delivered items to Hugh de Neville, or the Ralph Neville who was the same Hugh de Neville's chaplain, may be to the future bishop, but the evidence is inconclusive. Hugh de Neville and Neville subsequently worked together and corresponded on both business and personal affairs. Both men claimed the other as a kinsman.
Neville's activities during the years immediately after 1207 are unknown, owing to the lack of royal records, but in December 1213 he was given custody of the Great Seal of the kingdom. Neville was appointed to the royal chancery in about 1214, largely through the patronage of Peter des Roches, the Bishop of Winchester and one of the king's favourites. From March to October 1214, Neville was in France with the king. After the king returned to England after 1214, Neville remained in royal service until at least May 1216, although without custody of the Great Seal. His activities during the final period of John's reign prior to the king's sudden death in October 1216 are unknown.
Royal service and Bishop of Chichester
Neville was keeper of the royal seal under the new king, Henry III (r. 1216–1272) from about 6 November 1218. He had been at the royal court since May 1218, and was given custody of the seal as soon as it was made up. Neville was also vice-chancellor of England under the chancellorship of Richard Marsh, who had been elected as Bishop of Durham in 1217 and spent most of his time attending to ecclesiastical affairs in his northern diocese. In fact, if not in name, Neville was responsible for all the duties of the chancellorship, and he exercised most of the power of that office, although Marsh continued to hold the title of chancellor until his death in 1226.
Neville received a papal dispensation for his illegitimacy on 25 January 1220, on the recommendation of the king, Stephen Langton the Archbishop of Canterbury, other bishops, and the papal legate Cardinal Guala Bicchieri, all of whom testified to his good reputation and character. In late October he was named chancellor of the see of Chichester, In April 1223 Neville was ordered by Pope Honorius III to cease using the Great Seal on the command of the justiciar or other members of the minority council, but instead to do so only at the king's command, essentially ending the royal minority. But it did not finally end until December 1223, and even then, as the king had not yet been officially declared of age, the ban on grants without a fixed time limit remained in force.
Lord Chancellor
thumb|right|Engraving and coat of arms above a fireplace at [[Lincoln's Inn, London]]
Neville was named Lord Chancellor of England on 17 May 1226. Unlike Hubert de Burgh, who lost his offices when Henry III attained his majority and took control of the government, Neville remained chancellor with only slight disagreements until 1238, Under Neville, the first signs that the chancery was becoming a department of the government, rather than just a royal department that was part of the royal household, began to emerge. The contemporary writer Matthew Paris praised Neville for his actions as chancellor, claiming that he treated all equally and was transparent in discharging his duties, which was important, as the chancellor's office controlled access to the king. Neville oversaw a number of changes in chancery procedures, splitting off the liberate rolls from the letters close in 1226 and reviving the keeping of the Charter Rolls in 1227. He also issued writs on his own authority, the so-called writs de cursu. but he employed clerics to administer the ecclesiastical offices of his diocese and in general his relationship with his cathedral chapter appears to have been good. He employed a teacher of theology for his cathedral, and supported students at schools in Lincoln, Oxford, and Douai.
Neville was elected Archbishop of Canterbury on about 24 September 1231 by the monks of Canterbury, but his election was quashed in early 1232 by Pope Gregory IX, on the grounds that Neville was an or illiterate, even though he had been found to be literatus in 1214 when appointed dean; literatus in this sense meant "learned" rather than "literate". Other concerns were that Simon Langton, the Archdeacon of Canterbury, described Neville as a courtier instead of a true priest, and claimed that Neville's goal was to free England from its feudal ties to the papacy. In 1232, during the events surrounding the de Burgh's downfall Neville, along with Ranulf, the Earl of Chester, urged that de Burgh should not be dragged from sanctuary to face the royal accusations against him. Neville's pleas prevailed for a time, but eventually de Burgh was removed from sanctuary.
The king attempted to deprive Neville of the chancellorship in 1236, which the bishop countered by claiming that as he had been appointed during the royal minority with the consent of the great council, only the council could dismiss him. In 1238 the cathedral chapter of the see of Winchester elected as Bishop of Winchester first William de Raley in opposition to the king's choice of William the Bishop of Valence, and when that election was quashed, they elected Neville. His election to Winchester was quashed in 1239, Although Henry deprived Neville of the custody of the Great Seal from 1238 until 1242, Neville retained the title of chancellor until his death, The Great Seal itself was held by a number of minor officials, probably to allow Henry greater control over its use by preventing the establishment of another powerful official who might interfere with his plans. But they lacked the power base that Neville had possessed, which enabled him to oppose the king.
In 1239 Neville may have been offered the custody of the Great Seal, which he refused. In May 1242 Neville was once again responsible for the seal while Henry was in France, a responsibility apparently shared with the regent.