John de Gray facts for kids

John de Gray (died 18 October 1214) was an important English church leader. He served as the Bishop of Norwich and was chosen to be the Archbishop of Canterbury, though this choice was later cancelled.

John de Gray worked for Prince John even before John became king. He was given many church jobs as a reward. In 1200, he was chosen as the Bishop of Norwich. After becoming a bishop, de Gray continued to help King John. He lent the king money and went on important trips for him.

In 1205, King John tried to make de Gray the Archbishop of Canterbury. But there was a big argument about who should be chosen. Pope Innocent III eventually said that de Gray could not be the Archbishop. The Pope then chose Stephen Langton instead, which made King John very angry. This started a long fight between the Pope and the King.

The Pope put many punishments on England and King John. At one point, de Gray was one of only two bishops still officially working in England. In 1209, he became the main leader, or governor, of Ireland for King John. He spent until 1213 trying to make the king's rules followed by the powerful Anglo-Norman families and the native Irish people there.

Later, de Gray was called back to England to help defend against a possible attack by the French. He then traveled to Rome to get forgiveness from the Pope. This was after King John and the Pope finally settled their dispute. After getting his pardon, de Gray was chosen as the Bishop of Durham. However, he died on his way back to England in 1214.

De Gray built a palace in his church area and several castles in Ireland. One writer at the time called him a "bad advisor" to the King. But today's historians think he was smarter and more helpful. Some even say he was one of the few people King John trusted throughout his life. De Gray also helped his nephew, Walter de Gray, get an important government job in 1205.

John de Gray's Early Life

Some people say John de Gray was from Norfolk, England. He probably came from a Norman knight family. He was also the uncle of Walter de Gray, who later became the Archbishop of York. John de Gray helped his nephew become the Lord Chancellor, a very important government position. He even helped pay a large sum of money for his nephew to get the job.

By 1196, de Gray was working for King Richard I's brother, John. He was in charge of John's official seal by 1198. When John became King of England in 1199, de Gray quickly received more church jobs. He became Archdeacon of Cleveland in March 1200 and Archdeacon of Gloucester before April that year. He also worked as King John's secretary. He often filled in for the main government leader, Hubert Walter.

Soon after John became king, de Gray started traveling between England and Europe for royal business. For the first two years of John's rule, he was very busy in the king's office, preparing official documents.

De Gray was chosen as Bishop of Norwich around September 7, 1200. This choice was mostly just a formality. A writer at the time, Roger of Howden, said that the new bishop "succeeded to the bishopric of Norwich by the gift of King John." De Gray officially became a bishop on September 24. His ceremony happened at Westminster with the new Bishop of Hereford, Giles de Braose.

Serving as Bishop of Norwich

As Bishop, John de Gray often lent money to King John. Once, he even held the royal jewels as a guarantee for a loan. He also worked as a royal judge. In 1203, de Gray went with Archbishop Hubert Walter and other church leaders on a peace mission. They tried to talk with King Philip II of France, but it did not work.

Philip had demanded that King John give up his niece, Eleanor of Brittany, or his nephew, Arthur of Brittany. Philip also wanted all of John's lands in Europe. King John refused to give up any of these. After the bishops returned to England, Philip invaded Normandy.

In 1203, some of de Gray's knights were protecting the castle of Vaudreuil in Normandy. They had supplies, and King John was coming to help them. But in the summer of 1203, the castle guards gave up to Philip. This happened soon after the attack began. When John left Normandy in late 1203, giving up control of the area to Philip, de Gray was with him. They traveled to the port of Barfleur and then went to England with the king.

Becoming Archbishop-Elect

King John's attempt to make John de Gray the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1205 started a long fight. This was between the king and Pope Innocent III. After Archbishop Hubert Walter died in July 1205, it was unclear how to choose a new archbishop. This was a common problem for elections to Canterbury.

King John delayed making a decision. Groups from the English bishops and the monks of the cathedral chapter went to Rome. They wanted guidance from the Pope. The bishops of Canterbury province said they should have a say in who was chosen. This was because the archbishop would be their leader. But church law said the monks of the cathedral chapter had the right to choose the new archbishop. The king also had a say. The archbishop was a very important landowner and usually one of the king's main advisors.

While these groups were in Rome, the monks of Canterbury secretly chose one of their own, Reginald, as archbishop. They then sent him to Rome to join the group. When King John found out that Reginald had been chosen without his input, he forced the monks to choose de Gray as archbishop.

There are different stories about what happened. Some say Reginald was chosen before the first group went to the Pope. Another writer, Gervase of Canterbury, said the king told the monks they could choose their own person after six months. But secretly, the king sent his own people to Rome to make sure de Gray was chosen.

A different story, from Roger of Wendover, says the monks chose Reginald even before Walter was buried. He wrote that only a few younger monks took part in that choice. But Wendover wrote in the 1230s and was not a monk of Canterbury, so his story might not be completely true.

De Gray was officially put forward for Canterbury on December 11, 1205. This meant the Pope had two people to choose from. To try and find a solution, the Pope cancelled both choices around March 30, 1206. The Pope said de Gray's choice was invalid because an earlier choice was still being argued about with the Pope. The monks then chose Stephen Langton, and the Pope approved.

However, King John did not accept Langton. The Pope's decision to make Langton archbishop in 1207 led to an eight-year struggle. This was between King John and the Pope over the king's right to choose his own archbishop. John refused to let Langton enter England and sent the Canterbury monks away.

The Pope put a ban on church services in England in 1208. This was called an interdict. King John fought back by taking the money and lands of any church leaders who followed the ban. The Pope then excommunicated John in 1209. This meant John was no longer part of the church. This fight led to many English church leaders leaving the country. King John also demanded a lot of money from the church in England. By 1209, de Gray and Peter des Roches, the Bishop of Winchester, were the only English bishops not in exile.

But it wasn't until 1213, when the Pope started to support removing John from power, that the king became worried. He then made a deal with the Pope.

John de Gray in Ireland

Part of the fortifications at Athlone Castle, built on John de Gray's orders

By 1209, John de Gray was in Ireland. He was serving as the king's governor, sometimes called the justiciar for Ireland. One reason for this job might have been to protect him from being accused of ignoring the church ban in England. As a bishop, de Gray should have enforced the ban. But by going to Ireland, which was not under the ban, he could continue to serve the king without angering the Pope.

De Gray's main goal in Ireland was to expand English rule. He was involved in battles on the River Shannon and in Fermanagh. He also changed the Irish money to English money. He tried, but failed, to make English laws apply in Ireland. De Gray's time in Ireland was a period of change for how the government worked there.

In 1209, King John was persecuting William de Braose. William Marshal gave de Braose a safe place on his lands in Ireland. De Gray demanded that Marshal hand de Braose over as a traitor. But Marshal refused. He said that since he held some lands from de Braose, it would be an act of treason to give his lord to someone else. Marshal's refusal did not seem to make de Gray angry. Three years later, the bishop was praising Marshal in a letter to King John.

King John led a trip to Ireland in 1210. He wanted to bring the Anglo-Norman powerful families under control. He started talks with the native Irish kings. Some stories say his talks were so successful that the native Irish agreed to his rule. But historian Seán Duffy says the native Irish nobles resisted John just as much as the Anglo-Norman families.

After John returned to England, he told de Gray to build three new castles in Connacht. One of them was at Athlone. Along with building castles, the royal government launched two military attacks on Connacht. One came from Meath and Leinster, and the other from Munster. De Gray left Ireland in 1211 to lead a military campaign against the Welsh. He left his deputy, Richard de Tuit, in charge of Ireland.

De Gray also faced resistance from the northern Irish. In 1212, he led a campaign against Áed Méith. To help with this, he built castles at Cáel Uisce, Belleek, and Clones. These were bases for attacks against the Ua Néill territory in the north. A naval attack was also launched, but it did not work. De Gray was defeated by Cormac O'Melaghlin in 1212 at Fircal, Offaly. He left Ireland the next year. He continued to be governor for a while, but by July 1213, he was replaced by Henry de Loundres, the Archbishop of Dublin. One of de Gray's last actions as governor was to take a group of Irish knights to England. They went to help stop a possible attack by the French king Philip II.

Later Career and Church Work

As bishop, John de Gray settled a long-standing argument between the monks of his cathedral and the bishops who came before him. He also allowed the monks of his cathedral the right to choose and replace the priests of the churches connected to the cathedral. In 1203, de Gray received a letter from Pope Innocent III. The letter complained about some priests getting married, which was against church law.

In other matters, he gave the town of Bishop's Lynn (now King's Lynn) the right to hold a weekly market and two fairs each year. He also built a palace at Gaywood.

De Gray was good at raising money, which made him very useful to King John. In 1213, de Gray gathered 500 knights. This was when Philip II was threatening to invade England. He brought this force from Ireland, along with mounted soldiers, to support the king in England.

In May 1213, King John and the Pope finally settled their argument over Langton's election to Canterbury. Part of the agreement was that John gave Ireland and England to the Pope. He then received them back from the Pope, making John a papal vassal. This agreement was sealed with a treaty, and de Gray was one of the people who witnessed it.

After John made peace with the Pope, de Gray was not included in the general forgiveness. He had to go to Rome to be pardoned. While in Rome, the bishop was named as one of the people guaranteeing a new money agreement between the king and the Pope. This deal was about feudal payments from England. It lowered the large amount of money that had to be paid before the Pope would lift the church ban.

After the Pope pardoned de Gray, the Pope suggested he be chosen as Bishop of Durham in 1213. But de Gray died on his journey back to England on October 18, 1214. He died at Saint-Jean-d'Angély in Poitou. He was buried in Norwich Cathedral, but his tomb is no longer there.

Besides helping his nephew's career, de Gray also took two clerks from Hubert Walter's staff into his own household: David and Robert of Ruddeby. Another clerk who worked for de Gray, Robert de Bingham, was with the bishop during the church ban on England. He later became a teacher of religious studies at Oxford and then the Bishop of Salisbury in 1228.

John de Gray stayed close to King John for most of his life. He was one of the King's main fundraisers. Sidney Painter, a historian who wrote about John, said de Gray was "probably the only man whom John trusted absolutely and without reservation for the whole period of their association." Another historian, Ralph Turner, called de Gray "one of John's greatest favourites." W. L. Warren, another writer about John, described de Gray as "one of the best brains of the royal administration." However, Matthew Paris, a medieval writer, called him an "evil counsellor." He blamed many of the problems in John's later rule on de Gray's failed election to Canterbury.