Richard Talbot ( c. 1390-1449 ), younger brother of John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, was Archbishop of Dublin and Lord Chancellor of Ireland. He was one of the leading political figures in Ireland for more than thirty years, although his career was marked by controversy and frequent quarrels with other statesmen.
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He was the third son of Richard Talbot, 4th Baron Talbot and Ankaret le Strange. He seems to have entered the Church while still in his early teens, became prebendary of Hereford Cathedral and York Cathedral, and Dean of Chichester in 1415 .In 1416 he was elected Archbishop of Armagh but failed to secure confirmation in time. The following year however he was consecrated Archbishop of Dublin.
He was an active and reforming Archbishop, establishing a new corporation in St. Patrick's Cathedral and founding chantries in St. Michael's Church and St. Audoen's Church. His rule however was marked by conflict with John Swayne who had become Archbishop of Armagh when Talbot failed.Talbot revived an old dispute about primacy, and refused to accept the right of Swayne to call himself Primate of Ireland. Swayne was equally intransigent and in 1429 refused to attend a Parliament in Leinster if his primacy was not acknowledged there.[1]
His brother the future Earl was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland between 1414 and 1420 and again in 1425 and 1446-7. Richard acted as his brother's deputy and also as Justiciar : in 1423 he was appointed Lord Chancellor and held office for much of the next twenty years.
The state of English rule in Ireland was described then as one of "imbecility, folly and corruption". Talbot was at least prepared to act firmly and in 1419 arrested Lord Gormanstown and other nobles on suspicion of treason.Inevitably he made enemies: in 1426 he was deprived of the Chancellorship but soon restored to office.A more serious crisis arose in 1429 when he was accused of fomenting rebellion, and summoned to London to account for his actions. Clearly the Privy Council was satisfied with his defence since he was not deprived of office.[2]
The charges against Talbot may have been connected with the long- running feud between the Talbots and James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormonde.Shrewsbury had been charged with harsh treatment of Ormonde and his brother intensified the quarrel, so that Anglo-Irish politics became increasingly split between Talbot and Butler factions. The Talbot faction dominated in the 1430s, but in 1442 the appointment of Ormonde as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland caused the feud to break out with fresh bitterness. Talbot was sent to London to ask for an English Lieutenant to replace him, and produced an extraordinary document which he claimed was the Irish Parliament's petition against Ormonde. Talbot denounced Ormonde as old and feeble ( in fact he was fifty, some years younger than Talbot ), and unfit to keep order in Ireland. He was accused of having lost most of his property through his negligence; there were vague references to treason and crimes not fit for a bishop to speak of. The Council could not ignore the charges and Ormonde was summoned to London to account for his actions He defended himself with great vigour and kept his office.The Council did rebuke both sides in the dispute for weakening the Irish government by " creating divisions and rumours among the KIng's men ".[3]
Relations between the Talbots and Butlers did improve: Ormonde's daughter Elizabeth married Shrewsbury's son and heir.[4] Talbot was removed as Chancellor, though he acted as Justiciar and as Deputy during his brother's final term of office. He showed his old spirit by refusing a second chance to become Archbishop of Armagh when Swayne retired. He died in Dublin on 15 August 1449, aged about sixty and was buried in St. Patrick's Cathedral.
Richard Talbot was clearly a man of intelligence and strong character:O'Flanagan[5] thought him as remarkable a man as his brother the great Earl. He did however have serious flaws, being high-handed, quarrelsome and undiplomatic. His feud with Archbishop Swayne weakened the Church; and his quarrel with Ormonde, which seems to have been largely personal, is agreed to have been a major factor in weakening English rule in Ireland.
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