John L'Archers

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John L'Archers, or Larcher ( died 1349 ) was an English born cleric and judge who had a distinguished career in Ireland, holding the office of Lord Chancellor of Ireland, but died during the first outbreak of the Black Death.

Family

The Archer family, who later held the title Baron Archer, were from Tanworth in Arden, in Warwickshire where they owned Umberslade Hall from the time of Henry II.[1] John was probably the younger brother of Thomas L'Archer ( died 1372 ), and great- nephew of an earlier Thomas L'Archer who was English Prior of the Order of Hospitallers 1321-1329.[2] This family tradition may have influenced John to join the Hospitallers; he is first recorded as a brother of the order's Nottingham house in 1334.[3]

Career

On the death of Roger Utlagh in 1341 L'Archer was appointed as Prior of the Hospital's principal Irish house at Kilmainham. He was Deputy Justiciar of Ireland in 1347. As often in this period, the exact dates of his term as Lord Chancellor are uncertain, but it was most likely 1342-1344.

O'Flanagan[4] wrote that L'Archer was one of several mediaeval Chancellors of Ireland who leave no record but their name. More recently however Otway-Ruthven[5] described L'Archer as playing an important part in the political events of the early 1340s.The Irish Parliament which met first in Dublin in 1341 and then adjourned to Kilkenny, denounced the Anglo-Irish government of Ireland in terms of extraordinary severity, and then produced a series of petitions to King Edward III to be presented by a group of leading magnates and officials. These petitions were a comprehensive denunciation of every aspect of government, including charges of corruption, maladministration and military incompetence. The King gave a favourable reception to the petitioners and promised redress. L'Archer was one of them and Otway-Ruthven believed that the fact that the newly appointed Chancellor of Ireland went in person to petition was one of the factors in the good reception it received.[6]

Death

The Black Death reached Ireland shortly after its first appearance in England in 1348. The death toll among senior officials is not thought to have been particularly high, but L'Archer who died suddenly in 1349 was probably a plague victim.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Lawrence-Archer, J.H. Memorial of Families of the Surname of Archer London 1861
  2. ↑ Lawrence-Archer, above
  3. ↑ Ball, F. Elrington The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921 John Murray London 1926
  4. ↑ O'Flanagan J. Roderick Lives of the Lord Chancellors of Ireland London 1870
  5. ↑ Otway-Ruthven J.A. History of Mediaeval Ireland Barnes and Noble 1993
  6. ↑ History of Mediaeval Ireland
  7. ↑ Otway-Ruthven Medieval Ireland
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