Richard de Bury, bishop of Durham. de Bury Richard King and council. bishop of Durham...

Petitioners

Richard de Bury, bishop of Durham.

Name(s)

de Bury, Richard

Addressees

King and council.

Occupation

bishop of Durham

Nature of request

The bishop requests that the king order a writ to his justices that he should be able to plead his right to the advowson of the church of Simonburn, and respond to the king in the right despite the king and his predecessors presentments made in usurpation of the bishop and his predecessor's rights. The advowson had been bought along with 50 librates of land in Tynedale by Bishop Bek from John de Balliol, king of Scotland. Whilst Bek was at the court of Rome, Edward I dispossessed him without reason and presented one of his own clerks. Successive bishops sued in parliament for its return, but though their rights were eventually established, they were unable to regain possession because the king had granted the manor of Wark and the advowson to John Darcy, who then had to be sued at common law. Unfortunately Bishop Beaumont died whilst this suit was before the justices of the bench. The bishop since his accession has taken possession of the church when it fell vacant, but has been impeded by writs quare impedit of Darcy and the king.

Nature of endorsement

The law will not suffer at all that his right be tried by a writ of possession de quare impedit, wherefore if he wishes that his right be tried, he sue before the king, who will assign certain people to enquire of his right, and right be done.

Places mentioned

Tynedale, [Northumberland]

Simonburn, [Northumberland]

Rome, [Italy]

Werk en Tyndale (Wark), [Northumberland].

People mentioned

Antony [Bek], late bishop of Durham

John de Ballol (Balliol), King of Scotland

Edward I, King of England

Louis [de Beaumont], late bishop of Durham

John Darcy

Edward III, King of England.

For an earlier petition on the same subject, see SC 8/44/2167

• Ancient Petitions Relating to Northumberland, Ed. C.M. Fraser, (Surtees Society, vol. CLXXI, 1961), pp. 69-71 (no. 54) (full edition of petition)
• Rotuli Parliamentorum; ut et Petitiones, et Placita in Parliamento, vol. I, Edw I and Edw II, (Record Commission, 1783), p.339a-b (no. 6) (transcript of an earlier petition on the same subject)