Editing Hubert Walter (section)

==Justiciar==

After Richard was freed, he spent little time in England, instead concentrating on the war with King [[Philip II of France]], which began with Philip's attempts to acquire Richard's possessions on the continent. Richard made Walter Chief Justiciar about 25 December 1193.<ref name=Handbook71>Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 71</ref> Walter remained in England, raising money for the king's wars and overseeing the administration of the kingdom. The constant warfare forced Walter to find new means of raising money through [[Taxation in medieval England|taxation]].<ref name=DNB/> The historian [[Doris Mary Stenton|Doris Stenton]] wrote that the [[Pipe Rolls]], or financial records, during Walter's time as justiciar "give the impression of a country taxed to the limit".<ref name=QYoung49>Quoted in Young ''Hubert Walter'' p. 49</ref> Walter was also responsible for choosing royal justices, and many of his choices were connected with, or had previously worked with, the archbishop in the royal administration.<ref name=Young51>Young ''Hubert Walter'' p. 51</ref> Because of Richard's absence from England, Walter was able to exercise more authority as justiciar than any of his predecessors. All that Walter needed to do was keep Richard's monetary needs satisfied. Combined with Walter's position as archbishop, Walter wielded a power unseen in England since the days of [[Lanfranc]].<ref name=West79>West ''Justiciarship'' pp. 79–80</ref>

One of Walter's first acts as justiciar was in February 1194, when he presided over a feudal judgement of [[John of England|John]], Richard's younger brother.  After Richard's release from captivity, John, intending to begin a rebellion, had prepared his castles for defence. His letters ordering the preparations were intercepted and John was deprived of his lands.<ref name=Powell101>Powell and Wallis ''House of Lords'' pp. 101–102</ref> When John showed no signs of submitting, Walter called an ecclesiastical council at [[Westminster]] for the purposes of [[Excommunication|excommunicating]] John unless he submitted.<ref name=Jones5>Jones ''King John and Magna Carta'' pp. 5–6</ref> John refused to submit, and was excommunicated.<ref name=Young52>Young ''Hubert Walter'' pp. 52–53</ref> To defeat the rebellion, Walter was required to lay siege to [[Marlborough Castle]] himself.<ref name=Jones62>Jones ''King John and Magna Carta'' p. 62</ref> Walter employed his brother Theobald in similar actions in [[Lancaster, Lancashire|Lancaster]], and rewarded him with the office of [[sheriff]] of Lancaster.<ref name=Joliffe>Joliffe ''Angevin Kingship'' p. 66</ref> Eventually in May 1194, John made peace with Richard, and was restored to favour, although the restoration of his lands did not occur until late in 1195.<ref name=Turner38>Turner ''King John'' pp. 38–39</ref>

Walter's chief administrative measures were his instructions to the itinerant justices of 1194 and 1198, his ordinance of 1195, an attempt to increase order in the kingdom, and his plan of 1198 for the assessment of a land tax. In 1194 the justices were ordered by a document now known as the [[Articles of Eyre]] to secure the election of four [[coroner]]s by each county court. The coroners were to ''keep'', or register, royal pleas, which had previously been a duty of the sheriff. The juries were to be chosen by a committee of four knights, also elected by the county court.<ref name=Powell102>Powell and Wallis ''House of Lords'' pp. 102–105</ref> This introduction of coroners and constables eventually led to a change in the role of sheriffs, and a lessening of their importance in royal administration.<ref name=Carpenter4>Carpenter "Decline of the Curial Sheriff" ''English Historical Review'' p. 4</ref> Although he probably did not take part in the decision to set up a special exchequer for the collection of Richard's ransom, Walter did appoint the two escheators,<ref name=West80/> or guardians of the amounts due,<ref name=Wordbook84>Cosman ''Medieval Wordbook'' p. 84</ref> who were [[Hugh Bardulf]] in the north of England and William of Sainte-Mère-Eglise in the south.<ref name=West80>West ''Justiciarship'' pp. 80–81</ref> His instructions for the eyre,<ref name=West90/> or circuits of traveling justices,<ref name=Dict118>Coredon ''Dictionary'' p. 118</ref> are the first that survive in English history.<ref name=West90>West ''Justiciarship in England'' pp. 90–91</ref> It was during his tenure of the justiciarship that the judicial role of the Exchequer became separated from the purely financial aspects.<ref name=Kemp560>Kemp "Exchequer and Bench" ''English Historical Review'' p. 560</ref>

He also worked to introduce order into the lending of money by [[Jew]]ish moneylenders, and organised a system where the royal officials worked to combat fraud by both parties in the business of Jewish money lending.<ref name=DNB/><ref name=Young118>Young ''Hubert Walter'' pp. 118–119</ref> Walter was probably the originator of the custom of keeping an archival copy of all [[charter]]s, [[Letters close|letters]], [[Letters patent|patents]] and [[Foot of fine|feet of fines]], or record of agreements reached in the royal courts, in the [[Chancery (medieval office)|chancery]].<ref name=Bartlett200>Bartlett ''England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings'' p. 200</ref><ref name=Chrimes75>Chrimes ''Introduction'' pp. 75–76</ref><ref name=Saul105>Saul "Fine" ''Companion to Medieval England'' p. 105</ref> The first recorded "foot of the fine" is endorsed with the statement "This is the first [[chirograph]] that was made in the king's court in the form of three chirographs, according to the command of his lordship of Canterbury and other barons of the king, to the end that by this form a record can be made to be passed on to the treasurer to put in the treasury."<ref name=QClanchy68>Clanchy ''From Memory to Written Record'' p. 68</ref> The agreement concerns Walter's brother Theobald, who was the plaintiff.<ref name=Clanchy68>Clanchy ''From Memory to Written Record'' pp. 68–73</ref>{{efn|There were precedents for such recording, as in 1166, King Henry II had ordered a third copy of the ''[[Constitutions of Clarendon]]'' be saved in the royal archives, and there were also Anglo-Saxon administrative precursors.<ref name=Clanchy68/>}}

Walter also helped with the creation of a more professional group of royal justices. Although the group, which included [[Simon of Pattishall]], [[Ralph Foliot]], [[Richard Barre]], [[William de Warenne (justice)|William de Warenne]], [[Richard Herriard]], and Walter's brother Osbert fitzHervey, had mostly already served as justices prior to Walter's term of office, it was Walter who used them extensively. It appears likely that Walter chose them for their ability, not for any familial ties to himself. This group of men replaced the previous system of using mostly local men, and are the first signs of a professional judiciary.<ref name=Heiser226>Heiser "Households of the Justiciars" ''Haskins Society Journal'' pp. 226–227</ref>

In 1195 Walter issued an ordinance by which four knights were appointed in every hundred to act as guardians of the peace, a precursor to the office of Justice of the Peace. His use of the [[knight]]s, who appear for the first time in political life, is the first sign of the rise of this class who, either as [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Members of Parliament]] (MPs) or justices of the peace, later became the mainstay of English government. In 1198, Walter requested a [[carucage]], or plough-tax, of five shillings on every plough-land, or [[carucate]], under cultivation. However, difficulties arose over the assessments, so the justiciar ordered them to be made by a sworn jury in every [[hundred]]. It is likely that those jurors were elected.<ref name=Powell102/>

In foreign affairs, Walter negotiated with Scotland in 1195 and with the Welsh in 1197.<ref name=Bartlett345/> Scotland claimed [[Northumbria]], or northern England. Negotiations broke down, but relations between the two countries remained good throughout the rest of Richard's reign.<ref name=RichardI279>Gillingham ''Richard I'' p. 279</ref> Talks with the Welsh began after the [[Peerage of England|English lords]] [[Roger Mortimer of Wigmore|Roger Mortimer]] and [[William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber|William de Briouze]] expanded into Welsh territory in 1195, causing a concern that the Welsh lord [[Rhys ap Gruffydd]] would strike back across the border.<ref name=RichardI280>Gillingham ''Richard I'' p. 280</ref> In 1196, Walter quickly suppressed a popular uprising in London led by [[William Fitz Osbern (1196)|William Fitz Osbern]].<ref name=Bartlett345>Bartlett ''England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings'' p. 345</ref> FitzOsbern was an orator who harnessed the discontent of the poor residents of London against high taxes. His oratory provoked a riot in London, and he was apprehended and hanged on Walter's orders.<ref name=Young127>Young ''Hubert Walter'' pp. 127–128</ref>