Sir
John Morices biography from Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
Morice [Morys],
Sir John (d. 1362), justiciar of
Ireland, is probably to be identified with the Bedfordshire knight of
that name who represented the county in parliament and was frequently a
commissioner of array, of oyer and terminer, and of the peace. He enjoyed a
long public career which, because of his association with John Darcy of Knaith
(d. 1347), lay mostly in Ireland, where Darcy was often justiciar
between 1324 and 1344. Between 130910 and 1324 Morice and Darcy served in the
retinue of Aymer de Valence, earl of Pembroke and lord of Wexford, of whose
heirs Morice and his wife, Agnes, held lands at Everton
Mosbury, Bedfordshire. Morice may have had a second wife, Margaret, though the
identification of the John Morice in this marriage is uncertain. In 1341 his
son, John (who may have predeceased him), was seneschal of Wexford, an office
that his father had earlier held. In 1324 Morice was said to be going to
Ireland in Darcy's company. He undoubtedly did so in 1329, when he was
appointed escheator, a position he held until 1336. He visited England on
several occasions during that period; in 1331 he was returning to Ireland in
the company of William de Burgh, earl of Ulster, of whom he held lands at
Steeple Claydon, Buckinghamshire, and one of whose executors he became. The
escheatorship was an important office, which involved taking distant lordships
into the king's hand, as Morice did in 1333 after the murder of Earl William.
In 1330 he had lost horses, harness, armour, clothing, bedding, silver bullion,
and a psalter in an attack by the Irish as he journeyed from Connacht to
Tipperary in the course of his duties.
In 1341 Morice acted as one of the judges inquiring into ministerial
oppressions in Oxfordshire, Berkshire, and Buckinghamshire. He was removed in
order to go to Ireland as deputy to Darcy. His rule proved controversial.
Edward III's wrath at the failure of his ministers to raise resources for the
French war extended to Ireland, where he denounced locally born officials and
authorized the revocation of grants made since 1307. Morice was unable to carry
this ill-judged policy through. In 1342 protests from the settler community
reached the king; they included a complaint (possibly directed at Morice) about
rule by men who lacked experience of war. Edward withdrew the measures. Unlike
other members of the government Morice continued in office; his eventual
removal in July 1344 was to make room for the new administration of Ralph
Ufford. Early in 1346 he was sent to Ireland again, probably to raise troops
for France. Since the king knew that Ufford was mortally ill, he was also given
authority to assume the justiciarship if necessary. Following Ufford's death he
served as justiciar between 16 May and 28 June, after which he held the
chancellorship until December. He helped to handle the aftermath of Ufford's forfeiture
of the earls of Kildare and Desmond, arranging the first steps in Kildare's
rehabilitation. This took him to England and Calais during the winter of
13467. He does not appear to have returned to Ireland after 1347, though he
continued to appoint attorneys to look after his interests there until May
1362. He had died by the following August.
Robin Frame
Chancery
records · PRO · VCH
Bedfordshire · R. Frame, English lordship in Ireland, 13181361
(1982) · A. J. Otway-Ruthven, A history of medieval Ireland (1968) · G.
O. Sayles, ed., Documents on the affairs of Ireland before the king's
council, IMC (1979) · H. G. Richardson and G. O.
Sayles, The administration of Ireland, 11721377 (1963) · Inquisitions
and assessments relating to feudal aids, 6 vols., PRO
(18991921) · J. R. S. Phillips, Aymer de Valence, earl of Pembroke,
13071324: baronial politics in the reign of Edward II (1972)
G. V. Du Noyer, portrait
(after Charter roll, 186069), Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, Dublin,
Du Noyer's sketch-books · portrait, Waterford municipal archives, Charter roll
of the city of Waterford; repro. in A. Cosgrove, ed., Medieval Ireland,
11691534 (1987), pl. 26b
© Oxford
University Press 20045 |
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Robin
Frame, Morice , Sir John (d. 1362), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography,
Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/19384,
accessed 19 Nov 2005] Sir
John Morice (d. 1362): doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/19384 |
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