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== Relations with Peterborough Abbey ==
== Relations with Peterborough Abbey ==
His relations with the abbey seem to have been close. Prior to their appointment of him as a parish priest at Wormington, they had appointed him to [[Northborough]] parish as well; but his second parish was by far the most lucrative.<ref name="King1973">{{cite book|author=Edmund King|title=Peterborough Abbey 1086-1310|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Cds8AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA17|date=17 May 1973|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-20133-9|pages=17–}}</ref> it has been said that in him, 'Peterborough had found a royal justice, bound in loyalty by the grant.'<ref>Raban, S., 'Mortmain in Medieval England', ''Past & Present'' (1974), 11.</ref> For example, in 1288 he granted the abbey his [[manor]] of [[Southorpe (disambiguation)|Southorpe]],<ref>Raban, S., 'Mortmain in Medieval England', ''Past & Present'' (1974), 10.</ref> and when eventually the Abbey came to buy it, Beckingham lent them some of the cash to do so.<ref>Raban, S., 'Mortmain in Medieval England', ''Past & Present'' (1974), 24.</ref> In this way, contemporaries noted, Beckingham enabled the Abbey to circumvent the king's [[Statutes of Mortmain|statute]] against land passing to the Church.<ref>Raban, S., 'Mortmain in Medieval England', ''Past & Present'' (1974), 10.</ref> As some point he appears to have also acted as agent and [[money lender]] for the Abbey.<ref name="WatsonSmith2016">{{cite book|author1=Dr Gemma L. Watson|author2=Dr Robert F.W. Smith|title=Writing the Lives of People and Things, AD 500–1700: A Multi-disciplinary Future for Biography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cz9jCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT237|date=28 January 2016|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-1-4724-5069-2|pages=237–}}</ref>
His relations with the abbey seem to have been close. Prior to their appointment of him as a parish priest at Wormington, they had appointed him to [[Northborough]] parish as well; but his second parish was by far the most lucrative.<ref name="King1973">{{cite book|author=Edmund King|title=Peterborough Abbey 1086-1310|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Cds8AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA17|date=17 May 1973|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-20133-9|pages=17–}}</ref> In him, it has been said, 'Peterborough had found a royal justice, bound in loyalty by the grant.'<ref>Raban, S., 'Mortmain in Medieval England', ''Past & Present'' (1974), 11.</ref> For example, in 1288 he granted the abbey his [[manor]] of [[Southorpe (disambiguation)|Southorpe]],<ref>Raban, S., 'Mortmain in Medieval England', ''Past & Present'' (1974), 10.</ref> and when eventually the Abbey came to buy it, Beckingham lent them some of the cash to do so.<ref>Raban, S., 'Mortmain in Medieval England', ''Past & Present'' (1974), 24.</ref> In this way, contemporaries noted, Beckingham enabled the Abbey to circumvent the king's [[Statutes of Mortmain|statute]] against land passing to the Church.<ref>Raban, S., 'Mortmain in Medieval England', ''Past & Present'' (1974), 10.</ref> As some point he appears to have also acted as agent and [[money lender]] for the Abbey.<ref name="WatsonSmith2016">{{cite book|author1=Dr Gemma L. Watson|author2=Dr Robert F.W. Smith|title=Writing the Lives of People and Things, AD 500–1700: A Multi-disciplinary Future for Biography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cz9jCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT237|date=28 January 2016|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-1-4724-5069-2|pages=237–}}</ref>


It seems likely that Beckingham was responsible for building the [[knave]] of [[Holy Trinity Church]] of [[Bottisham]], in Cambridgeshire, in what has been described as 'a fitting tribute to the climax of [his] career, his economic success, and his bond with the village.'<ref name="WatsonSmith2016">{{cite book|author1=Dr Gemma L. Watson|author2=Dr Robert F.W. Smith|title=Writing the Lives of People and Things, AD 500–1700: A Multi-disciplinary Future for Biography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cz9jCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT237|date=28 January 2016|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-1-4724-5069-2|pages=237–}}</ref> He was interred in the church of , where a monument, which has been described as a 'raised [[Purbeck]] [[alter tomb]]'-<ref name="WatsonSmith2016">{{cite book|author1=Dr Gemma L. Watson|author2=Dr Robert F.W. Smith|title=Writing the Lives of People and Things, AD 500–1700: A Multi-disciplinary Future for Biography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cz9jCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT237|date=28 January 2016|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-1-4724-5069-2|pages=237–}}</ref> was dedicated to his memory.<ref name="Dibdin1812">{{cite book|author=Thomas Frognall Dibdin|title=Catalogue raisonné of the works published by Hearne. &#91;3 repr., signed T.F.D., of contributions to the British bibliographer&#93;.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rU4VAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA39|year=1812|pages=39–}}</ref><ref>http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/1907</ref>
It seems likely that Beckingham was responsible for building the [[knave]] of [[Holy Trinity Church]] of [[Bottisham]], in Cambridgeshire, in what has been described as 'a fitting tribute to the climax of [his] career, his economic success, and his bond with the village.'<ref name="WatsonSmith2016">{{cite book|author1=Dr Gemma L. Watson|author2=Dr Robert F.W. Smith|title=Writing the Lives of People and Things, AD 500–1700: A Multi-disciplinary Future for Biography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cz9jCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT237|date=28 January 2016|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-1-4724-5069-2|pages=237–}}</ref> He was interred in the church of , where a monument, which has been described as a 'raised [[Purbeck]] [[alter tomb]]'-<ref name="WatsonSmith2016">{{cite book|author1=Dr Gemma L. Watson|author2=Dr Robert F.W. Smith|title=Writing the Lives of People and Things, AD 500–1700: A Multi-disciplinary Future for Biography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cz9jCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT237|date=28 January 2016|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-1-4724-5069-2|pages=237–}}</ref> was dedicated to his memory.<ref name="Dibdin1812">{{cite book|author=Thomas Frognall Dibdin|title=Catalogue raisonné of the works published by Hearne. &#91;3 repr., signed T.F.D., of contributions to the British bibliographer&#93;.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rU4VAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA39|year=1812|pages=39–}}</ref><ref>http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/1907</ref>

Revision as of 14:42, 19 January 2017

Elias de Beckingham (died 1307?) was a Parish priest of Warmington, Northamptonshire,[1] under the authority of Peterborough Abbey.[2] He was also an English royal judge.[3] He was born in Beckingham, Lincolnshire.[4]

Life

De Beckingham was placed on the commission of justices for Middlesex in 1274.[5] At this time he seems to have held the rank of king's serjeant. He received the commission of justice of assize in 1276. In 1282-3 he acted as keeper of the rolls of the common pleas,[6] and in 1285 was appointed one of the justices of that bench.[7]

In 1289, grave complaints of the maladministration of justice arose, which resulted in the eventual impoverishment and exile of Chief Justice Thomas Weyland after an enquiry in 1290.[8] The inquiry was severe enough that even those not directly involved in Weland's corruption, such as Beckingham's colleague, Roger of Leicester, but deemed to have known of it were punished[9] Beckingham was the only one of the five justices of the common pleas who was not dismissed on these charges.[5]- 'some to imprisonment, others banishment, or confiscation of their estates.'[10] It has been suggesed that contemporaries did see him as honest[11], although his escape from censure at that time may also have been simply due to his having been absent from the Westminster the previous year whilst on the Dorsetshire Eyre.[12] He appears to have continued in the discharge of his duties until 1307, for he was regularly summoned to parliament as a justice between 1288 and 1305.[13][14] From the fact that he was no longer summoned to parliament after the latter date, it may be inferred that he died or retired before the date when parliament next met.[15]

Estates

Holy Trinity, Bottisham.

Elias Beckingham appears to have been one of if not the richest laymen in the parish, although he was still only a free tenant rather than a lord of the manor.[15] Purchases of manors such as those in Nene Valley and Stoke by Newark enabled him to invest his wealth in land.[15]

Relations with Peterborough Abbey

His relations with the abbey seem to have been close. Prior to their appointment of him as a parish priest at Wormington, they had appointed him to Northborough parish as well; but his second parish was by far the most lucrative.[11] In him, it has been said, 'Peterborough had found a royal justice, bound in loyalty by the grant.'[16] For example, in 1288 he granted the abbey his manor of Southorpe,[17] and when eventually the Abbey came to buy it, Beckingham lent them some of the cash to do so.[18] In this way, contemporaries noted, Beckingham enabled the Abbey to circumvent the king's statute against land passing to the Church.[19] As some point he appears to have also acted as agent and money lender for the Abbey.[15]

It seems likely that Beckingham was responsible for building the knave of Holy Trinity Church of Bottisham, in Cambridgeshire, in what has been described as 'a fitting tribute to the climax of [his] career, his economic success, and his bond with the village.'[15] He was interred in the church of , where a monument, which has been described as a 'raised Purbeck alter tomb'-[15] was dedicated to his memory.[20][21]

References

  1. ^ Raban, S., 'Mortmain in Medieval England', Past & Present (1974), 11.
  2. ^ T. H. Aston (2 November 2006). Landlords, Peasants and Politics in Medieval England. Cambridge University Press. pp. 210–. ISBN 978-0-521-03127-1.
  3. ^ http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/1907
  4. ^ http://www.oxforddnb.com/index/101001907
  5. ^ a b The Reigns Of Edward I., Edward II., And Edward III. 1272-1377. 1851. pp. 52–.
  6. ^ Robert Beatson (1806). A Political Index to the Histories of Great Britain & Ireland. Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme. pp. 300–.
  7. ^ George Gibbs (1834). The judicial chronicle: being a list of the judges of the courts of common law and Chancery in England and America, and of the contemporary reports, from the earliest period of the reports to the present time. J. Munroe & company. pp. 3–.
  8. ^ Riddell, W.R., 'Erring Judges of the Thirteenth Century', Michigan Law Review 24 (1926), 336.
  9. ^ http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/1907
  10. ^ John Somers Baron Somers (1798). The Security of Englishmen's Lives: Or, The Trust, Power and Duty of the Grand Juries of England : Explained According to the Fundamentals of the English Government, and the Declarations of the Same Made in Parliament by Many Statutes ... : to which is Prefixed, a Sketch of the History of Juries. W. Dyde. pp. 113–.
  11. ^ a b Edmund King (17 May 1973). Peterborough Abbey 1086-1310. Cambridge University Press. pp. 17–. ISBN 978-0-521-20133-9.
  12. ^ http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/1907
  13. ^ Frederic William Maitland (15 November 2012). Records of the Parliament Holden at Westminster on the Twenty-Eighth Day of February, in the Thirty-Third Year of the Reign of King Edward the First (AD 1305). Cambridge University Press. pp. 97–. ISBN 978-1-108-05329-7.
  14. ^ http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/1907
  15. ^ a b c d e f Dr Gemma L. Watson; Dr Robert F.W. Smith (28 January 2016). Writing the Lives of People and Things, AD 500–1700: A Multi-disciplinary Future for Biography. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. pp. 237–. ISBN 978-1-4724-5069-2.
  16. ^ Raban, S., 'Mortmain in Medieval England', Past & Present (1974), 11.
  17. ^ Raban, S., 'Mortmain in Medieval England', Past & Present (1974), 10.
  18. ^ Raban, S., 'Mortmain in Medieval England', Past & Present (1974), 24.
  19. ^ Raban, S., 'Mortmain in Medieval England', Past & Present (1974), 10.
  20. ^ Thomas Frognall Dibdin (1812). Catalogue raisonné of the works published by Hearne. [3 repr., signed T.F.D., of contributions to the British bibliographer]. pp. 39–.
  21. ^ http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/1907
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