Adam Moleyns | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of Chichester | |
| Appointed | 24 September 1445 |
| Term ended | 9 January 1450 |
| Predecessor | Richard Praty |
| Successor | Reginald Pecock |
| Other posts | Lord Privy Seal (1444–1450) Dean of Salisbury &Archdeacon of Taunton (1441–1445) Archdeacon of Salisbury (1440–1441) |
| Orders | |
| Consecration | 6 February 1446 |
| Personal details | |
| Died | (1450-01-09)9 January 1450 |
Adam Moleyns[a] (died 9 January 1450),Bishop of Chichester, was an English bishop, lawyer, royal administrator and diplomat. During the minority ofHenry VI of England, he was clerk of the rulingcouncil of the Regent.[1]
Moleyns had the living ofKempsey, Worcestershire from 1433.[2] He wasDean of Salisbury from 1441 to 1446. He becamebishop of Chichester on 24 September 1445, and was consecrated bishop on 6 February 1446.[3] He wasLord Privy Seal in 1444,[4] at the same time that he wasProtonotary of the Holy See. In 1447 he had permission to fortify the manor house atBexhill.[5]
And this yeer...maister Adam Moleyns, bisshoppe of Chichestre and keper of the kyngis prive seel, whom the kyng sente to Portesmouth, forto make paiement of money to certayne soudiers and shipmenne for thair wages; and so it happid that with boistez langage, and also for abriggyng of thair wages, he fil in variaunce with thaym, and thay fil on him, and cruelli there kilde him.[6] -TheBrut Chronicle
Moleyns was a correspondent of thehumanist Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini,Pope Pius II, who complimented him in a letter of 29 May 1444: "And I congratulate you and England, since you care for the art of rhetoric".[7] In 1926 George Warner attributedThe Libelle of Englyshe Polycye (1435–38) to Moleyns but this theory was partly based on Warner's mistaken identification of Adam Moleyns as a member of the family's Lancashire branch.[8] The theory of Moleyns' authorship of the poem is now rejected by most historians and scholars.[9]
An active partisan of the unpopularWilliam de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk, Moleyns was lynched inPortsmouth by discontented unpaid soldiers on 9 January 1450.[3][10]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Lord Privy Seal 1444–1450 | Succeeded by |
| Catholic Church titles | ||
| Preceded by | Bishop of Chichester 1446–1450 | Succeeded by |