The Lord Rich | |
|---|---|
 Sketch byHans Holbein the Younger | |
| Speaker of the House of Commons | |
| In office 9 June 1536 – 18 July 1536 | |
| Preceded by | Humphrey Wingfield |
| Succeeded by | Nicholas Hare |
| Lord Chancellor | |
| In office 1547–1552 | |
| Preceded by | The Lord St John |
| Succeeded by | Thomas Goodrich |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1496-07-00)July 1496 |
| Died | 12 June 1567(1567-06-12) (aged 70) |
| Resting place | Felsted church, Essex |
| Occupation | Lord Chancellor of England |
Richard Rich, 1st Baron Rich (July 1496 – 12 June 1567), wasLord Chancellor during KingEdward VI of England's reign, from 1547 until January 1552. He was the founder ofFelsted School with its associatedalmshouses inEssex in 1564. He was a beneficiary of theDissolution of the Monasteries, and persecuted perceived opponents of the king and their policies. He played a role in the trials of Catholic martyrsThomas More andJohn Fisher as well as that of Protestant martyrAnne Askew.
According to some sources, Rich was born in the London parish ofSt Lawrence Jewry, the second son of Richard Rich by Joan Dingley,[1][2] but this is disputed.[3] Also, according to Carter, he was born atBasingstoke,Hampshire, the son ofJohn Rich (d. 1509?), ofPenton Mewsey,Hampshire, and a wife namedAgnes whose surname is unknown.[4] In 1509, Richard inherited his father's house inIslington,Middlesex.[4] Early in 1551 he was described in an official document as "fifty-four years of age and more", and was therefore born about 1496 or earlier.[1][4]
According to Sergeaunt (1889):[5]
The origin of the family of Lord Rich has been matter of some discussion ... The first of the family of whom there is definite information wasRichard Rich, a wealthymercer of London and Sheriff of the City in 1441. The date of his death is given byBurke as 1469, but it would seem that he has been confounded with his son John, who was buried in the Mercer’s chapel in that year. The family remained in the city, and the son of John Rich was probably also a mercer. To him was born sometime between 1480 and 1490 a son whom he named Richard.
He had a brother, Robert, whomHenry VIII granted amessuage in Bucklersbury[6] on 24 February 1539,[7] and who died in 1557.[1]
Little is known of Rich's early life. He may have studied at Cambridge before 1516.[1] That year, he entered theMiddle Temple as a lawyer and at some point between 1520 and 1525 he was a reader at theNew Inn. By 1528 Rich was in search of a patron and wrote toCardinal Wolsey; in 1529,Thomas Audley succeeded in helping him get elected as an MP forColchester.[8] As Audley's career advanced in the early 1530s, so did Rich's, through a variety of legal posts, before he became truly prominent in the mid-1530s.[1]
Other preferments followed, and in 1533 Rich was knighted and became theSolicitor General for England and Wales in which capacity he was to act underThomas Cromwell as a "lesser hammer" for the demolition of the monasteries, and to secure the operation ofHenry VIII'sAct of Supremacy.[citation needed] Rich had a share in the trials ofThomas More andBishop John Fisher. In both cases his evidence against the prisoner included admissions made in friendly conversation, and in More's case the words were given a misconstruction that could hardly be other than wilful.[9] While on trial, More said that Rich was "always reputed light of his tongue, a great dicer and gamester, and not of any commendable fame."[10] Rich also played a major part in Cromwell's fall.
As King's Solicitor, Rich travelled toKimbolton Castle inHuntingdonshire in January 1536 to take the inventory of the goods ofKatherine of Aragon, and wrote to Henry advising how he might properly obtain her possessions.[11]
On 19 April 1536 Rich became the chancellor of theCourt of Augmentations, established for the disposal of the monastic revenues. His own share of the spoil, acquired either by grant or purchase, includedLeez (Leighs) Priory and about 100 manors inEssex. Rich also acquired—and destroyed—the real estate and holdings of the Priory ofSt Bartholomew-the-Great in Smithfield.[12] He wasSpeaker of the House of Commons in the same year, and advocated the king's policy. Despite the share he had taken in thesuppression of the monasteries, the prosecution of Thomas More and Bishop Fisher and the part he played underEdward VI and Elizabeth, his religious beliefs remained nominally Catholic.
Rich was also a participant in the torture ofAnne Askew, the only woman tortured at theTower of London. Both he andChancellor Wriothesley turned the wheels of the rack to torture her.[13]
Rich was an assistant executor of thewill of King Henry VIII, and received a grant of lands.[14] He becameBaron Rich ofLeez on 26 February 1547. In the next month he succeededWriothesley as chancellor. He supportedLord Protector Edward Seymour in his policies, including reforms in Church matters and the prosecution of his brotherThomas Seymour, until the crisis of October 1549, when he joined withJohn Dudley. He resigned his office in January 1552.
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Rich took part in the prosecution of bishopsStephen Gardiner andEdmund Bonner, and had a role in the harsh treatment accorded to the futureMary I of England. But upon her accession, Mary showed Rich no ill will. He took an active part in the restoration of the old religion in Essex under the new reign, and was one of the most active persecutors. His reappearances in theprivy council were rare during Mary's reign, but underElizabeth he served on a commission to inquire into the grants of land made under Mary, and in 1566 was sent for to advise on the question of the queen's marriage. He died atRochford inEssex, on 12 June 1567, and was buried in Holy Cross Church inFelsted.
In Mary's reign he founded a chaplaincy with provision for the singing ofmasses anddirges, and the ringing of bells in Felsted church. To this was added aLenten allowance of herrings to the inhabitants of three parishes. These donations were transferred in 1564 to the foundation ofFelsted School for instruction, primarily for children born on the founder's manors, inLatin, Greek, and divinity. The patronage of the school remained in the founder's family until 1851.
Richard Rich died in June 1567.[15] Rich's descendants formed the powerfulRich family, lasting for three centuries, acquiring several titles in thePeerage of England and intermarrying with numerous othernoble families.
By his wife Elizabeth Jenks (Gynkes) (d.1558)[16] he had 15 children. Thirteen of them are shown in the Essex pedigrees.[17] The eldest son, Robert (1537?–1581), second Baron Rich, supported theReformation.
One grandson, Richard Rich, was the first husband ofKatherine Knyvet: another, the youngerRobert Rich, third Baron Rich (1559–1619) was created FirstEarl of Warwick (of the third creation) in 1618, and was the father ofRobert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick, who was Commander of theCommonwealth Navy during theInterregnum. This line failed with the death of the8th Earl on 7 September 1759.
Rich had an illegitimate son named Richard (d. 1598[18]) whom he acknowledged fully in his will with legacies and guardians for his minority, his education in the common law, and suitable marital arrangements.[19] In this line of descent was his grandson the merchant adventurerSir Nathaniel Rich, and his great-grandsonNathaniel Rich (nephew of the elder Nathaniel), a colonel in theNew Model Army during theEnglish Civil War. One of his distant descendants isRory Stewart.[20]
Since the mid-16th century Rich has had a reputation for immorality, financial dishonesty, double-dealing, perjury and treachery rarely matched in English history.[4] The historianHugh Trevor-Roper called Rich a man "of whom nobody has ever spoken a good word".[21]
Rich is the supporting villain in the playA Man for All Seasons byRobert Bolt, which shows his slide into corruption. In the subsequent, Oscar-winningfilm adaptation,John Hurt portrays him. Bolt depicts Rich as perjuring himself against More in order to become Attorney-General for Wales. More responds, "Why, Richard, it profits a man nothing to give his soul for the whole world ... but for Wales?" The final line of the film notes that Rich "died in his bed" in juxtaposition with More's martyrdom and the other major characters' untimely deaths. In the1988 remake of the film, Jonathan Hackett portrayed Rich.
Rich is a supporting character inC. J. Sansom'sShardlake series ofhistorical mystery novels, which are set in Henry VIII's reign. Rich is portrayed as a cruel villain who is prepared to subvert justice to enhance his property and position. He has a significant role in the plot ofSovereign, the third of the series, and inHeartstone, the fifth.
Rod Hallett played Rich in seasons two, three and four of theShowtime seriesThe Tudors.
Rich (spelled Riche in the novels) appears inHilary Mantel's three volumes aboutThomas Cromwell,Wolf Hall,Bring Up the Bodies andThe Mirror & the Light.Bryan Dick portrays him in the first series of theBBC's television adaptation ofWolf Hall, which covers the first two novels in the trilogy, and Tom Mothersdale in the second series, which covers the third volume.
{{cite encyclopedia}}:Missing or empty|title= (help) (Subscription,Wikipedia Library access orUK public library membership required.)| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Speaker of the House of Commons 1536 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by William Paulet, Lord St John (Keeper of the Great Seal) | Lord Chancellor 1547–1552 | Succeeded by Thomas Goodrich (Keeper of the Great Seal) |
| Peerage of England | ||
| New creation | Baron Rich 1548–1567 | Succeeded by |
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