King John's stay in Ireland was brief, as the critical state of his kingdom required his presence in England. He left behind him as his representatives Guillaume, Earl of Salisbury—an illegitimate son of Henry II. by the fair Rosemond Clifford—and De Grey, Bishop of Norwich. In 1213 they were succeeded by Henry de Londres, Archbishop of Dublin, a powerful prelate and an unscrupulous statesman. He was given the post because of his influence with the Pope, and John's first task for his new viceroy was to send him to Rome to induce the occupant of the Papal throne to side with him against the barons. Geoffery de Marreis, a follower of the Archbishop's, acted as his deputy during his absence abroad. The deputy robbed friend and foe alike, but eventually the trades-people of Dublin petitioned the king because De Marreis would not pay his debts and added insult to injury by compelling the traders of the city to give him further credit. King Henry III. was on the throne now, and he ordered his representative to pay all his debts within forty days. Furthermore, he was placed under the authority of the Archbishop of Dublin, Henry de Londres, who had helped to make history by forming one of the barons and ecclesiastics who compelled King John to sign the Magna Charta. The archbishop was the most powerful Englishman in the kingdom of Ireland, and, as the representative of the Pope, took precedence of the representative of the king. In 1221 he was appointed viceroy, and then ensued the usual conflict between the civil and religious powers that is inevitable when churchmen turn politicians. The English colony complained to Henry that his viceroy was unable to cope with the insurgents, and they prayed for a more warlike governor. Guillaume Marechal, eldest son and heir of the first Earl of Pembroke, and afterwards second earl, was sent to Ireland as viceroy in 1224, but this brother-in-law of the king's did not find the country to his liking, and he departed in favour of Geoffery de Marreis, whose third term of office began in 1226 and ended the following year.
This viceroyalty was the first to which a definite salary was given, the sum of £580 a year being set aside for the use of Geoffery de Marreis. Richard de Burgh followed De Marreis until, in 1229, Maurice Fitzgerald assumed the reins of government. Fitzgerald was born in Ireland, and was the first Anglo-Irishman to become Viceroy of Ireland. His viceroyalty extended over fifteen years, though at intervals the government was in the hands of Geoffery de Marreis and Richard de Burgh for a few months. The viceroy was given a salary of £500 a year, and unlimited authority to rob the native Irish, and even the English colony, provided he sent part of the proceeds to London to help to pay the king's debts and finance wars. But he fell from grace in 1245, and was dismissed, the reason given being his dilatoriness in bringing reinforcements to his royal master in Wales. Jean Fitz-Geoffery was appointed his successor, and during the ensuing ten years the government was nominally vested in him, minor changes occurring from time to time. The next viceroy, Alain de la Zouche, reigned for four years (1255-59), and died as the result of an assault made upon him by the Earl of Warrene and Surrey in Westminster Hall, while his successor, Etienne, who had married the widow of the second Hugh de Lacy, was murdered in 1260.
The next half-dozen viceroys are summed up easily. Guillaume le Dene (1260-61), Sir Richard de la Rochelle (1261-66), Jean Fitz-Geoffery for the third time (1266-67), Sir Robert D'Ufford (1268 and 1276-82), Richard D'Exeter (1269), and Jacques D'Audeley (1270-72). The majority were adventurers and favourites of the king, and few could claim possession of the soldier-like qualities which were needed at the time. Sir Robert D'Ufford was an exception, but he spent most of his time fighting abroad in the service of the King of England. Maurice Fitzmaurice Fitzgerald, signalized a brief viceroyalty, extending from 1272-73, by marching into the territory of the O'Connors, and promptly being made a prisoner. The vacancy thus created was filled by Geoffery de Joinville, who held the post for three years.
Sir Jean Wogan
Jean de Saundford, Archbishop of Dublin (1288-90), was one of the numerous deputies who governed the English colony between 1282 and 1290. These deputies were mainly ecclesiastics, for England's unsettled state and numerous wars called every leading warrior away from Ireland. Sir Guillaume de Vesci (1290-93), Guillaume de la Haye (1293), Guillaume D'Ardingselles (1294), Thomas Fitzmaurice (1294-95) paved the way for Sir Jean Wogan, who was viceroy for thirteen years, and who did more to establish the authority of England than any of his predecessors. When Wogan was appointed the chief source of danger to the English colonists was the feud between the two great Anglo-Irish families, the Fitzgeralds and the De Burghs. Wogan, however, succeeded in bringing them together, and they agreed to a truce. The viceroy was also fairly successful against the natives, but he made no additions to the territory over which England nominally held sway. In 1308 Sir Guillaume de Burgh was appointed to succeed Wogan, but an unexpected development occurred, and Edward II., urged on by his advisers, nominated his Gascon favourite, Piers de Gaveston, to the post. This was virtually an act of banishment, and the gay Gascon regarded it as such, but for the time he had to accept the post, which was regarded by the wealthy English barons as tantamount to exile. Ireland was not a garden of pleasant memories to the English warriors. Not one of them who had tried his skill in the country had added to his laurels, and, consequently, the only men who would accept the viceroyalty or any of the posts attached to the Dublin Castle Government were the "needy adventurers" who stood to lose nothing and gain something. From time to time the English colony petitioned the king not to send these 'needy adventurers,' but there were no others to fill the vacancies that arose.
Piers de Gaveston's case was an exception. Edward II. had advanced him to the Earldom of Cornwall, and the barons were jealous of him. They plotted against his life, but the king stood by his favourite, and eventually both parties compromised by permitting Piers to go to Ireland. He did not stay in Ireland for more than a few months, for he hungered for the gay English court, and when he left the country Sir Jean Wogan renewed his viceroyalty. It was in this year—1309—that John Lech, Archbishop of Dublin, obtained a Bull from Clement V. authorizing the establishment of a university in Dublin. The laudable project, however, was prematurely abandoned owing to the death of the archbishop. Nearly three hundred years elapsed before Dublin received its now famous university.
Edward Bruce crowned
Sir Edmund le Botiller, or Butler, succeeded Wogan in 1312, and carried on his policy. He is said to have succeeded in restoring order in the English colony and its immediate surroundings, but when reappointed in 1315, after a viceroyalty of a few months by Theobaude de Verdun, he had to cope with the most serious rebellion Ireland had known for two hundred years. The native Irish had been inspired by the exploits of King Robert Bruce of Scotland, and they called upon that monarch's brother, Edward Bruce, to rule over their country and lead them to victory. Bruce responded with alacrity, and he was crowned King of Ireland in 1315. Le Botiller collected a large army, and went in pursuit of the invader and his followers, but the viceroy suffered an overwhelming defeat, and it seemed as though the last day had come of English rule in Ireland. The inhabitants of Dublin, who were, of course, mainly English, became alarmed, but some confidence was restored at a meeting of the chief nobles, who swore fidelity to King Edward, and declared that they would forfeit life and lands if they failed in their duty. The manifesto, signed by ten nobles, was delivered to Edward at Westminster, and he signified his approval and gratitude by creating the first of the signatories, Jean Fitz-Thomas, Earl of Kildare. Fitz-Thomas had been Baron of Offaly. The defeated and discomfited Le Botiller was superseded in 1317 by Roger de Mortimer, the paramour of King Edward's queen. Mortimer brought with him 15,000 men, and while he was pursuing Bruce he appointed the Archbishops of Cashel and Dublin to act as his deputies at Dublin.
Sunday, October 14, 1318, witnessed the last of Edward Bruce and his pretensions to the kingdom of Ireland. Outnumbered and out-generalled, he was defeated and killed at the Battle of Faughard, and in accordance with the rules of war his head was sent to King Edward. When this ghastly trophy arrived, Edward was seated at a banquet with the Ambassadors from King Robert Bruce of Scotland, who had asked and seemed likely to obtain the province of Ulster for Edward Bruce. The sight of Bruce's head, however, ended the conference prematurely.
The first university