Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Melton, William de (d.1340)
MELTON, WILLIAM de (d. 1340), archbishop of York, was born of humble parentage at Melton, in the parish of Welton, near Hull; his parents' names are unknown, but he had a brother Henry, whose son, Sir William de Melton, was his heir. Melton seems to have entered the royal service, and was perhaps employed in some capacity about the person of the young Prince of Wales, for Edward II speaks of Melton as having been in his service from his boyhood (Fœdera, ii. 107). Melton is first mentioned in 1299 as rector of Repham, Lincolnshire. In 1300 he was one of the ostiarii of the king's wardrobe, of which department he became comptroller on the accession of Edward II, retaining his office till 1315. In the intervening years Melton received a variety of ecclesiastical preferments. He was rector of Hornsea, Yorkshire, 10 July 1301, Lythe 13 March 1308, Thorpland, Norfolk, 1309, and Spofforth, Yorkshire, 4 Aug. 1310. On 2 Jan. 1305 he received the prebend of Oxton with Cropwell at Southwell, which on 30 July 1309 he exchanged for that of Norwell-Palishall. He was prebendary of Louth, Lincoln, from 1309 to 1317; on 3 May 1309 exchanged a stall at Westbury, Gloucestershire, for one at Beverley; and on 23 March 1310 one at Darlington for that of Driffield, York. He was also dean of St. Martin-le-Grand, London, 27 Aug. 1308, archdeacon of Barnstaple 13 Oct. 1308 to March 1309, and provost of Beverley on 6 Oct. 1309. Soon after the accession of Edward II Melton is mentioned as the king's clerk, and in October 1307 as keeper of the privy seal (Close Rolls, Edward II, pp. 3, 42). In January 1308 he accompanied the king on his journey to France, and had charge of the great seal, being apparently at this time the king's secretary (ib. p. 57; Fœdera, ii. 29). Edward regarded him with special favour, and in May 1310 Melton had temporary charge of the great seal (Close Rolls, Edward II, p. 258). On 20 April 1310, and again on 12 Nov. 1312, the king addressed commendatory letters on Melton's behalf to the pope and to certain cardinals (Fœdera, ii. 107, 187). In 1312 he was one of the proctors of the northern convocation in refusing an aid to the king (Letters from the Northern Registers, 211–12), and on 12 Aug. of that year one of the commissioners from the king to the Cinque ports (Parl. Writs, II. ii. 43). On 3 May 1313 he was sent abroad on the royal service (Fœdera, ii. 211), and on 1 Aug. was a commissioner for the protection of the Scottish marches.
On 21 Jan. 1316 Melton, being then treasurer of the king's wardrobe, was through royal influence elected archbishop of York (Flores Historiarum, iii. 169). The royal assent was given 5 Feb., and letters commendatory to the pope issued three days later (Fœdera, ii. 285). Melton at once went abroad, but was detained at Avignon for over eighteen months before he could procure papal confirmation, despite numerous letters addressed by the king on his behalf to the pope and various cardinals (ib. ii. 300, 305, 314, 332, 337). The delay seems to have been partly due to the interregnum in the papacy between the death of Clement V and the election of John XXII, but also to intrigues among the cardinals. It was not till 25 Sept. 1317 that Melton was consecrated at Avignon by Pope John XXII (Stubbs, p. 415; 11 Sept. according to Murimuth, p. 26). He returned to England on 24 Nov., and had his cross borne before him through Kent and London to St. Martin-le-Grand (Chron. Edward I and II, i. 281). Early in Advent he was at Beverley, but was not enthroned at York till 13 Feb. 1318 (Stubbs, p. 416). The early years of Melton's episcopate were much disturbed through the troubles with the Scots (cf. Letters from the Northern Registers, 273–279). On 18 March 1318 he was one of the commissioners to treat with Bruce, and in June one of the keepers of the marches. In the summer of 1319 the Scots broke past the king at Berwick and began to ravage Yorkshire. Melton in conjunction with John Hotham [q. v.] and other northern ecclesiastics mustered what forces they could, and met the Scots at Myton-on-Swale on 12 Sept. The English were utterly routed, and the archbishop and other leaders escaped with difficulty. Melton's banner was saved only by the valour of its bearer. In ridicule of the ecclesiastical soldiers Barbour says this battle was called
The Chaptour of Mytoun, for thar
Slane sa many prestis war.
On 19 Jan. 1321 Melton again appears as a commissioner for peace with Scotland (Fœdera, ii. 441). On 28 June he attended the meeting held by Earl Thomas of Lancaster and the northern lords at Sherburn in Elmet, but he did not accompany the barons to London, and in the following spring sided with the Despensers against the earl (Flores Historiarum, iii. 190, 206). Yet, on the other hand, Melton was on 9 April 1322 censured for inducing his clergy to grant two thousand marks to Thomas of Lancaster (Parl. Writs, ii. i. 556); and in 1323 gave his protection to Adam Orleton [q. v.], bishop of Hereford (Blaneforde, p. 141). However, on 7 Aug. 1323 he prohibited the worship of Thomas as unauthorised (Letters from the Northern Registers, 323–6).
On 18 June 1323 Melton appears as justiciar for Nottinghamshire, and on 8 Nov. as commissioner to treat with the Scots. On 3 June 1325 he was appointed treasurer of England, an office which he held till January 1327, when he was displaced by the government of the young king, Edward III. Melton refused to be present at Edward's coronation, but he was nevertheless sent on a mission to Scotland in April (Cal. Pat. Rolls, Edward III, p. 95). He would indeed seem to have accepted the change of government to the full, for on 24 Feb. he had written to the pope in favour of the canonisation of Thomas of Lancaster (Letters from the Northern Registers, 339–342). Melton also officiated at the marriage of Edward to Philippa of Hainault on 24 Jan. 1328. Nevertheless he seems to have entered into the plot of Edmund of Woodstock, earl of Kent [q. v.], in the beginning of 1329, in the belief that Edward II was still alive. The earl's confession distinctly alleges that Melton had promised to contribute 5,000l. towards the undertaking (Murimuth, App. p. 255); on the other hand, although Melton was indicted for his share in the plot, he was acquitted, and obtained a writ of conspiracy against his accusers (Rot. Parl. ii. 31, 54). After the overthrow of Mortimer, Melton was once more made treasurer on 28 Nov. 1330, but only held office till 1 April following. On 16 Feb. 1331 he was one of the justiciars for enforcing observance of the truce with Scotland, and on 1 Dec. 1332 had power to open parliament at York (Fœdera, ii. 802, 848). From 10 Aug. 1333 to 13 Jan. 1334 he was keeper of the great seal during the temporary absence of John de Stratford [q. v.]
This was the end of Melton's official life, but he survived till 1340, when he died on 4 or 5 April at Cawood, and was buried in York Minster, near the font. His tomb was opened during the last century, when his skeleton, about six feet long, was found; the chalice and paten were then removed from the tomb (Drake, Eboracum, p. 433). One incident of his episcopal administration was a long dispute with Walter Reynolds [q. v.], archbishop of Canterbury, as to his right to bear the cross in the southern province; on this ground Reynolds opposed Melton's appointment as treasurer in 1325 (Chron. Edw. I and II, ii. 283–4). Melton was also involved in a dispute with his chapter as to his rights of visitation, but this was settled in February 1329. Another quarrel, which began in 1328, was with Louis de Beaumont [q. v.], bishop of Durham, as to the rights of visitation in Allertonshire. Beaumont resisted his superior by force, but after excommunication and suspension, the matter was at length compromised in 1331. On Beaumont's death, on 24 Sept. 1333, Melton was engaged in a fresh trouble, for he confirmed and consecrated Robert de Graystanes [q. v.] as bishop, although the pope had provided Richard de Bury [q. v.] to the see, and the king had not given his assent; in the issue Graystanes had to resign. Melton's register, which is very full, is preserved at York; numerous documents are printed in Raine's ‘Letters from the Northern Registers,’ and many are summarised in the ‘Fasti Eboracenses.’ Thomas Stubbs describes Melton as charitable and pious, parsimonious to himself, bountiful to the needy, and above all to the religious, as well mendicants as others (Historians of the Church of York, ii. 416). Another writer speaks of him as a man faithful in all that was trusted to him, and not corrupted by his long intercourse with the court (Chron. Edw. I and II, ii. 284). Melton's episcopate was marked by much progress in the building of York minster; he restored the tomb of St. William, and gave 700l. towards the completion of the nave. The west end was erected in his time, and it is probably his statue which occupies the niche over the great doorway. He also fortified the Old Bailey at York. Melton amassed considerable wealth; this was inherited by his nephew, Sir William de Melton (1317–1362), who became the founder of a knightly family at Aston, Yorkshire.
[Chronicles of Edward I and II; Flores Historiarum; Murimuth's Chronicle; Letters from the Northern Registers; Historians of the Church of York; Chron. de Melsa; Annales de Trokelowe, Blaneforde, &c. (all these are in the Rolls Ser.); Robert de Graystanes's Chronicle in Hist. Dunelm. Scriptores Tres (Surtees Soc.); Chron. de Lanercost (Bannatyne Club); Cal. of Close Rolls, Edward II; Cal. of Patent Rolls, Edward III; Rymer's Fœdera, Record ed.; Le Neve's Fasti Eccl. Angl. i. 406, ii. 180, iii. 106, 182, 440, 447; Dixon and Raine's Fasti Eboracenses, pp. 397–437; Foss's Judges of England, iii. 461–3.]