John le Romeyn (or John Romanus), died 1296, was a medieval Archbishop of York.
Early life and education
Romeyn was the illegitimate son of John le Romeyn the elder, treasurer of York.[1] The younger John was born while his father was still a subdeacon, and nothing is known about his mother, except for a 14th-century chronicler's mention that she was a waiting woman. His birth was probably around 1230.[2] He was a master at Oxford University and a Doctor of Theology at the University of Paris by 1276.[3]
During Romeyn's first seven months as archbishop, he held two group ordinations of priests and attended Convocation as well as visiting eighteen priories, twelve of the rural deaneries, the towns Otley, Ripon and Beverley, and an abbey.[5] Romeyn often used the Bishop of Whithorn as his deputy for confirmations and other ecclesiastical matters.[6] In 1286 he issued an order to all the clergy in his diocese that held benefices but that were not yet ordained a priest to come to Tadcaster to be ordained.[7]
From the late 13th century onwards the Archbishops of York monitored Kirklees Priory as there was considerable concern for its spiritual health. In 1287 Romeyn asked the prior of St Oswald's to visit the convent. He was instructed to hear the nuns' confessions and to ensure that they were living worthy lives, keeping a secure house and adhering to the church's and their order's doctrines and laws. In August 1287, the parish church of Saint Oswald, in Oswaldkirk, was re-consecrated by Henry, Bishop of Whithorn on Romeyn's mandate.[8]
When members of York's Jewish community faced expulsion in 1290, Romeyn told his parishioners that they would be excommunicated if they harmed any of them.[9]
In 1293, Romeyn was brought before Parliament on a charge of usurping the royal prerogatives for having excommunicated Anthony Bek, the Bishop of Durham, because Bek allowed the arrest of two priests of Durham. Parliament held that Bek had been acting as earl palatine and not as a bishop, and ordered that the archbishop be imprisoned. However, Romeyn avoided arrest by paying a fine of 4000 marks to King Edward I of England.[10] Romeyn was a member of a few embassies for Edward I, but otherwise does not seem to have been involved in the government of the kingdom.[2]
Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology (Third revised ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN0-521-56350-X.