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Hugh Bardulf

Hugh Bardulf or Hugh Bardolf was a medieval English administrator and royal justice. Known for his legal expertise, he also served as a financial administrator. He served three kings of England before his death.

Early life
Historians are divided on Hugh Bardulf's ancestry. Katharine Keats-Rohan says that he was the son of Hamelin Bardulf, a tenant of Hugh Bigod, who held land in Suffolk. The younger Hugh acquired land at Waddington, Lincolnshire as a tenant of Ranulf de Gernon, 4th Earl of Chester, sometime in the middle 1140s. ==Royal service==
Royal service
In 1181, Bardulf was at the court of King Henry II of England, where he was steward, He held that office until Henry's death in 1189. From about 1185 until 1203, Bardulf was a royal justice almost annually, usually as a justice of eyre rather than sitting at Westminster. He performed the duties of sheriff for the following counties: Cornwall from 1184–1187, Wiltshire from 1187 to 1189, Somerset during 1188 and 1189 along with Dorset during the same period, the counties of Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Leicestershire during 1190 and 1191, Yorkshire from 1191 to 1194, Westmorland from 1191 to 1199, Northumberland from 1194 to 1198, Cumberland during 1198 and 1199, Cornwall again from 1199 to 1200 along with Devonshire, and Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire from 1200 to 1203. ==Under Richard and John==
Under Richard and John
In 1189, Hugh was one of only five sitting sheriffs who retained their office when Richard took the throne; the others included Geoffrey fitzPeter, William Briwerre, and Ranulf de Glanvill. However, in 1189, Bardulf did lose custody of Salisbury Castle, which he had held under Henry. Henry had given Bardulf the manor and barony of Brampton in Devonshire, but when Richard took the throne, the king took back Brampton and gave Bardulf the manor of Hoo in Kent instead. Although Bardulf set out with the new King, Richard I on the Third Crusade, he turned back after a period in Messina, and returned to England. There, he was part of the administration during the Justiciarship of Hugh de Puiset, the Bishop of Durham, and William Longchamp, the Bishop of Ely. Bardulf then was involved in the attempts of Walter de Coutances to remove Longchamp from office, which led to Longchamp excommunicating Bardulf. In 1193, Bardulf helped with the defences of Doncaster against the forces of Prince John, Richard's brother, who was rebelling against Richard while the king was on crusade. However, Bardulf refused to besiege Tickhill near Doncaster, because he was a vassal of John's, which led to him being denounced as a traitor. While Richard was in captivity in Germany in 1193, Bardulf, along with William Marshall, Geoffrey fitzPeter and William Briwerre, was a recipient of letters from the captive king, urging the election of Hubert Walter as Archbishop of Canterbury. Bardulf was also a financial administrator. He served as a Baron of the Exchequer during the reigns of Henry, Richard and John. Around 1197, Hugh was named as responsible for the "bail and custody" of the Jewish population in England, along with William of Sainte-Mère-Eglise, the Bishop of London, who was his fellow escheator in the north. Bardulf continued to serve Richard until the king's death and then served John, who became king, until sometime before Michaelmas 1203, when records show that Bardulf was known to be deceased. ==Legacy and personal life==
Legacy and personal life
Bardulf was known for his legal expertise, which led to him being one of the few justices mentioned by name in Glanvill, an early medieval English legal text, although whether by the original author or by a glossator, is unclear. His long career as a justice helped create a sense of continuity in judicial matters through the reigns of the Angevin kings. He remained on such good terms with Hubert Walter, that when Walter was appointed chancellor at the beginning of John's reign, Bardulf made a comment to the new chancellor that included a pointed barb about the last Archbishop of Canterbury to also be chancellor, Thomas Becket. Bardulf was on good enough terms that he was able to tease Walter "We have never heard nor seen an archbishop become a chancellor, but we have seen a chancellor become an archbishop." The justice married Mabel de Limesy, daughter of Gerard de Limesy, and coheir with her sisters of their brother John de Limesy, with the marriage taking place in 1200. When he died, his heir was Robert Bardulf, Robert, his heir, offered a £1,000 fine to receive the inheritance, and William de Briouze made an identical offer for the right to marry his son to Mabel, Hugh's widow. ==Citations==
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