John of Tynemouth (canon lawyer)

John of Tynemouth
Archdeacon of Oxford
Diocese	Diocese of Lincoln
Installed	c. 1211
Term ended	1221
Predecessor	Walter Map
Successor	Matthew
Personal details
Profession	canon lawyer clergyman

John of Tynemouth (died 1221) was a medieval English clergyman and canon lawyer. He was among the first teachers of canon law at what later became Oxford University, where he was by 1188. By the late 1190s John had joined the household of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Hubert Walter. Besides his position in the household, he also held a number of ecclesiastical positions, which earned him a substantial income. After Walter's death, John continued to serve as a lawyer as well as hold clerical offices. He died in 1221 and a number of his writings survive.

The first mention of John occurs in 1188 when he was teaching at Oxford. This record notes that he witnessed a legal case decided by delegated judges for the Bishop of Lincoln. Along with a few other instructors, including Simon of Southwell, Honorius of Kent, and possibly Nicholas de Aquila, John was among the first securely attested legal teachers at Oxford. While at Oxford he lectured on the Decretum Gratiani and was one of the teachers of Thomas of Marlborough, later writer of the Chronicon Abbatiae de Evesham, or Chronicle of the Abbey of Evesham. It is not quite clear when John taught Thomas, but Thomas attests in his Chronicon that John was one of Thomas' teachers. Nothing else is known of John's early life or where he studied law, but presumably like other early English canon lawyers, he studied somewhere on the Continent before returning to England to teach or practice. It is possible that he served as a canon of Lincoln Cathedral during the 1190s, but this is not securely attested. By the late 1190s, John was a member of the household of Hubert Walter, the Archbishop of Canterbury. Besides Walter, another of his patrons was Walter de Coutances, the Archbishop of Rouen.

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