Roger de Birthorpe

Roger de Birthorpe (c.1280-c.1345) was an English landowner and lawyer who had a distinguished career in Ireland as a judge, becoming Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer in 1327. His career was marked by violence and controversy: he originally fled to Ireland after being imprisoned for trespass after a raid on Sempringham Priory, although he was later pardoned for his part in the raid. He was a friend and neighbour of Sir Geoffrey Luttrell of Irnham, who commissioned the Luttrell Psalter.

He was born at Birthorpe in Lincolnshire, eldest son of John de Birthorpe, Lord of the Manor of Birthorpe. He is said to have qualified as a lawyer, and is known to have acted as his father's attorney. He succeeded to the family estates before 1312. He has been described as a "forceful and dextrous" speaker, but, like many medieval landowners, he was quite capable of violence to achieve his ends.

In 1312 the neighbourhood around Birthorpe was plagued by a series of raids and counter-raids, involving John de Camelton, the Prior of Sempringham (the priory was about a mile from Birthorpe) on the one hand, and Roger and his brothers, assisted by Geoffrey Luttrell and other neighbours, on the other. In July 1312 the Prior made a formal complaint that these men had invaded the priory, broken down its doors, carried off goods to the value of £500 and assaulted several of the monks. A commission of oyer and terminer was set up to investigate the complaint, and in due course it found Roger guilty of trespass: he was fined 500 marks (about £333), a sum which Roger, whose income was about £40 a year, could not possibly pay. Presumably because he defaulted on the payment, he was imprisoned in Lincoln Castle, from which he escaped. His estate at Birthorpe was forfeited to the Crown, and regranted to Henry de Beaumont: Roger fled to Ireland and was outlawed. A second commission, set up to investigate Roger's counter-claim that the Prior had unlawfully seized some of his cattle, was abandoned almost at once.

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