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Robert Ross (British Army officer)

2025-07-02T15:14:12Z

2A00:23C7:C8BC:C501:9D0F:EB63:20D5:56E2: /* Napoleonic Wars */

{{short description|Anglo-Irish officer in the British Army (1766-1814)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{infobox person|
| name = Robert Ross
| birth_date = 1766
| death_date = 12 {{death year and age|1814|1766|9}}
| image = Major-General Robert Ross.jpg
| image_size =
| caption =
| alt =
| birth_place = [[Rostrevor, County Down]], [[Kingdom of Ireland]]
| death_place = [[Baltimore, Maryland]], U.S.
| restingplace = [[Old Burying Ground (Halifax, Nova Scotia)|Old Burying Ground, Halifax, Nova Scotia]], Canada
| module = {{Infobox military person
| embed = yes
| allegiance = [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]] [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]]
| branch = [[British Army]]
| serviceyears = 1789–1814
| battles = {{Tree list}}
* [[French Revolutionary War]]
** [[Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland]]
** [[French campaign in Egypt and Syria]]
* [[Napoleonic Wars]]
** [[Battle of Maida]]
** [[Battle of Corunna]]
** [[Walcheren Campaign]]
** [[Peninsular War]]
* [[War of 1812]]
** [[Battle of Bladensburg]]
** [[Burning of Washington]]
** [[Battle of Baltimore]]
** [[Battle of North Point]]{{KIA}}
{{Tree list/end}}
| rank = [[Major-general (United Kingdom)|Major-General]]
| commands =
| awards =
| relations = }}
| education = [[Trinity College Dublin]]
}}

[[Major-general (United Kingdom)|Major-General]] '''Robert Ross''' (1766{{spaced ndash}}12 September 1814) was a [[British Army]] officer who served in the [[French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars]] and the [[War of 1812]].

Ross joined the British army in 1789. He served as an officer in several battles during the Napoleonic Wars, including the battles of Maida and Corunna, gaining promotion to colonel. In 1809, he was sent to serve in the [[Peninsular War]], including the Battles of Vittoria, Roncesvalles, Sorauren, and Orthez. He was wounded in the neck at the [[Battle of Orthez]] in France on 27 February 1814.<ref name="BIOGRAPHY Robert Ross">{{cite web |url=https://www.battlefields.org/learn/biographies/robert-ross
|title=BIOGRAPHY Robert Ross |date= |work=American Battlefield Trust|access-date=17 January 2021 |quote=}}</ref>

Upon returning to duty later that year, Ross was made a major general and sent to North America, as commander of "all British forces on the East Coast". In August 1814, he reached [[Benedict, Maryland]] and continued on, leading the professional soldiers who quickly defeated a poorly organized American militia at the [[Battle of Bladensburg]] on 24 August; that evening, he led his troops into [[Washington D.C.]]<ref name="BIOGRAPHY Robert Ross"/>

During his command of the [[Burning of Washington]] many important U.S. Government buildings, including the [[White House]] and the [[United States Capitol|Capitol]] were damaged, demoralizing and greatly damaging the American war effort. Ross then led a British invasion north up the [[Chesapeake Bay]] towards the city of [[Baltimore]] which culminated in the [[Battle of Baltimore]] that September. On 12 September, he was shot while commanding troops at [[Battle of North Point|North Point]], and died while being moved to the rear.

==Early life==
Ross was born in [[Rostrevor, County Down]], Ireland, to Major David Ross, an officer in the [[Seven Years' War]] and his wife, Elizabeth Adderley, the maternal half-sister of [[James Caulfeild, 1st Earl of Charlemont]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mitchell |first1=W |title=Major-General Robert Ross in Journal of the Royal United Service Institution |date=1897 |publisher=J. J. keliher & Co. |location=London, England |page=117 |edition=Volume 41, Issue 1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JCQwAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA117}}</ref> He was educated at [[Trinity College Dublin]] in Ireland, where he was a treasurer of the [[College Historical Society]] and joined the [[25th Regiment of Foot]] as an ensign in 1789.<ref name="autogenerated1">[https://web.archive.org/web/20161118223441/http://library.gwu.edu/ead/ms2085.xml Guide to the Robert Ross Papers, 1813-1873], Special Collections Research Center, Estelle and Melvin Gelman Library, The George Washington University</ref>

==Napoleonic Wars==
[[File:Philip James de Loutherbourg - The Battle of Alexandria, 21 March 1801 - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.27|Ross was present at the [[Battle of Alexandria (1801)|Battle of Alexandria]], which expelled [[Napoleon]]'s army from Egypt.]]
Ross fought as a junior officer at the battles of [[Battle of Krabbendam (1799)|Krabbendam]] in the [[Netherlands]] in 1799 and the [[Battle of Alexandria (1801)|Battle of Alexandria]] in [[Egypt]] in 1801. In 1803, he was promoted to major and given command of the [[20th Regiment of Foot]]. He next fought at the [[Battle of Maida]] in the [[Kingdom of Naples]] in 1806.

===Peninsular War===
He was promoted to [[Lieutenant colonel (United Kingdom)|lieutenant–colonel]] at the end of 1808 and fought in the [[Battle of Corunna]] in Spain in early 1809 during the [[Peninsular War]]. In 1810, Ross was made a full [[Colonel (United Kingdom)|colonel]] as well as [[aide-de-camp]] to the King.

In 1813, Ross was sent to serve under [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Arthur Wellesley]] and commanded his regiment at the [[Battle of Vittoria|battles of Vittoria]], Roncesvalles, and [[Battle of Sorauren|Sorauren]] that year. He was seriously wounded in the left side of his neck at the [[Battle of Orthez]], on 27 February 1814, and had just returned to service when he was given command of an expeditionary force to attack the United States.

==War of 1812==
[[File:Nova Scotia DSC07295 - Major General Ross & the White House (35073189944).jpg|thumb|upright|Portrait of Ross at the White House, by Dennis Jarvis]]
Ross sailed to North America as a [[Major General|major general]] to take charge of all British troops off the east coast of the United States. He personally led the British troops ashore in [[Benedict, Maryland|Benedict]], [[Maryland]], and marched through [[Upper Marlboro, Maryland|Upper Marlboro]], Maryland, to the attack on the Americans at the [[Battle of Bladensburg]] on 24 August 1814, routing the hastily organised militia units that opposed him.<ref name="Markham1910">{{cite book
| author =Markham, Edwin
| title =The Real America in Romance Valor and Victory: The age of Vindication 1783–1824 Volume X
| publisher =[[William H Wise & Company]]
| year =1912
| location =New York City, Chicago
| pages =370–382
| url =https://books.google.com/books?id=foAQAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA370
| authorlink = Edwin Markham }}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|url=https://home.nps.gov/fowa/learn/historyculture/warburton.htm
|title=Fort Warburton
|publisher=[[National Park Service|U.S. National Park Service]]
|date=19 July 2007}}</ref>
Author Steve Vogel credits Ross' strategy for the success at Bladensburg: "He conducted a brilliant campaign of deception, feinting one way or the other, marching and then doubling back, and was able to paralyze the Americans and prevent them from defending Bladensburg".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.historynet.com/interview-with-war-of-1812-author-steve-vogel.htm |title=Interview With War of 1812 Author Steve Vogel |date=13 June 2013 |work=History Net |access-date=17 January 2021 |quote=}}</ref>

===The capture of Washington===
[[File:Burning of Washington 1814.jpg|left|thumb|[[Burning of Washington]], 1814]]
After the victory at Bladensburg, Ross was persuaded by Rear-Admiral [[Sir George Cockburn, 10th Baronet|George Cockburn]] that they could take [[Washington, D.C.]], and late in the evening of 24 August his army of 4,500 men (including 1,000 [[Royal Marines]] from Cockburn's flotilla) captured the capital, in spite of a larger contingent of American defenders. Under Ross' direction, his troops [[Burning of Washington|set fire]] to the city's public buildings, including the [[White House]] and the [[United States Capitol]]. Extensive damage to the interiors and the contents of both were subsequently reported.<ref name="autogenerated1"/>

Ross refused to accept Cockburn's recommendation to also damage private property.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://time.com/3154591/burning-of-washington-200th-anniversary/ |title=Why Americans Celebrate the Burning of Washington |work=TIME magazine |date=22 August 2014 |access-date=16 January 2021 |quote=Cockburn, who accompanied Ross into the capital, reportedly wanted to burn the entire city in retaliation for American depredations in Canada. But it was an army operation and Ross’ call, and he would have none of it.}}</ref> The attack on the [[National Intelligencer]] newspaper was led by Cockburn.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/01/06/british-burned-capitol-1814/ |title=In 1814, British forces burned the U.S. Capitol |newspaper=Washington Post |access-date=16 January 2021 |quote=}}</ref>
Ross ordered the preservation of private property however, threatening his men with punishment if they disobeyed.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nps.gov/people/robert-ross.htm |title=Robert Ross |work=NPS |access-date=17 January 2021 |quote=}}</ref>

A [[CBC News]] article described Ross as a "reluctant arsonist" who needed persuasion from Cockburn to cause intentional damage. Although Cockburn had been optimistic about the possibility of capturing the capital city,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.historynet.com/interview-with-war-of-1812-author-steve-vogel.htm |title=Interview With War of 1812 Author Steve Vogel |date=13 June 2013 |work=History Net |access-date=17 January 2021 |quote="we could easily have at our mercy the capital"}}</ref> author John McCavitt asserted that Ross "never dreamt for one minute that an army of 3,500 men with 1,000 marines reinforcement, with no cavalry, hardly any artillery, could march 50 miles inland and capture an enemy capital".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/trump-blames-canada-for-torching-white-house-meet-the-reluctant-arsonist-1.4697058 |title=Trump blames Canada for torching White House. Meet the 'reluctant arsonist' |date=18 June 2018 |work=CBC News |access-date=16 January 2021 |quote=}}</ref>

===Death===
[[File:Death of Genl. Ross at Baltimore.jpg|thumb|Art work, circa 1859, Death of Genl. Ross at Baltimore, Library of Congress, digital ID cph.3a10359]]
At the urging of Cockburn and army quartermaster-general Lieutenant [[George de Lacy Evans]],<ref>{{cite book|title=Through the Perilous Fight: From the Burning of Washington to the Star-Spangled Banner: The Six Weeks That Saved the Nation|author=Steve Vogel|publisher=Random House|year=2014|pages=270–271|isbn=9780812981391 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9QBwDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA413}}</ref> Ross then led his army against [[Baltimore]]. His troops subsequently landed at the southern tip of the "Patapsco Neck" peninsula (between the [[Patapsco River]] and [[Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore|Baltimore Harbor]] on the south and [[Back River (Maryland)|Back River]] on the north) of southeastern [[Baltimore County]] at North Point, twelve miles southeast from the city, on the morning of 12 September 1814. En route to what would be the [[Battle of North Point]], a part of the larger [[Battle of Baltimore]], the British advance encountered American [[skirmisher]]s. General Ross rode forward to personally direct his troops. An American [[sharpshooter]] shot him through the right arm into the chest. According to Baltimore folklore, two American riflemen, Daniel Wells, 18, and Henry McComas, 19, fired at him and one of them had fired the fatal shot; both were killed shortly afterward. Ross died while he was being transported back to the fleet after being shot by the American sharpshooter.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-2004-09-17-0409170014-story.html |title=Film stirs flap over killing of general in 1814 |work=Baltimore Sun |date=17 September 2004 |access-date=16 January 2021 |quote=Their names do not pop up until the 1850s, when a political movement bent on keeping immigrants in general and Catholics in particular out of positions of power resurrected their memory.}}</ref>

Ross's body was preserved in a barrel of 129 gallons (586 L) of [[Jamaica]]n rum aboard [[HMS Tonnant (1798)|HMS ''Tonnant'']].<ref>{{cite book|title=Maryland History In Prints 1743-1900|author=Laura Rich|page=43}}</ref> When the ''Tonnant'' was diverted to [[New Orleans]], his body was shipped on the British ship [[HMS Royal Oak (1809)|HMS ''Royal Oak'']] to [[Halifax, Nova Scotia|Halifax]], [[Nova Scotia]], where his body was interred on 29 September 1814 in the [[Old Burying Ground (Halifax, Nova Scotia)|Old Burying Ground]].

==Legacy==
[[File:RobertRossMonument.jpg|left|thumb|Robert Ross Monument, [[Rostrevor]], [[County Down]], Northern Ireland]]
[[File:Ross tomb4.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Ross's tomb in the [[Old Burying Ground (Halifax, Nova Scotia)|Old Burying Ground]] in Halifax, Nova Scotia]]
In Ross's home village of [[Rostrevor]], [[County Down]] in [[Northern Ireland]], he is commemorated by a 99-foot granite obelisk near the shoreline of [[Carlingford Lough]]. The Monument, a 100-foot granite obelisk, was restored in 2008.<ref name="MAJOR-GENERAL ROBERT ROSS">{{cite web |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/books/2018/04/silver-spoon-spy-how-cambridge-double-agent-donald-maclean-got-away-it-so-long |title=MAJOR-GENERAL ROBERT ROSS |date= 29 April 2018|work=Baganal Castle |access-date=17 January 2021 |quote=}}</ref> A smaller monument was erected in Kilbroney Parish Church by troops who had served with Ross at the Battle of Maida in 1806.<ref name="ROSS MONUMENTS">{{cite web |url=http://themanwhocapturedwashington.com/ross-monuments/ |title=ROSS MONUMENTS |date=22 March 2016 |work=The Man Who Captured Washington |access-date=17 January 2021 |quote=}}</ref> This granite memorial was erected in 1826 "on a hill within view of his heartbroken widow’s home", according to a 2013 report.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/10/25/world/man-who-burned-white-house-in-1814-feted/ |title=Man who burned White House in 1814, feted Brilliant Anglo-Irish general now largely forgotten |date=25 October 2013 |work=Washington Post in Japan Times |access-date=17 January 2021 |quote=}}</ref>

Ross is also commemorated by a National Monument in [[St Paul's Cathedral]] in London, England.<ref>"Memorials of St Paul's Cathedral" [[William Sinclair (Archdeacon of London)|Sinclair, W.]] pp. 458: London; Chapman & Hall, Ltd; 1909</ref> The latter is described by a book about Ross as: "Britannia is represented weeping over the tomb of the departed warrior, over which an, American flag is being deposited by a figure of Valour, while Fame descends with a wreath of laurels to crown the hero’s head".<ref name="ROSS MONUMENTS"/>

The inscription on the National Monument reads:

{{quote box
|width = 50%
|align = center
|qalign = center
|text = DEDICATED AT THE PUBLIC EXPENSE TO THE MEMORY 
OF MAJOR GENERAL ROBERT ROSS 
WHO HAVING UNDERTOOK AND EXECUTED AN ENTERPRISE AGAINST THE 
CITY OF WASHINGTON, THE CAPITAL OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 
WHICH WAS CROWNED WITH COMPLETE SUCCESS WAS KILLED SHORTLY 
AFTERWARDS WHILE DIRECTING A SUCCESSFUL ATTACK UPON A SUPERIOR FORCE NEAR THE 
CITY OF BALTIMORE ON THE 12TH DAY OF SEPTEMPTER 1814
}}
[[File:Arms of Ross-of-Bladensburg.png|thumb|right|200px|Ross of Bladensburg coat of arms]]

By the beginning of [[the Troubles]] in the 1960s, the monument in Rostrevor—now located in a predominantly Roman Catholic region—was largely neglected and overgrown by brambles; this may have contributed to its avoiding the same fate as [[Nelson's Pillar]] in [[Dublin]], which was reportedly blown up by the [[Irish Republican Army (1922–69)|IRA]] in 1966. After the [[Good Friday Agreement]] in 1998, the [[Newry and Mourne District Council]], though largely [[Irish republicanism|Irish republican]], agreed to refurbish the monument as part of Rostrevor's history, and it was reopened in 2008.<ref>{{cite news|last=Vogel|first=Steve|title=The War of 1812 and the capture of Washington, through British eyes|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/the-war-of-1812-and-the-capture-of-washington-through-british-eyes/2013/10/23/ab40d358-3b31-11e3-b7ba-503fb5822c3e_story.html|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=24 October 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Robert Ross: The NI man who started the White House fire 200 years ago|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-28897646|work=BBC News|date=24 August 2014}}</ref>
[[File:Figure of Major General Robert Ross in 1814.jpg|thumb|Figure of Major General Robert Ross of the British Army at the [[Maryland Museum of Military History]], at the historic [[Fifth Regiment Armory]], (of 1899-1900), at North Howard and 29th Division Streets, in [[Downtown Baltimore]]]]
Neither General Ross nor his immediate descendants were [[knight]]ed while he was living or received a title of nobility. However, his descendants were given an [[augmentation of honour]] to the Ross [[armorial bearings]] (namely, the addition of a [[Chief (heraldry)|chief]] to the shield and a second [[crest (heraldry)|crest]], both depicting an arm grasping the old American flag [[Flag Acts (United States)#Flag Act of 1794|15 stars and 15 stripes]] ([[Star-Spangled Banner (flag)]] of 1795-1818) on a broken staff, along with the additional motto of "Bladensburg") and the family name was changed to the [[victory title]] '''"Ross-of-Bladensburg"''', which was granted to his widow.<ref>[http://www.igp-web.com/down/RosFamily.htm Ross Family History]{{dead link|date=April 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}. Igp-web.com. Retrieved on 4 June 2011.</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=A Complete Guide to Heraldry|first=Arthur Charles|last= Fox-Davies|authorlink=Arthur Charles Fox-Davies|year= 1909| pages=113, 474, 593, 374|url=https://archive.org/stream/completeguidetoh00foxdrich#page/592/mode/2up}}</ref><ref name="Smyth">{{cite book|last=Smyth|first=B|title=History of the XX Regiment: 1688-1888|publisher=Simpkin, Marshall, & Co.|year=1889|pages=348|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OqFDAAAAIAAJ}}</ref>

In honour of the Federal City and national capital's [[history of Washington, D.C.]], there is also a portrait of the infamous General Ross in the [[United States Capitol|United States Capitol's central rotunda]], along with a small art decorative vignette near a corridor ceiling portraying the Burning of Washington and exhibits in the recently constructed underground visitors' center on the Capitol's east front. Along with several illustrations / exhibits in various [[War of 1812]] historical sites / museums in the [[Baltimore]] metropolitan area, including a stone obelisk monument near the site off Old North Point Road in southeastern [[Baltimore County]], erected in memory of Aquila Randall who was also killed here (dedicated in 1817 by fellow soldiers and officers of his [[Maryland National Guard|Maryland Militia]] regiment), and where General Ross supposedly was shot. Additional details and exhibits have been preserved in various Baltimore historical institutions, such as the [[Flag House & Star-Spangled Banner Museum|Star Spangled Banner Flag House]] (also known recently as the Flag House and Star-Spangled Banner Museum), 1793 historic home of flagmaker [[Mary Young Pickersgill]] in the [[Jonestown, Baltimore|Jonestown]] / [[Old Town, Baltimore|Old Town]] neighborhood of [[Downtown Baltimore|Downtown / East Baltimore]]) and the [[National Park Service]]'s landmark site of [[Fort McHenry]]'s new visitor center extensive exhibits on Whetstone Point, by the Baltimore harbor, and also in the local community's Dundalk-Patapsco Neck Historical Society museum in [[Dundalk, Maryland]], near the 1814 North Point battlefield in outlying southeast Baltimore County.

According to a biographical history of the Major-General by Robert Lacy,<ref name="MAJOR-GENERAL ROBERT ROSS"/><blockquote>Ross was a soldier who combined caution with courage. He was immensely popular with his men because of his willingness to share their hardships and to fight alongside them in the thick of battle. A colleague said of him that
he could not be 'a better man nor a more zealous officer'. Ross also commanded the respect and admiration of his opponents because of his unfailing courtesy and chivalrous conduct. One of the leading physicians then residing in 1814 Washington paid tribute to Ross’s ‘consummate modesty and politeness’.</blockquote>

Local lore indicates that the two snipers/riflemen Daniel Wells and Henry McComas (of the unit of Aisquith's Sharpshooters") were first buried in a local churchyard mourned by their fellow militia soldiers and citizens of the Town, but forty years later in the [[1850s]] were exhumed and reburied after elaborate processions and funerals in a monumental tomb with a stone obelisk in what was known then as Ashland Square. Currently, off of the triangular intersection of Aisquith, East Monument and North Gay Streets in the [[Jonestown, Baltimore|Jonestown/Old Town]] neighborhood of East Baltimore. Occasional memorial ceremonies are still held for them by War of 1812 descendents and heritage societies. The Wells-McComas Monument is depicted on the embroidered shoulder patch insignia of the [[Baltimore County Sheriff's Office]] for deputy sheriffs. City streets were also named for them in South Baltimore, off South Hanover Street ([[Maryland Route 2]]).

==Notes==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading ==
*McCavitt, John, and Christopher T. George. ''The Man Who Captured Washington: Major General Robert Ross and the War of 1812''. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2016. {{ISBN|9780806151649}} see [http://www.miwsr.com/2021-005.aspx online review]
*Ross is a featured supporting character in Eric Flint's alternate history novels, ''1812: The Rivers of War'', and ''1824: The Arkansas War''.

==References==
*{{cite DNB|wstitle=Ross, Robert (1766-1814)}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Robert Ross (British Army officer)|Robert Ross}}
*[http://www.artandarchitecture.org.uk/images/conway/ff823138.html Ross's Monument in St. Paul's Cathedral, London] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416145048/http://www.artandarchitecture.org.uk/images/conway/ff823138.html |date=16 April 2021 }}
*[http://www.themanwhocapturedwashington.com Ross's Monument in Rostrevor, County Down, Northern Ireland and discussion of his career] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029202755/http://www.themanwhocapturedwashington.com/ |date=29 October 2013 }}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20161118223441/http://library.gwu.edu/ead/ms2085.xml Guide to the Robert Ross Papers, 1813-1873, Special Collections Research Center, Estelle and Melvin Gelman Library, The George Washington University]

{{War of 1812}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Robert}}
[[Category:1766 births]]
[[Category:1814 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of Trinity College Dublin]]
[[Category:19th-century Anglo-Irish people]]
[[Category:British Army major generals]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of the War of 1812]]
[[Category:British military personnel killed in the War of 1812]]
[[Category:Deaths by firearm in Maryland]]
[[Category:King's Own Scottish Borderers officers]]
[[Category:Lancashire Fusiliers officers]]
[[Category:People from Rostrevor]]
[[Category:18th-century Irish people]]
[[Category:19th-century Irish people]]
[[Category:Military personnel from County Down]]

Pandulf Verraccio

2025-06-30T23:56:31Z

2A00:23C7:C8BC:C501:9D0F:EB63:20D5:56E2: /* Regency Years 1219-1221 */Added capital

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| name = Pandulf Verraccio
| title = [[Bishop of Norwich]]
| image = William Blake after Henry Fuseli King John Absolved by Pandulph 1797 Tate Gallery.jpg
| caption = "King John Absolved by Pandulph" 1797 [[line engraving]] by [[William Blake]] after [[Henry Fuseli]]
| appointed = 1215
| ended = 16 September 1226
| predecessor = [[John de Gray]]
| successor = [[Thomas Blunville]]
| consecration = 29 May 1222
| other_post = sometime [[papal legate]]
| birth_place = [[Rome]], [[Papal States]]
| birth_date = [[January 1155]]
| death_date = {{death date|1226|9|16|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Rome]], [[Papal States]]
| buried = [[Norwich]], [[England]]
| religion = [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]]
}}

'''Pandulf Verraccio''' (died 16 September 1226), whose first name may also be spelled '''Pandolph''' or '''Pandulph''' (''Pandolfo'' in Italian), was a Roman ecclesiastical politician, [[papal legate]] to England and [[bishop of Norwich]].<ref name=EB1911>{{EB1911 |wstitle=Pandulph |volume=20 |page=675 |inline=1}}</ref>

== Early life ==
Pandulf was born in the [[Papal States]], and first came to England in 1211, when he was commissioned by [[Pope Innocent III]] to negotiate with [[John of England|King John]] during the [[Investiture Controversy]].<ref name="EB1911" /> He is often erroneously called ''Cardinal Pandulph'' or ''Pandulph Masca'' due to being confused with Cardinal [[Pandolfo da Lucca]],<ref>{{CathEncy|wstitle=Pandulph}}</ref> who himself was confused with Cardinal [[Pandulf of Pisa]] and erroneously given the Pisan family name Masca. His authentic surname may be rendered Verraccio, Verracchio or Verracclo.

== Role in the Investiture Controversy ==
__NOTOC__
Obtaining no satisfactory concessions in John's efforts to impose [[Caesaropapism]] upon the [[Catholic Church in England]], Pandulf is alleged to have produced the papal sentence of [[excommunication]] in the very presence of the king. In May 1213 Pandulf again visited England to receive the king's submission. The ceremony took place at the [[Knights Templar in England#Churches|Templar church]] at [[Dover, England|Dover]], and on the following day John, of his own motion, formally surrendered England to the [[Holy See]] and received it back as a papal [[fief]].<ref name=EB1911/>

== Loyalty to King John ==
Pandulf repaid this act of humility by using every means to avert the [[First Barons' War|threatened French invasion of England]]. For nearly a year he was superseded by the cardinal-legate [[Niccolò de Romanis|Nicholas of Tusculum]]; but returning in 1215 was present at the conference of [[Runnymede]], when the [[Magna Carta]] was sealed. He rendered valuable aid to John who rewarded him{{citation needed|date=December 2010}} with the [[see of Norwich, England]] in 1215, however he was not consecrated for a number of years.<ref name=Handbook261>Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 261</ref><ref name=BHONorwich>[http://british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=33866 British History Online Bishops of Norwich] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120214055809/http://british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=33866 |date=14 February 2012 }} accessed on 29 October 2007</ref> The arrival of the cardinal-legate [[Cardinal Gualo|Gualo]] in 1216 relegated Pandulf to a secondary position; but after Gualo's departure in 1218 he came forward once more,<ref name=EB1911/> after having been appointed papal legate again on 1 September 1218.<ref name=BHONorwich/>

== Handling of Brigandage ==
{{unreferenced section|date=September 2022}}
Pandulf is known to have sent a letter to [[Peter des Roches]] (who was bishop of Winchester) between 1218 and 1221 urgently requesting action against rampant brigandage on the roads near [[Winchester]] (one of the largest cities of England at the time). He wrote:

My lord bishop, the complaints of the poor and of women ought especially to move you, that nobody can travel near Winchester without being held up, robbed, and worst of all—should there not be enough goods on them—people are being killed. Truly, because this sort of thing is a disgrace to the lord king, and to you, and it is going on to the scandal and disorder of the whole kingdom, we ask, advise and firmly instruct your wisdom, as you value the forgiveness of your sins, that you cause this business to be sorted out, so that we hear no further complaints.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Lost letters of medieval life: English society, 1200-1250 |date=2013 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |isbn=978-0-8122-4459-5 |editor-last=Carlin |editor-first=Martha |edition=1st |series=The Middle Ages series |location=Philadelphia |editor-last2=Crouch |editor-first2=David}}</ref>

== Regency Years 1219-1221 ==
During the years 1219-1221 there are at least 68 letters from or addressed to Pandulf which survive detailing his handling of diplomatic affairs, domestic affairs, national defense, the [[Exchequer]], and his coordination with the [[Justiciar]] [[Hubert de Burgh, 1st Earl of Kent|Hubert de Burgh]], the bishop of Winchester (regency member) [[Peter des Roches]], and the vice-chancellor [[Ralph Neville]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Archives|first=The National|title=The Discovery Service|url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/results/r/2?_q=pandulf&_dss=range&_sd=1200&_ed=1250&_ps=60&_ser=SC%201&id=C13519|access-date=2021-09-14|website=discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk|language=en-GB}}</ref> In fact, the only two members of Henry III's regency government who have more surviving letters are Ralph Neville and Hubert de Burgh. He sent and received several letters regarding diplomacy, including the reception of a letter from [[Llywelyn the Great]] regarding diplomatic affairs with Wales.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C9178345|title=Catalogue description Llewelyn, prince of North Wales, to Pandulf, bishop-elect of Norwich, papal chamberlain...|date=May 1220 }}</ref>

== Termination of Legatine and Consecration as Bishop of Norwich ==
As representing the pope Pandulf claimed a control over [[Hubert de Burgh]] and the other ministers of the young [[Henry III of England|Henry III]]; and his correspondence shows that he interfered in every department of the administration. His arrogance was tolerated while the regency was still in need of papal assistance; but in 1221 Hubert de Burgh and the primate [[Stephen Langton]] successfully moved the pope to recall Pandulf and to send no other legate ''a latere'' (of the highest rank) in his place. His legatine commission was terminated by the summer of 1221.<ref name=BHONorwich/> He was finally consecrated bishop on 29 May 1222.<ref name=Handbook261/>

Pandulf retained the see of Norwich, but from this time drops out of English politics. He died in Rome on 16 September 1226,<ref name=Handbook261/> but his body was taken to Norwich for burial.<ref name=EB1911/>

==In popular culture==
* Pandulf Verraccio is one of the main characters in the [[stage play]] ''[[King John (play)|The Life and Death of King John]]'' by [[William Shakespeare]]. Pandulf Verraccio's role centers first upon the [[Investiture Controversy]] between [[John, King of England|King John]] and [[Pope Innocent III]] and Verraccio's subsequent role in blocking the French invasion.

==Citations==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120214055809/http://british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=33866 British History Online Bishops of Norwich] accessed on 29 October 2007
* {{cite book |author1=Fryde, E. B. |author2=Greenway, D. E. |author3=Porter, S. |author4=Roy, I. |title=Handbook of British Chronology|edition=Third revised |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |year=1996 |isbn=0-521-56350-X }}
* {{cite journal |first=Nicholas |last=Vincent |title=The Election of Pandulph Verracclo as Bishop of Norwich (1215) |journal=Historical Research |volume=68 |year=1995 |issue=166 |pages=143–63 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-2281.1995.tb01997.x}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |first=Nicholas |last=Vincent |title=Pandulf (d. 1226) |encyclopedia=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2004 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/21230 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/21230 |access-date=12 December 2015|url-access=subscription }}

==External links==
{{Commons category-inline}}

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{{s-bef|before=[[John de Gray]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bishop of Norwich]]|years=1215–1226}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Thomas Blunville]]}}
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{{Bishops of Norwich}}

{{Authority control}}

{{short description|13th-century Bishop of Norwich}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pandulph}}
[[Category:Bishops of Norwich]]
[[Category:13th-century Italian Roman Catholic bishops]]
[[Category:Diplomats for the Holy See]]
[[Category:1226 deaths]]
[[Category:Camerlengos of the Holy Roman Church]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:Burials at Norwich Cathedral]]