John Alen

John Alen (1476 – 28 July 1534) was an English priest and canon lawyer, whose later years were spent in Ireland. He held office as Archbishop of Dublin and Lord Chancellor of Ireland, and was a member of the Privy Council of Ireland. In the latter office, for a few years, he played a central role in the government of Ireland.

He was murdered during the Rebellion of "Silken Thomas" Fitzgerald, 10th Earl of Kildare, who is said to have wrongly believed that Alen had been responsible for the death of Thomas's father, the 9th Earl of Kildare, who had in fact died a natural death. Despite his grievance against the archbishop, Thomas always maintained that he had intended to spare Alen's life but that his order (delivered in Irish) to "take him away" had been misinterpreted by his followers as a command to kill him.

Life

He was born in Coltishall, Norfolk, son of Edward Alan and Catherine St. Leger, daughter of Sir John St. Leger. The Alans were a numerous clan and six of his cousins settled in Ireland, including his namesake John Alan, who was Lord Chancellor of Ireland in his turn, William Alen, ancestor of the Alen Baronets of St. Wolstan's, and Thomas Alen of Kilteel, who held office as Clerk of the Crown and Hanaper. He was educated at Oxford and Cambridge, graduated in the latter place, and spent some years in Italy, partly at Rome, for studies and for a business of Archbishop Warham of Canterbury. He was ordained as a priest on 25 August 1499, and held various parochial benefices until 1522, about which time he attracted the attention of Cardinal Wolsey, whose helpful commissary he was in the matter of the suppression of the minor monasteries. As such, his conduct, says James Gairdner, "gave rise to a considerable outcry, and complaints were made about it to the king".

He continued to receive ecclesiastical advancement, and assisted Wolsey in his legatine functions, among other things in the suit instituted by the cardinal against Henry VIII in May 1527, by which it was sought at first to have the marriage with Catharine of Aragon declared invalid without her knowledge. In the summer of the same year he accompanied the cardinal on his mission to France, and finally (August 1528) was rewarded with the archepiscopal see of Dublin.

He was relieved from asserting, against George Cromer, Archbishop of Armagh, the legatine authority of Wolsey by the latter's fall (October 1529). With the rest of the English clergy he had to pay a heavy fine (1531) for violation of the Statutes of Provisors and Praemunire, in recognizing the legatine authority of Wolsey, then, in the king's eyes, a heinous crime, and a reason for the cardinal's indictment.

The Chancellor, Archbishop John Alen, attempted to persuade him not to commit himself to such a rash proceeding; but the young lord's harper, understanding only Irish, and seeing signs of wavering in FitzGerald's bearing, commenced to recite a poem in praise of the deeds of his ancestors, telling him at the same time that he lingered there over long. Roused by this he threw down the sword of state and rushed from the hall, followed by his adherents. The council then sent an order for Thomas's immediate arrest to the Lord Mayor of Dublin.

Murder

The Archbishop, anticipating a siege of Dublin Castle, attempted to escape to England. Lord Thomas arrived before the house in hot pursuit of him. The Archbishop was dragged out in his shirt, and, falling on his knees, begged for mercy. Archbishop Alen was killed by two retainers of "Silken Thomas" Fitzgerald, John Teeling and Nicholas Wafer, at Artane Castle, on 28 July 1534. Whether Silken Thomas actually ordered the killing or not remains a subject of dispute: