Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Ros, John de
ROS or ROSSE, JOHN de (d. 1332), bishop of Carlisle, was a member of a Herefordshire family, and is said to have been a son of Robert, first baron Ros of Hamlake or Helmsley [see under Ros, William de]. He held the living of Ross, Herefordshire, before 1307 (Roberts, Calendarium Genealogicum, ii. 742; Bliss, Cal. Pap. Reg. ii. 72), and on 17 May of that year, when he was canon of Hereford, had leave of absence while prosecuting his studies (ib. ii. 29). He held the prebends of Moreton Parva and Moreton Magna at Hereford (Le Neve, Fasti Eccl. Angl. i. 514, 516), and previously to 1308 was archdeacon of Salop (ib. i. 483). On 17 Oct. 1310, when he is described as clerk of Thomas Jorz [q. v.], cardinal of St. Sabina, he had license to visit his archdeaconry by deputy for three years (Cal. Pap. Reg. ii. 74). He was perhaps permanently attached to the Roman curia, and his name appears frequently in papal mandates down to his accession to the bishopric (ib. passim). On 25 March 1317 he is styled papal chaplain, and on 5 Nov. 1317 as papal auditor had license to enjoy his benefices although non-resident while in the papal service. He ceded his archdeaconry on 7 June 1318, but about the same time seems to have obtained canonries at Wells and Salisbury (ib. ii. 173–4, 187; Wells Cathedral MSS. p. 154). Previously to 16 Feb. 1325 he was provided to Carlisle by the pope, and on 24 April was consecrated at the papal court (ib. ii. 468, 470; Chron. de Lanercost, p. 253). He received the temporalities on 25 June. The diocese of Carlisle suffered much from the Scottish war, and Rosse seems to have been frequently non-resident, on which ground complaint was made in 1331, when he was living at Horncastle (Calendar of Documents relating to Scotland, ii. 742; cf. Nicolson and Burn, ii. 264). Rosse died in 1332 before 11 May, and was taken for burial to the south, whence he came (Chron. de Lanercost, p. 276).
[Nicolson and Burn's Hist. of Westmoreland and Cumberland, ii. 264; Letters from Northern Registers (Rolls Ser.); other authorities quoted.]