{{Short description|Bishop of London (died 1361)}} {{Infobox Christian leader | type = Bishop | name = Michael Northburgh | title = Bishop of London | image = | alt = | caption = | religion = Roman Catholic | elected = 22 April 1354 | term_end = 9 September 1361 | predecessor = Ralph Stratford | successor = Simon Sudbury | consecration = 12 July 1355 | death_date = 9 September 1361 | previous_post = Archdeacon of Suffolk }}

'''Michael Northburgh''', otherwise '''Michael de Northburgh''' (Northborough), was the Bishop of London between 1354 and his death in 1361. He was the nephew of Roger Northburgh, Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield.

Northburgh's uncle's influence enabled him to be appointed Archdeacon of Chester in 1341 (until forced to resign in 1342)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=32262 |title=Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1300-1541: volume 10: Coventry and Lichfield diocese |access-date=2012-01-28}}</ref> and Archdeacon of Suffolk in 1347 (until 1353)<ref name=Handbook94/> before he had been ordained into higher orders. Whilst archdeacon he became Rector of Pulham St. Mary (1341) and acquired many canonries.<ref>{{cite ODNB |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/20324 |title=Northburgh, Michael (c.1300–1361), diplomat and bishop of London |access-date=2012-01-29 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/20324 |year=2004}}</ref> He occupied the office of Lord Privy Seal between 1350 and 1354.<ref name=Handbook94>Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 94</ref>

Northburgh was elected Bishop of London on 22 April 1354 and consecrated on 12 July 1355.<ref name=Handbook258>Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 258</ref> His most lasting achievement as bishop was in helping to found the Charterhouse. He bought land from Sir Walter de Manny and by his will left £2000 'for the foundation of a House according to the ritual of the Carthusian order in a place commonly called "Newchirchehawe", where there is a church of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Northburgh accompanied King Edward III of England on the English expedition to France which included the Battle of Crécy (1346) and acted as royal clerk, writing an eyewitness account in a newsletter from the English camp, and giving the French casualties as 1,542 "without reckoning the commons and foot-soldiers".

Northburgh died of the plague on 9 September 1361.<ref name=Handbook258/> In his will he left valuable books and artifacts to the illegitimate Michael Northborough, a future Archdeacon of Colchester.

==Notes== {{reflist}}

==References== * {{ODNBweb |id=20324 |title= Northburgh, Michael (c.1300–1361), diplomat and bishop of London |first=Roy |last=Haines <!--|access-date=2012-01-29-->}} * {{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}}

{{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{s-bef| before=Simon Islip }} {{s-ttl | title=Lord Privy Seal| years=1350–1354}} {{s-aft | after=Thomas Bramber }} {{s-rel|ca}} {{s-bef| before=Ralph Stratford }} {{s-ttl | title=Bishop of London| years= 1354–1361 }} {{s-aft | after=Simon Sudbury }} {{s-end}}

{{Bishops of London}} {{Archdeacons of Suffolk}} {{Authority control}}

{{Use British English|date=August 2017}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2017}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Northburgh, Michael}} Category:Archdeacons of Chester Category:Archdeacons of Suffolk Category:Lords Privy Seal Category:Bishops of London Category:14th-century deaths from plague (disease) Category:1361 deaths Category:Year of birth unknown Category:14th-century English Roman Catholic bishops