GLANVILL, RANULF DE (or GLANVIL, GLANVILLE) (d. 119o), chief justiciar of England, was born at Stratford, Suffolk, but the date of his birth is not known. He appears to have possessed a considerable estate, and founded the priory of Butley, the abbey of Leiston, and a hospital at Somerton. He first comes to the front as sheriff of Yorkshire, from 1163 to I I 70, when all sheriffs were dismissed by Henry II.'s orders. In 1174 he became sheriff of Lancashire, and custodian of the honour of Richmond. In 1174 he was one of the English leaders in the battle of Alnwick, where William the Lion, king of the Scots, surrendered to him, and from that time he comes into prominence. He was re-appointed sheriff of Yorkshire in 1175, holding this post until the end of Henry II.'s reign. In 1176 he became justice of the king's court and justice itinerant in the northern circuit, and in I18o chief justiciar of England. In Henry's frequent absences he became, in effect, viceroy of Eng land. He was removed from office by Richard I. on his accession, and imprisoned until he had paid a ransom, according to one authority of £15,000. He accompanied Richard, however, to the crusade in July 119o, and died at Acre, probably before Oct. 21 of that year.
Glanvill was a man of great energy and versatile talent, and was on many occasions useful to Henry II. as a diplomatic agent. His chief importance lies, however, in his part in the legal changes of Henry's reign, including the re-establishment of the curia regis. The whole administration of justice was greatly facilitated by the institution of the circuit of judges, and by simplified methods of procedure. In this reign also the first steps were taken to limit the scope of canon law, by bringing under the common law large numbers of persons who had benefited by so-called clerical immunities. Perhaps at the king's suggestion, Glanvill wrote, or superintended the writing of, the Tractatus de legibus et consuetudinibus regni Angliae, a practical treatise on the forms of procedure in the king's court, first printed in 1554. This was the first coherent code of law compiled in England, and paved the way for plaintiffs who had hitherto been tried by local or feu dal courts, to formulate a case before the curia regis, in which the procedure was uniform, and the judgments aimed at consistency. An English translation of Glanvill's treatise, with notes and introduc tion by John Beames, was published in London in 1812. A French ver sion is found in various mss. but has not yet been printed. (See also