BURNELL, ROBERT (d. 1292), English bishop and chan cellor, was born at Acton Burnell in Shropshire, and began his public life probably as a clerk in the royal chancery. He was soon in the service of Edward, the eldest son of King Henry III., and was constantly in attendance on the prince. Having received some ecclesiastical preferments, he acted as one of the regents of the kingdom from the death of Henry III. in Nov. 1272 until Aug. 1274, when the new king, Edward I., returned from Palestine and made him his chancellor. In 1275 Burnell was elected bishop of Bath and Wells. As the friend and chief ad viser of Edward I., Burnell influenced the legislative and foreign policy of his master. In 1 283 a council, or, as it is sometimes called, a parliament, met in his house at Acton Burnell, and he was responsible for the settlement of the court of chancery in London. Licentious and avaricious, he amassed great wealth ; and when he died on Ott. 25, 1292, he left numerous estates in Shrop shire, Worcestershire, Somerset, Kent, Surrey and elsewhere. He was, however, genial and kind-hearted, a great lawyer and a faith ful minister.
See R. W. Eyton, Antiquities of Shropshire (1854-60) ; and E. Foss, The Judges of England (1848-64) .