John Hotham (died 1337) was a medieval Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lord High Treasurer, Lord Chancellor and Bishop of Ely.

He was the son of Alan and Matilda Hotham of Hotham, Yorkshire and nephew of William Hotham, archbishop of Dublin.

His early career was in Ireland, where he became Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland until 1310. He was then appointed, on 13 December 1312, Chancellor of the Exchequer in England, a post he held until June 1316.

Hotham was elected to Ely about 20 June 1316 and consecrated on 3 October 1316.^[1] Later that year he went to meet the Pope in Avignon with the earl of Pembroke, partly to plead the case for the promotion of Alexander Bicknor as archbishop of Dublin.

After returning from Avignon he was appointed Lord High Treasurer of England on 27 May 1317 but left that office in June 1318.^[2] when he was promoted as Lord Chancellor of England on 11 June 1318, an office he held until 26 January 1320.^[3]

Although close to the King Edward II in 1325, he switched allegiance to Queen Isabella when she successfully invaded to depose the king in September 1326 and was consequently appointed chancellor for the second time by Edward III on 28 January 1327. He retired from government in 1328.

He died about 14 January 1337 after two years of paralysis and was buried in Ely Cathedral.^[1]

• Buck, M.C. "Hotham, John (d. 1337), administrator and bishop of Ely". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/13851. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
• Fryde, E. B. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology (Third revised ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X. ((cite book)): Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

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