Gloucestershire people hedging their bets in the political instability of 1470

Gloucestershire people hedging their bets in the political instability of 1470

Niall C.E.J. O’Brien

In the winter of 2013-14 the University of Leicester on-line education vehicle, Future Learn, organised a course entitled “England in the time of Richard III”. The course is over six weeks with the first week on that of 25^th November 2013. The content of the first week was about the origins and course of the War of the Roses with a discussion on Bosworth Field. Section 1.7 asked participants [of which I am one] to write a 1,200 word piece on “How did the conflicts impact on both the upper and lower classes?”

One of the points in my reply was that during the wars in Ireland during the 16^th and 17^th century you often find families backing both sides in the war. Thus the head of the Roche family stayed neutral while his son supported the Irish side. When the victorious English came to declare lands belonging to the rebels as forfeit to the crown, Lord Roche was able to show his non-involvement in the war and by such means preserved his family estates. In the 1641-1653 war the head of the Butler family, James, Earl of Ormond led the English forces in Ireland while members of the junior branches of the Butler family were prominent on the Irish side. After the Restoration in 1660 James Butler, by then Duke of Ormond, was able to use his support during the war to restore members of the Butler family on the losing side.

It is possible with research to find families in England, during the War of the Roses, who had members on both sides; not so much as they believed in their respective cause but to be in a position to help the side of the family who ended up on the losing side. Ordinary people caught up in the War also sought out means of surviving. An interesting few documents from Gloucestershire show how ordinary people found ways to end up on the winning side without showing clear support for any side.

The source book of the Gloucestershire documents

On 2^nd January 1469-70 Robert Bole released to Thomas Bokeland, Henry Bold, clerk, John Hertlaund and Nichols Hylle all his right in lands and tenements in the districts of Beggeworth, Uphatherley, Hatherleywood, Great Shurdyngton, Great Bentham and Little Wydecombe. These places are found at various locations around Gloucestershire. Robert Bole was the son and heir of Joan Bole, one of the daughters and heirs of John Brock. Joan Bole, in her widowhood, agreed to the release by another document in December 1470. The January release grant was dated according to the 9^th year of Edward IV. Having concluded their agreement the parties went their separate ways happy with the deal.

Both the reign of Edward IV was far from settled. Lancastrian forces remained active in the north of England and in Wales. One of Edward’s chief supporters, Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, became disappointed at his loss of influence at court against the rise of the king’s wife, Elizabeth Woodville and her supporters. In July 1469 Warwick had gone over to the Lancastrian cause and took the king’s younger brother, George, Duke of Clarence with him. The Lancastrians won the Battle of Edgecote Moor and King Edward was imprisoned for a few months. But by September 1469 Edward was restored. But the country was still unsettled.

The year of 1470 started with more military manoeuvres on both sides as Warwick tried to capture King Edward and Edward tried to capture Warwick. The king was more successful and forced Warwick to flee the country. After getting support from King Louis XI of France, Warwick staged an uprising in the north of England. When Edward went north to crush the uprising Warwick landed a force on the south coast. King Edward turned about to face Warwick but was trapped between the two Lancastrian forces. On 2^nd October Edward fled to Holland. The previously deposed king, Henry VI, was now restored to the throne on 19^th October.

The people of Gloucester watched these events as did the rest of the country and tried to understand its impacts on their lives. The was talk of the new government obliterating all trace of the reign of Edward IV including declaring all documents dated according to his reign as null and void. If such rumours should come true the parties to the release agreement of Robert Bole feared that their document would have no legal standing because it was dated according to the reign of the now ex-king, Edward IV.

The parties met at an undisclosed location to discuss the situation. After some talk they decided to write out the agreement in the same words as that made on 2^nd January 1469-70 but to date it as 2^nd January in the 40^th year of Henry VI. By such as means they hoped that if their agreement should be produced in court in some legal action, it would be accepted as a “politically correct” document. Delighted with their well laid plan somebody was going to destroy the Edward IV document until stopped by one of the party. “What will happen if Henry goes insane again and Edward comes back? Our newly worded deal will be on the wrong side and have no legal standing”.

After discussion it was proposed by somebody that both documents would be preserved. They would hide the document dated according to the reign of Edward IV and produced that dated to Henry VI for any court action that may happen. If by chance Edward is again king at some future dated, the parties could hide the Henry document and produce the “politically correct” one. All the parties were delighted with their little scheme of how to survive the War of the Roses and the political instability of 1470 in particular.[1]  

Somebody called for a toast and “God save the King”. “Which one?” said another. “The one who keeps his head while all the others are losing theirs,” was the reply and all laughed and drank to good health.

It was a wise decision to keep both documents because within a few months Edward IV had returned to England and retook the throne. Henry VI was sent to the Tower of London where he died violently, it is said, in May 1471.

Over the centuries both documents, one dated to the reign of Edward and the other to the reign of Henry, survived together and became part of the archive of Gloucester Corporation. The preservation of both documents allows us to see how ordinary people found ways and means to survive the impact of the War of the Roses and still be there when the dust settled. People in other parts of the country possibly did similar things but the evidence is yet to be found.  

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The conversation between the parties is a suggestive reconstruction. Their actual discussions in October/November of 1470 are not recorded.

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[1] W.H. Stevenson (ed.), Calendar of the Records of the Corporation of Gloucester (Gloucester, 1893), nos. 1159, 1161

In search of a woman in the time of King John and Henry III

In search of a woman in the time of King John and Henry III

Niall C.E.J. O'Brien

Last Thursday, 14th November 2013, an idea came into my head of writing a history blog article about people remembering the dead in the nunnery of Lacock Abbey in Wiltshire. Those who gave land to the abbey in return for prayers for the dead, like the founder, Ela, Countess of Salisbury, who gave the abbey site to remember her deceased husband and other members of her family. Also those who gave money like Thomas Chancellor of Bath who gave the abbey £5 to say prayers forever to aid his soul in the next life.

Chapter house of Lacock Abbey, Wiltshire

The article advanced well to three A4 pages until my eye caught the sight of an early 13th century woman, Constance de Lega. About 1230 she gave land to Lacock Abbey in return for perpetual prayers for her deceased father and mother - no prayers for her unnamed dead husband. This was a very early grant to Lacock abbey and was made even before the abbey officially opened in 1232.

A medieval woman - wife, widow, nun

Who was this widow, Constance de Lega, who gave all her manor of Woodmancote in Gloucestershire to the as yet unbuilt nunnery in Wiltshire? Last Monday, 18th November, out came all the source books I have for the early 13th century to find the mystery woman. The task of finding information on anyone in the early 13th century and before is not an easy one. The vast bulk of medieval documents start to come in after about 1220 and increase greatly after 1250. The class of documents known as the Inquisitions Post Mortem, which are a great help for genealogists and local historians only start in 1236. Thus in the search for Constance de Lega we are working at the very edge of the known world.

The early task was to find Woodmancote and more particularly, which one. There are three places in Gloucestershire called Woodmancote. The first is near Bishop's Cleeve, the second near North Cerney and the third in the south-west near Dursley. The Domesday Book for Gloucester helped identify each place as did the book on the Place-names of Gloucestershire by W. St. Baddeley. But the family ownership evidence in these books was insufficient to link it with the ownership by Constance de Lega in 1230.

With the identity of the correct Woodmancote own by by Constance put to one side, the next task was to find all and any reference to Constance in other documents other than those of Lacock Abbey. This search led from Wiltshire up through Gloucestershire and on into Worcestershire. In the latter county Constance had connections with Brocton and Pershore. She granted land in Brocton and granted separate land to Pershore abbey. Her father's name was William de Lega and a person of that name was seneschal to the abbot of Pershore in about 1200.

Pershore Abbey, Worcestershire

Could this seneschal called William de Lega be the father of Constance? William's mother was Lady Constantia which name is different from Constance but not too different. Yet if the father was going to called his daughter and heir by the name of his mother then the would be the same names and not just similar. There is a place in Worcester called Leigh from which the surname of Lega is a derivative. But the earliest Inquisition Post Mortem relating to Leigh is from 1279 and thus too late to help make any connection with Constance de Lega forty years earlier. Yet all documents have some merit and the 1279 inquisition tells us that Leigh was owned by Pershore Abbey and rented by Henry de Pembridge.

Monday and Tuesday were taken up getting thus far. On Wednesday the internet was pulled out and more documents referring to Constance de Lega appeared. Many of these documents had strong Worcestershire connections with various sheriffs of Worcestershire acting as witness to different documents. These documents made reference to the mother of Constance, namely Mabel de la Mare and the witness list provided other names of people called de la Mare. These other de la Mare people may provide links to further information on Constance de Lega but have yet to be explored.

On internet document, dated c.1242, in Birmingham City Archive related to the exchange of land from a place in Worcestershire to Woodmancote in Gloucester by Constance de Lega. This document was witnessed by Richard son of Andrew de Lega. In all the documents found so far that relate to Constance de Lega no mention is ever made of any children of Constance. It would appear that she had no children by her as yet unnamed deceased husband. This Richard son of Andrew de Lega was very probably a relation of Constance but what that relationship was is still unknown.

On tonight, Thursday, 21st November, I returned to Gloucestershire to find the correct Woodmancote and had identified it as that place near North Cerney. This identification provided another avenue of research with William de la Mare of Rendcombe in Gloucestershire having an interest in Woodmancote via his cousin, Constance de Lega. The village of Rendcombe in 5 miles north of Cirencester and about a mile north-east of Woodmancote. The de la Mare presence in Gloucestershire may suggested that Constance's mother, Mabel de la Mare, came from Rendcombe or may be from Woodmancote itself and that Mabel brought Woodmancote to her husband, William de Lega, as her marriage portion, her dowry. This is still to be confirmed but it certainly looks that way at this present time.

Also tonight while trawling through the documents of Lacock Abbey, one by one, I found the elusive unnamed husband of Constance de Lega. His name was Geoffrey de Abetot and his names appears only on one document out of the 476 documents printed as the Lacock Abbey charters by the Wiltshire Record Society. Yet one good lead is far better than ten poor ones. With a name we can now search the records for Constance's husband and may be find more documents about the lady under her married name.

Gloucester 

The search for Geoffrey de Abetot has taken us out of Wiltshire and back into Gloucestershire. Here Geoffrey's name appears as a witness to a number of documents in the archive of Gloucester Corporation. One document of about 1220 was a grant by Geoffrey de Abetot of land at Redmarley D'Abitot, a village and parish within the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, to Richard de la Mare, son of Ralph de la Mare on the marriage of Geoffrey's sister, Lucy, to Richard de la Mare. Elsewhere in the Corporation documents Geoffrey de Abetot witnessed the release of land in Worcestershire by Jordan de Lega to Sir Robert Foliot. In 1242 Constance de Lega gave land to Roger de Foliot in exchange for land in Woodmancote.

The land around North Cerney, Rendcombe and Woodmancote belonged to Gislebert son of Turold in 1086 but he joined the Norman revolt against William Rufus and lost his lands. The district was then granted to Robert Fitz Hamon and became part of the Honour of Gloucester, later held by the Earls of Gloucester. The Earls of Gloucester held land in Ireland and so I took my search for Constance de Lega to Ireland. There in the time of King John was a person called Walter de Abetot. In June 1215 Walter de Abetot was made sergeant of Munster by King John. Thus Walter de Abetot was a nephew of Philip de Worcester, an important grantee of land in Ireland in the days of Kings Richard and John.

Thus our search for Constance de Lega has taken us from Wiltshire to Gloucester and onto Worcestershire. Then back to Wiltshire again for another journey north through the three counties and back to Gloucester again. At 2200 hours on this Thursday the search went to Ireland and has now taken us back to Worcester. Thus after a week I still have only three pages done of the Lacock abbey article and more still to do before posting to this medieval news site. I have one page written on the biography of Constance de Lega but the research outlined above has still to be examined and rearranged to make the biography sound and fit for posting. Yet what more happier few hours can a person spend than wandering around the medieval world in the company of a few old books and a nice warm log fire on a cold November night as this.

Hopefully in the next few days I will finish the Lacock article and make progress on the biography of Constance de Lega. I have a number of business meetings from Tuesday onwards next week and so will have little time for medieval fun. Live in hope even without Bob Hope.

Bob Hope - his father came from Weston-super-Mare, Somerset and another local connection

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Nicholas Cusack, Bishop of Kildare 1279-1299

Nicholas Cusack, Bishop of Kildare 1279-1299

Niall C.E.J. O’Brien

   

    In April 1272, Simon of Kilkenny, Bishop of Kildare, died. During the long vacancy in the diocese following his death the canons of Kildare made two attempts to hold elections for a new bishop. We are told that two different people (Stephen, Dean of Kildare and William, Treasurer of Kildare) were chosen on each occasion but because proper procedures were not followed, both elections were declared invalid.[1] By February 1279/80 the canons held a third election in which Nicholas Cusack, a Franciscan friar was chosen. The two people that were formerly so called elected, acknowledged Nicholas as the new bishop as did the church in Rome.[2]

    The early history of Nicholas Cusack is uncertain. He could have been a member of the Cusack family that settled in the Barony of Skreen in County Meath.[3] It seems that Nicholas Cusack studied at Oxford in the 1260s. While there he was possibly one of the Irish signatories to the terms of peace between the Irish and Northern scholars at Oxford on 29^th November 1267.[4]

St. Brigid's Cathedral at Kildare [from Kildare.ie]

    Before Nicholas could secure a letter from the king to confirm the election, he was called away to Rome by the Pope on some unstated business. So quickly had Nicholas left Ireland that he wrote to Edward I from Paris to accept the customary oath of fealty from his proctor, Hugh de Fraxiniis. Nicholas pledged to give the oath himself on his return. He also asked that the long withheld temporalities be restored to the diocese through Hugh.[5]

    The government had so long enjoyed the revenue from Kildare, and being displeased at a new bishop running off to Rome before giving fealty to the king, that it waited many months before jumping to Nicholas’s orders. On Christmas Eve 1280, King Edward wrote to the knights, free and other tenants of the diocese to accept the new bishop. Robert de Ufford, justiciary of Ireland, was to deliver the temporalities to Nicholas or his attorney on the production of this letter. Yet Nicholas did impress the king with his personality so much that a few days later Edward wrote to the treasurer of Ireland to allow Nicholas 100 marks from the government revenue.[6]

    The new bishop enjoyed England so much he was slow to leave it and he got letters of protection to stay there for three years in September 1281. His former proctor, Hugh de Fraxiniis was passed over as Irish attorney by Philip Shannon and John Fitz Adam. Nicholas wasn't the only Irish prelate to stay in England at this time as Stephen, Bishop of Waterford and Peter, Bishop of Connor, also had licence to remain there.[7] Of course Stephen was treasurer of Ireland at the time and so could have had government business in England. It’s hard to see what reason Nicholas had to be absent from Kildare.

    It is possible that his business there had to do with financial matters. In the Hilary term 1281-2 Nicholas received his 100 marks from the Irish treasury along with payments to many other people. Later in 1285 all these payments were disallowed in the chamberlains roll because proper procedure was not followed. Many years later, Stephen, Bishop of Waterford, and his treasury successor, Nicholas de Clere were charged with financial malpractice.[8] In May 1292, Nicholas was ordered to sell any ecclesiastical goods held by de Clere within the diocese of Kildare and remit the proceedings to the king to make good the arrears de Clere had built up. In Hilary 1300 the new bishop of Kildare remitted 40 shillings from the de Clere sales.[9]

    While he was in England, Nicholas stuck up a relationship with Ela, Countess of Warwick. On a visit to Oseney abbey in September 1282 Nicholas issued an indulgence to any who visited the abbey. While there, the pilgrim was to pray for the church and kingdom of England, before the altar of the Holy Trinity. At the same altar, further prayers were to be given for the good health of countess Ela, while she lived and for her soul after her death.[10]

    In November 1285 Nicholas paid half a mark for unjust detinue to the government via the Dublin county sheriff. A few days later Nicholas paid two and a half marks to the government, collected from four people for various breaches of the law. This money was paid via the Kildare liberty.[11] In February 1285/6 Nicholas paid another half mark for unjust detinue and paid one mark in April the following year, for the same offence.[12]

    Sometimes Nicholas was asked to help secure the release of prisoners. During the decade 1280-90 Nicholas was asked to assist in the case of Gerald Tyrell. This youth, from a noble family, fought in a battle with the Irish in which many of his comrades were killed and he lost a horse. Gerald, “grievously wounded” was taken prisoner by the Irish. They told Nicholas that they would exchange the youth for the son of an Irish noble, held in Dublin castle. Nicholas asked Robert, Bishop of Bath and Wells and chancellor of England, for his help.[13] We are not told the outcome but a successful result is likely.

    In 1291 the general chapter of the Franciscans was held in Cork to facilitate the visitation of the Minister General. The occasion resulted in such violence between the English and Irish friars that sixteen were killed. A few years previously, Nicholas wrote to Edward I warning about the seditious correspondence of certain friars with the Irish rulers.[14] He reported that these Irish were holding secret meetings at which they were assuring the Irish rulers that it was perfectly lawful under both human and divine law to fight for their native land and attack the colonisers with all their strength.[15] Bishop Nicholas further argued that filling vacancies in Irish houses with “sound, hand-picked English religious” who would be in charge of the house, would remove this security risk.[16]  

    At this time, Nicholas was involved in his own religious crusade in 1291/2 when he was appointed by the pope to collect the tenth of Ireland, with the bishop of Meath. This money was directed to aid the crusades in the Holy Land.[17] In that same year of 1291 Edward I wanted to tax the Irish Church to help pay the ransom of his cousin who was held by the King of Aragon. The prelates of Ireland, including Bishop Cusack, met on 13 May to discuss the matter and then proceeded to have many more meetings to continue the discussion so that Edward got very little because the bishops were too busy at meetings.[18]

    In June 1293 Nicholas travelled to England to stay a few weeks (which was later extended into the following year), and appointed Laurence of Athy and Geoffrey Bremel as his Irish attorneys. His business may have been connected with the late dispute between William de Vescy and the Abbot of St. Thomas the Martyr, Dublin relating to the advowson of St. Moling church in the diocese. Yet it is more probable that the 40 marks Nicholas owed to John de Drokenesford made the journey more immediate.[19]

    We can safely say that Nicholas’s extended visit to England had much to do with his disputes with William de Vescy. In December 1293 the king had a detailed report sent to the Dublin government recounting the many complaints the king had received relating to the time when William de Vescy was both justiciar of Ireland and lord of Kildare. Nicholas was one of these complainants. He said that when de Vescy arrived in Ireland as justiciar, he sent the bishop a letter of prohibition in the name of the lord of Kildare and not as justiciar, which restricted the bishop’s rights to legal appeal. Nicholas further said that he received a similar letter even before de Vescy came to Ireland. The bishop made it clear that, as he held the bishopric and the diocese directly from the king that he should not be subject to any restrictions by a liberty lord. De Vescy didn't deny he sent the first letter; only the second.

    Another issue of complaint was that de Vescy had exceeded his authority as lord of the liberty by prosecuting tenants of the bishop. A jury found that the liberty seneschal, Thomas Darcy, had fined Osbert the baker, a tenant of the bishop, 40 shillings for using incorrect measurements and that this money was later used by the sheriff of Kildare for his own use. Darcy did not deny entering church land to fine Osbert but that he did so as seneschal of the justiciary and not of the liberty. This denial got Darcy in to further trouble as the 40s was not paid into the Exchequer and so the case went on to a further court where on the past experience of such matters, Bishop Cusack was successful.

    Yet on the third complaint, Nicholas was not successful. In this matter, he complained that Master Adam of Clane was prosecuted for incorrect measures at the liberty court. The jury found that Nicholas was incorrect in this complaint. They found that Master Adam was a tenant of the liberty and had brought some tenants of same before the ecclesiastical court on issues no connected with wills or marriage. Thomas Darcy fined Master Adam 100 shillings for the breach of judicial procedure and that jury found that Thomas was correct to do so.[20] 

    In April 1296 Nicholas was fined 53 shillings 4 pence for not coming to Dublin when summoned to do so.[21] The circumstances of this fine are not known. It is possible that Bishop Nicholas was in declining health. On 19 September 1299 the dean and chapter of Kildare informed the king of the recent death of Nicholas Cusack and on 20 October got licence to elect a new bishop.[22]

The Cathedral Church at Kildare [from Wikipedia.com]

    Shortly after the new bishop (Walter Calf) took over he had to petition the king for payment of the rent for Kildare castle. The castle had, long ago, been built on church land but without adequate compensation. In making peace, William Marshal the younger gave Bishop Ralph de Bristol (Bishop of Kildare 1223 to 1232) ten marks per year rent out of the burgess tenements in Kildare town.[23] Nicholas Cusack had successfully reintroduced the rent from William de Vescy, yet getting the payment was another matter. An inquisition in January 1297-8 found that after de Vescy left Ireland, his officials withheld ten marks in rent due to the bishop for two years. Thus when in January 1296-7 de Vescy gave the liberty to the king, the rent was still due to Bishop Cusack.[24] If Nicholas and his successor had hopes of early settlement, they were to be disappointed. It would be another twenty years before the king paid £25 in part payment of £126 that was owed from April 1297 to June 1316.[25]

     At may be possible at a future date to expand the biography of Bishop Nicholas Cusack but for the present his life story rests just as he was laid to rest in the cathedral church at Kildare.[26]

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[1] W.H. Bliss, Calendar of Papal Registers relating to Great Britain and Ireland, vol. 1, 1198-1304 (H.M.S.O., London, 1893), pp. 460, 462

[2] H.S. Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of documents relating to Ireland, 1171 – 1307 (5 vols. reprint, Liechtenstein, Kraus-Thomson, 1974) [hereafter referred to as Cal. doc. Ire.], vol. II (1252-1284), no. 1643

[3] Arlene Hogan, The Priory of Llanthony Prima and Secunda in Ireland, 1172-1541 (Four Courts Press, Dublin, 2008), p. 52

[4] A.B. Emden, A Biographical Register of the University of Oxford to A.D. 1500 (3 vols. Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1989), Vol. 1, p. 530

[5] H.S. Sweetman (ed.), Cal. doc. Ire., vol. II (1252-1284), no. 1643

[6] Sweetman, Cal. doc. Ire., vol. II (1252-1284), nos. 1772, 1773

[7] Sweetman, Cal. doc. Ire., vol. II (1252-1284), nos. 1806, 1853

[8] Sweetman, Cal. doc. Ire., vol. II (1252-1284), no. 1982; vol III (1285-1292), p. 70; Philomena Connolly (ed.), Irish Exchequer Payments 1270-1446 (Dublin, 1998), pp. ix, 70

[9] Sweetman, Cal. doc. Ire., vol. III (1285-1292), no. 1098; ibid, vol. IV (1293-1301), no. 704

[10] Rev. H.E. Salter (ed.), Cartulary of Oseney Abbey (Oxford Historical Society, 1931), vol. III, p. 24

[11] Sweetman, Cal. doc. Ire., vol. III (1285-1292), pp. 57, 59

[12] Sweetman, Cal. doc. Ire., vol. III (1285-1292), pp. 86, 138

[13] Sweetman, Cal. doc. Ire., vol. III (1285-1292), no. 828

[14] A.J. Otway-Ruthven, A history of Medieval Ireland (London, 1980), p. 138 quoting from E.B. Fitzmaurice and A.G. Little, Materials for the History of the Franciscan Province of Ireland, pp. 52-3, 63-4

[15] J.A. Watt, ‘Gaelic polity and cultural identity’, in A new history of Ireland, volume II: medieval Ireland 1169-1534, edited by Art Cosgrove (Oxford University Press, 1993), p. 346

[16] J.A. Watt, The Church and two nations in medieval Ireland (Cambridge, 1970), pp. 181-2

[17] Sweetman, Cal. doc. Ire., vol. III (1285-1292), no. 1055

[18] J.A. Watt, The Church and two nations in medieval Ireland, pp. 117-8

[19] Sweetman, Cal. doc. Ire., vol. IV (1293-1301), nos. 20, 26, 31, 61

[20] Sweetman, Cal. doc. Ire., vol. IV (1293-1301), pp. 55-6

[21] Sweetman, Cal. doc. Ire., vol. IV (1293-1301), p. 132

[22] Sweetman, Cal. doc. Ire., vol. IV (1293-1301), nos. 657, 666

[23] Goddard H. Orpen, Ireland under the Normans (Dublin, 2005 reprint), vol III, p. 99

[24] Sweetman, Cal. doc. Ire., vol. IV (1293-1301), nos. 365, 481

[25] G.O. Sayles (ed.), Documents on the Affairs of Ireland before the King’s Council (Dublin, 1979), no. 71; Philomena Connolly (ed.), Irish Exchequer Payments, p. 273

[26] A.B. Emden, A Biographical Register of the University of Oxford to A.D. 1500, Vol. 1, p. 530

Dovecotes in the Calendar of Inquisitions Miscellaneous Volume eight

Dovecotes in the Calendar of Inquisitions Miscellaneous Volume eight

Niall C.E.J. O’Brien

A dovecote or dovecot was a structure intended to house pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be square or circular free-standing structures or built into the end of a house or barn. They generally contain pigeonholes for the birds to nest. Pigeons and doves were an important food source historically in Western Europe and were kept for their eggs, flesh, and dung.[1]

It is sometimes difficult to know if a dovecote was for pigeons or doves. Occasionally documents come to the rescue with an answer. In 1431 a run-down dovecote at Wantage in Berkshire was worth nothing per year because there were no doves while another dovecote at Tawstock, Devon, was also worth nothing because it had no doves. Elsewhere young pigeons known as squab were bred in the dovecote at Ashcott in the manor of Shapwick in Somerset. There up to 360 squabs were produced in the early fourteenth century. The manor of Shapwick was owned by Glastonbury Abbey.[2]

The Romans seem to have had introduced dovecotes to Britain as suggested by pigeon holes at Caerwent. After the Romans left so it seems did dovecotes. The Normans re-introduced dovecotes after 1066.[3] This present article draws attention to various references to dovecotes in the Calendar of Inquisitions Miscellaneous, volume eight which covers the years 1422 to 1485.

A cut-away dovecote at Oxwich showing the nesting boxes from Glamorganwalks.com

In 1396 Ralph Chamberlain owed £4,000 to Thomas Barton, executor of Sir Thomas Swinburn and was reluctant to pay. The sheriff of Suffolk was ordered to deliver the chattels of Ralph to the value of £1,500 but the sheriff said that Ralph had no chattels or goods in his bailiwick. Therefore an inquisition was taken in May 1397 of the lands of Ralph Chamberlain in Suffolk.

The extent noted that Ralph Chamberlain held a half share in five manors and two tenements. There was a dovecote in the manor of Greys in Great Cornard and another dovecote in the manor Chamberlains in Stoke by Nayland. The value of the two dovecotes was not stated. No dovecote was mentioned in the list of buildings on the other three manors.[4]

An unrelated inquisition was taken in Hertfordshire in October 1427 where the net value of a dovecote was given as 5 shillings. This dovecote was located in the manor of Maudeleyns. The manor was held in chief by William Street but was delivered by him to others without royal licence.[5] As a comparison for the Maudeleys dovecote, a straw thatched dovecote in County Meath in Ireland was worth 6 shillings 8 pence in 1381.[6]

When William Street acquired the manor from his cousin John Reynes in 1421 some of the manorial buildings were in need of repair but the dovecote was in good condition. William Street and his assignees did not manage the property such that by July 1428 the dovecote had decreased in value to 3 shillings 4 pence.[7]

William Street died in December 1330 and the subsequent inquisition post mortem found that the buildings at Northchurch were worth nothing and greatly in need of repair.[8] The dovecote was possibly one of these buildings.

Another inquisition was held in May 1428 relating to Maudeleys before William Ludsop, escheator of Buckinghamshire. The manor of Maudeleys covered land in both Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire. In 1428 it was found that John Hertwell held part of the manor in 1423 consisting of 6 messuages, a dovecote, 3 carucates of land, and 100 acres of wood along with 100 shillings of rent. Hertwell held alienated the property to others without royal licence hence the inquisition. The dovecote had a net value of 20 pence per year in 1427. This dovecote is separate from the dovecote of William Street which was on the Hertfordshire side of the manor.[9]

After the death of William Street, John Hertwell along with John Pygmyll occupied the entire manor and took the issues. Another document said that Hertwell occupied the manor and took the profits since July 1417. The two continued to take the issues after the inquisition post mortem taken in November 1431 where Henry Street, aged 22 years and brother of William Street was declared the heir.[10]

In 1440 we learn of a dovecote in Leicestershire that was left go into ruin. By the act of 17 Edward II, cc. 11, 12 if a property owner was of unsound mind but had lucid intervals then the property should be passed to trustees to manage the property for the successors. In October 1422 Thomas Walsh of Leicestershire was judged to be of unsound mind and his property was entrusted to his sister, Margaret and her husband, Thomas Gresley, knight.[11]

Dovecote at Llantwit Major by Wikipedia.org

The affairs of the estate were properly maintained while Margaret was alive but things went downhill after her death in 1428. Thomas Gresley took the issues and profits of the estate for his own use and failed to provide reasonable living conditions and clothing to Thomas Walsh. The hall, 3 chambers, a kitchen, 2 granaries, 2 stables and a dovecote at the manor of Wanlip (total value of £20) were left fall into ruins by leaving them unroofed so that the timbers became rotten and decayed by exposure to rain.[12]

In 1450 the calendar mentioned a dovecote in Kent. Here the provost and canons of the collegiate church of St. Mary, Wingham held a messuage, a dovecote and a garden along with land in the districts of Preston, Ash, Staple and Wingham. The exact location of the dovecote and its value was not stated. The church held the land by grant from the king and this grant was renewed in October 1450.[13]

In 1455 a detailed inquisition was taken into the condition of the royal manor of Geddington in Northamptonshire. Parts of the manor were in a ruinous condition due to frequent pestilence and high rents but other parts were improving. Thomas Knyth took a parcel of land from the king and built a dovecote for which he paid the king 2 pence per year. This rent can be compared to another tenant who paid 2 pence a year rent for a dung-heap.[14]

In November 1461 a dovecote in Monkton, Kent, was taken into the king’s hand. This was not as a result of unpaid rents but because Henry Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, had backed the wrong side in the War of the Roses. The value of the dovecote was not specifically stated as it was included in a total figure of 100 shillings for the messuage, the dovecote and 450 acres of land. Henry Beaufort had held the property from the prior of Christ Church, Canterbury. In July 1468 King Edward IV granted the messuage, dovecote and land to John Brokeman.[15]

Further west in Salisbury a dovecote was in disputed ownership in 1466. Earlier in the century William Shirley and Agnes Cryschirche jointly held a messuage, a dovecote and a garden called “Balles tenement” in Salisbury from Richard Beauchamp, Bishop of Salisbury, at a yearly rent of 2 shillings. The whole property was worth 40 shillings net value per year.[16]

Walter Shirley was mayor of Salisbury in 1408-9 and again in 1416-17. In 1413 Walter Shirley was elected Member of Parliament for Salisbury along with William Waryn. He was re-elected in 1416 in company with Thomas Mason. In 1417 Shirley and Waryn were again Members of Parliament for Salisbury.[17]

In 1430 Walter Shirley granted the property to John Estbury and Amice, his wife for their lives with reminder to the mayor and commonalty of Salisbury. Following the deaths of John and Amice Estbury, the mayor, John Wyse, entered the property in May 1460 and took the issues for the city council.

The Bishop of Salisbury cited alienation contrary to the Statute of Mortmain and entered the property in August 1460. The city council failed in their efforts to eject the bishop. A royal inquisition into the alienation without licence of a number of properties in Salisbury, to the city council, taken in October 1466, found that the bishop still held the former Shirley property.[18]

After 1466 the Calendar of Inquisitions Miscellaneous, volume eight makes no further references to dovecotes. It is hoped to continue the study of medieval dovecotes from other sources in a future article.

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[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dovecote accessed on 18 October 2013

[2] Claire Noble (ed.), Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Volume XXIII, 1427-1432 (Boydell Press & National Archives, 2004), nos. 576, 577; Mick Aston & Chris Gerrard, Interpreting the English Village: Landscape and Community at Shapwick, Somerset (Windgather Press, 2013), pp. 218, 397, note 93

[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dovecote accessed on 18 October 2013

[4] J.W.B. Chapman & Mrs. Leighton (eds.), Calendar of Inquisitions Miscellaneous, Volume VIII, 1422-1485 (Boydell Press & Public Record Office, 2003), no. 18

[5] J.W.B. Chapman & Mrs. Leighton (eds.), Calendar of Inquisitions Miscellaneous, Volume VIII, no. 22

[6] Arlene Hogan, The Priory of Llanthony Prima and Secunda in Ireland, 1172-1541 (Four Courts Press, Dublin, 2008), p. 348

[7] Claire Noble (ed.), Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Volume XXIII, no. 62

[8] Claire Noble (ed.), Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Volume XXIII, no. 672

[9] J.W.B. Chapman & Mrs. Leighton (eds.), Calendar of Inquisitions Miscellaneous, Volume VIII, no. 26

[10] Claire Noble (ed.), Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Volume XXIII, nos. 62, 672

[11] Calendar of the Patent Rolls, Henry VI, 1422-1429, p. 4

[12] J.W.B. Chapman & Mrs. Leighton (eds.), Calendar of Inquisitions Miscellaneous, Volume VIII, no. 130

[13] J.W.B. Chapman & Mrs. Leighton (eds.), Calendar of Inquisitions Miscellaneous, Volume VIII, no. 222

[14] J.W.B. Chapman & Mrs. Leighton (eds.), Calendar of Inquisitions Miscellaneous, Volume VIII, no. 231

[15] J.W.B. Chapman & Mrs. Leighton (eds.), Calendar of Inquisitions Miscellaneous, Volume VIII, nos. 358, 448

[16] J.W.B. Chapman & Mrs. Leighton (eds.), Calendar of Inquisitions Miscellaneous, Volume VIII, no. 380

[17] David B. Carr (ed.),  The First General Entry Book of the City of Salisbury, 1387-1452 (Wiltshire Record Society, Vol. 54, 1998), nos. 72, 116, 167, 169, 218

[18] J.W.B. Chapman & Mrs. Leighton (eds.), Calendar of Inquisitions Miscellaneous, Volume VIII, no. 380