Thomas
Fitz Anthony:
Thirteenth
century Irish administrator
Niall
C.E.J. O’Brien
Introduction
In July 2015 the
community of Villierstown, Co. Waterford will celebrated the 800 year
anniversary of their local medieval manor of Dromana. The present owners of
Dromana, the Villiers Stuart family, are descended from an early thirteenth
century administrator, Thomas Fitz Anthony who was granted the land around
Dromana in July 1215. This article gives a interim examination of his life.
First
appearance of Thomas Fitz Anthony
Thomas Fitz Anthony
first appears in the official historical records in February 1207 when he was
sent with gold and silver from Ireland to King John in England.[1]
His origins are, as yet, unknown and his name has not yet been found on any
document prior to 1207. Fitz Anthony must have had some standing in the Irish
colony by 1207 to be charged with bringing the king’s treasure out of the
country. The other two persons bringing the treasure were Bartholomew de Camera
and Walter de Abbetot.[2]
Bartholomew de Camera
is elsewhere referred to as the king’s clerk and had custody of church lands in
County Dublin. After delivering the king’s treasure Bartholomew de Camera was
given land in County Cork which formerly belonged to Fulk de Cantilupe.
Bartholomew de Camera continued to deliver further shipments of treasure in
1207 and in 1214 was made rector of Dungarvan Co. Waterford. In 1220 de Camera
was a justice itinerant in Ireland.[3]
Walter de Abbetot
appears less frequently in the records compared to Bartholomew de Camera. The
treasure shipment in February 1207 is his first historical record. On 2nd
July 1215 Walter de Abbetot was granted the serjeantry of Munster (covering the
modern Counties of Limerick and Tipperary). Later he forfeited the serjeantry
for an unknown reason. Walter de Abbetot was a nephew of Philip de Worcester.[4]
Ancestry
and early years
As for the relations of
Thomas Fitz Anthony we have no record. His name, Thomas son of Anthony, would
suggest that his father was called Anthony. The Anthony name is very rare in
medieval documents. Yet elsewhere a person called Thomas Fitz Anthony de St.
Leger was witness to a grant of land in Fernegenel between 1215 and 1221 by
Gerald de Rupe. This Gerald de Rupe was a son-in-law of our Thomas Fitz Anthony
and thus the St. Leger family name seems reasonable.[5]
It is not known if
Thomas Fitz Anthony was the first of his family to live in Ireland or if he
succeeded his father. By around 1200 Thomas Fitz Anthony held lands in the
lordship of Leinster (owned by William Marshal), mostly in the area of modern
County Kilkenny and centred on the cantred of Ogenty. These lands were possibly
acquired after 1192 when William Marshal took control of his wife’s Irish
estates. C.A. Empey suggested that Thomas Fitz Anthony was among the household
knights of William Marshal.[6] In
1210 we learn that Fitz Anthony held a wood between Newbridge and Kilkenny in
the south of the county. King John stopped near the wood on his way from
Waterford to Kilkenny.[7]
Thomastown,
Co. Kilkenny
The town of Thomastown in
the centre of Ogenty was named after Thomas Fitz Anthony. In Gaelic the town is
known as Baile Mhic Anndain or the town of Fitz Anthony.[8] The
town used to be called Grenagh when Thomas Fitz Anthony granted charters of
liberties to the town. The later town of Thomas became an important economic
centre for the south Kilkenny region. This was because it was situated at the
head of the navigation on the River Nore. Thomastown was the port town for
Kilkenny city, twelve miles further up the River Nore.[9]
The descendants of Fitz Anthony held land around Thomastown into the fourteenth
century.[10]
In addition to
Thomastown, Thomas Fitz Anthony held further lands around Inistioge and
Kilmacow from William Marshal.[11]
In around 1206 Fitz Anthony founded the Augustinian priory of St. Columba at
Inistioge. The priory of Kells in Ossory sent the first canons to the new
priory.[12]
After 1206 Thomas Fitz Anthony gave unspecified grants of property to Kells
priory including the period when he was Seneschal of Leinster.[13]
Witness
to early charters
Kells priory in County Kilkenny was
founded by Geoffrey Fitz Robert around 1193 but Geoffrey had earlier in 1183
founded a small collegiate church on the site.[14]
Thomas Fitz Anthony was witness along with Meiler Fitz Henry (later justiciar
of Ireland) to an early charter to Kells priory by Fitz Robert.[15]
Geoffrey Fitz Robert was Seneschal of Leinster between c.1204 and 1208.[16]
Between 1207 and 1213
Thomas Fitz Anthony was one of the witnesses to a grant by William Marshal of
the land around Rathdowney to Adam de Hereford.[17] There
is in the Ormond deeds a more interesting document that was also witnessed by
Thomas Fitz Anthony. Edmund Curtis gave the document a date of around 1290.
Many early medieval documents didn’t give a calendar date and their date has to
be guest at by establishing the life dates of the people named in the document.
This suggested c.1290
was a grant by Robert Tysun to Ralph de Ely of land at Dunhod. Canon William
Carrigan gave Dunhod as equating to Donaghmore in the parish of St. Patrick in
the Barony of Shillelogher, County Kilkenny. The witnesses were Thomas Fitz
Anthony, Walter Purcell, Hugh his son, Baldwin de Bethun, John Travers, William
de Gernet, Gervase le Mercer and five others.[18]
Baldwin de Bethun was count of Aumale in right of his wife and died in 1212. He
held extensive lands in England and France but no recognised property in
Ireland. His teenage daughter was married to William Marshal the younger.[19] The
life dates of the other people mentioned have not been determined including
that of Robert Tysun and Ralph de Ely but the document is certainly pre 1212
and possibly earlier.
Supporter
of King John
In about 1212 Thomas
Fitz Anthony signed a declaration of support by the magnates of Ireland for
King John against the Archbishop of Canterbury.[20]
In 1205 the Archbishop of Canterbury died and King John wished to have his
friend, John de Gray, Bishop of Norwich, to be the new archbishop. The
cathedral chapter at Canterbury reserved their right to elect and picked
Reginald, the sub-prior. Both candidates appealed to Pope Innocent in Rome. The
pope rejected both and consecrated Stephen Langton as archbishop. King John was
incensed and refused Langton entry into England and seized the archbishop’s
estates. In 1208 Pope Innocent placed England under interdict which stopped all
ecclesiastical services except baptism for the young, confession and absolution
for the dying. King John refused to give way and in November 1209 he was
excommunicated by the pope. The situation contributed to the signing of Magna
Carta in 1215 and the invasion of England by Prince Louis of France. The whole
business was not settled until after the death of King John in October 1216.
Seneschal
of Leinster
By 1215 Thomas Fitz
Anthony was serving as seneschal of the lordship of Leinster.[21] The
large lordship of Leinster covered the modern counties of Wexford, Kilkenny,
Carlow, Kildare and Laois. This area covered much of the former kingdom of
Leinster. Richard “Strongbow” de Clare had got this lordship from Dermot Mac
Murrough via his daughter Eva. The Marshal family inherited the lordship via
Richard’s only daughter. Thomas Fitz Anthony held the position of seneschal until
at least 1223.[22]
Grant
of Decies and Desmond
On 3rd July
1215 Thomas Fitz Anthony secured a hereditary grant of all the royal lands in
the Counties of Waterford (except the city of Waterford) and Desmond (Cork)
along with the custody of Waterford castle, Dungarvan castle and the castle and
city of Cork and custody of the escheat lands in those places. The grant to
Fitz Anthony was a reward for his support given to King John who was fighting
rebel barons in England at the time. Fitz Anthony’s feudal lord, William
Marshal was one of the chief commanders of the royalist army.
For this substantial grant
Thomas Fitz Anthony was to pay a yearly rent to the crown of 250 marks (he paid
an upfront fine of 100 marks in July 1215). In addition, Fitz Anthony was given
the office of hereditary sheriff of both counties, the only such creation in
Ireland. To increase his income Fitz Anthony also got half the prisage on wine
in Waterford city where he was the constable. Thomas Fitz Anthony needed this
and other revenues because the cost of defending and maintaining the castles
across the two counties fell to him to pay for.[23]
The following day (4th
July 1215) Thomas Fitz Anthony further advanced his position in society when he
was given the custody of the lands and heirs of Thomas Fitz Maurice of Shanid
for a fine of 600 marks payable within six years. Later in 1215 Thomas Fitz
Anthony paid £400 for custody for the Fitz Maurice lands.[24]
Dromana House, Co. Waterford
seat of the successors of Fitz Anthony to this day
Administration
of Fitz Anthony
The administration of
Thomas Fitz Anthony appears to have been a good one. Apart from maintaining and
strengthening the area under Anglo-Norman rule Thomas Fitz Anthony expanded the
area under Anglo-Norman rule further west along the Cork coast.[25] Yet
there were some complaints about his conduct. In 1226 the Prior of Cork
informed the king that Thomas Fitz Anthony had deprived the prior of a mill and
2 burgages in Cork which the prior had by gift of King John when he was Earl of
Morton. The prior alleged that Fitz Anthony had exceeded his lease of County
Cork by taking the prior’s property. King Henry III instructed the justiciar in
August 1226 to investigate the matter and give judgement in the case.[26]
The result of the case is unknown.
Yet other documents
show that Fitz Anthony was trusted by the king and his advisers to administer
the two counties. In April 1218 Thomas Fitz Anthony received a royal mandate
not to permit the men of Waterford, or others, to impede Godfrey de Camville
and other English barons from exporting wheat from their lands within the
bailiwick of Fitz Anthony to their estates in England.[27]
Later in July 1218 King Henry III desired that a wall be built around Cork
city. Thomas Fitz Anthony was given the fee farm grant of Cork city for three
years to help pay for the wall.[28]
During the time that
Thomas Fitz Anthony held the Counties of Decies and Desmond; he was also
seneschal of the vast lordship of Leinster. Fitz Anthony did not neglect his
duties in Leinster. Around 1218 Fitz Anthony was among the witnesses to a grant
of the church of Kilcormac to the priory of Inistioge by Stephen Archdeacon,
his son-in-law.[29]
Conflict
between the Diocese of Lismore and Waterford
In the summer of 1218
Thomas Fitz Anthony was dragged into the on-going battle between the Bishops of
Lismore and Waterford. In August the Bishop of Waterford told the king that
Fitz Anthony along with Geoffrey de Marisco, Justiciar of Ireland, and Griffin
Fitz Griffith had unjustly seized the manors of Lismore, Ardmore, Ardfinnan and
other property from the said bishop. But these manors were the property of the
Bishop of Lismore. By such false accusation the Bishop of Waterford hoped to
secure a royal grant of these properties contrary to the true situation. It is
highly unlikely that Thomas Fitz Anthony seized any property without just
cause. The Bishopric of Lismore was vacant at that time and Fitz Anthony had
acquired the temporalities of the see as was the duty of royal officials during
an episcopal vacancy.[30]
The bad feeling of the
Bishop of Waterford towards Thomas Fitz Anthony carried the latter’s name into
the unfavourable review of later historians. It is said in some accounts that
Thomas Fitz Anthony resisted the further migration of English settlers into
Ireland. When English barons tried to increase the number of English settlers
on their Irish estates Fitz Anthony objected and resisted their efforts.[31] A
possible source of this bad press is a mandate issued to Thomas Fitz Anthony in
July 1219 not to impede the Bishop of Waterford from farming his land and
receiving English settlers onto the properties. The Justiciar of Ireland was mandated
to insure that Fitz Anthony be kept out of the bishop’s affairs.[32]
The Bishop of Waterford
was at that time continuing the tradition of his predecessors in the campaign
to take over the Bishopric and Diocese of Lismore. As Custos of County
Waterford, Thomas Fitz Anthony was viewed from Waterford as an impediment to
that acquisition. By hook or by crook the Bishop of Waterford hoped to give
Fitz Anthony a bad name with the king and even caused his removal from office.
By this means Bishop Robert of Waterford hoped to become the first bishop of
the united Diocese of Waterford and Lismore. Bishop Robert was unsuccessful in
his long term plan and it was not until 1363 that the two dioceses became
united as the Diocese of Lismore and Waterford when Thomas le Reve, Bishop of
Lismore, became first bishop. [See for further information on Thomas le Reve at
http://celtic2realms-medievalnews.blogspot.ie/2013/05/thomas-le-reve-first-bishop-of-united.html]
Relations
with the government of Henry III
On 17th July
1221 Thomas Fitz Anthony received a letter from Henry III that he was to be
respondent to Henry, Archbishop of Dublin, as the new Justiciar of Ireland
following the removal of Geoffrey de Marisco. Similar letters were sent to six
Irish kings and seventeen Anglo-Norman lords. Geoffrey de Marisco had paid no
revenues for the royal lands, rents and escheats of Ireland to the English
exchequer since the days of King John.[33]
In January 1222 Thomas
Fitz Anthony was granted the temporalities of the dioceses of Ardfert and
Killaloe after their bishops had been deposed by the papal legate.[34] Another
document from June 1222 suggests that Thomas Fitz Adam had received custody of
the two dioceses.[35]
Thomas Fitz Adam was a different person to Thomas Fitz Anthony even though
their names are similar. In July 1222 Archbishop Henry of Dublin, Justiciar of
Ireland, was instructed to restore the temporalities of the Diocese of Killaloe
to John, Bishop of Killaloe once the latter had returned from Rome.[36]
The Bishop of Ardfert was back in his diocese by May 1223 and possibly earlier
than that date.[37]
Removal
from Decies and Cork
Relations between
Thomas Fitz Anthony and the regency council of King Henry III entered a cooler
period in 1223. In June 1223 Thomas Fitz Anthony was ordered to appear at court
to show by what charters he held the escheat lands in Counties Waterford and
Desmond and within the city of Cork. It was suggested that Fitz Anthony was
withholding money due to the crown. Fitz Anthony failed to show up and on 3rd
June 1223 he was stripped of his lands in Ireland. These were given to John
Marshal (died 1235), the marshal of Ireland.[38] At
a later date the Counties of Decies and Desmond were given to Richard de Burgh.[39]
Many people in the
Counties of Waterford and Desmond were sad to see Thomas Fitz Anthony leave
office. A citizen of Waterford, William Sweetman, petitioned the king to
exonerate Fitz Anthony from official misconduct.[40]
During his administration Thomas Fitz Anthony had acquired enemies who sought
opportunity to remove an efficient official. Thomas Fitz Adam wrote in 1219 on
a different matter that London officials should ‘not believe all that is told
you from Ireland’.[41]
No
longer Seneschal of Leinster
It was possibly shortly
thereafter that Thomas Fitz Anthony lost his job of seneschal of Leinster. He
was still seneschal in April 1223 when he witnessed a charter to the burgesses
of Kilkenny by William Marshal the younger.[42] William
Crassus was Seneschal of Leinster in 1224-1226.[43]
Partial
restoration to Decies and Desmond
Sometime after June
1223 the rent of 250 marks from the Counties of Decies (Waterford) and Desmond
(Cork) was assigned to Richard de Burgh for his maintenance. Thomas Fitz
Anthony lodged an appeal and by May 1225 had recovered his lands in the province
of Munster. After the restoration Thomas Fitz Anthony was instructed to
continue to pay Richard de Burgh the 250 marks instead of paying the crown that
amount. The manor of Chapel Izard, County Dublin, was granted to Richard de
Burgh in May 1225 and the value of this manor was to be allowed in the payment
of the 250 marks.[44]
But Richard de Burgh
did not receive the full 250 marks. He complained that the land of Decies and
Desmond was so alienated and severed by Fitz Anthony that it was insufficient
to generate the full income due. On 6th August 1227 King Henry
instructed the Justiciar of Ireland to take into the king’s hand and deliver to
Richard de Burgh all the lands alienated by Fitz Anthony.[45]
Many of these alienated
lands had been given to friends and relations of Thomas Fitz Anthony. John
Devereux and William Walensis were two such recipients of alienated land.
During the 1230s much of the land seized from Devereux and Walensis was
restored to them.[46]
Death
and family of Fitz Anthony
Thomas Fitz Anthony
died sometime between 19th August 1226 and 27th April
1227. On 20th July 1229 Richard de Burgh was instructed to take the
lands of Fitz Anthony into the king’s hand. Following consultation with Godfrey
de Turville, Archbishop of Dublin and Richard Duket, de Burgh was to let out
the land at the best rents possible.[47]
It appears that Thomas
Fitz Anthony was twice married; firstly to a woman called Emma and secondly to
a woman called Ilonda. It is not clear which woman had the five daughters left
by Thomas Fitz Anthony at his death. Fitz Anthony’s only son, Hamo Fitz Thomas predeceased
his father and died without children.[48]
The five daughters and
their husbands were: Dionysia married to William de Canteloup; Helen married to
Gerald de Rupe; Isabella married to Geoffrey de Norragh; Margery married to
John Fitz Thomas Fitzgerald and Desiderata married to Stephen Archdeacon.[49] The
estates of Thomas Fitz Anthony were divided among his five daughters. By 1260
much of the land of Thomas Fitz Anthony had come into the possession of his
son-in-law, John Fitz Thomas Fitzgerald of Shanid (died 1261).[50]
It is hoped to write a
future article about the heirs of Fitz Anthony and the property they received
from their father.
Have a look at https://www.facebook.com/dromana800?fref=ts = a celebration of 800 years at Dromana, Co. Waterford by the successors of Thomas Fitz Anthony.
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[1]
David Beresford, ‘Fitz Anthony, Thomas’, in Dictionary
of Irish Biography, edited by James McGuire & James Quinn (Cambridge
University Press, 2009), Vol. 3, p. 813
[2]
H.S. Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of
documents relating to Ireland, 1171 – 1307 (5 vols. reprint, Liechtenstein,
Kraus-Thomson, 1974), vol. 1 (1171-1251), no. 321
[3]
H.S. Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of
documents relating to Ireland, vol. 1 (1171-1251), nos. 320, 357, 518, 985
[4]
H.S. Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of
documents relating to Ireland, vol. 1 (1171-1251), nos. 321, 570, 920, 3106
[5]
Eric St. John Brooks, Knight’s fees in
Counties Wexford, Carlow and Kilkenny, 13th-15th century
(Stationery Office, Dublin, 1950), p. 46, note 6
[6]
C.A. Empey, ‘County Kilkenny in the Anglo-Norman Period’, in Kilkenny History and Society, edited by
William Nolan & Kevin Whelan (Geography Publications, Dublin, 1990), pp.
76-7
[7]
H.S. Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of
documents relating to Ireland, vol. 1 (1171-1251), no. 410
[8]
Marilyn Silverman, ‘Thomas Fitzanthony’s Borough: Medieval Thomastown in Irish
History, 1171-1555’, In the Shadow of the
Steeple, number 6 (1998), p. 66, note 8
[9]
Marilyn Silverman, ‘Thomas Fitzanthony’s Borough: Medieval Thomastown in Irish
History, 1171-1555’, In the Shadow of the
Steeple, number 6 (1998), p. 53
[10]
Marilyn Silverman, ‘Thomas Fitzanthony’s Borough: Medieval Thomastown in Irish
History, 1171-1555’, In the Shadow of the
Steeple, number 6 (1998), p. 56
[11]
Marilyn Silverman, ‘Thomas Fitzanthony’s Borough: Medieval Thomastown in Irish
History, 1171-1555’, In the Shadow of the
Steeple, number 6 (1998), p. 50
[12]
A. Gwynn & R.N. Hadcock, Medieval
Religious Houses of Ireland (Irish Academic Press, Blackrock, 1988), pp.
179-180
[13]
Newport B. White (ed.), Irish Monastic
and Episcopal Deeds (Stationery Office, Dublin, 1936), pp. 303, 308
[14]
A. Gwynn & R.N. Hadcock, Medieval
Religious Houses of Ireland, p. 181
[15]
Newport B. White (ed.), Irish Monastic
and Episcopal Deeds (Stationery Office, Dublin, 1936), p. 310
[16]
Eric St. John Brooks, Knight’s fees in
Counties Wexford, Carlow and Kilkenny, 13th-15th century,
p. 247
[17]
Edmund Curtis (ed.), Calendar of Ormond
Deeds (6 vols. Stationery Office, Dublin, 1932), vol. 1 (1172-1350), no. 36
[18]
Edmund Curtis (ed.), Calendar of Ormond
Deeds, vol. 1 (1172-1350), no. 282
[20]
H.S. Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of
documents relating to Ireland, vol. 1 (1171-1251), no. 448
[21]
H.S. Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of
documents relating to Ireland, vol. 1 (1171-1251), no. 673
[22]
Charles McNeill (ed.), Liber Primus
Kilkenniensis (Dublin, 1931), pp. 10, 74
[23]
H.S. Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of
documents relating to Ireland, vol. 1 (1171-1251), nos. 576, 580
[24]
H.S. Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of
documents relating to Ireland, vol. 1 (1171-1251), nos. 583, 673
[25]
David Beresford, ‘Fitz Anthony, Thomas’, in Dictionary
of Irish Biography, edited by James McGuire & James Quinn (Cambridge
University Press, 2009), Vol. 3, p. 813
[26]
H.S. Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of
documents relating to Ireland, vol. 1 (1171-1251), no. 1437
[27]
H.S. Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of
documents relating to Ireland, vol. 1 (1171-1251), no. 827
[28]
H.S. Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of
documents relating to Ireland, vol. 1 (1171-1251), no. 842
[29]
Edmund Curtis (ed.), Calendar of Ormond
Deeds, vol. 1 (1172-1350), no. 45
[30]
H.S. Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of
documents relating to Ireland, vol. 1 (1171-1251), nos. 851, 856
[31]
David Beresford, ‘Fitz Anthony, Thomas’, in Dictionary
of Irish Biography, edited by James McGuire & James Quinn (Cambridge
University Press, 2009), Vol. 3, p. 813
[32]
H.S. Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of
documents relating to Ireland, vol. 1 (1171-1251), no. 886
[33]
H.S. Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of
documents relating to Ireland, vol. 1 (1171-1251), no. 1001
[34]
David Beresford, ‘Fitz Anthony, Thomas’, in Dictionary
of Irish Biography, edited by James McGuire & James Quinn (Cambridge
University Press, 2009), Vol. 3, p. 813
[35]
H.S. Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of
documents relating to Ireland, vol. 1 (1171-1251), no. 1037
[36]
H.S. Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of
documents relating to Ireland, vol. 1 (1171-1251), no. 1041
[37]
H.S. Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of
documents relating to Ireland, vol. 1 (1171-1251), no. 1106
[38]
David Beresford, ‘Fitz Anthony, Thomas’, in Dictionary
of Irish Biography, edited by James McGuire & James Quinn (Cambridge
University Press, 2009), Vol. 3, p. 813
[39]
H.S. Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of
documents relating to Ireland, vol. 1 (1171-1251), no. 1543
[40]
G.O. Sayles (ed.), Documents on the
Affairs of Ireland before the King’s Council (Stationery Office, Dublin,
1979), No. 1
[41]
Rev. Walter W. Shirley (ed.), Royal and
other Historical Letters of the reign of Henry III (2 vols. Longman, Green,
London, 1862), Vol. 1, No. 50
[42] Charles
McNeill (ed.), Liber Primus Kilkenniensis
(Dublin, 1931), pp. 10, 74
[43]
Edmund Curtis (ed.), Calendar of Ormond
Deeds, vol. 1 (1172-1350), no. 52
[44]
H.S. Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of
documents relating to Ireland, vol. 1 (1171-1251), nos. 1290, 1292
[45]
H.S. Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of documents
relating to Ireland, vol. 1 (1171-1251), no. 1543
[46]
H.S. Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of
documents relating to Ireland, vol. 1 (1171-1251), nos. 1678, 1852, 1947,
2055
[47]
H.S. Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of
documents relating to Ireland, vol. 1 (1171-1251), no. 1714
[48]
Eric St. John Brooks, Knight’s fees in
Counties Wexford, Carlow and Kilkenny, 13th-15th century,
p. 46
[49]
Eric St. John Brooks, Knight’s fees in
Counties Wexford, Carlow and Kilkenny, 13th-15th century,
p. 48
[50]
Gerald O’Carroll, The Earls of Desmond:
the Rise and Fall of a Munster Lordship (Author, 2013), p. 2
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