Boston fair of St Botulph in the time of Henry III

Niall C.E.J. O’Brien

The town of Boston in Lincolnshire today holds a major fair on May Day (1^st May) every year. This fair has been every year since about 1125.[1] Yet in the early days it was not held on 1^st May but in mid-June to coincide with the feast of St. Botulph. The feast day of St. Botulph is held on 17^th June in England and on 25^th June in Scotland.[2] When Henry III had the Boston fair of St. Botulph prolonged for eight days from the feast of St. John the Baptist (24^th June) in June 1218 it would seem that many people regarded the 25^th June as the better date for St. Botulph.[3]

St. Botulph

St. Botulph was a preaching saint in 7^th century England. He travelled widely along the east counties from Suffolk in the south to Yorkshire in the north before he died around 680. Over fifty churches are dedicated to his name. St. Botulph is regarded as the patron saint of travellers and certain farming activity.[4] What information we possess about him is mainly derived from a short biography by Folcard, monk of St. Bertin and Abbot of Thorney, who wrote in the eleventh century (Hardy, Catalogue of Brit. Hist., I, 373).[5] According to him St. Botulph was born of noble Saxon parents who were Christians, and was sent with his brother St. Adulph to the Continent for the purpose of study. Adulph remained aboard; where he is stated to have become Bishop of Utrecht (other sources say it was Maastricht).[6]

Botulph's church by Martin Calrk

St. Botulph returned to England where he found favour with a certain Ethelmund, "King of the southern Angles", whose sisters he had known in Germany. In 654 St. Botulph was permitted to choose a tract of desolate land upon which to build a monastery. This place was called Ikanhoe (Ox-island), and is commonly identified with the town of Boston in Lincolnshire, mainly on account of its name (Boston=Botulph's town). There is, however, something to suggest that the true spot may be the village of Iken in Suffolk which of old was almost encircled by the little river Alde, and in which the church is also dedicated to St. Botulph.[7]

Bede’s master at Wearmouth, Ceolfrid, "journeyed to the East Angles in order that he might see the foundation of Abbot Botulphus, whom fame had proclaimed far and wide to be a man of remarkable life and learning, full of the grace of the Holy Spirit". The monastery at Ikanhoe was destroyed by the Danes. The saint’s relics were recovered and divided by St. Aethelwold between Ely, Thorney Abbey, and King Edgar's private chapel. When the Normans came, the little settlement of Boston (Botulph’s town) didn’t figure much in the Botulph story yet this was soon to change.

Early history of Boston

The settlement of Boston was too small to register in the Domesday Book of 1086. Instead the general area came under the name of Skirbeck parish. Before the Conquest the land was held by Ralph the Staller who was Earl of East Anglia for King Edward the Confessor.[8] After the Conquest the land was given to Count Alan Rufus of Brittany.

Count Alan Rufus developed commerce, most notably the wool, salt and lead trade through Skirbeck. Yet the port and town of Boston quickly grew to overtake Skirbeck. By 1204, Boston had become the second port of England, providing customs duty revenues of £780, only slightly behind London's £836.[9]

The Boston fair in 1218

In June 1218 Henry III issued an order to the sheriff of Lincolnshire and the merchants and others attending the fair of St. Botulph at Boston to be respectful to the king’s bailiffs. Shortly before this order, the king had appointed Henry de Pont-Audemer, Henry of Boston and Richard of Lynn to be the king’s bailiffs for the fairs at Lynn (later King’s Lynn) in Norfolk and at Boston.[10]

A further order to the sheriff of Lincolnshire was issued relating to the previous bailiffs of the Boston fair. The sheriff was to distrain these people from the start of October 1217 and deliver any issues and pleas, determined or not, by these people to the three king’s bailiffs.[11]

One month before, in May 1218, Henry de Pont-Audemer made a pledge of ten marks, at court, for the fine of Robert Marmion, junior.[12] The town and district of Pont-Audemer is in the Eure Department of Normandy, just south-east of Harfleur. The Beaumont family, Earls of Warwick, descend from Thurolf de Pont-Audemer, seigneur of Pont-Audemer (c.950-c.979). For more on Henry de Pont-Audemer see = http://celtic2realms-medievalnews.blogspot.ie/2013/12/henry-de-pont-audemer-royal-official-of.html

The Boston fair in 1226

At the Boston fair of 1226. Also known as the fair of Holland, the royal officials were out in force to ensure that the laws of the land as they related to commerce were observed. Arnold son of Hamo and John of Cardiff, burgesses of Bristol, had gone to the fair to sell cloth but their cloth was not the correct breadth as prescribed in the law. Therefore William de Haverhill and William le Taillur seized 50 cloths belonging to the two merchants. Arnold and John acknowledged that they were at fault and agreed to pay the king 4 tuns of wine for the return of their cloth. Alan, master of the Knights Templar, stood as pledge that the wine fine would be paid and King Henry ordered the return of the cloth.[13]

On 25^th July 1226 William de Haverhill and William le Taillur was ordered to return 6 pieces of cloth that was not of the correct breadth on payment of 2 tuns of wine. The culprits this time were 8 burgesses of Beverley, namely; Robert Palmer, William Borlot, John of York, Alan of Hunmanby, William Testard, Paulinus Sherman, William Swalewe and Richard of Cranswick.[14]

On a third occasion at Boston fair that summer of 1226 William de Haverhill and William le Taillur seize cloth of the incorrect measure. This time it was 3 pieces of cloth from Adam Vintner of Coventry. For the return of his cloth Adam agreed to pay a fine of one tun of wine.[15] William le Taillur was well placed to identify these cloths of incorrect measure as he served a number of years as the tailor to King Henry.[16]

These above merchants were quick of the mark to acknowledge their error on the measurement of cloth and pay the fine to get their cloth back. Other people were not so quick. William Cachehare of Thetford had 5 pecks of cloths seized at Boston fair by Haverhill and Tailllur but did not agree to pay one mark as a fine until October of 1226.[17]

Boston fair by James Bateman

Later that same October of 1226 Adam Heirun of Northampton agreed to pay 20s for the return of 2 cloths seized at Boston fair while Robert of Casterton and Luke Knight, merchants of Stamford, agreed to pay 2 tuns of wine for their 15 pieces of cloth. William de Haverhill and William le Taillur were again ordered to return the cloth.[18] After all this activity at Boston fair William de Haverhill went on to serve the King as keeper of Bury St. Edmunds, collector of the tallage in Cumberland and Northumberland and as keeper of the archbishopric of Canterbury.[19]

Boston fair after 1226

The Boston fair of St. Botulph continued after 1226 with merchants coming from many parts of England and the near Continent. The eight day fair was also a great social occasion with people off work and exchanging news, enjoying entertainments and other activities. Wardens were appointed to oversee the fair such as William de Bydik, mayor of Boston in 1305, was warden of the fair in 1306 and watch for any persons breaking the rules as William de Haverhill and William le Taillur did in 1226[20]

=============

End of post

==========

---

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston,_Lincolnshire accessed on 1^st December 2013

[2] http://www.st-botolphs.org.uk/St_botolph.htm accessed on 1st December 2013

[3] Paul Dryburgh & Beth Hartland (eds.), Calendar of the Fine Rolls of the Reign of Henry III (Boydell Press & National Archives, 2007), Vol. 1 (1216-1224), no. 2/119

[4] http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=569 accessed on 1^st December 2013

[5] http://www.st-botolphs.org.uk/St_botolph.htm accessed on 1st December 2013

[6] http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=569 accessed on 1^st December 2013

[7] http://www.st-botolphs.org.uk/St_botolph.htm accessed on 1st December 2013

[8] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston,_Lincolnshire accessed on 1^st December 2013

[9] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Rufus accessed on 1st December 2013

[10] Dryburgh & Hartland (eds.), Calendar of the Fine Rolls of Henry III, Vol. 1 (1216-1224), nos. 2/115, 2/117

[11] Dryburgh & Hartland (eds.), Calendar of the Fine Rolls of Henry III, Vol. 1 (1216-1224), no. 2/118

[12] Dryburgh & Hartland (eds.), Calendar of the Fine Rolls of Henry III, Vol. 1 (1216-1224), nos. 2/75, 2/81

[13] Paul Dryburgh & Beth Hartland (eds.), Calendar of the Fine Rolls of the Reign of Henry III (Boydell Press & National Archives, 2008), Vol. II (1224-1234), no. 10/228

[14] Dryburgh & Hartland (eds.), Calendar of the Fine Rolls of Henry III, Vol. II (1224-1234), no. 10/229

[15] Dryburgh & Hartland (eds.), Calendar of the Fine Rolls of Henry III, Vol. II (1224-1234), no. 10/231

[16] Dryburgh & Hartland (eds.), Calendar of the Fine Rolls of Henry III, Vol. II (1224-1234), nos. 10/26, 14/210, 17/189

[17] Dryburgh & Hartland (eds.), Calendar of the Fine Rolls of Henry III, Vol. II (1224-1234), no. 10/341

[18] Dryburgh & Hartland (eds.), Calendar of the Fine Rolls of Henry III, Vol. II (1224-1234), nos. 10/356, 357

[19] Dryburgh & Hartland (eds.), Calendar of the Fine Rolls of Henry III, Vol. II (1224-1234), nos. 13/256, 14/74, 18/120

[20] http://www.british-history.ac.uk/no-series/early-london-subsidy-rolls/pp261-267 accessed on 4th August 2017

Dean John Bernard of Tamworth and the sale of the church books

Dean John Bernard of Tamworth

and the sale of the church books

Niall C.E.J. O’Brien

On 18^th December 1422 King Henry VI sent a commission to Thomas Stanley, esquire, Thomas Mollesley, John Comberford, John Breton and the sheriff of Staffordshire to make inquiries concerning the royal collegiate church at Tamworth, Staffordshire.[1] The church of St. Editha at Tamworth is said to be a royal foundation of the tenth century. St Editha was a sister of King Athelstan and the wife of Sihtric, the Norse king of York. She died in the 960s and was made a saint shortly after. It is claimed that she was buried at Tamworth or at Polesworth, some three miles away.[2]

In the early twelfth century Tamworth church and castle was acquired by the Marmion family. The collegiate church at Tamworth was founded by the family. In 1218 Robert Marmion junior made a fine with the king to succeed to his English lands including Tamworth. This event was witnessed by Henry de Pont-Audemer who we met in an earlier article.[3] [Link to article on Henry de Pont-Audemer = Article link]

In 1291 the last male member of the family, Philip Marmion died leaving three daughters and one grand-daughter as heirs. The crown lost no time in attempting to acquire the colligate church at Tamworth. In 1203 Edward I claimed the advowson against the heirs. The case went lapse as the grand-daughter was a minor. In the 1320s the crown made two unsuccessful attempts to claim the church. Two minorities with one of the inheriting families allowed the crown to intrude on Tamworth. In 1342 and 1347 the crown successful got its person into the prebend of Wilnecote which was attached to Tamworth. The right of presenting the dean of Tamworth continued to be claimed by the Baldwin family but after the death of Dean Whitney in 1369 all further dean were royal appointees.[4]

Many of the subsequent deans were career civil servants of the crown. Their presentation to Tamworth was as much to provide them with a source of income as it was to care for the spiritual needs of the people of Tamworth. In December 1399 Master John Bernard, parson of the church of Bishop’s Hatfield, Hertfordshire, was presented to Tamworth in an exchange of benefices with the then Dean of Tamworth, John de Messyngham.[5] John Bernard was a graduate of Cambridge University. There was an attempt in 1404 to present William Pountfreyt to the deanery but John Bernard kept the position.[6] John Bernard held a number of benefices such as Wilbeye in the Diocese of Norwich and just collected the income for his own use. The jury at the inquisition found that Bernard never resided in the parish for the whole of his incumbency. The vicars and canons at Tamworth were left to care for the spiritual needs on a very small income which sometimes left them unable to do their job.

By 1422 reports of bad practises had come from Tamworth. It was reported to the King that “all the fruits, rents and income of the chapel of Middleton and the tithes of the mills of the castle of Tamworth and of Amington, which were lately piously conferred … by the founders of the … church of Tamworth for the common fund of the resident canons … and for the maintenance of the business and ornaments … were withdrawn …and wasted by certain enemies of the church of God and those forgetful of the salvation of their souls, by applying them wickedly to their own uses”.

It was further said that there was “notable defects in the books, vestments and other ornaments of the church have … resulted … in frustration and defrauding of the pious intentions of the founders, to the grave peril of their souls …”[7]

A panel of twenty-three jurors met at Tamworth on the Monday before the feast of St. Hilary in 1423 from which twelve were sworn. They found that the fruits, rent and income were worth 16 marks per year and the tithes were worth 23s 4d per year. After the deduction of costs and expenses for the business, ornaments and necessaries of the church the resulting profit should go to the common fund of the church. Instead, since Midsummer 1402 John Bernard, the Dean of Tamworth, took the money for his own use and profit.

The church of St. Editha at Tamworth

The jury also found that around the year 1401-2 Dean Bernard had sold the books, vestments and ornaments of the church for his own profit. These books included “a missal at the high altar, another at the altar of the Virgin, another at the altar of St. John the Baptist, two graduals, two legends, both of saints and temporal persons, four breviaries marked for the use of the choir, four processionals, and ten copies of various patterns”. As well as telling us what type of books were in the church of St. Editha the report also tells us that there was more than one altar in the church. Many medieval parish churches had more than one altar whereas today most have just one altar. It would appear that there was a missal for each altar so that a number of services could be held at the same time. This would be particularly useful when conducting numerous memorial masses for the dead souls of the parish - speed up the process and earn more money by having more masses.

In addition to the sale of books, Dean Bernard sold six vestments, five silver chalices, four frontals for the high altar and four candlesticks among other items. The value of all these books and vestments was set at £200.[8] This action by Dean Bernard meant there was no sufficient missal left in the church and no vestments whereby divine service was completely withdrawn.

It must be remembered that the vast majority of books in circulation in the early fifteenth century were still hand made books and thus expensive. Printing was only just beginning in southern Germany and even many early printed books were illustrated by hand. Printing in England only started in 1476 with William Caxton and took awhile to take off. If John Bernard was dean of Tamworth in the early sixteenth century then the sale of the church books would not bring in so much money. It may even be the case that some books would not be worth selling because the market was full of printed books.

Clearly Cambridge University instilled no love of books on Dean Bernard. The vicar of Morland in the Diocese of Carlisle, Rev. Richard de Havingdon would be very displeased. We saw in an early article [Link to Morland vicarage and the lost book = article link] how when Richard de Havingdon lost his book of canonical hours in 1342 while on a journey between Morland and Penrith, he was heartbroken and reported the loss to his bishop with a “mournful face”.[9]

The jury calculated that it would take £300 to restore the sold books, vestments and ornaments to the church. They also calculated that it would cost more than £40 to repair the chancel of Middleton chapel and its associated buildings. Even the rectory did not escape John Bernard as he had four chambers knocked and the materials sold for 400 shillings. The cost of repairing the rectory was judged at more than £50.[10]

With such a report Dean John Bernard should have had the “book thrown at him” but there was no book left to use. Instead the report was buried in a filing cabinet in the chancery and Bernard continued to hold Tamworth church until he finally gave up the benefice in 1429. In February 1429 John Bernard exchanged Tamworth for the prebend of Keton in the royal chapel of St. Martin-le-Grand in London.[11] The new dean, Clement Denston, left Keton in February 1429 but he barely saw Tamworth before he resigned in April 1429. Three more deans came and went in quick succession before the appointment of John Bate in 1436. The new dean was one of the few holders of the office to reside in Tamworth and in 1442 he introduced reforms which included an increase in the wages for the vicars and canons.[12] It is not recorded if Dean Bate purchased new church books to replaced the ones sold by Dean Bernard.

Despite these reforms the fortunes of the college continued to be mixed until it was dissolved in 1548. The church at Tamworth was retained as a parish church but the prebends and other sources of income were sold to royal grantees.   

============

End of post

============

---

[1] J.W.B Chapman and Mrs. Leighton (eds.), Calendar of Inquisitions Miscellaneous (Chancery) preserved in the Public Record Office (Boydell Press & National Archives, 2003), Vol. 8, no. 5

[2] W.M. Greenslade & R.B. Pugh (eds.), A History of the County of Stafford (Victoria County History, 1970), Vol. 3, pp. 309-10

[3] http://celtic2realms-medievalnews.blogspot.ie/2013/12/henry-de-pont-audemer-royal-official-of.html accessed on 10 December 2014

[4] http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=37874 accessed on 8 December 2014

[5] Calendar of the Patent Rolls, Henry  IV, 1399-1401, p. 160

[6] http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=37874 accessed on 8 December 2014

[7] J.W.B Chapman and Mrs. Leighton (eds.), Calendar of Inquisitions Miscellaneous (Chancery), Vol. 8, no. 5

[8] J.W.B Chapman and Mrs. Leighton (eds.), Calendar of Inquisitions Miscellaneous (Chancery), Vol. 8, no. 5

[9] http://celtic2realms-medievalnews.blogspot.ie/2013/07/morland-vicarage-and-lost-book.html accessed on 9 December 2014

[10] J.W.B Chapman and Mrs. Leighton (eds.), Calendar of Inquisitions Miscellaneous (Chancery), Vol. 8, no. 5

[11] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Henry VI, 1422-1429, p. 531

[12] http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=37874 accessed on 10 December 2014

Henry de Pont-Audemer: a royal official of King John and Henry III

Henry de Pont Audemer:

Royal official of King John and Henry III

Niall C.E.J. O’Brien

While researching the fair of St. Botulph at Boston, Lincolnshire in the time of Henry III the name of Henry de Pont-Audemer turned up as one of the three king’s bailiffs charged with managing the fair around the year 1218. The other two men were Henry of Boston and Richard of Lynn (the trio also managed the fair at Lynn, Norfolk). Thus you had two local men and one outsider managing the local fairs one behalf of King Henry III. This short article is an attempt to write a biography on Henry de Pont-Audemer.

Normandy

Henry de Pont-Audemer was clearly not from the eastern counties of England. Instead he came from the town of Pont-Audemer in northern France. The town and district of Pont-Audemer is in the Eure Department of Normandy, just south-east of Harfleur. The Duchy of Normandy was linked to England and the English throne since 1066 when Duke William “the bastard” of Normandy defeated the English King Harold at the Battle of Hastings. Many people crossed over to England during the conquest of England and in the decades afterwards. One of the notable families to cross over from the Pont-Audemer area was the Beaumont family, Earls of Warwick, who descended from Thurolf de Pont-Audemer, seigneur of Pont-Audemer (c.950-c.979).

A street scene in Pont-Audemer that Henry de Pont-Audemer could have seen

From 1066 the Kings of England held Normandy as vassals of the King of France. Their relationship with the Kings of France was often uneasy as both sides tried to better the other. In 1200 King John signed the Treaty of Le Goulet with Philip II of France whereby the latter recognised John’s lands in France. The Treaty was only a break between wars as in 1202 the war between England and France was renewed. King John scored some early victories but alienated many nobles in Normandy, Anjou and Brittany. In 1204 Philip II conquered Normandy and annexed it to the Kingdom of France.

The people of Normandy now had to decide where they wanted to live. Many of the nobles and the religious houses had land in Normandy and England. Some stayed in Normandy while others crossed over and made their permanent home in England. One person who stayed in Normandy was Luke son of John and by so staying forfeited his estates in England.[1] This loss will appear later in the story of Henry de Pont-Audemer.

A witness to all this change was our central character, Henry de Pont-Audemer. It would seem that Henry de Pont-Audemer was no great lord but still he was of a family that had money. His later service as a royal judge and king’s bailiffs would require some education and education in any age costs money. It would appear that Henry de Pont-Audemer became part of this movement of people across the Channel. He arrived in England sometime before 1208 and quickly attached himself to the royal court of King John where he took on the job of a royal justice. It is possible he was previously a royal official in Normandy but no documentary evidence has yet come to light.

Royal justice in England

The earliest record I have found for Henry de Pont-Audemer is from Easter 1208 at Westminster. Here the royal court sat in session hearing cases from the London area. Thomas Preston was in argument with Abbot Ralph of Westminster Abbey concerning the advowson of Parham in Sussex. At the Easter court, before King John, and Henry de Pont-Audemer, Simon de Pateshulle, and James de Poterne as royal justices, Thomas Preston quitclaimed the advowson to the abbey in return for perpetual prayers.[2]

After its stay in Westminster the royal court moved to the ancient royal city of Winchester. Here Henry de Pont-Audemer continued to act as a royal justice in the service of King John. On 8^th June 1208, before King John himself, and Henry de Pont-Audemer along with Simon de Pateshulle and James de Poterne a final concord agreement was made for the grant of an advowson to Plympton Priory. William de Vernon, 5^th Earl of Devon, had granted the advowson of Exminister church to Plympton Priory and the court before the king was to seal the deal.[3]

At the same court sitting at Winchester in June 1208 Henry de Pont-Audemer oversaw another land deed relating to Devon. Ranulph de Albamarle claimed 40s worth of land in Dean and Tavy St. Mary from William son of Stephen. Ranulph de Albamarle showed a charter to the court whereby the father of William had granted to the father of Ranulph all his land at Tavy St. Mary along with half the advowson of the church and half the mill. The court accepted Ranulph’s claim.[4]

In March 1210 Henry de Pont-Audemer was back at Winchester with King John and the royal court. Among the law cases that were heard by King John, Henry de Pont-Audemer, Simon de Pateshulle, James Poterne and John de Brewese was one from Devon concerning one knight’s fee in Berry Narbor. The case was brought by William Painel against Philip de Nerebert, tenant, to acknowledge that the fee belonged to William Painel. For this acknowledgement William Painel gave Philip de Nerebert the fee for 5 marks of silver and 15 marks of silver from William Brewere. Both were to hold the fee from William Painel and his heirs.[5]

The Great Hall at Winchester where the royal court sat

In mid-summer 1210 the royal court moved northwards to Northampton where Henry de Pont-Audemer again appears as a royal justice. On this occasion the court oversaw the final concord between Abbot Ralph of Westminster and Simon of Deene where the latter quitclaimed the advowson of Uppingham church, Rutlandshire to Westminster Abbey.[6]   

On 17^th February 1211, at Dorchester, the three royal justices of Pateshulle, Poterne and Pont-Audemer were joined by Robert de Aumar and Roger Huscarl to make another final concord for the Redvers family in the presence of King John. On this occasion it was the recognition by Hawise de Redvers that her brother, William de Vernon, 5^th Earl of Devon, held the manor of Ibberton (Dorset), while the Earl recognised her right to have the manor of Honiton (Devon) for her life.[7]

In 1214 Henry de Pont-Audemer again acted as a royal justice with Pateshulle, Poterne and Huscarl among others. In that year they were witnesses, along with a lease six clerics from the Diocese of Lincoln, to a document of the Benedictine Abbey of Eynsham in Oxfordshire. The document suggested that Eynsham Abbey had a claim of seniority over the Benedictine Priory of Luffield in Buckinghamshire. This claim was accepted by the royal officials and the clerics who were present. Yet the cartulary of Luffield shows no trace of any evidence as to why Eynsham should have such a claim.[8]

Royal bailiff for King John

At other times during the reign of King John, Henry de Pont-Audemer left his judge’s seat to act as a royal bailiff in lands that were escheated to the crown. As mentioned earlier a person called Luke, son of John le Normaund, disowned his fealty to King John in 1204 and had his lands in Devonshire at Teyngwick (now known as Highweek parish and part of the town of Newtown Abbot), Oburnford and Diptford forfeited to the crown. When Theobald de Englesville was granted these lands in 1230, it was said that Henry de Pont-Audemer held Teyngwick in the reign of King John as the king’s bailiff.[9] Many years later in 1218 Henry de Pont-Audemer received these three manors as a contribution towards his government salary.[10] This grant was reconfirmed in 1221 but with provision of 100s per year to Eustachia de Courtenay, wife of Luke son of John.[11]

Loss and recovery under Henry III

As a long time associated of King John, Henry de Pont-Audemer suffered with his king against the barons in the troubled year of 1215. In the subsequent civil war and foreign invasion Henry de Pont-Audemer must have been put at a loss. King John died in October 1216 and by the following year the wars were over. In the jostle for position in the new reign of Henry III, Henry de Pont-Audemer lost his salt rights in Hampshire but not for long.   

In 1217 the sheriff of Hampshire was ordered to restore to Henry de Pont-Audemer the possession of his customs of salt at Pennington and Efford in the parish of Milford. Henry did not long enjoy these customs as in 1219 the sheriff was ordered to give seisin to the men of Southampton in whose vill the customs lay.[12]

Royal bailiff in the Earldom of Devon

Towards the end of 1217 Henry de Pont-Audemer was again involved with the Redvers family. On 10^th September 1217 William de Vernon, Earl of Devon, died leaving a year old grandson as heir. A long minority in an important lordship was now a reality. King John had tried to avoid the issue by an arranged marriage between William’s daughter-in-law, Margaret and a “foreigner”, Fawkes de Breaute. Earl William refused to acknowledge the marriage and refused to settle any lands on Margaret while the use of a “foreigner” by King John only added to his problems with the barons. After the death of Earl William, Fawkes de Breaute tried to secure the Earldom.[13]

The new government of Henry III was not about to allow conditions to develop for a new baron’s war. On the 15^th September the crown appointed Henry de Pont-Audemer and Ralph de Norwich to administrate the late Earl’s property in Devonshire and Hampshire. They were also to get custody of Plimpton castle.[14]  In November Henry de Pont-Audemer was appointed the king’s clerk to overseas the proper management of the Earl’s property in Devonshire.[15]

Continued Normandy connections

In May 1218, Henry de Pont-Audemer made a pledge of ten marks, at court, for the fine of Robert Marmion, junior. The latter had inherited land in Normandy and England and the fine was so he could succeed to his English lands.[16] Henry de Pont-Audemer possibly knew the Marmion family in Normandy.

Royal bailiff of the Boston fair

In June 1218 Henry III issued an order to the sheriff of Lincolnshire and the merchants and others attending the fair of St. Botulph at Boston to be respectful to the king’s bailiffs. Shortly before this order, the king had appointed Henry de Pont-Audemer, Henry of Boston and Richard of Lynn to be the king’s bailiffs for the fairs at Lynn (later King’s Lynn) in Norfolk and at Boston.[17] A further order to the sheriff of Lincolnshire was issued relating to the previous bailiffs of the Boston fair. The sheriff was to distrain these people from the start of October 1217 and deliver any issues and pleas, determined or not, by these people to the three king’s bailiffs.[18]

St. Botulph's church at Boston, Lincolnshire

With Henry of Boston and Richard of Lynn providing the local knowledge, Henry de Pont-Audemer was there to represent the king. At Lynn fair Henry de Pont-Audemer seized wool belonging to the Hospital of Lincoln after it was received by some merchants from Ghent. The Ghent merchants had owed King John ten marks. An order was issued from London to Henry de Pont-Audemer and his two partners to return the wool to the Hospital.[19]

Despite the presence of foreign merchants at the Lynn fair it was the fair of St. Botul[h at Boston which was the big one. In 1204, Boston had become the second port of England, providing customs duty revenues of £780, only slightly behind London's £836.[20] During the fair of St. Botulph the three bailiffs gathered £105 6s 4½d for the king. But not all of this money was profit for the king. In July Henry de Pont-Audemer was told to deliver £16 and 6lbs of pepper, collected at the fair, to the bailiff of the Count of Brittany.[21]

Later in 1218 the Count of Brittany, who was lord of Boston and a substantial English landowner as Earl of Richmond, filed a bill for expenses with the government. On 9^th November 1218 an order was issued to the itinerant justices for Lincolnshire to inquire if £15 6s 2d held by Henry de Pont-Audemer and the other bailiffs was gathered within the vill of Boston. If it was then the Count of Brittany was to have that amount without delay.[22]

The Count of Brittany, also known as the duke of Brittany, was Peter of Dreux. He took the French side when King John invaded France in 1214. As such Peter’s lands in England were taken over by the crown. By 1218 Peter had been reconciled to the English court and in that year William Marshal restored Peter as Earl of Richmond. Throughout 1218 and 1219 Peter began to assume the property of the Earldom outside Yorkshire where the bulk of the income was generated. The Earldom inside Yorkshire was held by the Earl of Chester who was too powerful to remove.[23] 

Changed of government & international travel

In November 1218 Henry de Pont-Audemer and Ralph de Norwich, clerk, were made king’s bailiffs by William Marshal to hold the custodies of Northampton.[24] After the death of William Marshal in April 1219 the management of the government for the young Henry III fell to Bishop Pandalf, Peter de Roches and Hubert de Burgh. By 1221 Hubert de Burgh had got Bishop Pandalf and Peter de Roches out of the government and out of the country on the back of an anti-foreigners movement. It is not known how Henry de Pont-Audemer was seen by his contemporaries at this time.

In 1222 Henry de Pont-Audemer got special protection until Easter 1223 as he went to Normandy on business.[25] The natural of this business is unclear. It possibly was a combination of family business and international diplomacy. The armies of Philip II were active in the War of Succession in the Champagne region. This war concluded in May 1222. The English government possibly had fears that Philip would attack the remaining English possessions in France. If Henry de Pont-Audemer’s journey was to avoid such attack it seemed to work.

In the closing months of 1222 or very early in 1223 Henry de Pont-Audemer returned to England. In January 1223 Henry de Pont-Audemer was made custodian of the New Forest near Southampton with Richard de Therstewood.[26] Henry de Pont-Audemer had long held property in Hampshire and knew the area well. 

Supporting the war of 1230

In about the year 1229 Henry de Pont-Audemer gave the king three marks as payment for the two parts of a knight’s fee that he held in Hampshire.[27] Henry III had assumed the government in his own right in 1227 and was preparing an invasion of France to recover his ancestral lands and help his allies like the Duke of Brittany. Henry de Pont-Audemer’s payment was to pay for the assembling army. The army arrived in Brittany in May 1230 and after a mixed campaign in the Poitou region the army went south to Gascony from where Henry III returned to England.[28]

After 1229 Henry de Pont-Audemer seems to disappear from the records. His name does not appear in the inquisitions post mortem of Henry III. After years of royal service it seems that Henry de Pont-Audemer held no land directly from the king.

The family of Henry de Pont-Audemer

The family of Henry de Pont-Audemer is as yet unknown. He did leave at least one heir, a daughter, called Agnes de Pont-Audemer. Later in the 13th century Agnes de Pont-Audemer was recorded as holding a fee in Ilsley under the Earl of Winchester in the county of Berkshire. This probably represents an early feoffment by one of the Beaumonts, who were lords of Pont-Audemer. Agnes, who married Ralph de Neirnut, had an estate there as late as 1251–2. She later granted all her lands, rents and tenements in West Ilsley to the Prior of Sandleford, who is returned as tenant in 1270. In 1313 the priory obtained a confirmation of the grant and of a further gift from William de Cherleton.[29]

All Saints Church at West Ilsley from Berkshirehistory.com

Conclusion

The date of Agnes’s death is unknown and the family of her husband, Ralph de Neirnut, seem to disappear from the records. Thus we end the life of a royal servant who stayed in England after his home town in Normandy fell to the French. His name and family faded into the mists until brought back to life eight hundred years later – the wonders of modern science.  

=============

End of post

=============

---

[1] Henry Summerson (ed.), Crown pleas of the Devon Eyre of 1238 (Devon & Cornwall Record Society, New Series, Vol. 28, 1985), no. 166

[2] Emma Mason (ed.), Westminster Abbey Charters, 1066-c.1214 (London Record Society, vol. 25, 1988), no. 334

[3] Robert Bearman (ed.), Charters of the Redvers family and the Earldom of Devon, 1090-1217 (Devon & Cornwall Record Society, New Series, Vol. 37, 1994), pp. 138-9; Rev. Oswald J. Reichel (ed.), Devon feet of fines (Devon & Cornwall Record Society, 1912), Vol. 1, Richard I-Henry III, no. 59

[4] Rev. Oswald J. Reichel (ed.), Devon feet of fines, Vol. 1, Richard I-Henry III, no. 60

[5] Rev. Oswald J. Reichel (ed.), Devon feet of fines, Vol. 1, Richard I-Henry III, no. 61

[6] Emma Mason (ed.), Westminster Abbey Charters, 1066-c.1214, no. 338

[7] Robert Bearman (ed.), Charters of the Redvers family and the Earldom of Devon, 1090-1217, p. 140; Rev. Oswald J. Reichel (ed.), Devon feet of fines, Vol. 1, Richard I-Henry III, no. 62

[8] Rev. H.E. Salter (ed.), Eynsham Cartulary (2 vols. Oxford Historical Society, 1907-8), vol. 1, p. 172

[9] Calendar of the Patent Rolls, Henry III, 1225-1232, p. 400; Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem (Kraus reprint, 1973), Vol. 1, Henry III, nos. 548, 714; J.E.B. Gover, A. Mawer & F.M. Stenton, The place-names of Devon (2 vols. Cambridge University Press, 1932), Vol. 2, pp. 472-3

[10] Paul Dryburgh & Beth Hartland (eds.), Calendar of the Fine Rolls of the reign of Henry III (Boydell Press & National Archives, 2007), Vol. 1 (1216-1224), no. 2/177

[11] Henry Summerson (ed.), Crown pleas of the Devon Eyre of 1238, nos. 166, 598, 722

[12] William Page (ed.), A History of the County of Hampshire (Victoria County History, 1912), Vol. 5, p. 116

[13] Robert Bearman (ed.), Charters of the Redvers family and the Earldom of Devon, 1090-1217, p. 16

[14] Calendar of the Patent Rolls, Henry III, 1216-1225, pp. 91-2

[15] Calendar of the Patent Rolls, Henry III, 1216-1225, p. 126

[16] Paul Dryburgh & Beth Hartland (eds.), Calendar of the Fine Rolls, Henry III, Vol. 1 (1216-1224), nos. 2/75, 2/81

[17] Paul Dryburgh & Beth Hartland (eds.), Calendar of the Fine Rolls, Henry III, Vol. 1 (1216-1224), nos. 2/115, 2/117; Calendar of the Patent Rolls, Henry III, 1216-1225, pp. 156-7

[18] Paul Dryburgh & Beth Hartland (eds.), Calendar of the Fine Rolls, Henry III, Vol. 1 (1216-1224), no. 2/118

[19] Paul Dryburgh & Beth Hartland (eds.), Calendar of the Fine Rolls, Henry III, Vol. 1 (1216-1224), no. 2/159

[20] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Rufus accessed on 1st December 2013

[21] Paul Dryburgh & Beth Hartland (eds.), Calendar of the Fine Rolls, Henry III, Vol. 1 (1216-1224), nos. 2/161, 3/14

[22] Paul Dryburgh & Beth Hartland (eds.), Calendar of the Fine Rolls, Henry III, Vol. 1 (1216-1224), no. 3/14

[23] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_I,_Duke_of_Brittany accessed on 7^th December 2013

[24] Calendar of the Patent Rolls, Henry III, 1216-1225, p. 178

[25] Calendar of the Patent Rolls, Henry III, 1216-1225, p. 333

[26] Calendar of the Patent Rolls, Henry III, 1216-1225, p. 401

[27] Paul Dryburgh & Beth Hartland (eds.), Calendar of the Fine Rolls, Henry III, Vol. 2 (1224-1234), no. 13/366

[28] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_III_of_England accessed on 7th December 2013

[29] William Page & P.H. Ditchfield (eds.), A History of the County of Berkshire (Victoria County History, 1924), Vol. 4, p. 35