Richard Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, and the Battle of the Curragh

Richard Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, and the Battle of the Curragh

Niall C.E.J. O’Brien

Richard Marshal, 3^rd Earl of Pembroke, was born in 1191 as the second son of William Marshal, 1^st Earl of Pembroke. His father, William Marshal, rose from humble origins to serve four kings of England (Henry I, Richard I, John and Henry III) and act as regent of England for the young Henry III. William Marshal was the most celebrated knight in Europe and was known the world over as “The Marshal”. His defeat of the French forces at the Battle of Lincoln was one of the most important battles in medieval Europe.

Richard Marshal succeeded his brother William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, as Earl of Pembroke and Lord Marshal of England upon the latter's death on 6^th April 1231. Richard Marshal inherited lands in Longueville, France, in Wales and also in Ireland. But the French connection caused problems.

Shortly after the death of the 2^nd Earl of Pembroke, Henry III seized his lands. In a letter to the archbishops, bishops, earls, barons, knights and other subjects in Ireland on 31^st May 1231 Henry III said he so seized the lands not “in order to injure Richard Marshal” but to follow the precedent of his predecessors Kings of England. Such precedence was to seize the land of those who held directly from the king until the heir came to do homage.

Pembroke Castle in south Wales

King Henry told his Irish subjects that as Richard Marshal was a liege man of the King of France, the king’s chief enemy, a clear act of homage was needed before the lands would be released to the new Earl of Pembroke. Knowing how this action by King Henry was ill-received by many of Marshal’s Irish tenants, the chief people of Ireland were to give aid to Richard de Burgh, justiciar of Ireland, to defend the king’s rights and preserve the tranquillity of the country.[1]

While the king awaited the homage of Richard Marshal, events elsewhere were to impact the relationship between the knight and his king. In June 1231 Henry III issued a letter to Richard de Burgh, Justiciar of Ireland, to offer any soldier of Ireland free land in Wales if they come and fight Llewellyn the Great.[2] Llewellyn was attacking the English areas of Wales causing much destruction. The Marshal Earldom of Pembroke in south Wales was impacted by the war against Llewellyn. Years before in 1223, Richard’s brother, William Marshal, 2^nd Earl of Pembroke, had crossed over from Ireland to fight Llewellyn and successively captured a number of castles.[3] In September 1231 the justiciar of Ireland was to send further troops and as much money as possible to the English exchequer to aid the war against the Welsh. In December a ban on merchants exporting to Wales was imposed.[4] At first the war was seen as an action against a foreign power but later Richard Marshal would see Llewellyn as a defender of the English island against foreigners from the Continent.  

Richard Marshal had come to the fore as the leader of the baronial party in England. The chief conflict between Richard Marshal and Henry III went back several years, and centred particularly on the Earl's discontent with the influence that certain foreigners held over the king. Chief among the foreign friends of King Henry III was the Poitevins, Peter des Roches, Bishop of Winchester and Peter de Rivaux.

Yet, even with these differences, in August 1231 Richard Marshal did homage before Henry III. A letter was issued to the justiciary of Ireland to give Richard Marshal seisin of all his castles and lands.[5] Between August 1231 and June 1232 Richard Marshal travelled to Ireland to review his property. His estates there comprised much of the modern counties of Wexford, Kilkenny, Carlow, Kildare and Laois. On his return to England, Richard Marshal met Henry III at Worcester. There they discussed the affairs of state and more personal matters.

In 1224 William Marshal, 2^nd Earl of Pembroke, had married Eleanor of Leicester, daughter of King John and sister of King Henry III as his second wife. Following the Earl’s death, Countess Eleanor was entitled to receive one third of her husband’s property for her maintenance. The meeting at Worcester was to work out what lands Countess Eleanor would receive from Richard Marshal in Ireland. Richard Marshal offered castles and land in Counties Kildare, Laois and Wexford. Henry III sent three men to Ireland to survey the lands. Shortly after one of these officials, Walter de Brackley was elected Bishop of Ossory, in the heart of the Marshal lordship.[6] What property the three officials saw may have pleased them but Richard Marshal was too willing to part with a third of his property that fast. 

Meanwhile in June 1232 Hubert de Burgh, Justiciar of England was granted the office of Justiciar of Ireland for life while still retaining his English job.[7] It seemed that the baronial party was gaining ground against the King’s foreigners but not for long. In July 1232 a bitter enemy of Richard Marshal was confirmed with numerous positions in England and Ireland. Peter de Rivall was conferred the offices of treasurer and chancellor of Ireland along with all the King’s ports and the three royal castles in Connacht with the castle at Limerick and numerous other financially rewarding positions.[8]

On 20^th August 1232 Hubert de Burgh was ordered to leave England within fifteen days.[9] In September 1232 Maurice Fitzgerald was made Justiciar of Ireland.[10] Richard de Burgh, nephew of Hubert de Burgh, was ordered to deliver the royal castles to Maurice Fitzgerald. De Burgh refused to act. Three royal orders were sent to Richard de Burgh to surrender the castles. Richard de Burgh sent a delegation to King Henry on why he should retain the castles. The king listened to the delegation and then sent another order to surrender the castles to Maurice Fitzgerald and Peter de Rivall.[11] Legal proceedings were brought against Richard de Burgh in February 1233 but de Burgh still held some castles in May 1233.[12]

Meanwhile Richard Marshal was conducting his own obstruction to the desires of Henry III. The Kings sister, Countess Eleanor, had still not received her dower lands in Ireland and South Wales. Richard Marshal offered her £400 per year while he retained all his inherited lands. King Henry accepted the offer but the Earl’s lands in England would be seized for non-payment if the Earl of Pembroke defaulted.[13]

But relations between Richard Marshal and the foreign advisers of Henry III did not improve and Richard felt that he would get no peace from Henry III while these advisers had the king’s ear. In August 1233 Henry III summoned Richard Marshal to a meeting at Gloucester. Fearing their treachery, Richard refused to go and King Henry declared him a traitor.

In March 1234, a truce was reached between the king and Richard Marshal, the condition of which was the removal of Peter des Roches from court. In the meanwhile, however, conflict had broken out in Ireland between Marshal's brothers and some of the king's supporters. These included Maurice FitzGerald, justiciar of Ireland, Walter de Lacy, Lord of Meath and Hugh de Lacy, Earl of Ulster. Hostilities followed, and Richard made an alliance with the Welsh leader, Llewellyn the Great.

Richard Marshal crossed to Ireland to assist his brothers, where he met with the king’s men at the Curragh on 1^st April 1234. The Battle of the Curragh (Irish: Cath an Churraigh) was fought on the Curragh plain in County Kildare, Ireland. The adversaries were men loyal to King Henry III of England on one side, and on the other side Richard Marshal, Earl of Pembroke and Lord of Leinster, with his small band of followers. The battle was a small affair in the number of knights involved, but was still significant because it ended the career of the popular Richard Marshal.

Richard Marshal was taken captive to his castle at Kilkenny, where he died from his injuries on 16^th April. The doctor sent to cure his injuries was said to be in the pay of the king and the foreigners and caused Richard’s death. He was buried at Kilkenny and was succeeded by his brother Gilbert Marshal. Richard Marshal had married Gervaise de Dinan, daughter of Alan de Dinan, Baron de Dinan, but the couple had no children. Indeed the five sons of William Marshal each became Earl of Pembroke but none left any children to inherit. Thus when the last brother died in 1247 the Marshal lands in England, France and Ireland were divided equally among the five daughters of William Marshal.

Kilkenny Castle 

Richard Marshal had become highly popular in England because of his fight against foreign influence at court, and for this reason the accounts of the battle were idealised and not necessarily reliable. According to contemporary accounts, he was tricked into meeting his enemies at the Curragh, and then deserted by his own forces. Rather than flee, he remained to fight against the odds, allegedly with only fifteen knights against 140. Marshal's popularity also meant that his death was mourned in England, where the Poitevins – who were rumoured to have instigated the Irish war – fell further into disregard. Henry III nevertheless rewarded Marshal's Irish opponents richly.

The Battle of the Curragh did not totally end the war although a declaration of peace was made shortly afterwards. A number of breaches of the peace were made. It was reported that the ship of William de Cumpton, a tenant of the new Earl of Pembroke, Gilbert Marshal, was seized at Ross after the declaration of peace. On 27^th April 1235 the justiciar of Ireland was asked to investigate. Elsewhere, as late as May 1237, bands of former Marshal soldiers pillaged the lands of the king’s supporters.[14]

The Irish supporters of Richard Marshal

In 1235 the sheriff of Limerick, Hugh de Barry, wrote in his account for that year a long list of thirty-three persons who were fined for taking part in the army of Richard Marshal and another list of two hundred people who did not come to the king’s army when summoned.[15] Unfortunately the original account was lost in the destruction of the public record office in 1922 and so the names of these people are lost to history. Yet we do know a few of these people through the notes of former historians.

These names included Geoffrey de Marisco and his son William (fined 3,000 marks), three of Geoffrey’s nephews, viz. William son of Jordan de Marisco (£200), Richard de Marisco (£100) and John Travers (£200), along with David Fitzgerald, Baron of Naas (300 marks) and others fined between £10 and 400 marks.[16] Most of these men were taken prisoner after the Battle of the Curragh and kept in custody for many weeks.[17]  

The 1235 account of Maurice de Pontu, sheriff of County Waterford, records a fine on Griffin, Bishop of Lismore, for supporting Richard Marshal.[18] Elsewhere the names of other Irish supporters of Richard Marshal appear. These included Roger de la Hyde (his seneschal), Hugh Purcell, David Basset, Matthew Fitz Griffin, Miles de Rocheford, Stephen de Hereford, Geoffrey de Norragh, Robert de Grendon, Robert Whittey, Maurice de Londres, John le Canutus and Henry Walsh.[19] Some of these men were taken into prison while others had all their property seized by the government. The release and restoration of these people was sometimes a slow process. The property of Henry Walsh was still denied him as late of October 1237.[20]

Other people got caught up in the punishment meted out to the Marshal’s supporters. The lands of Ernisius de Dunhevet were seized by the king’s agents because his lord, Geoffrey de Marisco, had supported Richard Marshal. It is not clear on what side Ernisius de Dunhevet was in the war. On 3^rd August 1235 his property was restored at the same time that Geoffrey de Marisco was pardoned and restored to his property. Other landowners who were clearly not rebels had their property seized. The lands of William de Rughedon in Carlow were seized by the Irish government even though William was with the king’s army in England.[21]

The Fitz Anthony heirs and Richard Marshal

The war between King Henry III and Richard Marshal, Earl of Pembroke in 1234 had a major impact upon the lands in County Waterford formerly held by Thomas Fitz Anthony. It was recorded previously [http://celtic2realms-medievalnews.blogspot.ie/2013/09/thomas-fitz-anthony-thirteenth-century.html] that Thomas Fitz Anthony left five daughters as his heirs following the death of his only son, Hamo Fitz Thomas. These 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.^[22]

Geoffrey de Norragh sided with Richard Marshal and was taken prisoner with his lands seized. In January 1235 he was released to Gilbert Marshal, the new Earl of Pembroke, on the understanding that he would pay a fine to the Earl.[23] The other sons-in-law of Thomas Fitz Anthony had also supported the Marshal as much of their property was located in the lordship of Leinster. John Fitzgerald, on the other hand, had his main estates in Limerick and Kerry from where he proclaimed his support for the king. As a result Henry III seized some of the lands of Geoffrey de Norragh and Gerald de Rupe in Waterford and gave them to John Fitzgerald. The Fitzgerald lordship in County Waterford was thus much expanded. Most of the expanded estate remained with the descendants of John Fitzgerald until the early twentieth century.

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[1] Sweetman, H.S. (ed.), Calendar of documents relating to Ireland (5 vols. London, 1875, reprint Liechtenstein, 1974), vol. 1 (1171-1251), no. 1892

[2] Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of documents relating to Ireland, vol. 1 (1171-1251), no. 1894

[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Marshal,_2nd_Earl_of_Pembroke accessed on 10^th December 2013

[4] Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of documents relating to Ireland, vol. 1 (1171-1251), nos. 1913, 1917, 1930

[5] Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of documents relating to Ireland, vol. 1 (1171-1251), no. 1894

[6] Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of documents relating to Ireland, vol. 1 (1171-1251), nos. 1950, 1953

[7] Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of documents relating to Ireland, vol. 1 (1171-1251), no. 1957

[8] Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of documents relating to Ireland, vol. 1 (1171-1251), no. 1969

[9] Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of documents relating to Ireland, vol. 1 (1171-1251), no. 1974

[10] Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of documents relating to Ireland, vol. 1 (1171-1251), no. 1977

[11] Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of documents relating to Ireland, vol. 1 (1171-1251), nos. 2003, 2008, 2009

[12] Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of documents relating to Ireland, vol. 1 (1171-1251), nos. 2014, 2036

[13] Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of documents relating to Ireland, vol. 1 (1171-1251), no. 2041

[14] Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of documents relating to Ireland, vol. 1 (1171-1251), nos. 2260, 2390

[15] The thirty-fifth report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records in Ireland (Dublin, 1903), p. 35

[16] Orpen, G.H., Ireland under the Normans 1169-1333 (Dublin, 2005), vol. 3, p. 71

[17] Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of documents relating to Ireland, vol. 1 (1171-1251), no. 2119

[18] The thirty-fifth report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records in Ireland, p. 36

[19] Orpen, Ireland under the Normans 1169-1333, vol. 3, p. 71; Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of documents relating to Ireland, vol. 1 (1171-1251), nos. 2129, 2139, 2201, 2224, 2236, 2345-6, 2362, 2418

[20] Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of documents relating to Ireland, vol. 1 (1171-1251), no. 2418

[21] Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of documents relating to Ireland, vol. 1 (1171-1251), nos. 2140, 2279, 2280

[22] Brooks, E. St. John, Knight’s fees in Counties Wexford, Carlow and Kilkenny, 13^th-15^th century (Dublin, 1950), p. 48

[23] Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of documents relating to Ireland, vol. 1 (1171-1251), no. 2236

John Bulcombe, Bishop of Lismore and Waterford, 1475-1483

John Bulcombe, Bishop of Lismore and Waterford, 1475-1483

Niall C.E.J. O’Brien

The early background of John Bulcombe is so far covered in mystery. It is possible that he took his surname from a place called North Bulcombe. This place is in Devon near the border with Somerset. In September 1464 there is reference to John Bikcomb, clerk as born in  Tybrescomb but this was possibly a different person.[1] Various ways of spelling John Bulcombe’s surname include Bulcom; Bulcomb; Bulkombe and Bulkumb.[2] In all these examples the letter u is used in all cases.

It is possible that John Bulcombe or his family were not natives of Devon or Somerset. A deed from Suffolk was made in 1356 and one of the witnesses was Michael de Bulcombe.[3] A brother or cousin called Thomas Bulcombe acted as John’s proctor in 1469 but we know nothing else of this person.[4]

John Bulcombe at Oxford

John Bulcombe first appears in the surviving records as principal of Beam Hall in Oxford in 1466. But Bulcombe was already in Oxford for a few years before this as he had acquired a M.A. degree by 1466. The same source also says that he came from the diocese of Bath and Wells.[5] This diocese covered the county of Somerset along with the modern county of Avon in which is situated the city of Bristol.

Bulcombe was first admitted as principal of Beam Hall on October 11, 1466 but he resigned one month later on November 10, 1466. He was readmitted as principal on Christmas Eve 1466. After these revolving door movements Bulcombe remained as principal until at least September 1469.[6] The academic Halls and Inns of Oxford were rented by their successive principals on a year-to-year basis. It was in these buildings that the greater number of medieval students resided.[7]

Beam Hall was situated in the parish of St. John, opposite Merton College.[8] At the time that Bulcombe was principal the medieval hall system was at its height with more than sixty halls but by 1500 there was no more than ten. The admission of undergraduates to the various colleges was one of the chief reasons for the rapid decline.[9]

The clerical career of John Bulcombe was one of constant movement from one benefice to another and across diocesan boundaries. This was not because he was an unhappy fellow or a trouble maker. The evidence suggests that constant movement was a characteristic of the clerical career of those holding a degree.[10] John Bulcombe was ordained a priest on April 21, 1470.[11]

John Bulcombe in parish positions

Yet he was involved in parish life for a year before this date. Well, sort of involved. On March 31, 1469 Sir John Bulcombe, clerk, was instituted to the rectory of Hawkridge in the diocese of Bath and Wells following the death of the encumber Sir John Brawse. But Bulcombe did not attend the ceremony. Instead he sent his proctor, Thomas Bulcombe to act on his behalf. The advowson of Hawkridge was held by William Doddesham, esquire and it was he who presented Bulcombe to the benefice.[12]

The process of how a cleric was first introduced to a patron of a benefice is elusive. The first we usually hear about a presentation is in a bishop’s register where a cleric is recommended by a patron to a bishop for institution. At the same time we hear little about how many unsuccessful clerics competed for that benefice.[13] William Doddesham had the advowson to a number of parishes by the right of his wife and this was shared with his wife’s two married sisters.[14]

We have no subsequent account to say if John Bulcombe attended the parish except that he had resigned the position by April 1473 when Master John Shirwood became rector.[15] This latter cleric held the position until March 1489 when he resigned. The new encumber, Sir John Hamlyne was presented for institution by an Irish connection in the person of Thomas Butler, Earl of Ormond.[16]   

On November 14, 1472 John Bulcombe was made vicar of Cuddesdon in Oxfordshire. His impact upon the parish, even if he ever visited the place, cannot have been great as he vacated the position in February 1473.[17] On February 16, 1373 John Bulcombe was admitted as vicar of Chieveley in Berkshire. His occupancy here lasted for over a year before he vacated the parish by May 1474. Before this happened Bulcombe was admitted as rector of Milton in Berkshire on February 20, 1474[18]

Sometime before June 15, 1474 John Bulcombe resigned the rectory of Otterhampton in Somerset as Sir Richard Sautt was instituted on that day. The presentation was made by Reynold Stourton, knight in right of his wife, Margaret, daughter and heiress of John Coker.[19] There is no record to say when Bulcombe was instituted to Otterhampton. In 1497 an inquisition was held into who owned the advowson of Otterhampton. It found that William Hody was the owner by inheritance from Alexander Hody who purchased from Walter Trevett. Alexander held the advowson with his wife Dame Margaret Stourton and that after his death Margaret held same with her new husband, Reynold Stourton. It was this latter person who presented Master John Bulcombe and the above Sir Richard Sautt to the rectory.[20]

John Bulcombe in the Diocese of Bath and Wells

On March 2, 1475 John Bulcombe was presented to the rectory of Bawdrip in Somerset by John Wroughton, esquire. The vacancy occurred due to the death of the encumber Sir John Nown.[21] The parish appears to have been neglected for many decades. As far back as the mid-15^th century the then rector was ordered to repair his buildings.[22] 

At about the same time that Bulcombe arrived in Bawdrip he acquired some property there. The size of this property and from who did he buy it from is as yet unknown. What we do know is that he sold a messuage and five acres to Thomas Fisher for £10 3s 4d before June 1475 as the documents relating to the sale say that it was Master Bulcombe who sold the property and that after the sale he was Bishop Bulcombe. Fisher paid the money but Bulcombe would not transfer the property. To find redress, Fisher pursued the case in the common courts but found no success. Therefore, at some unknown date between 1475 and 1480 Fisher petitioned, Thomas Rotherham, bishop of Lincoln and chancellor of England, to get Bulcombe to appear in the chancery court and transfer the property or restore the money paid. An endorsement to the petition says that the case was to be heard at the quinzaine of Michaelmas next following but no records survive to say how the affair was settled.[23]

Inside Lismore cathedral

John Bulcombe as Bishop of Lismore and Waterford 

Before June 1475 John Bulcombe received provision from the Pope to become bishop of the untied diocese of Lismore and Waterford.[24]

A key person for Bulcombe in his new diocese was Edmund Mandeville, precentor of Lismore. This cleric was “skilled in canon law” and had for a long time served Robert, late bishop of Lismore and Waterford as the official-general. Mandeville was also a papal chaplain but more importantly he was approved by both chapters in the diocese. The chapter in Waterford recommended to the Pope that Edmund should be precentor of Lismore and the chapter of Lismore elected him. After his election Mandeville went to the Rome and stayed there at great expense, securing his position and conducting business of the diocese. For this, in June 1475, the Pope granted Mandeville a yearly pension for life of £12 sterling on the episcopal mensa of the diocese. John Bulcombe, still only bishop elect, was instructed to pay this pension even after his consecration and by his successors.[25]

John Bulcombe was not long in the bishop’s chair before he was called to settle a dispute between claimants for the position of prior of St. Catherine’s priory near Waterford. When the position of prior became vacant about 1475 William Winchiton petitioned the Pope for the job and was granted same. But William failed to mention that Patrick Cantwell, an Augustinian canon held non-peaceful possession of the priory. At William’s arrival Cantwell petitioned the Pope to keep the position. Pope Sixtus sent the dispute to John, bishop of Calahorrha to decide the matter and he found for William. Following this the official of Waterford accepted William as canon of the priory and acknowledged him as prior.

But William was consistently attacked by John Cantwell over the succeeding few months. In 1476 both claimants brought their case to Bishop Bulcombe and two others for arbitration. Bishop Bulcombe declared that William was the lawful prior and that Cantwell should resign any rights. Following this William held the priory in peaceful possession for five years until 1481 when Thomas Cor, a priest of the Waterford diocese challenged him. Cor petitioned the Pope and got the job after the treasurer of Waterford, David Sarghent, although finding that William committed no crimes, removed him and installed Thomas Cor. Another petition went to the Pope and it was left to the abbot of Mothel to settle the matter and restore William if he found him as the rightful prior.[26]

In 1480 Nicholas O’Hennessy, Cistercian abbot of Fermoy, claimed to have provision to the see of Lismore and Waterford on the basis that the absentee John Bulcombe had resigned.[27] As late as 1492 Nicholas O’Hennessy was still claiming to be the bishop of Lismore.[28]

Without an episcopal register it is difficult to say what involvement John Bulcombe had in the management of the joint diocese. He did not spend his full term of office in Ireland. The Bawdrip land case referred to above said that Fisher believed that Bulcombe was staying in England for some time and so should be sent a sub poena to appear at the chancery court.[29]

In 1480/1 an event occurred in the Waterford diocese that surely did not happen without Bulcombe’s acknowledgement and possible encouragement. This event was the combined action of a number of religious houses and the chapter of Christ Church to increase the rent across their estates. The religious houses involved were the priory of Friars Hospitallers, the priory of Bath (whose daughter houses was the priory of St. John’s), the priory of St. Katherine, Dunbrody abbey, Tintern abbey and the house of St. Stephen along with other minor houses. They sought bills of resumption and acts of Parliament to order the cancel existing leases and so renew the leases with an increase in the rent.

This action produced a massive reaction by the local population in and around Waterford city. The resistance campaign was led by the city mayor, James Rice. Instructions were given that if anyone took these new leases on any house, mill, land or tenement that they could only do so with the consent of the disposed tenant. If anyone broke this instruction they were to pay a fine of £100 and the disposed tenant could bring an action of debt against them in the city court. In these circumstances the offender could lose his franchise if a freeman or be banned forever from the city if he was a stranger. A city ordinance passed later in that year confirmed the validity of the existing leases.[30]

This tenant resistance movement reminds one of The Plan of Campaign in the 1880s where people who took the land of disposed tenants were boycotted.  

In January 1483 John Bulcombe, while still bishop of Waterford, exchanged the rectory of Bawdrip in Somerset for the vicarage of Highworth in Wiltshire with Master Michael Coly. The institution of Coly to Bawdrip was much like Bulcombe’s first appointment to a benefice as Coly was represented by his proctor, Sir John Carram, chaplain.[31] About a hundred years later Bawdrip begin its second association with the diocese of Waterford and Lismore when John Atherton was made rector in 1585.[32] He was the father of John Atherton who became bishop of Waterford and Lismore in May 1636.[33]

John Bulcombe’s association with Berkshire continued into the 1480s. In May 1484 he exchanged the rectory of Longworth for that of Hinton Waldrist. Both of these parishes were in Berkshire. There is no record yet found to say when Bulcombe was first admitted to Longworth or when he ended his term in Hinton Waldrist.[34]

A.B. Emden suggested that John Bulcombe died sometime around 1486.[35] There is no suggestion that he left any illegitimate family but a number of Bulcombe people begin to appear within the next twenty years. Around 1500 a second John Bulcombe appears in the diocese of Bath and Wells. In March 1501 he was a sub-deacon in the diocese.[36] He had studied at Merton College, Oxford around 1500-1501.[37] Over the next forty years he served in various clerical positions in a number of English dioceses.[38]

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[1] Sir H.C. Maxwell-Lyte & M.C.B. Dawes (eds.), The register of Thomas Bekynton, bishop of Bath and Wells 1443-1465 (Somerset Record Society, vol. xlix, 1934), part 1, no. 1606

[2] A.B. Emden, A biographical register of the University of Oxford to A.D. 1500 (3 vols. Oxford, 1989), vol. 1, p. 301

[3] Bridget Wells-Furby (ed.), A catalogue of the medieval muniments at Berkeley Castle (Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, vol. 18, 2004), p. 938

[4] Sir H.C. Maxwell-Lyte (ed.), The Registers of Robert Stillington, bishop of Bath and Wells 1466-1491 and Richard Fox, bishop of Bath and Wells 1492-1494 (Somerset Record Society, vol. LII, 1937), no. 129

[5] A.B. Emden, A biographical register of the University of Oxford to A.D. 1500 (3 vols. Oxford, 1989), vol. 1, p. 301

[6] A.B. Emden, A biographical register of the University of Oxford to A.D. 1500, vol. 1, p. 301

[7] A.B. Emden, A biographical register of the University of Oxford to A.D. 1500, vol. 1, p. xxx

[8] A.B. Emden, A biographical register of the University of Oxford to A.D. 1500, vol. 2, p. 753

[9] Rev. H.E. Salter (ed.), Medieval archives of the University of Oxford (Oxford Historical Society, vol. lxx, 1920), vol. 1, p. v

[10] Tim Cooper, The last generations of English catholic clergy: parish priests in the diocese of Coventry and Lichfield in the early sixteenth century (Boydell & Brewer, 1999), p. 40?

[11] A.B. Emden, A biographical register of the University of Oxford to A.D. 1500, vol. 1, p. 301: Register Beauchamp, Sarum, I, part ii, folio. 200

[12] Sir H.C. Maxwell-Lyte (ed.), The Reg. of Robert Stillington & Richard Fox, bishops of Bath & Wells, no. 129

[13] Tim Cooper, The last generations of English catholic clergy: parish priests in the diocese of Coventry and Lichfield in the early sixteenth century (Boydell & Brewer, 1999), p. 40

[14] Sir H.C. Maxwell-Lyte (ed.), The Reg. of Robert Stillington & Richard Fox, bishops of Bath & Wells, no. 752

[15] Sir H.C. Maxwell-Lyte (ed.), The Reg. of Robert Stillington & Richard Fox, bishops of Bath & Wells, no. 250

[16] Sir H.C. Maxwell-Lyte (ed.), The Reg. of Robert Stillington & Richard Fox, bishops of Bath & Wells, no. 933

[17] A.B. Emden, A biographical register of the University of Oxford to A.D. 1500, vol. 1, p. 301: Register Rotherham, Lincoln, xxi, folio 79v

[18] A.B. Emden, A biographical register of the University of Oxford to A.D. 1500, vol. 1, p. 301: Register Beauchamp, I, part I, folios 171v, 177v, 178v

[19] Sir H.C. Maxwell-Lyte (ed.), The Reg. of Robert Stillington & Richard Fox, bishops of Bath & Wells, no. 303

[20] Sir H.C. Maxwell-Lyte (ed.), The Registers of Oliver King, bishop of Bath and Wells 1496-1503 and Hadrian de Castello, bishop of Bath and Wells 1503-1518 (Somerset Record Society, vol. liv, 1939), no. 41

[21] Sir H.C. Maxwell-Lyte (ed.), The Reg. of Robert Stillington & Richard Fox, bishops of Bath & Wells, no. 320

[22] Victorian County History: Somerset, vol. 6, p. 189

[23] Paul Dryburgh and Brendan Smith (eds.), Handbook and Select Calendar of Sources for Medieval Ireland in the National Archives of the United Kingdom (Dublin, 2005), p. 136

[24] J.A. Twemlow (ed.), Calendar of entries in the Papal Registers relating to Great Britain and Ireland, volume XIII, 1471-1484 (London, 1955), p. 40

[25] J.A. Twemlow (ed.), Calendar of entries in the Papal Registers relating to Great Britain and Ireland, volume XIII (London, 1955), p. 40

[26] J.A. Twemlow (ed.), Calendar of entries in the Papal Registers, pp. 109-110

[27] James F. Lydon, Terence B. Barry, Robin Frame and Katherine Simms (eds.), Colony and frontier in medieval Ireland: essays presented to J.F. Lydon (1995), p. 147

[28] Michael J. Haren (ed.), Calendar of entries in the Papal Registers relating to Great Britain and Ireland, volume XV, 1484-1492 (Dublin, 1978), no. 875

[29] Paul Dryburgh & Brendan Smith (eds.), Calendar of Sources for Medieval Ire. in the N.A. of the U.K., p. 136

[30] Niall J. Byrne (ed.), The Great Parchment Book of Waterford (Dublin, 2007), pp. xx-xxi, 96

[31] Sir H.C. Maxwell-Lyte (ed.), The Reg. of Robert Stillington & Richard Fox, bishops of Bath & Wells, no. 692

[32] R.W. Dunning and C.R. Elrington (eds.), Victorian County History: Somerset (1992), vol. 6, p. 191

[33] Aidan Clarke, ‘The Atherton file’, in Decies, no. 11 (1979), p. 45

[34] Calendar of the Patent Rolls, 1476-1485, p. 441

[35] A.B. Emden, A biographical register of the University of Oxford to A.D. 1500, vol. 1, p. 302

[36] Sir H.C. Maxwell-Lyte (ed.), The Reg. of Oliver King & Hadrian de Castello, bishops of Bath & Wells, no. 41

[37] A.B. Emden, A biographical register of the University of Oxford to A.D. 1500, vol. 1, p. 302

[38] Sir H.C. Maxwell-Lyte (ed.), The Registers of Thomas Wolsey, bishop of Bath and Wells 1518-1523, John Clerke, bishop of Bath and Wells 1523-1541, William Knight, bishop of Bath and Wells 1541-1547 and Gilbert Bourne, bishop of Bath and Wells 1554-1559 (Somerset Record Society, vol. lv, 1940), nos. 412, 553