Political Society in Cumberland and Westmorland 1471-1537
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Political Society in Cumberland and Westmorland 1471-1537 By Edward Purkiss, BA (Hons). Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. School of History and Classics University of Tasmania. 2008. This Thesis contains no material which has been accepted for a degree or diploma by the University or any other institution, except by way of background information and duly acknowledged in the thesis and to the best of my knowledge and belief no material previously published or written by another person except where due acknowledgement is made in the text of the thesis, nor does the thesis contain any material that infringes copyright. 30 May, 2008. I place no restriction on the loan or reading of this thesis and no restriction, subject to the law of copyright, on its reproduction in any form. 11 Abstract The late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries have often been seen as a turning point in the development of the English state. At the beginning of the period the authority of the Crown was offset by powerful aristocratic interests in many regional areas. By the mid sixteenth century feudal relationships were giving way to a centrally controlled administration and government was reaching into regional political communities through direct connections between the Crown and local gentlemen. This thesis will trace these developments in Cumberland and Westmorland. It will argue that archaic aspects of government and society lingered longer here than in regions closer London. Feudal relationships were significant influences on regional political society well beyond the mid sixteenth century. This was a consequence of the area's distance from the centre of government and its proximity to a hostile enemy. The strategies employed by the Crown to make its authority felt in the region will also be explored. The sources utilised for this study are chiefly those preserved in the records of the central administration. Calendars of rolls reveal much about regional office holding, land tenure and administration. The reign of Henry VIII is well documented thanks to the multi-volume Letters and Papers. Some local sources are extant, such as the Clifford letters and collections preserved in Cumbrian records offices. A body of records relating to the barony of Kendal provides insights into administration and society in that area. These sources have been used to trace the roles of regional figures in political developments during the period. The thesis contains four chapters, each dealing with a different aspect of government and society in the far northwest. Chapter one discusses landholding. It will show the degree of regional landed influence possessed by different groups and how landed influence translated into political power. Chapter two discusses office holding, describing the functions of regional officers and highlighting regional peculiarities. An examination of the personnel employed in regional offices will reveal the dominant influences on political society. Chapter 111 three a discussion of the role of the Church in administration and society and the reaction of the local population to changes introduced during the Reformation. Chapter four is focused on the frontier with Scotland. It will discuss the implications of almost constant warfare on political society and the region. lV Acknowledgements I would gratefully like to acknowledge the support of my supervisors, Professor Michael Bennett and Dr. Elizabeth Freeman, for their insights into the period, the region and the practice of historical writing. Thanks go to Lauren Johnson for cheerfully proof reading endless drafts of chapters and to all my fellow post graduates in the School of History and Classics, especially Nick Brodie, Rosalie Malham, Phil Caudrey, Anthony Ray, Bek McWhirter, Mishka Gora and Sarah Alger for providing a stimulating working environment. Most of all, special thanks must go to my parents and Gemma for their patience and moral support. v Table of Contents. Table of Abbreviations .................................................................. vii. List ofMaps .................................................................................. .ix. Introduction ................................................................................. 1. Chapter 1: Landholding .................................................................. 16. Chapter 2: Office Holding and Regional Administration ............................47. Chapter 3: The Church and the Reformation ............................................. 81. Chapter 4: War and the Frontier ......................................................... 109. Conclusions ............................................................................... 143. Appendix 1: Manorial Lordships in Cumberland and Westmorland ................ 152. Appendix 2: Office Holding in Cumberland and Westmorland ................... 158. Bibliography ............................................................................ .165. vi Table ofAbbreviations BIHR Bulletin ofthe Institute ofHistorical Research. CCR Calendar of Close Rolls. CIPM Calendar ofInquisitions Post Mortem. Clifford Letters Clifford Letters of the Sixteenth Century, ed. A. G. Dickens (Durham: Surtees Society, 1962). CPR Calendar ofPatent Rolls. CWAAS Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Archaeological and Antiquarian Society. DNB Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, ed. H. C. G. Matthew and B. Harrison (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004). EHR English Historical Review. Foedera T. Rymer, Foedera, conventiones, litterae et cujuscunque generis acta publica, 20 vols (London: Johnson, 1727-35). History and Antiquities J. Nicolson and R. Burn, The History and Antiquities of the Counties of Westmorland and Cumberland, vols. 1 & 2 (London: W. Strahan & T. Cadell, 1777). Kendale Records Records Relating to the Barony of Kendale, vol. 1 (1923). Electronic resource: http://www.bdtish historv.ac.uk/source.aspx?pubid=400. Date accessed: 8 January 2007. [First published by W. Farrer and J. F. Curwen in 1923]. Individual entries will be cited by their reference number, eg. http://www.british history.ac.uk/repo1i.aspx?compid=49276. 'Letters of the Cliffords' 'Letters of the Cliffords, Lords Clifford and earls of Cumberland, c. 1500-1565', ed. Hoyle, R. W., Vll Camden Miscellany XXXI, Fourth Series, vol. 44 (London: Camden Society, 1992). LP Henry VIII Letters and Papers Foreign and Domestic Illustrative of the Reign ofHenry VIII, 21 vols., ed. J. S. Brewer (London: HMSO, 1862-1932). NH Northern History. Rot. Par!. Rotuli Parliamentorum, 7 vols, ed. J. Starchey (London: Record Commission, 1767-1832). Rot. Scot. Rotuli Scotiae in turri Londonensi et in domo capititulari Westmonasteriensi asservati, 2 vols., ed. D. MacPherson (London: Records Commission, 1814-19), TRHS Transactions of the Royal Historical Society. viii List ofMaps Map 1: Cumberland and Westmorland ..................................................x. Map 2: Landholding and Territorial Influence ........................................xi. Map 3: Ecclesiastical Foundations ....................................................... xii. Map 4: The Debatable Land ............................................................xiii. lX Map 1: Cumberland and Westmorland1 SCOILAND JO 15 W CUMBERLAND & WESTMORLAND Castles····· ES Land over 500 ft r~ W.Br11111agt 1 Source: R L Storey, The End ofthe House ofLancaster (Stroud: Sutton, 1966), p. 107. x Map 2: Landholding and Territorial lnjluence2 ::: curro120 PERCY STIWLE.Y 2 Source: S. M. Harrison, The Pilgrimage of Grace in the Lake Counties (London: Royal Historical Society, 1981), p. 29. Xl Map 3: Ecclesiastical Foundations :• Benedictine Houses o Cistercian Houses • Augustinian Houses c Premonstratensian Houses A Dominican Friars t:. Franciscan Friars .,, Austin Friars v Carmelite Friars () Secular Colleges a<iir\is\e. 0 \letheral • A""'ath\IQi+e. .,~i+h OG~toke. VAppleb~ D Shop Xll Map 4: The Debatable Lantf 3 Source: G. M. Fraser, The Steel Bonnets: the Story ofthe Anglo-Scottish Border Reivers (London: Barrie Jenkins, 1971), fold out map at end ofbook. xm Introduction This thesis is intended as an exploration of the administrative and social structures that existed in political society in Cumberland and Westmorland between 1471 and 1537. It has been conceived as a counterpoint to the work of scholars who have undertaken similar research into the networks of authority and political communities in other periods and regions. It will examine the far northwest of England in the context of the upheavals that were occurring in government and society throughout the kingdom at this time and it will highlight degrees of change and continuity apparent in regional administrative and social networks. The thesis will discuss the impact of the region's distance from the capital and its position as a frontier zone with regards to the effectiveness of royal authority and the persistence of feudal administrative and tenurial structures. Over the past thirty years a number of historians have undertaken to illustrate the social ties and networks of power and authority that operated in diverse English counties. The inspiration for this work on regional administration and political society arose during historical debates in the 1960s. The great medievalist K. B. Mcfarlane called into question the established 'royalist' view of English history developed by Victorian constitutional scholars such as William Stubbs and f. W. Maitland. 1 Mcfarlane