The Lord Edward and the County of Chester: Lordship and Community, 1254-1272
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Contact: [email protected] The Lord Edward and the County of Chester: Lordship and Community, 1254-1272. by RODOLPHE BILLAUD Canterbury Christ Church University Thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2017 Abstract This thesis analyses the Lord Edward’s lordship of the county of Chester between 1254 and 1272 and the impact it had on local inhabitants. The first chapter investigates the general administration of the county, including its financial structure, and the officials and men recruited by Edward to control his Cheshire estates. This chapter shows that Edward, in spite of his father’s influence, led an independent policy by relying primarily on the justiciar and on local tenants to govern the county. The second chapter tackles the organisation of justice and the law administered in Cheshire. It demonstrates that the judicial machinery in Cheshire was preserved during Edward’s lordship with its distinctive characteristics inherited from the earls of Chester, and that Edward was far more involved in the administration of justice in the county, and in the rest of his apanage, than previously envisaged. The third chapter considers the relationship Cheshire maintained with Wales in the thirteenth century, and more precisely, how Edward’s lordship of the county disrupted the stability that existed in the area. It shows that he was not directly responsible for the tensions that existed, but that his inability to address them eventually led to the outbreak of 1256. It also demonstrates that Edward failed to protect his estates despite multiple attempts, and how he progressively lost interest in his Welsh dominions. The fourth chapter discusses Edward’s relationship, and the difficulties he had, with his Cheshire tenants, especially during the baronial movement of reform and rebellion (1258-67). It analyses how problems in the county mirrored those elsewhere in the realm, because of the financial pressure and of the desire of local communities to have their laws and customs preserved, and how Edward’s considered approach and political discernment were eventually successful in restoring order in the county. i Acknowledgments This thesis has been the labour of years during which I have incurred many debts of gratitude for kindnesses received. I have also benefited massively from the knowledge and skills of historians and fellow research students at the various seminars and conferences I have attended over the years, and through general discussions and conversations by emails. My greatest debt is – by far – to my first supervisor, Professor Louise Wilkinson. Without her extensive knowledge of the period, her advice and suggestions on specific points, and her rigour, this thesis would never have existed. I am forever grateful for her patience, her availability, her kindness, and for the moral support and encouragement she has constantly provided over the years. My thanks also go to my other supervisors, Professors Jackie Eales and Kevin Ruane, for their advice and for their trust during the course of this thesis. I am also grateful to Dr Robin Studd for his help, and for giving me access to the documents issued by the Lord Edward that he has gathered since the completion of his thesis in 1971. Particular thanks are due also to Dr Charles Insley, my former supervisor, to Richard Eales, to Dr Paul Dryburgh and to Dr Sophie Ambler, for their kindness, and for assisting me on specific points along the way. I would also like to thank the staff at Canterbury Christ Church University and the School of Humanities for funding my research trips at the Record Office at Chester and at the John Rylands Library in Manchester. I am also indebted to the Royal Historical Society for its financial support which allowed me to attend the Leeds International Medieval Congress in 2015. Finally, my thanks go to my fellow researchers at Canterbury Christ Church. Special mention should be made of Andy Connell for his help and for responding to my occasional queries about the de Lacy family, and of Harriet Kersey and Abby Armstrong, for their friendships and encouragements. ii Tables of Contents Abstract i Acknowledgments ii Abbreviations v Introduction 1 Chapter 1: The Lord Edward’s Administration of the County of Chester 24 1. The Personnel 25 2. The Lord Edward’s Affinity 53 3. The Financial Administration 66 Chapter 2: The Organisation of Justice 76 1. The Judicial Administration 77 2. The Law in the County of Chester 91 3. The Lord Edward and the Administration of Justice in the County of Chester 103 Chapter 3: The Lord Edward, the County of Chester and Wales 124 1. The County of Chester: between England and Wales 125 2. The Lord Edward, the County of Chester and the Welsh Rebellion of 1256-67 142 a) 1256-58 151 b) 1258-62 162 c) 1262-67 169 iii Chapter 4: The Lord Edward, the County of Chester and the Baronial Movement of Reform and Rebellion, 1258-67 185 1. The County of Chester: Royal Control and Local Unrest, 1237-58 186 2. The Lord Edward’s Lordship of the County of Chester during the Baronial Movement of Reform: between Royalist Loyalty and Baronial Sensibility, 1258-67 210 Conclusion 247 Appendix One: The Map of the County of Chester 266 Appendix Two: The List of the Officials of the County of Chester, 1254-72 267 Bibliography 269 iv Abbreviations AC Annales Cambriae, ed. J. W. Ab Ithel (London: Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts, 1860). Ann. Cest. Annales Cestrienses, ed. R. C. Christie (The Record Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, xiv, 1886). Ann. Mon. Annales Monastici, ed. H. R. Luard (5 Vols., Rolls Series, 1864- 69). AWR The Acts of Welsh Rulers, ed. H. Pryce (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2005). BL British Library. Book of Fees The Book of Fees, Commonly Called Testa de Nevill (3 Vols., H.M.S.O., 1920-31). Brut Brut Y Tywysogyon or The Chronicle of the Princes, Red Book of Hergest Version, ed. T. Jones (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1955). CAC Calendar of Ancient Correspondence Concerning Wales, ed. J. Goronwy Edwards (Cardiff: University Press Board, 1935). Calendar Calendar of Court, City Court and Eyre Rolls of Chester, 1259- 1297, with an Inquest of Military Service, 1288, ed. R. Stewart- Brown (Chetham Society, N. S., lxxxiv, 1925). CChR Calendar of Charter Rolls (H.M.S.O., 1916- ). Char. St Wer. The Chartulary or Register of the Abbey of St Werburgh, ed. J. Tait (2 Vols.,Chetham Society, N. S., lxxix and lxxxii, 1920-23). Chs. of Earls of Chester The Charters of the Anglo-Norman Earls of Chester, c. 1071- 1237, ed. G. Barraclough (The Record Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, cxxvi, 1988). CDI Calendar of Documents Relating to Ireland, Preserved in Her Majesty’s Public Record Office, London, 1171-1307, ed. H. S. Sweetman (5 Vols., London: Longman & Co., 1875-86). v Chron. Maj. Matthaei Parisiensis, Monachi Sancti Albani, Chronica Majora, ed. H. R. Luard (7 Vols., Rolls Series, 1872-83). CIPR Cheshire in the Pipe Rolls, 1158-1301, ed. R. Stewart-Brown (The Record Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, xcii, 1938). CIM, I, Calendar of Inquisitions Miscellaneous, I, 1219-1307 (H.M.S.O., 1916). CLR Calendar of Liberate Rolls (H.M.S.O., 1916- ). CPR Calendar of Patent Rolls (H.M.S.O., 1906- ). CR Close Rolls (H.M.S.O., 1902- ). DBM Documents of the Baronial Movement of Reform, 1258-67, ed. R. F. Treharne and I. J. Sanders (Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1973). DRC The Domesday Roll of Chester: Some 13th Enrolments, ed. R. Stewart-Brown (Chester: Courant Press, 1924). EHR English Historical Review. Flores Hist. Flores Historiarum, ed. H. R. Luard (3 Vols., Rolls Series, 1890). Itinerary An Itinerary of Lord Edward, ed. R. Studd (List and Index Society, cclxxxiv, 2000). Rishanger, De Bellis The Chronicle of William de Rishanger of the Barons’ Wars, ed. J. O. Halliwell (London: Camden Society., 1840). TNA The National Archives. WL The Royal Charter Witness Lists of Henry III (1226-1272), From the Charter Rolls in the Public Record Office, ed. M. Morris (2 Vols., List and Index Society., ccxci-ccxcii, 2001). vi Introduction Medieval monarchs usually received an extensive education before ascending the throne, but no other king had such a tumultuous apprenticeship as did the Lord Edward prior to his coronation in 1272. For him, it all began on 14 February 1254, at Bazas, in Gascony, when Henry III conferred upon him the first apanage ever granted in English history. This apanage encompassed a vast collection of territories and included, with some exceptions, all the royal lands of Ireland,1 the county of Chester and the royal conquests in Wales, namely Rhuddlan, Dyserth, Deganwy and all the land of Perfeddwlad. Edward was also endowed with various castles and towns across England and on the Anglo-Welsh border.