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Contact: [email protected] ARISTOCRATIC FEMALE INHERITANCE AND PROPERTY HOLDING IN THIRTEENTH-CENTURY ENGLAND By Harriet Lily Kersey Canterbury Christ Church University Thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2017 ii Abstract This thesis explores aristocratic female inheritance and property holding in the thirteenth century, a relatively neglected topic within existing scholarship. Using the heiresses of the earldoms and honours of Chester, Pembroke, Leicester and Winchester as case studies, this thesis sheds light on the processes of female inheritance and the effects of coparceny in a turbulent period of English history. The lives of the heiresses featured in this thesis span the reigns of three English kings: John, Henry III and Edward I. The reigns of John and Henry saw bitter civil wars, whilst Edward’s was plagued with expensive foreign wars. The heiresses discussed here inherited the lands of some of the most important honours in England and the partition of these patrimonies between female coheirs undoubtedly had an effect on landholding and political society. There were numerous instances when the property rights of female coheirs were negotiated and compromised. Nonetheless, the property rights of women with regard to inheritance, marriage portion and dower were protected by law and remained important to the crown. As wives and widows, these women had an interest in the lands they had inherited and regularly participated in the legal disputes surrounding them. An examination of the roles these heiresses played in these suits and more generally in English society demonstrates the different avenues by which noblewomen could exercise agency in the thirteenth century. iii iv Acknowledgements This thesis would not have been possible without a three-year scholarship from the Graduate School at Canterbury Christ Church University. I owe the biggest thanks to my supervisors Professor Louise Wilkinson and Dr Leonie Hicks who provided me with constant encouragement, support, expertise and inspiration. Thank you for believing in me and pushing me when I needed it. It has been an honour to be supervised by you. I have had the privilege to meet and make friends with many lovely people over the course of the last three years. Thank you to the medieval history community for their generosity, kindness and the discussions that helped to shape my work. Special thanks go to those whose favourite century is the thirteenth. Thank you to Professor David Carpenter and Dr Emma Cavell for providing me with theses I could not obtain myself, and to Dr Janice Musson for sending me extracts from her own doctoral thesis. The staff at The National Archives have assisted me on numerous occasions with their incredible knowledge and support; particular thanks go to Dr Paul Dryburgh and Dr Marianne Wilson for the tea, cake and chats. Thank you also to the unofficial ‘Noblewomen Network’ for being inspirational academics and friends. I am indebted to the medievalists at Canterbury Christ Church for their encouragement from my time as an undergraduate until now. Fondly known as the ‘School of Wilkinson’, I owe thanks also to Dr Rod Billaud, Andy Connell, Rob Gainey, Sophie Taylor, Abby Armstrong and Rebecca Jarvis for their support and friendship. I am extremely grateful to Dr Charlotte Pickard who read several sections of this thesis and made valuable v suggestions. Special thanks to Charlie Crouch and Becca Searby for making this so much fun and for being such supportive friends. Thank you to my friends in the Graduate School at Canterbury Christ Church for their support, friendship and tea breaks. Particular thanks go to Christina Stead, Deanna Demetriou, Emma Pole, Paul Anderson and Simon Bransden. To my friends on the outside of the academic bubble, thank you for everything and for sticking with me until the end. Especial thanks to Lathan Norton, Lori Warsop and Megan Banting for keeping me sane when times were hard. My lovely family have supported and encouraged me from the start and believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. I couldn’t have done this without them all, especially my Mum. Thank you to my siblings Annie, Tom and Liv for everything they have done for me and for always making me laugh. I honestly don’t know what I’d do without you! I lost my Grandma, Ann Taylor, in the final few months of writing this thesis. She was fantastically clever, funny and kind and I know she was always there for me and willing me on. I wish that she could be here now but I hope I have made her proud. vi vii Abbreviations Abbreviation Full title Ann. Mon. Annales Monastici, ed., H. R. Luard (5 vols, Rolls series, 1864-1869) BF Liber Feodorum: the Book of Fees commonly called Testa de Nevill (3 vols, London, 1920-31) Bracton De Legibus et Consuetudinibus Angliae: Bracton on the Laws and Customs of England, ed., G. E. Woodbine and trans. S. E. Thorne (4 vols, Cambridge MSS: Harvard University Press, 1968-77) Britton Britton, ed., F. M. Nichol (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1865) CChR Calendar of the Charter Rolls (London, 1903-) CClR Calendar of the Close Rolls (London, 1902-) CDS Calendar of Documents relating to Scotland, ed. J. Bain (2 vols, London, 1881) CDI Calendar of Documents relating to Ireland, ed., H. S. Sweetham (5 vols, London, 1875-) CEC The Charters of the Anglo-Norman Earls of Chester, ed., G. Barraclough (Record Society of Cheshire and Lancashire, cxxxvi, 1988) CFR Calendar of the Fine Rolls of Henry III (2007-2011), available online at <http://www.finerollshenry3.org.uk> Calendar of the Fine Rolls, 1272-1307 (London, 1911) CP The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, ed., G. E. Cokayne (12 vols, London, 1910-) Chronica Majora Matthӕi Parisiensis, Monachi Sancti Albani, Chronica Majora, ed., H. R. Luard (7 vols, London, 1825-70) CIPM Calendar of Inquisitions Post-Mortem (London, 1904-) Coutumiers Coutumiers de Normandie, ed., E-J. Tardif (Rouen, 1881) CPR Calendar of the Patent Rolls (London, 1906-) viii CRR Curia Regis Rolls of the Reign of Henry III preserved in the Public Record Office (20 vols, London, 1922-2006) Fœdera Fœdera: Conventiones, Litterae et Cujuscunque Generis Acta Publica, Vol. I, ed., T. Rymer (London, 1816) Glanvill The Treatise on the Law and Customs commonly called Glanvill, ed., G. D. G. Hall (London, 1965) Layettes Layettes du Trésor des Chartes (Nendeln: Kraus Reprint, 1977) ODNB Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Pipe Rolls Pipe rolls published by the Pipe Roll society RLC Rotuli Litterarum Clausarum in Turri Londinensi Asservati, ed., T. D. Hardy (Record Commission, 1833-4) RLP Rotuli Litterarum Patentium in Turri Londinensi Asservati, ed., T. D. Hardy (Record Commission, 1835) ROF Rotuli de Oblatis et Finibus in Turri Londinensi Asservati, tempore regis Johannis, ed., T. D. Hardy (Record Commission, 1835) SR The Statutes of the Realm, Vol. I (London: 1810) TNA The National Archives ix viii Contents Abstract ...................................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements...................................................................................................................... v Abbreviations ........................................................................................................................... viii Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 1 Themes .............................................................................................................................................. 14 The Heiresses .................................................................................................................................... 26 Chapter One: The Heiresses of Chester ....................................................................................... 38 The First Division - 1232 ............................................................................................................. 38 Background ....................................................................................................................................... 38 The Heiresses ................................................................................................................................ 39 The Division ....................................................................................................................................... 43 The Earldom of Lincoln ....................................................................................................................