THE POLITICAL INFLUENCE OF CASTLES IN THE REIGN OF HENRY II.
Henry II. was a great builder, and especially of military works. “In
muris, in propugnaculis, in munitionibus, in fossatis, ... nullus
subtilior, nullus magnificentior, invenitur.” This, however, does not
so much refer to new castles, of which he built but few, as to the
completion or addition of new keeps to the old ones, such, for example,
as Dover.
A few days after his arrival in England he received the fealty of
the magnates of the realm at Winchester Castle, and was crowned at
Westminster, 19th December, immediately after which he granted to
William, Earl of Arundel, the castle and honour of Arundel and the
third penny of the county of Sussex. This was probably for life, for
upon the Earl’s death in 1176 the castle and county reverted to the
Crown, and were re-granted. Notwithstanding this beginning, Henry was
fully determined to carry out the policy agreed upon at Wallingford
in the face of the nation. A few days later he attended a council at
Bermondsey, at which it was decided to order all foreign mercenaries
to quit the kingdom on pain of death, and to raze all castles erected
in the reign of Stephen. This decision was felt on all sides to be
absolutely required; and it was, to a great extent, at once acted upon.
Of these “castra adulterina” he destroyed, by some accounts, 375; by
others, 1,115. Unfortunately, their names and sites have rarely been
preserved, and can only be inferred where a castle played a part in the
wars of Stephen and Matilda, and is not afterwards mentioned. These
castles were, no doubt, built usually by men of limited means, and in
haste; but even a small and badly-built castle of masonry would require
some labour and outlay of money for its destruction. Possibly many of
these buildings were of timber, upon the existing mounds. Also there
are found slight earthworks of no great height or area, the plan of
which seems that of a Norman castle, and which not improbably belong
to this period. At Eaton-Socon, in Bedfordshire, and Lilbourne, in
Northamptonshire, are such earthworks. Farringdon and Mount Sorrel
Castles, and those of Stansted and Hinckley, Coventry, Cricklade,and
Winchcombe, are thought to have been dismantled at this time. Drax
Castle, in Yorkshire, stood out, and was destroyed, as, though far
less completely, were Bungay and Tutbury, Thirsk, Malzeard, and Groby.
Under the pressure of the times even ecclesiastical buildings had
been occupied as castles. Ramsey and Coventry Abbeys were so used
by Geoffrey Glanville and Robert Marmion, and the fine church of
Bridlington by D’Aumâle.
Henry strove to carry out the new policy without respect for rank or
party; but when he threatened the strongholds of the great nobles
his difficulties began. Hugh Mortimer and Roger, son of Milo Earl of
Hereford and High Constable, old supporters of Matilda, refused to
surrender Wigmore, Cleobury, Bridgenorth, Hereford, and Gloucester.
Henry at once took action. Leaving Wallingford Castle in the spring
of 1155, he laid siege to Bridgenorth, whence one of his letters is
dated “apud Brugiam in obsidione.” He also took by siege Cleobury and
Wigmore. This success caused the Earl of Hereford to surrender Hereford
and Gloucester, where Henry had received much of his education; and
on his protestation of submission, the Earl was allowed to retain
Hereford. Henry, Bishop of Winchester, Stephen’s brother, was forced
to flee the country, and his castles were ordered to be destroyed;
and that this order was executed appears from the charge for the work
entered in the Pipe Roll for 1155-6. In like manner D’Aumâle, a baron
of the house of Champagne, whose power lay in Holderness, and who had
commanded at Northallerton, was forced, in January, 1155, after a short
resistance, to give up Scarborough, the strongest castle in Holderness,
and Skipsea, not far its inferior. Henry also visited Northampton,
Nottingham, Lincoln, and York, and some of the western castles and
counties. At Windsor the “fermor” of the castle expended £4. 15s.
5d. in his reception “in corredio regis.” According to Mr. Eyton,
140 castles were destroyed in the course of 1155. William of Ypres,
a turbulent leader of Flemish mercenaries, who had been created Earl
of Kent by Stephen in 1141, was banished. He was one of the “pseudo
Comites.”
A part of the new policy, though not at once enforced, was the
introduction, to a certain extent, of a money commutation for personal
military service. The new payment, under the name of “scutage,” became
an important branch of the revenue of the Crown. A rule was also
established, which, if not always acted upon, was well understood,
that no man should build a castle, or convert his dwelling into a
“domus defensabilis,” without a licence from the King.
In 1156 Henry went, by way of Dover, to the Continent, where he took
Mirabeau and Chinon, one of his charters being dated “Mirabel in
obsidione,” and another, “apud Chinon in exercitu”; nor did he return
to England till 1157, when he was at Southampton Castle, and went
thence to Ongar, Richard de Lacy’s Essex castle, and received from
William Count of Mortaine, King Stephen’s son, Pevensey and the Warenne
castles, which had fallen to him with the name and estates of that
family. Hugh Bigot also gave up Norwich, and made a general submission.
Henry then visited Colchester and other Essex castles, and thence
proceeded to Northampton. Malcolm of Scotland was fain to follow the
example of his English friends, and gave up Carlisle, Bamborough, and
Newcastle, together with the three northern counties. His personal
submission was made to Henry at Peveril’s Castle in the Peak, on which
occasion the sheriff’s expenses on his behalf were considerable.
Malcolm was allowed to retain his grandmother’s honour and castle of
Huntingdon.
The destruction of so many smaller and later castles restored to their
former prominence those of greater strength and older date, which,
being for the most part necessary for the defence of the kingdom, were
preserved and strengthened, and entrusted to castellans of approved
fidelity. Becket, before his ecclesiastical promotion, thus received
the castles of the Tower and of Berkhampstead, and the castle and
honour of Eye.
One of Henry’s chief difficulties arose out of the position of the
marcher-lords, such as the De Clares and the Mareschals, whose almost
regal powers, granted originally to enable them to hold the frontier
against the Welsh, were more frequently used, in conjunction with the
Welsh, to coerce the sovereign.
In 1157 Henry invaded North Wales, and while traversing Counsyth, a
Flintshire pass, was for a moment in great personal peril. It was on
this occasion that Henry de Essex threw down the standard and fled,
and thus forfeited his castle of Raleigh. On his way back Henry
repaired the castles of Basingwerk and Rhuddlan, and probably directed
the construction of Bere Castle, a very curious fortress with some
ornamental details in the Early English style, built upon a detached
rock in a valley west of Cader Idris.
In 1158 Henry visited various parts of England. At Carlisle, in
January, he knighted Earl Warenne, but refused that honour to Malcolm
King of Scotland. While there he fortified Wark Castle, the sheriff’s
charge for which was £21. 8s. 11d. At Nottingham he gave to Richard de
Haia the custody “castelli _mei_ de Lincoln,” showing that he claimed
it for the Crown. In August he embarked at Portsmouth or Southampton
for Normandy; and while abroad took the castles of Thouars, Amboise,
Fretevel, Moulins, and Bon-Moulins. In 1159 he was occupied three
months at the siege of Thoulouse, which he failed to take. Other
castles in Normandy he took and repaired; others, again, he destroyed;
and he built a few altogether new.
In January, 1163, Becket came to England with the King, and gave great
offence to the baronage by claiming Tonbridge Castle for his see.
Towards the close of the year Henry deprived him of the charge of the
castles of Eye and Berkhampstead; and in December admitted him to a
personal interview at Oxford Castle. In this year Henry was again at
Peak Castle, and in March, 1164, at Porchester. Soon afterwards the
strong castle of Tickhill fell to the Crown by escheat; and Henry spent
Christmas at Marlborough, a royal castle.
In 1165, after a short visit to Normandy, during which the Queen
visited Sherborne Castle, Henry was at Rhuddlan, and caused Basingwerk
and the Flintshire castles to be again put in order. This was
fortunate, for the campaign was unsuccessful. Expenses on that occasion
were allowed at Oswestry (then called Blancmont), Shrawardine, and
Chirk Castles. This was an assertion of ownership on the part of the
Crown, although Oswestry was part of the private estate of William
Fitz-Alan, then a minor. Henry retired to Shrewsbury, and soldiers were
brought up from Worcester and Abergavenny, some of whom were quartered
in the Corbet Castle at Caus. Grosmont, Llantilio or White Castle, and
Scenfrith, the Monmouthshire trilateral, also contributed soldiers.
From Shrewsbury, Henry, reinforced, advanced into Powis-land, and
encamped on the Berwyn Mountain, where he was near being cut off by the
Welsh, and had to take refuge at Shotwick Castle, a small fortress on
the root of the peninsula of Wirrall, whence he retired to Chester, and
returned to London.
In February or March, 1166, was compiled the return of military fiefs
and tenants in chief, known as the _Liber Niger_, and which professes
to represent the feudal military force of the kingdom, though so far
only as the division of the land into military fees was then completed.
The _Liber Ruber_ states the fees, in the reign of Richard I., to have
been 32,000. Orderic gives them at nearly double this, or 60,000. But
there are no data for estimating, with any approach to correctness,
the force that the King could bring into the field. Under Henry I. and
Stephen, mercenaries were largely employed, drawn mainly from Flanders.
The _Liber Niger_ has received very valuable attention at the hands of
Mr. Eyton and Professor Stubbs.
Early in Lent in this year Henry embarked at Southampton for Normandy,
where he reduced the castles of Alençon and La Roche Mabile, and
received a visit from the King of Scotland. Late in the year Geoffrey
de Mandeville and Richard de Lacy engaged in an unsuccessful expedition
into North Wales, and again strengthened Basingwerk Castle, during
which they were attacked by the Welsh. Henry remained absent in
Normandy, Gascony, and Brittany about four years, landing at Portsmouth
in March, 1170; but he returned to Normandy in June. In October he
wrote to Prince Henry, directing him to restore the honour of Saltwood
to the Archbishop. On the 29th of December, Becket was murdered, the
assassins having rested at Saltwood the preceding night. After the
murder they went to Knaresborough Castle, then held by Hugh de Morville
as castellan.
In August, 1171, Henry landed at Portsmouth, and early in September was
in South Wales, where he took Caerleon from Iorwerth ap Owen, and went
on to Pembroke Castle to meet Prince Rhys, to whom he made over a large
part of Cardigan. From Pembroke, or rather from Milford, he went, in
October, to Ireland, whence he returned, by St. David’s and by Cardiff,
to England in April, 1172, and thence embarked from Portsmouth for the
Continent in May.
In April, 1173, the confederacy between the King of France and Prince
Henry, who carried with him the discontented party among the English
barons, broke out into open war in both countries. Henry the elder
remained at Rouen, and with the doubtful exception of a short visit
to England was content to leave the conduct of the war there to the
faithful and able Richard de Lacy.
The English rebellion was of a very grave character. Among the rebels
were the Earls of Chester and Leicester, Ferrars Earl of Derby,
Mowbray, and Paganel. Ferrars held Groby, Tutbury, Burton, and some
other castles; Mowbray held Kinnard’s Ferry Castle in Axholm, Thirsk,
and Malzeard, which seem again to have been repaired or rebuilt; David
of Scotland, Earl of Huntingdon, held that castle; as did Bishop Puiset
Norham and Durham. These northern castles were strong, and supported
by the Scottish levies; but the great body of the baronage was with
the king, and even in the North his party preponderated. It included
Umfraville of Prudhoe, De Vesci of Alnwick, Ros of Hamlake, Bruce of
Whorlton and Skelton; and in the south almost all the great barons.
Lacy laid siege to and burned Leicester town; but the castle seems to
have held out. He also, accompanied by Bohun, marched into the North
and wasted the border country and the Lothians. The royal castles
generally were ordered to be victualled and garrisoned.
In September, Robert, Earl of Leicester, landed at Walton in Suffolk
with a body of Flemish mercenaries. Suffolk was, no doubt, selected for
the landing as being opposite to the Flemish ports, and under the local
influence of the house of Bigot, who held the castles of Framlingham
and Bungay, and were hereditary Constables of Norwich, an office often
forfeited, but which gave them great influence in the city. Leicester
and his Flemings were at once received at Framlingham, and thence
besieged Haganet Castle, governed for the king by Ranulph de Broc. This
they took; but failed before the walls of Dunwich, and thence marched
towards Leicester. Meantime Lacy and Humphrey de Bohun had hurried
back from the Scottish border, were reinforced near Bury by the earls
of Arundel, Cornwall, and Gloucester, and in October came up with the
Flemish army at Fornham St. Geneviève. The invaders were routed, and
Leicester and his countess taken and sent prisoners to Normandy. Lacy’s
work was, however, but half completed. Mowbray still held Axholm,
and Earl David, or probably for him, Anketil Mallori, held Leicester
Castle. The King of Scots laid siege to Carlisle, while his brother
took the castles of Knaresborough, Brough, and Appleby. In May, 1174,
Leicester Castle was still untaken, and the Scots had reduced Warkworth
and laid siege to Prudhoe and Alnwick. Lacy was engaged in the siege
of Huntingdon, aided by St. Liz, who claimed it. But a second body of
Flemings had landed, had attacked Norwich, and much injured Nottingham
and Northampton. The Bishop of Lincoln had, however, taken Axholm.
In the midst of this critical state of affairs, Henry landed at
Southampton in July, 1174, with his prisoners, whom he sent to Devizes.
His arrival coincided with a sudden and material improvement in the
state of his affairs. While Henry was engaged in an act of penance at
Becket’s tomb, William, King of Scots, was taken before Alnwick. After
a short illness in London, Henry went to Huntingdon in time to receive
the surrender of the castle, and thence to Framlingham, which, with
Bungay, was surrendered to him by Hugh Bigot. Prince Rhys, then in
alliance with Henry, besieged and took Tutbury, and the Mowbray castle
of Malzeard was also taken. At Northampton, in July, Henry received the
submission of the Bishop of Durham, with the castles of Durham, Norham,
and Northallerton. Thirsk Castle was given up by Roger de Mowbray;
Tutbury and Driffield by Earl Ferrars, with Leicester, Mount Sorrell,
and Groby.
Henry’s success was complete; but the rebellion showed how dangerous
were the great castles to public order, and how necessary it was to
dismantle a large number of them, and to keep the rest, as far as
possible, in the hands of the Crown. This policy he continued to act
upon to the end of his reign, treating all conquered rebels with great
clemency as regarded their persons and their estates, but retaining
their castles in his own hands. Even Richard de Lacy, to whom the
hundred of Ongar was granted in 1174, was not allowed to retain the
castle.
In May, 1175, Henry was in England, and in June received the surrender
of Bristol Castle from William, Earl of Gloucester. In January, 1176,
was held the council at Northampton, at which the kingdom was divided
into six circuits, with three justiciaries for each circuit. Among the
edicts which they were to enforce were those relating to castles. A
strict inquisition was to be made into the tenure by castle-guard, and
how far its duties were discharged.
It does not appear to what extent the new regulations were carried out;
but the general effect of the new system was to check marauders, and to
render insurrections more difficult and less frequent. Northallerton,
more than once dismantled, was at last (1177) entirely destroyed; and
the Bishop of Durham, its owner, had to pay a fine of a thousand marcs
for his share in the last rebellion. Such castles as Durham, Norham,
and Scarborough, which it was expedient to preserve, were attached to
the Crown, and placed in the hands of faithful castellans. Bamburgh
was entrusted to William de Stuteville, and Norham to William de
Neville, Scarborough to the Archbishop of York, Berwick to Geoffrey de
Neville, and Durham to Roger de Coniers. The assize of arms, by which,
in 1180, it became the duty of each freeholder to provide himself with
arms and armour according to his means and condition, rendered the
commonalty more capable of resisting tyranny, and on the whole tended
to strengthen the hands of any not very unpopular sovereign against the
barons.
The general result of Henry’s domestic policy was undoubtedly
successful, and his latter years were untroubled by any serious
outbreak. In 1177, he returned to Normandy; but both there, and during
his subsequent visits to England, he paid great attention to the
castles of each country, visiting many of them, appointing and changing
the castellans, and causing the defences to be kept in proper order.
In February, 1187, he visited the very singular castle of Chilham by
Canterbury. He died in the castle of Chinon, July, 1189.