Conquest, Anarchy and Lordship: Yorkshire, 1066-1154

365 Pages·1994·8.85 MB·English

by  Paul Dalton

Cambridge studies in medieval life and thought
CONQUEST, ANARCHY AND LORDSHIP
Focussing on Yorkshire, by far the largest English county, this book
examines three of the most important themes in the period described by
Sir Frank Stenton as' the first century of English feudalism': the Norman
conquest, the anarchy of Stephen's reign and the nature of lordship and
land tenure. In each case the book offers a strong challenge to dominant
interpretations, and seeks to alter in significant ways our conception of
Anglo-Norman politics and government.
The first section of the book reveals that the Norman conquest of
Yorkshire was a much more rapid and carefully controlled process than
has hitherto been supposed; that, initially at least, it owed a great deal to
the construction of castles and organisation of castleries; that during the
reign of the Conqueror's youngest son, Henry I, its character changed as
the king sought to bring Yorkshire under tighter central administrative
control and promote monasticism there; and that its impact upon
tenurial structure and terms of land tenure, although considerable, has
been overestimated.
The second section of the book examines the anarchy of King
Stephen's reign and its consequences in Yorkshire. It challenges the view
that Stephen's creation of earls was a deliberate attempt to impose an
alternative conception of government, and illustrates how the greater
magnates profited from, and in some cases sought to promote, a failure
of royal control.
The final section of the book deals with lordship, one of the most
significant aspects of medieval society. It challenges Stenton's conception
of twelfth-century society as a * seignorial world' organised principally
around the honour and dominated by baronial lordship. It reveals that on
some (perhaps many) honours the bonds of association between the
tenantry, and the powers of lords over their men, were weaker than
Stenton supposed, and that royal intervention in the honour was far
more regular. In doing so it undermines one of the basic premises of those
legal historians who argue that the origins of the English Common Law
are to be found in the legal reforms of Henry II. The book will therefore
be essential reading on both * the first century' and ' the legal framework'
of English feudalism.
Cambridge studies in medieval life and thought
Fourth series
General Editor:
D. E. LUSCOMBE
Professor of Medieval History, University of Sheffield
Advisory Editors:
R. B. DOBSON
Professor of Medieval History, University of Cambridge, and Fellow of Christ's College
ROSAMOND MCKITTERICK
Reader in Early Medieval European History, University of Cambridge, and Fellow of
Newnham College
The series Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought was inaugurated by
G. G. Coulton in 1921. Professor D. E. Luscombe now acts as General Editor of
the Fourth Series, with Professor R. B. Dobson and Dr Rosamond McKitterick
as Advisory Editors. The series brings together outstanding work by medieval
scholars over a wide range of human endeavour extending from political
economy to the history of ideas.
For a list of titles in the series, see end of book.
CONQUEST, ANARCHY
AND LORDSHIP
Yorkshire, 1066-1154
PAUL DALTON
Lecturer in Medieval History,
Liverpool Institute of Higher Education
CAMBRIDGE
UNIVERSITY PRESS
PUBLISHED BY THE PRESS SYNDICATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
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© Cambridge University Press 1994
This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception
and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place without
the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published 1994
First paperback edition 2002
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data
Dalton, Paul.
Conquest, anarchy and lordship: Yorkshire, 1066-1154 / Paul Dalton.
p. cm. - (Cambridge studies in medieval life and thought; 4th ser., 27)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0 521 45098 5 (he)
1. Yorkshire (England) - Politics and government. 2. Great Britain - History
Norman period, 1066-1154. 3. Land tenure - England - Yorkshire - History.
4. Feudalism - England - Yorkshire - History. 5. Normans - England - Yorkshire
- History. I. Title. II. Series.
DA670.Y4D35 1994
942.8'102-dc20 93-13985 CIP
ISBN 0 52145098 5 hardback
ISBN 0 52152464 4 paperback
In memory of my parents
Joyce and Geoffrey Dalton

CONTENTS
List of maps page viii
List of tables ix
Acknowledgments x
List of abbreviations xii
INTRODUCTION I
1 THE NORMAN CONQUEST OF YORKSHIRE 19
2 THE TRANSFORMATION OF YORKSHIRE
IO66-1 I 3 5 : TERRITORIAL CONSOLIDATION AND
ADMINISTRATIVE INTEGRATION 79
3 THE TRANSFORMATION OF YORKSHIRE
IO86-II35 I MILITARY ENFEOFFMENT AND
MONASTERIES 113
4 THE REIGN OF STEPHEN I45
5 THE SCOTS IN THE NORTH 196
6 CARTAE BARONUM, NEW ENFEOFFMENTS AND THE
NATURE OF THE HONOUR 231
7 THE FIRST CENTURY OF ENGLISH FEUDALISM 257
Tables 298
Select bibliography 309
Index 320
vu
MAPS
1 The soils of Yorkshire, based on a map in
W. Harwood Long, A Survey of the Agriculture of
Yorkshire (1969), 15 page 28
2 The intensity of fiscal carucation in eleventh-century
Yorkshire 30
3 The honour of William of Percy: 1086 35
4 The honour of Hugh Fitz Baldric: 1086 36
5 The honour of Richmond: 1086 40
6 The honour of Ilbert of Lacy: 1086 41
7 The honour of Drogo de la Beuvriere: 1086 42
8 The honour of Tickhill: 1086 43
9 The honour of Robert of Mortain: 1086 50
10 The honour of Gilbert Tison: 1086 53
11 The honour of Tosny: 1086 54
12 The honour of Ralph Paynel: 1086 55
13 The honour of Ralph of Mortemer: 1086 56
14 The honour of Hugh earl of Chester: 1086 57
15 The honour of Erneis of Burun: 1086 58
16 The honour of Osbern of Arches: 1086 59
17 The honour of Robert of Stuteville: c. 1100 84
18 The castleries of Barnard, Skipton and Northallerton:
c. 1100 85
19 The honour of Nigel d'Aubigny: c. 1115 89
20 The Cleveland castleries of Brus, Fossard and Meinil 94
21 The castleries of Hallam, Wakefield and Conisbrough
in Henry I's reign 97
22 The estates of Eustace Fitz John and Walter Espec in
Henry I's reign 98
23 The pattern of military enfeoffment on the honour of
Percy in 1135 122
24 William earl of York and the hundreds of Yorkshire 163
vin
TABLES
1 The value of the estates of the Yorkshire lay tenants-
in-chief in Domesday Book page 298
2 The resources of the lordship of Conisbrough in
Domesday Book 299
3 The resources of the lordships of William of Percy
and Hugh Fitz Baldric in Domesday Book 299
4 The number of tenants enfeoffed by Yorkshire lay
tenants-in-chief by 1086 300
5 Bossall and its neighbouring estates in 1086 301
6 The resources of the lordships of Richmond,
Pontefract, Holderness and Tickhill in Domesday
Book 302
7 The resources of the lordship of Robert of Mortain in
Domesday Book 303
8 The resources of the embryonic lordships in
Domesday Book 304
9 The charters of Henry I addressed to, witnessed by or
concerning Walter Espec 306
10 The cartae baronum for Yorkshire: 1166 308
IX
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book began as a doctoral thesis submitted to the University
of Sheffield in April 1990. During the course of writing it I have
incurred many debts, both professional and personal. My thanks
must go first of all to the British Academy for the award of a major
state studentship, which supported me during the first three years
of my doctoral research, and for the three-year Post Doctoral
Fellowship which I took to the University of Sheffield. The
Department of History at Sheffield provided me with financial
support on a number of occasions during my research, the most
notable being a grant which enabled me to present a paper on the
earl of York to the Haskins Society conference in Houston, Texas,
in 1989. My thanks are due also to the Institute of Historical
Research, London, for the award of a Scouloudi Fellowship for the
academic year 1989—90, which supported me during the course of
writing up my thesis.
Many scholarly friends have offered constructive criticisms and
valuable suggestions which have greatly improved the book.
They include Sir James Holt and David Luscombe, who examined
the original thesis, David Carpenter, Michael Clanchy, Robin
Fleming, Judith Green, John Hudson, Chris Lewis, David Palliser,
Susan Reynolds, David Roffe and Kathleen Thompson. In
addition, Robin Fleming, David Palliser, David Roffe, Frank
Thorn and Ann Williams were kind enough to allow me to see
drafts of their articles in advance of publication. My thanks go out
to them all. During the course of preparing the book for
publication, the advice and editorial skills of Professor R.B.
Dobson and Mr William Davies have been greatly appreciated.
My greatest academic debt is to Edmund King, whose supervision
of the original thesis was exemplary, whose advice has always been
invaluable and whose work is an inspiration. The responsibility for
any errors and shortcomings which remain in the book is, of
course, my own.