Page images
PDF
EPUB

Sir Robert appears to have been the intimate personal friend of Peter, 1st Baron de Mauley of Mulgrave, already mentioned as the enemy of Alta Ripa. In 1233, de Mauley, who had been given the custody of the royal castle of Devizes (Close Roll, 18 Hen. III, M. 31), appointed Robert to the post of constable of this castle, which office he appears to have held for three years, spending, perhaps, three months of the year at Devizes.

Lord Peter de Brus III married Hillaria, eldest daughter of Peter de Mauley I, and had issue five children. According to Dugdale and the Brus pedigree the marriage took place in 1237, when Hillaria would probably be about 20 years of age. The five children were born between that date and October, 1241, when Peter de Brus III died, and was interred in the south aisle of the chancel of Guisborough Priory.

Peter de Mauley the younger, eldest son and heir of Peter de Mauley I, had married a sister of Peter de Brus III, so the two families were very closely connected. In 1241, Peter de Mauley I left England for the Holy Land (Yorkshire Inquisitions, i, 12), and the barony of Mulgrave and the lordship of Doncaster passed to his son Peter, who became the second Baron de Mauley.

In 1242, Peter de Mauley II arranged with Sir Robert de Thweng that Marmaduke, Robert's eldest surviving son and heir, then 17 years of age, should marry his niece, Lucia, the second daughter of Peter de Brus III, who, at this time cannot have been more than two or three years of age. The custody of all the children had been given to de Mauley II, who, as the husband of Joan de Brus, was in a double sense the uncle of the orphans. In 1242, Sir Robert gave the whole of the Kilton fief, with the exception of the lordship of Hinderwell and the advowsons of the church of Kirkleatham and of the chapel of St. Peter, "infra castellum de Kilton," to his son Marmaduke to dower Lucia de Brus (Coram Rege, Hen. III, No. 7, M. 7). Whether the marriage took place at once, the bride being some three years old, and the bridegroom between 16 and 17, is uncertain; probably it was celebrated a few years later. However this may be, Robert, the eldest child of the marriage, was born and baptised at Kilton Castle in 1255, his mother being then between 15 and 16 years of age. The most probable date of the marriage is 1247, when Marmaduke, on the death of his father, entered into full possession of the whole of the Thweng property.

In 1246, Adam de Seton-a descendant of a younger son of Adam de Kylton, to whom Adam had given, in subinfeudation, the manor of Seaton in the lordship of Hinderwell-appears to have claimed the advowson of the church of St. Hilda, at Hinderwell, as the male representative of Pagan Fitz-Walter (de Kylton). It was finally agreed that after the death of the then incumbent, John de Newark, the presentation should be alternate, Robert presenting the first (Pedes Finium Ebor., 25-30 Hen. III, No. 246).

Sir Robert died at the manor house of Thwing in 1247, at the age of 45, and was interred in the chancel of Thwing Church, where many of his family were buried. He had issue five sons, Robert, who died young; Marmaduke, who succeeded him; Richard, Thomas, and Gawen.

MARMADUKE, Ist feudal Baron de Thweng of Danby, eldest surviving son and heir of Sir Robert de Thweng, was born and baptised at Kilton Castle in 1225. As a boy of sixteen he became lord of the castle and of the Kilton and Kirkleatham portions of the Kilton fief-valued at three knights' fees and subsequently married Lucia de Brus, second daughter of Peter de Brus III by his wife, Hillaria de Mauley. On his father's death in 1247 he inherited the whole of the Thweng property, which, according to the Percy Chartulary (No. 403), was valued at seven knights' fees. "Lund, Thweng, Kilton, Thorpe, Lythum, etc., a tenir par les services de sept feez de chivaler." He was, therefore, a man of considerable importance, holding as much land as many a feudal baron in capite, and Kilton, as the capital of these fiefs, was necessarily a well-known castle at this time.

In 1257, he had a grant from King Henry III of free warren in the demesne lands of his manors of Thwing, Lyum, Kylton, Morsum, and Thorp; a market on Thursdays at his manor of Lund, with a fair on the eve, day, and morrow of All Saints (Nov. Ist); a market on Wednesdays at his manor of Thwing, together with a fair on the eve, day, and morrow of the Translation of Saint Thomas the Martyr (July 7th); a market at his manor of Cotum on Wednesdays, together with a fair on the eve, day, and morrow of St. Laurence (August 10th).

By his wife, Lucia de Brus (born 1240), he had issue:

Robert, eldest son and heir, born at Kilton Castle in 1255. Marmaduke, afterwards first Parliamentary Baron de Thweng, born at Kilton Castle, 1256,

Hillaria, eldest daughter, born at Kilton, 1258.
Galivanus, third son, born at Kilton, 1259.
John, fourth son, born at Kilton, 1261.
Edmund, fifth son, born at Kilton, 1263
Matilda, second daughter, born at Kilton, 1265.
Richard, sixth son, born at Kilton, 1267.
Alicia, third daughter, born at Kilton, 1268.
Peter, seventh son, born at Kilton, 1270.
Johanna, fourth daughter, born at Kilton, 1271.
William, eighth son, born at Castleton, 1273.

Roger, ninth son, born at Castleton, 1274.

Margery, youngest daughter, born at Castleton, 1276.

Margery, named after her aunt, Margery or Margaret de Brus (who married Robert de Roos), became the second wife of Ralph, Lord Nevill of Raby and Middleham, who had married as his first wife Euphemia de Clavering. The manor of Faceby in Cleveland had, at the time of the Brus partition, been assigned to Margaret de Roos. On the death of her husband, Margaret was offered, and accepted, a home at Kilton Castle by her brother-in-law, Marmaduke, and she gave him this manor, valued at four-fifths of a knight's fee, on condition that it should form the dower of her niece, Margery. It remained in the possession of the Nevill family until the attainder of John Nevill, Marquis of Montague, temp. Edward IV.

Margery de Thweng," says the Rev. Dr. Hodgson, of Witton-le-Wear, in a letter to the writer, was buried at Well, where, in Dr. Whitaker's time, an inscription, much worn and mutilated, was to be seen on a black marble slab in the churchyard, which could only be referred to her, and none else (Richmondshire, ii, 82). Her effigy, however, still remains at Staindrop, and is a very interesting one, resting on the backs of six detached lions. It appears to have been always in the south aisle, built in 1343 by her step-son, Ralph, Lord Nevill of Nevill's Cross, as a chantry chapel for the souls of his parents, viz. his father, mother, and step-mother. It was no uncommon thing for the body to be buried in one place and to have an effigy in another."

In 1271, Marmaduke's brother-in-law, Peter de Brus IV, the then head of the great baronial house of Brus of Skelton, died without issue, and was interred in the south aisle of the chancel of Guisborough Priory. His barony, consisting of 30

1

knights' fees, was divided among his four sisters, viz. Agnes, who had married Sir Walter de Fauconberg, Knt.; Lucia, the wife of Marmaduke; Margery, who had married Robert de Roos; and Laderina, who had married Sir John de Bella Aqua.

WALTER DE FAUCONBERG, who bore the arms, Or, a fesse azure, in chief three pallets gules (Roll of Arms, published in the Archæologia, 418), but who subsequently assumed the ancient arms of de Brus, viz. Argent, une lyon rampant d'azure (Roll of Arms, published by Sir Harris Nicolas), received, in right of his wife, the castle of Skelton, the manors of Marske, Redcar, Upleatham, Stanghow, etc., together with half the advowson of the Priory of Guisborough.

ROBERT DE Roos, who bore the famous arms, Gules, three water bougets argent, received, in right of his wife, Kendal and other property in Westmorland, together with certain estates in Cleveland.

JOHN DE BELLA AQUA, who bore the arms, Sable, a bordeur indented or (Roll of Arms, temp. Edward III, published by Sir Harris Nicolas, p. 18), received, in right of his wife, Thorp Arch, Walerton, Carleton in Balne, together with certain lands in Southburn, Eastburn, etc.

MARMADUKE DE THWENG, already in his own right the holder of seven knights' fees in the barony of Percy, received the lordship, castle, and forest of Danby, the manors of Kirkburne and Southburn, in the East Riding (certain reservations in favour of John de Bella Aqua excepted), a quarter of the wreck of the sea between Yarm and Runswick, a mediety of the bailiffy of the wapentake of Langbaurgh, and half the advowson of the Priory of Guisborough. The total possessions, including overlordships such as that of Kildale-held under him by a

1 The Inq. P m. of Peter de Brus IV proves that he held 16 fees in capite, the following knights holding their lands under him, viz. William and John Mauleverer, three fees; Robert Ingram, three fees; William de Percy, of Kildale, three fees; Roger de Merlas, two fees; William Esturmi, and others, two fees; Robert de Lascelles, one fee; William Loring, half a fee; William de Tocotes, half a fee; whilst Peter de Brus retained in his own hands the lordship of Danby, valued at one knight's fee.

De Brus held two fees under the Constable of Chester, of which Ambrose de Camera and Galfridus Maucovenaunt, of Easington, held one fee, and Robert Nevill the other. Under the Bishop of Durham, de Brus had held a knight's fee VOL. XXII.

in Herternesse, which had been subinfeuded to a younger branch of the Brus family.

In various other places de Brus had held about 11 knights' fees, the following persons holding under him, viz. Robert de Buttirmyk, one fee; Robert Fossard, one fee; Richard de Grimiston, one fee; William de Bouington, one fee and half a carucate of land; Roger de Neusam, one fee; William de Boyvill, one fee; Richard Malebisse, half a fee; William de Roscelles, three-quarters of a fee; William Buscell, half a fee; Conanus de Liverton, half a fee; Marmaduke de Thweng, of Kilton, a carucate and a half of land at Great Moorsholm, which holding had descended to him from the de Kyltons, etc. etc.

F

junior branch of the Percy family-which came to Marmaduke by the Brus partition of 1271, were valued at nine and a half knights' fees ("Haeres Marmaduc. de Thweng, qui est in custodia Domini Regis, tenet VIII feod. milit. et dimid. et Danby pro uno feod. De Domino Rege in capite."-Kirkby's Inquest).

A detailed description of this extensive property hardly comes within the scope of a short article, but it is quite evident that, as the holder of property valued altogether at 16 knights' fees, Marmaduke was undoubtedly the most powerful and influential baron in Cleveland.1

Late in 1271, or early in 1272, Marmaduke took up his residence in the old Brus castle on the Danby lordship, giving Kilton to his eldest son, Robert. The reasons for this removal were, perhaps, mainly sentimental, for the Brus castle was probably not superior either as a fortress or a residence to that at Kilton. But whilst at the latter place Marmaduke was merely the most powerful of the Percy feudatories, at Castleton he was a great baron, holding his lands in capite. The sporting advantages of the Castleton residence also probably appealed to him, for he seems to have taken little or no interest in public affairs, devoting his time to the management of his extensive estates and to outdoor sports and pursuits.

The castle at Castleton was only some six miles south of Kilton, and had been founded by Adam de Brus in the reign of Stephen. Like Kilton, it was one of the numerous "adulterine" fortresses erected during the civil wars of the period, but the original stockading would appear to have been replaced by masonry at a much earlier date than was the case at Kilton.

Nothing of the castle now remains, but the moats may be distinctly traced, together with the foundations of the massive wall of enceinte. In its first form the fortalice was evidently of the Motte and Baily type, but the conical mound on which the "bretasche" stood was at an early date surmounted by a shell-keep.

[merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

or to take anything which may belong to warren, without the license and will of the aforesaid Marmaduke and Lucy, or their heirs, under forfeiture to us of ten pounds, etc. etc. These being witnesses: the venerable father R. Bishop of Bath and Wells, our chancellor William de Valence our uncle, Henry de Lacy Earl of Lincoln, Antony Bek Archdeacon of Durham, Master Thomas Bek Archdeacon of Dorset, Walter De Helyon, Hugh son of Otto, John de Lovetot, and others. Given by our hand at Westminster, the 22nd day of January" (1279).

« PreviousContinue »