his marriage with Maud or Matilda, the daughter and heiress of the illus- CHAP. 10. trious earl Waltheoff, by one of the nieces of William the Conqueror.

Battle of the

The time chosen by David for this invasion, was that in which Robert, Standard. earl of Gloucester, natural brother to the empress, had prevailed upon a large party of the barons, south of the Trent, to espouse the cause of his sister, and had seized upon the city of Bristol. Stephen was in the south of the kingdom, surrounded by barons whom he mistrusted, and who had actually remonstrated against the honours he bestowed upon his favourite, William de Ypres, notwithstanding his promises to discard all foreigners from his court. In this state of emergency he sent his royal letters to Thurstan, archbishop of York, empowering him to summon the northern barons of the realm to arm their followers in order to oppose the inroads of the Scots.

Those barons who obeyed the summons with alacrity on this distinguished occasion were the following. William, surnamed Le Gros, earl of Albemarle, in Normandy, but endowed with numerous manors in Yorkshire. He was young, active and bold: his troops consisted chiefly of adventurers from Picardy, trained to warfare, and esteemed both for their valour and their military skill.-Walter de Gand, a veteran soldier, who with his father had distinguished himself under the Conqueror, and had obtained lands in Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Lincolnshire. He was far advanced in years, and led on this occasion a body chiefly consisting of Flemings and Normans.-Robert le Brus, of Skelton and other manors of Yorkshire and Durham, had accompanied William the Conqueror from Normandy. He was at this period very aged, and having been a personal friend and intimate of the king of Scotland, from whom he held the manor of Anandale, he endeavoured, but in vain, to persuade David to accept of terms of accommodation, and to return to his own kingdom.— Roger de Mowbray, was of the Albini family: he was a minor and ward to king Stephen. On this occasion he headed his tenantry from the counties of Warwick and Leicester.- Walter D'Espec, one of the most illustrious of the maternal ancestors of the dukes of Rutland, was equally eminent for piety and valour. Quickwitted, prudent in counsel, serious in peace, discreet in war, a trusty friend, a loyal subject; of stature more than ordinary large, yet comely; his hair black, his beard long, forehead high, great eyes, big face but beautiful, shrill voice, in speech elegant."* His chief manor was Hamlake in Yorkshire. This honourable and experienced warrior had, by the king's letters, been joined in commission with Thurstan the archbishop, to summon the northern barons to take arms against the invaders; and in pursuance of this commission, when the army was assembled, he, from a mound, which had been raised about the standard, addressed the warriors around him, in an eloquent and pious oration; and, as he concluded it, he turned to the earl of Albemarle, giving him his right hand, and saying, "I faithfully promise you, that I will conquer the Scots this day or lose my life by them."-William de Perci, ancestor of the dukes of Northumberland, was also present, at the head of his tenantry, and was accompanied by Alan, the illegitimate, but brave son of his de

*Dugdale, from the Abbot of Rievaulx.

CHAP. 10. ceased elder brother.-Bernard de Baliol, from whom descended the Battle of the claimant of the crown of Scotland, during the reign of Edward the First,

Standard.

Lucia of
Mercia.

inherited from his father, who accompanied the Conqueror from Normandy, a barony in Northumberland, and several manors in Durham and Yorkshire. Being a warrior highly esteemed for his years and experience, he was nominated by archbishop Thurstan, as his agent, to meet a convocation of the northern barons at Thersk, in order to take into consideration what resistance should be made against the Scots. In consequence of the determination of the assembly, he was sent with Robert le Brus to king David, who had then advanced to the banks of the Tees. The failure of this embassy has already been mentioned.-Among the other distinguished leaders in this great baronial army were Richard de Courcy, William de Fossard, Robert D'Estoteville, and Gilbert de Lacy; but the circumstance that particularly connects this glorious event with the history of Derbyshire, is the part which Robert Ferrers, Ralph Alselin and William Peverel took in the transaction. The two former, as we have already seen, held vast possessions in the south of this county, while the latter was lord of the Peak, and of numerous manors in Nottinghamshire. Under such leaders the men of Derbyshire composed the chief strength of the combined forces.

The confederated barons encamped at North Allerton, about the 20th of August, 1138, and there they resolved to await the approach of the enemy. Their camp was intrenched, and in the middle of it there was an elevated mound. On this mound was a pole of extraordinary height and size, bearing on its top a silver pix, with the consecrated host: the banners of St. Peter and of St. John de Beverley were attached to the shaft. This was the holy standard, which the confederate barons, with their followers, bound themselves to maintain; and hence the battle which ensued, has been known by the name of the Battle of the Standard.

On the eve of the battle, which took place on the 22nd of August, the archbishop harangued the congregated chieftains from the base of the standard. He explained to them, that the safety of their estates depended upon their own exertions, as it was impossible for the king to come to their aid. They pledged themselves, in his presence, to God and to each other, and prepared to withstand the advancing enemy.-The Scots, encouraged by their triumphant progress from the confines of their own country, attacked the intrenchments with confidence that seemed to anticipate success. The contest was long and sanguinary, and the enemy, frequently repulsed, as frequently returned to the charge. The victory was at length decided by the valour of Robert Ferrers and the Derbyshire men under his command. The Scots were completely defeated, with the loss of not less than twelve thousand men. In consequence of this successful termination of a battle, which in his precarious condition, threatened to divest him of his crown, Stephen conferred on William Le Gros, the title of earl of Yorkshire, and on Robert Ferrers, that of earl of Derby.

Ranulph de Bricasard, the third earl of Chester, by his marriage with Lucia, the sister of the celebrated Edwin and Morcar, the sons of Algar, duke of Mercia, seems to have strengthened his claims to the inheritance

of lands, torn from those illustrious Saxons, and conferred by the Conque- CHAP. 10. ror on his uncle Hugh Lupus, by this alliance. He certainly conciliated Lucia of the attachment of the remaining English tenantry connected with a family Mercia. so high in their estimation. Lucia had been twice married before: first, to Ivo Tailbois, a rude and imperious Norman adventurer, by whom she had an only daughter, who died young: secondly, to Roger de Romara, earl of Lincoln, by whom she had William de Romara, who held several high military appointments under king Henry the First. On his mother's third marriage, which was with Ranulph de Bricasard, he laid claim to her possessions, but Ranulph having placed them, as the dowry of his wife, under the wardship of the crown, and engaged to pay a very heavy sum for their recovery, his suit was rejected. Enraged at this injustice, he went over to Normandy, and joined the insurrection which had broken out in that country in favour of William, the son of duke Robert. There he continued in open hostilities for two years, when king Henry, to pacify him, not only gave him those manors in Lincolnshire, which had belonged to his mother, but also bestowed upon him the hand of a wealthy royal ward, Matilda, the daughter of Richard de Redvers.-By Ranulph de Bricasard, earl of Chester, the sister of Edwin and Morcar, had two sons, from the eldest of whom (Ranulph de Gernons) may be traced branches of the lineage of the dukes of Devonshire and Rutland. She survived her husband, and in the 5th of Stephen she paid to the king three hundred and seventy marks for the livery of her dowry out of the lands of duke Algar, her father; and soon after she paid a fine of five hundred marks, that she might not be compelled to bestow her hand and her possessions upon a fourth husband.* She was buried at Spalding, a monastic cell attached to the abbey of Croyland, and richly endowed by her illustrious Saxon ancestry.

Lincoln.

Ranulph de Gernon was a person of extraordinary valour, but of a turbulent disposition. During the contention between Stephen and the empress Maud, he took part with the latter; but he was feared and respected by both parties. He married the daughter of Robert, earl of Gloucester, Siege of the uterine brother of the empress. Under pretence of keeping Christmas in the castle of Lincoln with his half-brother, William de Romara, earl of Lincoln, he repaired thither, in the year 1141, with his wife and a large retinue of armed followers. He then declared openly in favour of the empress, which induced Stephen, who was at the head of a considerable army, to lay siege to the city. The king's forces consisted chiefly of foreigners, but there were also in his camp, as much in the character of auxiliaries as subjects, some English barons, among whom was William Peverel, with a large band of his retainers from the Peak of Derbyshire. Ranulph de Gernon, alarmed at the sudden investment of the place, and fearing that it would not long withstand the assailants, favoured as they were by many inhabitants of the city, privately left the castle, unattended, and hastened to his wife's father, who was recruiting his troops in Gloucestershire and had been joined by the Welsh. The earl of Gloucester, interested in the

* She must have been considerably advanced in years at the period of her third widowhood, as she was married to Ivo Tailbois in 1072, and Ranulph, her third husband, died in 1129.

Lincoln.

CHAP. 10. fate of his daughter, who was besieged in Lincoln castle, as well as anxious Siege of to preserve so important a station, drew his troops from their winter quarters, and marched to Lincoln, with such rapidity that he nearly surprised the king, who thought that the waters of the Trent, which, during that season of the year, were much swollen, would have impeded the march of the two earls. Ranulph de Gernon had the chief command of the army, which he divided into four parts. The earl of Gloucester led the reserve, who, as he resigned the honour of leading the van to his son-in-law, addressed the soldiers, telling them that the earl of Chester, being a person noble of birth, and excelling in valour, was worthy of the honour of striking the first stroke on that occasion: that for himself, the madness and perjury of Stephen, who had sworn fealty to the empress in the time of king Henry, was the motive that incited him to arms. He then pointed to the increasing inundations by which they were surrounded, and showed the impossibility of retreat. "We must conquer or perish;" he added, "for those who have no refuge must have recourse to their valour. But," continued he, "against what manner of men is it that you are to fight? Why, there is the earl of Mellent, a most deceitful person, who has iniquity in his heart, fraud in his lips, and sloth in his actions. Next there is the earl of Albemarle, a drunkard, but no soldier: and then there is Simon, earl of Northampton, a man of words only, who never makes performance of his promise." And thus he went on, characterising in a contemptuous strain, the barons who adhered to the cause of Stephen. The earl of Chester also addressed the troops, but scarcely were these orations concluded, when the battle began. For some time the conflict continued on both sides with equal valour, until the king's cavalry, which were hireling adventurers from Flanders and Brittany, gave ground, and in retreating towards the walls of the city, discouraged the infantry and threw them into confusion. The earl of Albemarle, then styled earl of York, is said by the old historian, Simon of Durham, to have been the first who with his adherents set the example of flight. The discomfiture of the king's troops soon became general. Stephen, with a few who remained faithful to him, among whom were William Peverel and his brave adherents from the Peak, remained on the field of battle, fighting on foot, though assaulted by multitudes, which he repelled with incredible valour. He even attempted to rally his flying troops, but he soon perceived that this was impossible; for some of his principal leaders openly led over their men to join the adverse army. The chief of these deserters was Waleran, earl of Mellent, whose half-brother William, earl of Warren, had previously fled. King Stephen continued to fight with invincible courage, with William Peverel at his side. His battle-axe was broken by the force and frequency of the blows he dealt around him. He then drew his sword and for a considerable time continued to defend himself, until his sword flying into fragments, and he being at the same instant struck down with a stone, William de Keynes, one of the soldiers of the earl of Gloucester, rushed in upon him, and seizing hold of his helmet, set the point of his sword against his throat, and threatened him with instant death if he did not yield himself prisoner. Stephen, even at this extremity, refused to surrender to any but the earl of Gloucester, who instantly stept forward and received the brave but unhappy mon

arch as his captive. William Péverel was taken prisoner with the king, CHAP. 10. as was also Bernard de Baliol, Roger de Mowbray, Richard de Courcy, William Foissard, and several other barons.

Peverel.

When William Peverel was taken prisoner, his castle at Nottingham William de and his other possessions were seized upon and destroyed by a division of the earl of Gloucester's army, which had been entrusted to the direction of Ralph Pagnel, of Dudley in Staffordshire. All the inhabitants of Nottingham, capable of bearing arms, having accompanied William Peverel to the siege of Lincoln, the town was totally defenceless: it was, consequently, plundered and afterwards set on fire.-In the year following, the king having regained his liberty, and his affairs wearing a more favourable aspect, William Peverel, at the head of a party of his adherents, surprised the castle of Nottingham, by a nocturnal stratagem, and slaughtered all those who held it in the name of Pagnel.

part with

In the first year of the reign of Henry II. the son and successor of William Peverel, whose name also was William, was accused of having, two years before, poisoned Ranulph, earl of Chester. The charge was that he had conspired with others to effect this crime, but the cause that instigated him to this diabolical act does not appear. Fearful that king Henry would avenge with severity the death of an eminent baron, attached to the interests of himself and his mother, Peverel fled to the monastery of Lenton, where he caused himself to be shorn as a monk; but being apprized that Henry was returning that way from York, he quitted the monkish habit and escaped out of the kingdom. Many of the estates of the Peverels were retained for a long period in the hands of the king, who at length bestowed the chief of them on his son John, then earl of Morton, and afterwards king of England. Some of them came by marriage to the family of Ferrers. We meet with no political occurrence in history connected with this Barons take county until we come to the nineteenth year of the reign of Henry II.; a young King sovereign who has been extolled for his extraordinary talents, although the Henry. extensive territories over which he ruled were the continual scenes of insurrection and disorder. He was unhappy in his family, and at the period of which we are speaking, his sons had excited the provinces of Guienne and Bretagne, held by him in France, to rebel against him. His eldest son, Henry, had been crowned in the life-time of his father, and had espoused a daughter of the king of France. This young man was of a haughty disposition, and having for some years borne the titular honour of a king, he became eager to possess the regal authority. In his designs he was encouraged by his father-in-law, who instigated him to demand of his father the dukedom of Normandy; while covertly a plot was in agitation to deprive the king of his crown. Into this conspiracy, the young princes found little difficulty in persuading several of the English barons to enter. These were the earl of Leicester, Robert, earl of Ferrers, Hugh, earl of Norfolk, Hugh, earl of Chester, and many others. When the purpose of the conspirators was considered ripe for execution, young Henry, then resident at Paris, assumed and exercised the rights of sovereignty, receiving homage of the vassals, making grants out of the crown lands, and assigning pensions out of the public revenue. The king of France levied