DE LACY RESEARCH
Posted: 23 Apr 2012, 07:12
Clitheroe Castle in Clitheroe, Lancashire, England is a motte and bailey castle built in a natural carboniferous limestone outcrop, grid reference SD742416.
It was built around 1186 by Robert de Lacy as an administrative centre for his estates in the area but later passed by inheritance to the Crown. It consists of one of the smallest keeps in the country and at one time it was surrounded by a curtain wall.
Henry de Lacy, Baron of Pontefract
Henry de Lacy (1070, Halton, – 1123) was the grandson of Ilbert de Lacy. Henry de Lacy, Baron of Pontefract and Lord of Blackburnshire, built Kirkstall Abbey.
The legend says, Robert de Lacy (? – 1193) has built Clitheroe Castle. The purple lions in the arm of Clitheroe support the legend.
. Robert de Lacy is evidently the first member of the Lacy family to have founded a monastery, that of the Cluniac priory of St. John, Pontefract, sometime during the reign of William I, and also is believed by some to have been responsible for the building of the Lacy castle at Clitheroe. Robert, along with his son Ilbert II, were banished from their English lands around 1114. Robert de Lacy and his wife, Matilda left three known children, a daughter, Aubrey/Albreda, and two sons, Ilbert II and Henry, although there was likely another son, Robert. The elder Robert was dead by 1129, when Robert de Lisoures paid for permission to marry his daughter, Aubrey (Albreda). Ilbert II evidently died without heirs, as he was succeeded by his brother Henry, who also left no heirs.
Hugh of Kirkstall
Hugh of Kirkstall, monk of Kirkstall, compiled the foundation history of Fountains [Narratio de fundatione Fontanis monasterii] and was most likely also the author of the foundation history of his own abbey, Kirkstall. Hugh entered the monastic life at Kirkstall during the abbacy of Ralph Haget; he was commissioned to write the foundation history of Fountains by Abbot John of York. According to Hugh, the first half of his account is based on the memories of Serlo, an elderly monk of the abbey who had witnessed the tumultuous events in 1131/2 and the birth of the Fountains community.
The fifth daughter abbey of Fountains, Kirkstall was founded in 1152 by Abbot Alexander. The original colonising monks had first settled at Barnoldswick (a gift of land by Henry de Lacy) in 1147, but the site and native populace had proved to be inhospitable. After arriving, the monks had removed the inhabitants of the site and, when they proved to be a nuisance by returning to worship at their church, the monks pulled down the village church. There can be little surprise, therefore, that the villagers complained bitterly to the archbishop and ultimately to the papacy, who both being Cistercian, did nothing to compensate the village.
The current site by the river Aire was also in the gift of Henry de Lacy and was described at the time as being "remote from the habitation of man", somewhat inappropriate today. At the end of the Abbeys working life it encompassed 800 acres.
So in 1152 abbot Alexander moved his community to the new site and began construction of the basilica and by 1159 the eastern parts of the church were complete and ready for use. It is a popular myth that monks raised their great abbeys with their own hands, however the earliest Cistercian chapters states "No abbot shall be sent to a new place without at least twelve monks ... and without the prior construction of such places as an oratory, a refectory, a dormitory, a guest house, and a gatekeepers cell, so that the monks may immediately serve God and live in religious discipline" These buildings were often timber and not replaced with stone until the monastery was judged to be viable.
In the year 1207 a monk named Serlo narrated his story to Hugh de Kirkstall .....
"In the year of the Incarnation of the Lord 1147, a certain man of noble rank, Henry, by name de Lacy, in the territory of York undertook the construction of a monastery of the Cistercian order.
He accordingly assigned a spot, and erected a monastery; and there is sent to him a convent of monks under Abbot Alexander. This Alexander was one of our [of Fountains] first fathers, own brother of the Lord Richard, second Abbot of Fountains, who, as has been related, at Clairvaux rested in peace.
Among these brethren, I, Serlo, was sent forth, a man now decrepit, as you see, and worn out with old age. The place of our habitation at first was called Bernolfwic (also Barnolfswet), which we called by a changed name--The Mount of St. Mary. We remained there for several years, suffering many discomforts of cold and hunger, partly because of the inclemency of the air and the ceaseless trouble of rain, partly because, the kingdom being in a turmoil, many a time our possessions were wasted by brigands. The site of our habitation therefore displeased us, and the abbey was reduced to a grange.
And through the advice of our patron we migrated to another place, which is now called Kirkstall. In the 15th year of the Foundation of the Monastery of Fountains, on May 19th, we were sent out under the Abbot Alexander, twelve monks and ten lay brethren."
In 1177 Henry de Lacy died and the the church was recorded as complete and by 1182 Abbot Alexander died and all "the buildings of Kirkstall where erected of stone and wood, that is the church and dormitory of the monks, and of the lay brethren, and either refectory, the cloister, and the chapter house, and other offices necessary within the abbey, and all of these covered with tile". Sadly the few that remain are faint and timeworn
24. THE ABBEY OF KIRKSTALL
On a bed of sickness Henry Lacy, grandson of Ilbert de Lacy, to whom the Conqueror had given with other possessions the lordship of Blackburnshire, vowed that if he recovered he would found an abbey of the Cistercian order. Having recovered, he made a grant to the Abbot of Fountains of the village of Barnoldswick, close to the boundaries of Yorkshire and Lancashire, and within his lordship of Blackburn. (fn. 1)
Thither certain brothers were dispatched, who built some humble offices, and according to the custom of the order imposed a new name on the place, calling it Mount St. Mary's (Mons Sancte Marie), Henry Lacy, however, was not the chief lord of the grant he had given, which he held of Hugh Bigod, Earl of Norfolk, by a yearly payment Which had lapsed for many years, and about which Lacy had said nothing to the Abbot of Fountains. At a later period this led to. trouble, and the temporary dispossession of the monks.
Alexander, Prior of Fountains, was chosen abbot of the new convent, and on 18 May 1147 he left Fountains for Barnoldswick with twelve monks and ten conversi to colonize the fifth abbey, in order of time, peopled from Fountains, the abbot of which became in consequence its pater abbas.
The church of Barnoldswick was an ancient church, having four parochial villages (villas parochiales) dependent on it, and two hamlets. The parishioners were accustomed to attend the church on feast days with their priest and clerks, and this disturbed the quiet of the monks. So the abbot pulled down the church in spite of the remonstrances of the parishioners. A sharp contention, not unnaturally, arose, and the parishioners took their case to the papal court, where the pope in person decided for the monks and against the parishioners. Afterwards the abbey was moved and a new parochial church erected on a fresh site, else it is not impossible that a decision less obviously unfair to the parishioners might have been given.
The monastery at Barnoldswick suffered very much from the forays of robbers, probably Scots, and also from the climate. Barnoldswick was cold and bleak and the ' importunity of the clouds,' as the writer describes it, almost every year spoilt the monastic crops. For more than six years the monks existed in great poverty, and Abbot Alexander began to look about for another place to which the monastery could be transferred. It so happened, the chronicler relates, that when on a journey on the business of the house, he passed through a well-wooded and shady valley called Airedale, he found, on a level place in it, certain hermits. Charmed with the place, he asked their manner of life, to what order they belonged, whence they came, and who had given them the place. One of the hermits, Seleth by name, who appeared to be their master, told the abbot that he was a native of the south of England, and that a voice had sounded to him in sleep, saying, 'Arise, Seleth, and go to the province of York, and seek diligently in the vale called Airedale for a certain place called Kirkstall, for there shalt thou make ready a future habitation for the brethren who serve my son.' Asking who this son might be, the answer was, ' I am Mary, and my son is Jesus of Nazareth the Saviour of the world.' Seleth, placing his hope in God, had set forth from his home, and not without difficulty had reached the spot where the abbot found him. From shepherds who kept their flocks there he had at first obtained the place. For many days he was alone, feeding on roots and vegetables, and depending on the alms which Christian charity brought him. Afterwards other brothers joined him, having for rule a common life, according to the order of the brothers of Leruth, owning no property, but seeking food and clothing by the work of their hands.
The abbot recognized the suitability of the place for the construction of the abbey, and not without a little guile, as he took his leave of the hermits, began to warn them as to the health and safety of their souls, pointing out the danger of following their own will, their fewness in number, disciples without a master, laymen without a priest, persuading them to a better rule of religion. Then he went direct to Henry Lacy, and pointed out the poverty of the monks, and that he had found a place more particularly suitable, the lord of the soil being a certain knight, William of Poictou. The abbot calling together the hermits, some joined the community and others accepted a money compensation for their right. William of Poictou, at the instance of Lacy, granted the monks the place which had belonged to the hermits, and on 20 May 1152 the monks moved from Barnoldswick to the new site. They secured possession of certain land on the south up to the slope of the hill, and having cut down the wood, cultivated the soil, and made it fruitful. Henry de Lacy greatly helped them with provisions and money. With his own hand he laid the foundation of the church and completed it at his own cost.
When the monks left Barnoldswick that place was reduced to the status of a grange. It has been already mentioned that Henry de Lacy held it of Hugh Bigod, Earl of Norfolk, and that the annual fee of 5 marks and a hawk had not been paid for many years. Hugh Bigod, however, as the overlord of Henry de Lacy substantiated his claim to Barnoldswick in the king's court and dispossessed the monks. Later, however, Henry II prevailed on the earl to give the grange (for the redemption of his sins) in pure and perpetual alms.
The first abbot, Alexander, ruled the house for thirty-five years, and during his time the church and other buildings were built and roofed. He was a true abbot, in deed and in name, the chronicler records, and in a good old age was gathered to his fathers.
In 1156 Pope Adrian IV (Nicholas Brakespear) confirmed the church and all their possessions to the monks, and took them under his protection. (fn. 2) Henry II also granted them a con firmation of the property which the abbey then possessed. (fn. 3)
Abbot Alexander was succeeded in 1182 (fn. 4) by Ralph Haget, who had also been Prior of Fountains. His rule was not successful, and although renowned for sanctity he seems to have lacked business capacity. Perhaps it may have been more his misfortune than mismanagement, for he was afterwards elected Abbot of Fountains, but Kirkstall became impoverished in his time. The important grange of Micklethwaite was alienated, and the monks seem to have blamed him for that loss, for which he was not responsible, as well as others, such as that of a golden chalice and a text of the Gospels, which he had given to Henry II to gain his good will. For the nine years of his abbacy he remained at Kirkstall with his monks struggling with poverty until he was chosen Abbot of Fountains in 1191, and was succeeded by Lambert, one of the twelve monks who forty - two years before had left Fountains to found the Abbey of Barnoldswick.
Abbot Lambert (fn. 5) is described as a man of extraordinary innocency and simplicity, and one who took little part in the temporal affairs of the house, relying rather on his brethren's advice.
In his time the grange of Cliviger was claimed from the monks by Richard of Eland, and the abbot, regarding the claim as a just one, resigned Cliviger to Robert Lacy, the son of the founder, and then patron of the abbey, who gave instead of it a place called ' Akarinton.' Removing the inhabitants from Akarinton, he formed it into a farm or grange, but some of the ejected inhabitants burnt the grange with all its belongings, besides killing the three conversi who had been put in charge of it. Robert Lacy dealt very severely with the evildoers, whom he banished, making them first rebuild the grange and abjure all right to it and pay money beyond the cost of repairing the damage done to the monks. The record concludes by saying that Abbot Lambert died in a good old age after having held office for thirty years, but his real term of office appears to have been about five years. (fn. 6)
The next abbot was Turgis, a man who practised extreme asceticism even for those days of hard living. It is said that he wept so copiously at his devotions and while saying mass, that others could hardly wear the same sacerdotal vestments.
Helias, a monk of Roche, who succeeded Turgis in the abbacy, endeavoured to obtain from King John the grange of Micklethwaite, which Henry I had seized during the abbacy of Ralph Haget, but the king would only consent to grant the grange if the abbot would take the manors of Bardsey and Collingham to farm, paying yearly the sum of £90. (fn. 7)
At the time of the appointment of Hugh Grimston in 1284 (fn. 8) the abbey was enormously in debt, owing.no less a sum than £5,248 15s. 7d. besides 59 sacks of wool. The new abbot must have set vigorously to work to reduce this debt, for by July 1301 the house owed £160 only, while its farm stock comprised 216 draught oxen, 160 cows, 152 yearlings and bullocks, 90 calves, and 4,000 sheep and lambs.
In 1380-1 (fn. 9) besides the abbot there were sixteen monks and six conversi.
In 1394-5 (fn. 10) the alien cell of Burstall in Holderness, belonging to the abbey of St. Martin near Albemarle in France, was sold to the Abbot and convent of Kirkstall, who thus became possessed of several churches and considerable property in the east of Yorkshire, which they retained till the Dissolution.
The entrance of women within the precincts of Cistercian monasteries of men was very strictly forbidden, but Pope Boniface IX having granted indulgences to those persons of either sex who visited the conventual church of Kirkstall on certain days, Robert Burley, Abbot of Fountains, pater abbas of Kirkstall, agreed in 1401 to tolerate pro tempore the admission of women to the church only on condition that they visited no other of the monastic buildings and were not received there by the abbot or monks. (fn. 11)
In 1432 (fn. 12) John Colyngham resigned the office of abbot, and his successor, also named John, with the convent made provision for him. He was to receive a yearly pension of 20 marks for life, and to have a chamber assigned for his free use, called ' the White Chawmber.' Besides this, his portion of bread, ale and victuals was to be that of two monks, and he was to have lights, with wood for fuel. He was to take rank everywhere immediately after the existing abbot, and, if he so wished, might take his meals in the abbot's chamber. A servant was to be assigned to him as to the abbot, and if ill a monk was to be deputed by the abbot or prior to look after him.
Possibly because a visitation of all the Cistercian houses of men in England was in progress at the time, this agreement was confirmed by the three abbot visitors, William, Abbot of Clairvaux, John, Abbot 'de Theolosco,' and John [Ripon], Abbot of Fountains. Indeed, the resignation of Abbot Colyngham may have resulted from this visitation of the abbey, although nothing is said to that effect.
A very large amount of property was gradually acquired by the abbey of Kirkstall. It mainly lay in the neighbourhood of the abbey, in Blackburnshire, and in the East Riding, the latter being the property purchased from the abbey of St. Martin near Albemarle. (fn. 13)
In the Taxation of 1291 the temporalities were valued at £68 5s. 8d. (fn. 14) The returns for part of Yorkshire in the Valor Ecclesiasticus of Henry VIII are defective, and the portion relating to Kirkstall is missing.
The monastery was surrendered by John Ripley, abbot, and the convent on 22 November 1540. (fn. 15)
he initial impetus for Kirkstall Abbey was provided by Henry de Lacy. Henry was the grandson of Ilbert de Lacy who received extensive lands from William the Conqueror following the Norman Invasion. Henry approached the abbot of Fountains and offered estates in Blackburnshire for a new Cistercian monastery.
On 19th May 1147 the nucleus of a community set forth from Fountains and set about establishing a new order at Barnoldswick.
For a number of reasons the new site did not suit the brethren. A major factor was probably the unrest caused by the destruction of the local parish church - an act that would not have endeared the brothers to their new neighbours.
Abbot Alexander set off to find a new site. He came across a spot in Airedale where there was already a religious settlement. The abbot secured the site from the local landowner and the original residents were absorbed into the community - or dispossessed.
Thus the community transferred from Barnoldswick to Kirkstall on 19th May 1152*, no doubt leaving the angry locals to rebuild their parish church.
In the year of the Incarnation of the Lord 1147, a certain man of noble rank, Henry, by name de Lacy, in the territory of York undertook the construction of a monastery of the Cistercian order.
He accordingly assigned a spot, and erected a monastery; and there is sent to him a convent of monks under Abbot Alexander. This Alexander was one of our [of Fountains] first fathers, own brother of the Lord Richard, second Abbot of Fountains, who, as has been related, at Clairvaux rested in peace.
Among these brethren, I, Serlo, was sent forth, a man now decrepit, as you see, and worn out with old age. The place of our habitation at first was called Bernolfwic (also Barnolfswet), which we called by a changed name--The Mount of St. Mary. We remained there for several years, suffering many discomforts of cold and hunger, partly because of the inclemency of the air and the ceaseless trouble of rain, partly because, the kingdom being in a turmoil, many a time our possessions were wasted by brigands. The site of our habitation therefore displeased us, and the abbey was reduced to a grange.
Now there was in those days in the province of York a certain man of great possessions, and among the great folk of the kingdom most notable and most noteworthy, by name Henry de Lacey; and it fell out that he was sick for many days. The man grown penitent under the scourge of God, made a Vow to the Lord that he would build an abbey of the Cistercian order in honour of the glorious Virgin Mary and Mother of God, Mary.
He recovered and not unmindful of his vow straightaway caused the abbot of Fountains to be summoned to him, laid before him his intention described his vow and assigned to him by donation solemnly made a certain vill by name Barnoldswick with its appurtenances for the construction of an abbey, and Confirmed the same by his charter.
Now the said vill belonged to the fee of Hugh Bigod, Earl of Norfolk, and the said Henry had held it by rendering to the Earl annually five marks and one hawk a year old, though for many years previous to this time he had ceased payment. The abbot took the gift offered from the hand of the man, not knowing the matter to be the subject of dispute, and sending brethren built humble offices according to the form of the order, and called the place by a new name 'the Mount of St. Mary.'
So, the offices arranged according to custom, in the year of the Incarnation of our Lord one thousand one hundred and forty-seven, there was ordained abbot of the same place the venerable man the lord Alexander, prior of Fountains, who on that very day, namely, May 19th, was despatched from the abbey of Fountains with twelve monks and too lay brothers to the new abbey, which was called the Mount of Saint Mary.
At that time the Archbishop of York was Henry Murdac, of good memory, once abbot of Fountains, who with episcopal authority granted and confirmed the place itself with its appurtenances and the church of the same place free and quit and delivered of every claim to the monks there serving God.
Moreover there was a church at Barnoldswick , very ancient and founded long before, with four parochial vills, to wit Marton and another Marton, Bracewell and Stock besides the vill of Barnoldswick and two small vills appertaining, Elfwynetrop to wit, and Brogden of which the said monks were by this time in possession, after the removal of the inhabitants. On feast days the parishioners met at the church with the priest and clerks according to custom, and became a nuisance to the monastery and the brethren there residing.
Desiring therefore to provide for the peace and quiet of the monks, the abbot it may be with some want of consideration, pulled the church down to its foundations, in the face of the protests of clerks and parishioners. And so no small controversy arose concerning such an unusual and highhanded proceeding.
For the clerk who was rector and parson of the church, bearing this destruction hardly, brought the abbot and monks into court before the metropolitan ; when at length the parties appeared before the archbishop, thereupon appeal was made thence to the Apostolic See. And there in the presence of the Lord Pope the matter was brought to an issue in favour of the monks, and silence laid upon the opposing party, for the reason that it appeared a pious thing and worthy of favour, that a church should fall provided an abbey be constructed in its stead, so that the less good should yield to the greater, and that the case be gained by that party which would bring forth richer fruits of piety.
So, peace restored and litigation laid to rest, the brethren applied themselves to the profit of the monastery in greater quiet yet even so were they troubled by a double discomfort, for freebooters, it being time of war, would often carry off their effects, and a plague of rains continuing well nigh all the year over whelmed their crops For six years and more they remained there in unbroken poverty and lack of food and clothing.
Perceiving the situation of their settlement to be little fit for building a monastery, the abbot began to turn over in his mind the possibility of a change of site and transference of the monastery elsewhere
Lords of Pontefract Castle.
Ilbert de Lacy ?-1089
Robert de Lacy 1089-1121
Hugh de Laval 1121-1131
William Maltravers 1131-1136
Ilbert de Lacy (2nd) 1136-1141
William de Romare, Earl of Lincoln 1141-1146
Henry de Lacy 1146-1187
Robert de Lacy 1187-1193
Roger (Fitz-Eustace) de Lacy 1193-1211
CHAPTER THE SECOND
LORDS OF THE HONOR OF CLITHEROE
Respect only to general opinion, and to the authority of Dugdale, which has been held decisive, induces me to place at the head of this catalogue
ILBERT DE LACI, [1] a Norman adventurer, on whom the Conqueror undoubtedly conferred the great fee of Pontefract; but, as he is unnoticed under the survey of Blackburnshire by the authentic record of Domesday which was completed in the last years of the first William, and died early in the reign of Rufus, there is no evidence to prove that he was ever connected with the subject of this history. Ilbert, however, left a son,
ROBERT DE LACI, who was certainly lord of Blackburnshire, though it is now impossible to discover by what means he became possessed of it. [2] As, however, the Hundred of Blackburn at the time of Domesday constituted a part of those vast possessions which the Conqueror granted to Roger de Busli and Albert de Greslet, the probability is that Lacy acquired this free from them, and held it under them. This opinion is strengthened by a charter of Henry I [3] granting Boeland to this Robert, son of Ilbert, to be held of the Crown in capite, as it had heretofore been of Roger de Poitou.
---Footnotes---
1. This name is spelt with all the laxity of ancient orthography, Laci, Lacy, and Lascy. The earlier part of Dugdale's account of this family, Baronage, vol. i, p. 98, et seqq. is singularly inaccurate. He seems to have been principally misled by a MS. in Bibl. Bod. (G. 9, Cant.) f. 77b. which is little better than a collection of traditionary tales. Where I shall have occasion to differ fro him, I shall do it on the authority of original charters and assign my reasons. [The name is probably derived from a place now called Lassi, n the department of Calvados in Normandy. "Among the families who became seated in England at the time of the Conquest, none obtained more extensive possessions or attained to higher dignities than the Lacis. The first settler was an Ilbert de Laci. The account of his lands in Yorkshire fills seven pages of Domesday Book, and he had other lands in other counties. His Yorkshire lands form what in later times has been called the Honor of Pontefract. . . . . . I am unwilling to dwell upon what has already been often and well told; and I would refer those who wish for further information upon this subject to the Lacies Nobilitie of Sir John Ferne, to the Baronage of Sir William Dugdale, to the Antiquities of Cheshire by Sir Peter Leycester, who has corrected many errors committed by the author of the Baronage, and, last of all, to the beautiful history of this house incorporated by Dr. Whitaker in his History of Whalley." Joseph Hunter, South Yorkshire, vol. ii, pp. 200, 201.]
2. [In the "Account of Clithero Burgage," printed in Gregson's Fragments, p. 288, from Kenion's MSS. is an assertion that the Conqueror gave the whole Wapentake, with all its franchises, to Ilbert Lascy.]
3. Dugdale, ubi supra.
page 237
That he was possessed, however, of this fee, by whatever means he acquired it, there can be no doubt, as he confirmed the original charter of Merlay, granted by Ilbert his son to Jordan le Rous. [1]
Robert, however, did not long enjoy his inheritance in peace, for, an. 1mo. Henry I. having espoused the better cause of Robert Curthose, he was dispossessed of all his lands by that monarch, and is stated by Dugdale to have gone twice into banishment, from which he did not return a second time.
After the second banishment of Robert we are told by the same writer that the fee of Pontefract (including that of Clitheroe) was granted first to [William] Travers, [2] and secondly to Hugh de la Val. The latter fact is certain; but it appears equally certain that Robert actually returned, and was restored, for we find him confirming several grants of churches made by Delaval during his temporary possession to the priory of Nostel, which was of his or perhaps his father's foundation. [3]
With equal certainty and on similar authority it may be proved against Dugdale that this Robert the First [4] founded the castle of Clitheroe, for it did not exist at the time of
---Footnotes---
1 Vide Merlay.
2. [Dr. Whitaker (following Dugdale in this error) gave this name as Henry Travers; but the words of Dugdale's authority are "Ea tempestate (A.D. 1135) Willielmus cognomento Transversus, qui honorem Fracti pontis (sic enim quoddam oppidum nominatur) ex dono Henrici regis habuerat, a quodam milite homine suo Pagano nomine apud ipsum oppidum letali vulnere percussus, post triduum in habitu monachali mortuus est. Et quem patri suo Roberto de Lesci rex Henricus abstulerat, Ilbertus de Lesceio filius ejus mox eundem honorem recuperavit." Richard of Hexham (edit. Twysden) 310; not Simeon of Durham, as Hunter, ii. 201. And see also John of Hexham, ibid. col. 272.]
3. The following are instances extracted from Burton's Mon. Ebor. of several alternate grants and confirmations between these parties: --
We now see the reason why the monks of Pontefract failed in their claim upon the Church of Whalley, under Delaval's grant (see before, p. 77): it was never confirmed, and all alienations made under an attainder, unless confirmed by the party attainted after his restoration, are held pro infectis.
4. I now find that I had overlooked another hypothesis with respect to the foundation of this castle, which will assign to it a still higher antiquity, namely, that it was the work of Roger of Poictou himself. For it appears from Domesday, under Bernulfswic, that Berenger de Todeni had held XII car. of land in that place, sed modo est in Castellatu Rog. Pictaviensis. We know that it was a disputable point much later whether Bernoldswic was or was not in Blackburnshire; and what can be meant by Castellatus if there was now no castle at Clitheroe? It may be answered that the word refers to Roger's great fee of Lancaster; but this is impossible, for, at the time of the Domesday Survey, Longcaster and Chercalongcastre were surveyed inter terras regis in Amunderness not yet granted out, and were so far from having a castle or being yet at the head of an Honor, much less a County, that they are taken as vills or berewicks appertaining to the manor of Halton. All is darkness and confusion with respect to the foundation of the Castle and Honor of Lancaster, and particularly with respect to Roger of Poictou, of which name there must have been two persons, for how could it be supposed that a follower of the Conqueror should forfeit under Stephen?
page 238
..the Domesday Survey; and in the interval of Delaval's possession, during the banishment of Lacy, we find the former expressly granting, under the dependencies of the church of Whalley, capellam Sci. Michaelis in Castro de Clyderhow.
It was indeed antecedently to be expected that the 28 manors within the hundred, now united into one Honor, should not have remained two generations longer without a common centre: a temporary residence at least was erquired for th lord, a court-house for the transaction of his business, and a fortress for the defence of his lands. In a country not abounding with strong positions an insulated conical rock of limestone rising out of the fertile plain between Penhull and Ribble would naturally attract his attention, and here, therefore, the first Lacy of Blackburnshire and second of Pontefract fixed the castle of Clitheroe, the seat of his barony, to which a numerous train of dependents during a period of seven succeeding centuries have owed homage and service. Robert de Lacy also founded the Cluniac priory of St. John in Pontefract, to which, however, he refused a confirmation of the church of Whalley, granted by his disturber Delaval, and, dying, left two sons, Ilbert and Henry. [1]
ILBERT DE LACY, the oldest son of Robert and the companion of his exile, was distinguished by his fidelity to King Stephen, and by his valour in the Battle of the Standard, fought near Northallerton; and, having married Alice, daughter of Gilbert de Gaunt [afterwards remarried to Robert de Mawbray [2]], died without issue. He was therefore succeeded by his brother
HENRY DE LACY the first, who, rivalling his ancestors in the devout liberality of the times, A.D. 1147, founded a Cistertian abbey at Barnoldswick, and afterwards translated it to the more genial climate of Kirkstall. He is remembered as lord of Blackburnshire by having granted out the manor of Alvetham, with Clayton and Accrington, to H. son of Leofwine, which was the second alienation of that kind after the accession of his family to the Honor of Clitheroe. Of the successive restitutions of these brothers by Stephen and Henry II. to the estates of their family, related by Dugdale in a narrative inextricably confused, after the decisive evidence before adduced that the restoration really took place under Robert their father, it is now become superfluous to speak; suffice it therefore to say, that Hnery, of whose marriage however nothing is recorded, [3] left a son
ROBERT DE LACY the second, of whom it is very confidently told by Dugdale, on the authority of his MS. [4], that he founded the castle of Clitheroe and the chapel of St. Michael, with the consent of Geoffry dean of Whalley. The falsehood, however, of this story has already been proved. He married Isabella, daughter of . . . . . ., and, dying without issue, [August 21,] 1193, [1] was interred in the abbey of Kirkstall. With him ended the male line of ths great family, [2] and in fact the blood of the Lacies itself, so that he had no other resource than to devise his vast estates, consisting of sixty knight's fees, to his uterine sister [3] AWBREY, daughter of Robert de Lizours, who married
It was built around 1186 by Robert de Lacy as an administrative centre for his estates in the area but later passed by inheritance to the Crown. It consists of one of the smallest keeps in the country and at one time it was surrounded by a curtain wall.
Henry de Lacy, Baron of Pontefract
Henry de Lacy (1070, Halton, – 1123) was the grandson of Ilbert de Lacy. Henry de Lacy, Baron of Pontefract and Lord of Blackburnshire, built Kirkstall Abbey.
The legend says, Robert de Lacy (? – 1193) has built Clitheroe Castle. The purple lions in the arm of Clitheroe support the legend.
. Robert de Lacy is evidently the first member of the Lacy family to have founded a monastery, that of the Cluniac priory of St. John, Pontefract, sometime during the reign of William I, and also is believed by some to have been responsible for the building of the Lacy castle at Clitheroe. Robert, along with his son Ilbert II, were banished from their English lands around 1114. Robert de Lacy and his wife, Matilda left three known children, a daughter, Aubrey/Albreda, and two sons, Ilbert II and Henry, although there was likely another son, Robert. The elder Robert was dead by 1129, when Robert de Lisoures paid for permission to marry his daughter, Aubrey (Albreda). Ilbert II evidently died without heirs, as he was succeeded by his brother Henry, who also left no heirs.
Hugh of Kirkstall
Hugh of Kirkstall, monk of Kirkstall, compiled the foundation history of Fountains [Narratio de fundatione Fontanis monasterii] and was most likely also the author of the foundation history of his own abbey, Kirkstall. Hugh entered the monastic life at Kirkstall during the abbacy of Ralph Haget; he was commissioned to write the foundation history of Fountains by Abbot John of York. According to Hugh, the first half of his account is based on the memories of Serlo, an elderly monk of the abbey who had witnessed the tumultuous events in 1131/2 and the birth of the Fountains community.
The fifth daughter abbey of Fountains, Kirkstall was founded in 1152 by Abbot Alexander. The original colonising monks had first settled at Barnoldswick (a gift of land by Henry de Lacy) in 1147, but the site and native populace had proved to be inhospitable. After arriving, the monks had removed the inhabitants of the site and, when they proved to be a nuisance by returning to worship at their church, the monks pulled down the village church. There can be little surprise, therefore, that the villagers complained bitterly to the archbishop and ultimately to the papacy, who both being Cistercian, did nothing to compensate the village.
The current site by the river Aire was also in the gift of Henry de Lacy and was described at the time as being "remote from the habitation of man", somewhat inappropriate today. At the end of the Abbeys working life it encompassed 800 acres.
So in 1152 abbot Alexander moved his community to the new site and began construction of the basilica and by 1159 the eastern parts of the church were complete and ready for use. It is a popular myth that monks raised their great abbeys with their own hands, however the earliest Cistercian chapters states "No abbot shall be sent to a new place without at least twelve monks ... and without the prior construction of such places as an oratory, a refectory, a dormitory, a guest house, and a gatekeepers cell, so that the monks may immediately serve God and live in religious discipline" These buildings were often timber and not replaced with stone until the monastery was judged to be viable.
In the year 1207 a monk named Serlo narrated his story to Hugh de Kirkstall .....
"In the year of the Incarnation of the Lord 1147, a certain man of noble rank, Henry, by name de Lacy, in the territory of York undertook the construction of a monastery of the Cistercian order.
He accordingly assigned a spot, and erected a monastery; and there is sent to him a convent of monks under Abbot Alexander. This Alexander was one of our [of Fountains] first fathers, own brother of the Lord Richard, second Abbot of Fountains, who, as has been related, at Clairvaux rested in peace.
Among these brethren, I, Serlo, was sent forth, a man now decrepit, as you see, and worn out with old age. The place of our habitation at first was called Bernolfwic (also Barnolfswet), which we called by a changed name--The Mount of St. Mary. We remained there for several years, suffering many discomforts of cold and hunger, partly because of the inclemency of the air and the ceaseless trouble of rain, partly because, the kingdom being in a turmoil, many a time our possessions were wasted by brigands. The site of our habitation therefore displeased us, and the abbey was reduced to a grange.
And through the advice of our patron we migrated to another place, which is now called Kirkstall. In the 15th year of the Foundation of the Monastery of Fountains, on May 19th, we were sent out under the Abbot Alexander, twelve monks and ten lay brethren."
In 1177 Henry de Lacy died and the the church was recorded as complete and by 1182 Abbot Alexander died and all "the buildings of Kirkstall where erected of stone and wood, that is the church and dormitory of the monks, and of the lay brethren, and either refectory, the cloister, and the chapter house, and other offices necessary within the abbey, and all of these covered with tile". Sadly the few that remain are faint and timeworn
24. THE ABBEY OF KIRKSTALL
On a bed of sickness Henry Lacy, grandson of Ilbert de Lacy, to whom the Conqueror had given with other possessions the lordship of Blackburnshire, vowed that if he recovered he would found an abbey of the Cistercian order. Having recovered, he made a grant to the Abbot of Fountains of the village of Barnoldswick, close to the boundaries of Yorkshire and Lancashire, and within his lordship of Blackburn. (fn. 1)
Thither certain brothers were dispatched, who built some humble offices, and according to the custom of the order imposed a new name on the place, calling it Mount St. Mary's (Mons Sancte Marie), Henry Lacy, however, was not the chief lord of the grant he had given, which he held of Hugh Bigod, Earl of Norfolk, by a yearly payment Which had lapsed for many years, and about which Lacy had said nothing to the Abbot of Fountains. At a later period this led to. trouble, and the temporary dispossession of the monks.
Alexander, Prior of Fountains, was chosen abbot of the new convent, and on 18 May 1147 he left Fountains for Barnoldswick with twelve monks and ten conversi to colonize the fifth abbey, in order of time, peopled from Fountains, the abbot of which became in consequence its pater abbas.
The church of Barnoldswick was an ancient church, having four parochial villages (villas parochiales) dependent on it, and two hamlets. The parishioners were accustomed to attend the church on feast days with their priest and clerks, and this disturbed the quiet of the monks. So the abbot pulled down the church in spite of the remonstrances of the parishioners. A sharp contention, not unnaturally, arose, and the parishioners took their case to the papal court, where the pope in person decided for the monks and against the parishioners. Afterwards the abbey was moved and a new parochial church erected on a fresh site, else it is not impossible that a decision less obviously unfair to the parishioners might have been given.
The monastery at Barnoldswick suffered very much from the forays of robbers, probably Scots, and also from the climate. Barnoldswick was cold and bleak and the ' importunity of the clouds,' as the writer describes it, almost every year spoilt the monastic crops. For more than six years the monks existed in great poverty, and Abbot Alexander began to look about for another place to which the monastery could be transferred. It so happened, the chronicler relates, that when on a journey on the business of the house, he passed through a well-wooded and shady valley called Airedale, he found, on a level place in it, certain hermits. Charmed with the place, he asked their manner of life, to what order they belonged, whence they came, and who had given them the place. One of the hermits, Seleth by name, who appeared to be their master, told the abbot that he was a native of the south of England, and that a voice had sounded to him in sleep, saying, 'Arise, Seleth, and go to the province of York, and seek diligently in the vale called Airedale for a certain place called Kirkstall, for there shalt thou make ready a future habitation for the brethren who serve my son.' Asking who this son might be, the answer was, ' I am Mary, and my son is Jesus of Nazareth the Saviour of the world.' Seleth, placing his hope in God, had set forth from his home, and not without difficulty had reached the spot where the abbot found him. From shepherds who kept their flocks there he had at first obtained the place. For many days he was alone, feeding on roots and vegetables, and depending on the alms which Christian charity brought him. Afterwards other brothers joined him, having for rule a common life, according to the order of the brothers of Leruth, owning no property, but seeking food and clothing by the work of their hands.
The abbot recognized the suitability of the place for the construction of the abbey, and not without a little guile, as he took his leave of the hermits, began to warn them as to the health and safety of their souls, pointing out the danger of following their own will, their fewness in number, disciples without a master, laymen without a priest, persuading them to a better rule of religion. Then he went direct to Henry Lacy, and pointed out the poverty of the monks, and that he had found a place more particularly suitable, the lord of the soil being a certain knight, William of Poictou. The abbot calling together the hermits, some joined the community and others accepted a money compensation for their right. William of Poictou, at the instance of Lacy, granted the monks the place which had belonged to the hermits, and on 20 May 1152 the monks moved from Barnoldswick to the new site. They secured possession of certain land on the south up to the slope of the hill, and having cut down the wood, cultivated the soil, and made it fruitful. Henry de Lacy greatly helped them with provisions and money. With his own hand he laid the foundation of the church and completed it at his own cost.
When the monks left Barnoldswick that place was reduced to the status of a grange. It has been already mentioned that Henry de Lacy held it of Hugh Bigod, Earl of Norfolk, and that the annual fee of 5 marks and a hawk had not been paid for many years. Hugh Bigod, however, as the overlord of Henry de Lacy substantiated his claim to Barnoldswick in the king's court and dispossessed the monks. Later, however, Henry II prevailed on the earl to give the grange (for the redemption of his sins) in pure and perpetual alms.
The first abbot, Alexander, ruled the house for thirty-five years, and during his time the church and other buildings were built and roofed. He was a true abbot, in deed and in name, the chronicler records, and in a good old age was gathered to his fathers.
In 1156 Pope Adrian IV (Nicholas Brakespear) confirmed the church and all their possessions to the monks, and took them under his protection. (fn. 2) Henry II also granted them a con firmation of the property which the abbey then possessed. (fn. 3)
Abbot Alexander was succeeded in 1182 (fn. 4) by Ralph Haget, who had also been Prior of Fountains. His rule was not successful, and although renowned for sanctity he seems to have lacked business capacity. Perhaps it may have been more his misfortune than mismanagement, for he was afterwards elected Abbot of Fountains, but Kirkstall became impoverished in his time. The important grange of Micklethwaite was alienated, and the monks seem to have blamed him for that loss, for which he was not responsible, as well as others, such as that of a golden chalice and a text of the Gospels, which he had given to Henry II to gain his good will. For the nine years of his abbacy he remained at Kirkstall with his monks struggling with poverty until he was chosen Abbot of Fountains in 1191, and was succeeded by Lambert, one of the twelve monks who forty - two years before had left Fountains to found the Abbey of Barnoldswick.
Abbot Lambert (fn. 5) is described as a man of extraordinary innocency and simplicity, and one who took little part in the temporal affairs of the house, relying rather on his brethren's advice.
In his time the grange of Cliviger was claimed from the monks by Richard of Eland, and the abbot, regarding the claim as a just one, resigned Cliviger to Robert Lacy, the son of the founder, and then patron of the abbey, who gave instead of it a place called ' Akarinton.' Removing the inhabitants from Akarinton, he formed it into a farm or grange, but some of the ejected inhabitants burnt the grange with all its belongings, besides killing the three conversi who had been put in charge of it. Robert Lacy dealt very severely with the evildoers, whom he banished, making them first rebuild the grange and abjure all right to it and pay money beyond the cost of repairing the damage done to the monks. The record concludes by saying that Abbot Lambert died in a good old age after having held office for thirty years, but his real term of office appears to have been about five years. (fn. 6)
The next abbot was Turgis, a man who practised extreme asceticism even for those days of hard living. It is said that he wept so copiously at his devotions and while saying mass, that others could hardly wear the same sacerdotal vestments.
Helias, a monk of Roche, who succeeded Turgis in the abbacy, endeavoured to obtain from King John the grange of Micklethwaite, which Henry I had seized during the abbacy of Ralph Haget, but the king would only consent to grant the grange if the abbot would take the manors of Bardsey and Collingham to farm, paying yearly the sum of £90. (fn. 7)
At the time of the appointment of Hugh Grimston in 1284 (fn. 8) the abbey was enormously in debt, owing.no less a sum than £5,248 15s. 7d. besides 59 sacks of wool. The new abbot must have set vigorously to work to reduce this debt, for by July 1301 the house owed £160 only, while its farm stock comprised 216 draught oxen, 160 cows, 152 yearlings and bullocks, 90 calves, and 4,000 sheep and lambs.
In 1380-1 (fn. 9) besides the abbot there were sixteen monks and six conversi.
In 1394-5 (fn. 10) the alien cell of Burstall in Holderness, belonging to the abbey of St. Martin near Albemarle in France, was sold to the Abbot and convent of Kirkstall, who thus became possessed of several churches and considerable property in the east of Yorkshire, which they retained till the Dissolution.
The entrance of women within the precincts of Cistercian monasteries of men was very strictly forbidden, but Pope Boniface IX having granted indulgences to those persons of either sex who visited the conventual church of Kirkstall on certain days, Robert Burley, Abbot of Fountains, pater abbas of Kirkstall, agreed in 1401 to tolerate pro tempore the admission of women to the church only on condition that they visited no other of the monastic buildings and were not received there by the abbot or monks. (fn. 11)
In 1432 (fn. 12) John Colyngham resigned the office of abbot, and his successor, also named John, with the convent made provision for him. He was to receive a yearly pension of 20 marks for life, and to have a chamber assigned for his free use, called ' the White Chawmber.' Besides this, his portion of bread, ale and victuals was to be that of two monks, and he was to have lights, with wood for fuel. He was to take rank everywhere immediately after the existing abbot, and, if he so wished, might take his meals in the abbot's chamber. A servant was to be assigned to him as to the abbot, and if ill a monk was to be deputed by the abbot or prior to look after him.
Possibly because a visitation of all the Cistercian houses of men in England was in progress at the time, this agreement was confirmed by the three abbot visitors, William, Abbot of Clairvaux, John, Abbot 'de Theolosco,' and John [Ripon], Abbot of Fountains. Indeed, the resignation of Abbot Colyngham may have resulted from this visitation of the abbey, although nothing is said to that effect.
A very large amount of property was gradually acquired by the abbey of Kirkstall. It mainly lay in the neighbourhood of the abbey, in Blackburnshire, and in the East Riding, the latter being the property purchased from the abbey of St. Martin near Albemarle. (fn. 13)
In the Taxation of 1291 the temporalities were valued at £68 5s. 8d. (fn. 14) The returns for part of Yorkshire in the Valor Ecclesiasticus of Henry VIII are defective, and the portion relating to Kirkstall is missing.
The monastery was surrendered by John Ripley, abbot, and the convent on 22 November 1540. (fn. 15)
he initial impetus for Kirkstall Abbey was provided by Henry de Lacy. Henry was the grandson of Ilbert de Lacy who received extensive lands from William the Conqueror following the Norman Invasion. Henry approached the abbot of Fountains and offered estates in Blackburnshire for a new Cistercian monastery.
On 19th May 1147 the nucleus of a community set forth from Fountains and set about establishing a new order at Barnoldswick.
For a number of reasons the new site did not suit the brethren. A major factor was probably the unrest caused by the destruction of the local parish church - an act that would not have endeared the brothers to their new neighbours.
Abbot Alexander set off to find a new site. He came across a spot in Airedale where there was already a religious settlement. The abbot secured the site from the local landowner and the original residents were absorbed into the community - or dispossessed.
Thus the community transferred from Barnoldswick to Kirkstall on 19th May 1152*, no doubt leaving the angry locals to rebuild their parish church.
In the year of the Incarnation of the Lord 1147, a certain man of noble rank, Henry, by name de Lacy, in the territory of York undertook the construction of a monastery of the Cistercian order.
He accordingly assigned a spot, and erected a monastery; and there is sent to him a convent of monks under Abbot Alexander. This Alexander was one of our [of Fountains] first fathers, own brother of the Lord Richard, second Abbot of Fountains, who, as has been related, at Clairvaux rested in peace.
Among these brethren, I, Serlo, was sent forth, a man now decrepit, as you see, and worn out with old age. The place of our habitation at first was called Bernolfwic (also Barnolfswet), which we called by a changed name--The Mount of St. Mary. We remained there for several years, suffering many discomforts of cold and hunger, partly because of the inclemency of the air and the ceaseless trouble of rain, partly because, the kingdom being in a turmoil, many a time our possessions were wasted by brigands. The site of our habitation therefore displeased us, and the abbey was reduced to a grange.
Now there was in those days in the province of York a certain man of great possessions, and among the great folk of the kingdom most notable and most noteworthy, by name Henry de Lacey; and it fell out that he was sick for many days. The man grown penitent under the scourge of God, made a Vow to the Lord that he would build an abbey of the Cistercian order in honour of the glorious Virgin Mary and Mother of God, Mary.
He recovered and not unmindful of his vow straightaway caused the abbot of Fountains to be summoned to him, laid before him his intention described his vow and assigned to him by donation solemnly made a certain vill by name Barnoldswick with its appurtenances for the construction of an abbey, and Confirmed the same by his charter.
Now the said vill belonged to the fee of Hugh Bigod, Earl of Norfolk, and the said Henry had held it by rendering to the Earl annually five marks and one hawk a year old, though for many years previous to this time he had ceased payment. The abbot took the gift offered from the hand of the man, not knowing the matter to be the subject of dispute, and sending brethren built humble offices according to the form of the order, and called the place by a new name 'the Mount of St. Mary.'
So, the offices arranged according to custom, in the year of the Incarnation of our Lord one thousand one hundred and forty-seven, there was ordained abbot of the same place the venerable man the lord Alexander, prior of Fountains, who on that very day, namely, May 19th, was despatched from the abbey of Fountains with twelve monks and too lay brothers to the new abbey, which was called the Mount of Saint Mary.
At that time the Archbishop of York was Henry Murdac, of good memory, once abbot of Fountains, who with episcopal authority granted and confirmed the place itself with its appurtenances and the church of the same place free and quit and delivered of every claim to the monks there serving God.
Moreover there was a church at Barnoldswick , very ancient and founded long before, with four parochial vills, to wit Marton and another Marton, Bracewell and Stock besides the vill of Barnoldswick and two small vills appertaining, Elfwynetrop to wit, and Brogden of which the said monks were by this time in possession, after the removal of the inhabitants. On feast days the parishioners met at the church with the priest and clerks according to custom, and became a nuisance to the monastery and the brethren there residing.
Desiring therefore to provide for the peace and quiet of the monks, the abbot it may be with some want of consideration, pulled the church down to its foundations, in the face of the protests of clerks and parishioners. And so no small controversy arose concerning such an unusual and highhanded proceeding.
For the clerk who was rector and parson of the church, bearing this destruction hardly, brought the abbot and monks into court before the metropolitan ; when at length the parties appeared before the archbishop, thereupon appeal was made thence to the Apostolic See. And there in the presence of the Lord Pope the matter was brought to an issue in favour of the monks, and silence laid upon the opposing party, for the reason that it appeared a pious thing and worthy of favour, that a church should fall provided an abbey be constructed in its stead, so that the less good should yield to the greater, and that the case be gained by that party which would bring forth richer fruits of piety.
So, peace restored and litigation laid to rest, the brethren applied themselves to the profit of the monastery in greater quiet yet even so were they troubled by a double discomfort, for freebooters, it being time of war, would often carry off their effects, and a plague of rains continuing well nigh all the year over whelmed their crops For six years and more they remained there in unbroken poverty and lack of food and clothing.
Perceiving the situation of their settlement to be little fit for building a monastery, the abbot began to turn over in his mind the possibility of a change of site and transference of the monastery elsewhere
Lords of Pontefract Castle.
Ilbert de Lacy ?-1089
Robert de Lacy 1089-1121
Hugh de Laval 1121-1131
William Maltravers 1131-1136
Ilbert de Lacy (2nd) 1136-1141
William de Romare, Earl of Lincoln 1141-1146
Henry de Lacy 1146-1187
Robert de Lacy 1187-1193
Roger (Fitz-Eustace) de Lacy 1193-1211
CHAPTER THE SECOND
LORDS OF THE HONOR OF CLITHEROE
Respect only to general opinion, and to the authority of Dugdale, which has been held decisive, induces me to place at the head of this catalogue
ILBERT DE LACI, [1] a Norman adventurer, on whom the Conqueror undoubtedly conferred the great fee of Pontefract; but, as he is unnoticed under the survey of Blackburnshire by the authentic record of Domesday which was completed in the last years of the first William, and died early in the reign of Rufus, there is no evidence to prove that he was ever connected with the subject of this history. Ilbert, however, left a son,
ROBERT DE LACI, who was certainly lord of Blackburnshire, though it is now impossible to discover by what means he became possessed of it. [2] As, however, the Hundred of Blackburn at the time of Domesday constituted a part of those vast possessions which the Conqueror granted to Roger de Busli and Albert de Greslet, the probability is that Lacy acquired this free from them, and held it under them. This opinion is strengthened by a charter of Henry I [3] granting Boeland to this Robert, son of Ilbert, to be held of the Crown in capite, as it had heretofore been of Roger de Poitou.
---Footnotes---
1. This name is spelt with all the laxity of ancient orthography, Laci, Lacy, and Lascy. The earlier part of Dugdale's account of this family, Baronage, vol. i, p. 98, et seqq. is singularly inaccurate. He seems to have been principally misled by a MS. in Bibl. Bod. (G. 9, Cant.) f. 77b. which is little better than a collection of traditionary tales. Where I shall have occasion to differ fro him, I shall do it on the authority of original charters and assign my reasons. [The name is probably derived from a place now called Lassi, n the department of Calvados in Normandy. "Among the families who became seated in England at the time of the Conquest, none obtained more extensive possessions or attained to higher dignities than the Lacis. The first settler was an Ilbert de Laci. The account of his lands in Yorkshire fills seven pages of Domesday Book, and he had other lands in other counties. His Yorkshire lands form what in later times has been called the Honor of Pontefract. . . . . . I am unwilling to dwell upon what has already been often and well told; and I would refer those who wish for further information upon this subject to the Lacies Nobilitie of Sir John Ferne, to the Baronage of Sir William Dugdale, to the Antiquities of Cheshire by Sir Peter Leycester, who has corrected many errors committed by the author of the Baronage, and, last of all, to the beautiful history of this house incorporated by Dr. Whitaker in his History of Whalley." Joseph Hunter, South Yorkshire, vol. ii, pp. 200, 201.]
2. [In the "Account of Clithero Burgage," printed in Gregson's Fragments, p. 288, from Kenion's MSS. is an assertion that the Conqueror gave the whole Wapentake, with all its franchises, to Ilbert Lascy.]
3. Dugdale, ubi supra.
page 237
That he was possessed, however, of this fee, by whatever means he acquired it, there can be no doubt, as he confirmed the original charter of Merlay, granted by Ilbert his son to Jordan le Rous. [1]
Robert, however, did not long enjoy his inheritance in peace, for, an. 1mo. Henry I. having espoused the better cause of Robert Curthose, he was dispossessed of all his lands by that monarch, and is stated by Dugdale to have gone twice into banishment, from which he did not return a second time.
After the second banishment of Robert we are told by the same writer that the fee of Pontefract (including that of Clitheroe) was granted first to [William] Travers, [2] and secondly to Hugh de la Val. The latter fact is certain; but it appears equally certain that Robert actually returned, and was restored, for we find him confirming several grants of churches made by Delaval during his temporary possession to the priory of Nostel, which was of his or perhaps his father's foundation. [3]
With equal certainty and on similar authority it may be proved against Dugdale that this Robert the First [4] founded the castle of Clitheroe, for it did not exist at the time of
---Footnotes---
1 Vide Merlay.
2. [Dr. Whitaker (following Dugdale in this error) gave this name as Henry Travers; but the words of Dugdale's authority are "Ea tempestate (A.D. 1135) Willielmus cognomento Transversus, qui honorem Fracti pontis (sic enim quoddam oppidum nominatur) ex dono Henrici regis habuerat, a quodam milite homine suo Pagano nomine apud ipsum oppidum letali vulnere percussus, post triduum in habitu monachali mortuus est. Et quem patri suo Roberto de Lesci rex Henricus abstulerat, Ilbertus de Lesceio filius ejus mox eundem honorem recuperavit." Richard of Hexham (edit. Twysden) 310; not Simeon of Durham, as Hunter, ii. 201. And see also John of Hexham, ibid. col. 272.]
3. The following are instances extracted from Burton's Mon. Ebor. of several alternate grants and confirmations between these parties: --
We now see the reason why the monks of Pontefract failed in their claim upon the Church of Whalley, under Delaval's grant (see before, p. 77): it was never confirmed, and all alienations made under an attainder, unless confirmed by the party attainted after his restoration, are held pro infectis.
4. I now find that I had overlooked another hypothesis with respect to the foundation of this castle, which will assign to it a still higher antiquity, namely, that it was the work of Roger of Poictou himself. For it appears from Domesday, under Bernulfswic, that Berenger de Todeni had held XII car. of land in that place, sed modo est in Castellatu Rog. Pictaviensis. We know that it was a disputable point much later whether Bernoldswic was or was not in Blackburnshire; and what can be meant by Castellatus if there was now no castle at Clitheroe? It may be answered that the word refers to Roger's great fee of Lancaster; but this is impossible, for, at the time of the Domesday Survey, Longcaster and Chercalongcastre were surveyed inter terras regis in Amunderness not yet granted out, and were so far from having a castle or being yet at the head of an Honor, much less a County, that they are taken as vills or berewicks appertaining to the manor of Halton. All is darkness and confusion with respect to the foundation of the Castle and Honor of Lancaster, and particularly with respect to Roger of Poictou, of which name there must have been two persons, for how could it be supposed that a follower of the Conqueror should forfeit under Stephen?
page 238
..the Domesday Survey; and in the interval of Delaval's possession, during the banishment of Lacy, we find the former expressly granting, under the dependencies of the church of Whalley, capellam Sci. Michaelis in Castro de Clyderhow.
It was indeed antecedently to be expected that the 28 manors within the hundred, now united into one Honor, should not have remained two generations longer without a common centre: a temporary residence at least was erquired for th lord, a court-house for the transaction of his business, and a fortress for the defence of his lands. In a country not abounding with strong positions an insulated conical rock of limestone rising out of the fertile plain between Penhull and Ribble would naturally attract his attention, and here, therefore, the first Lacy of Blackburnshire and second of Pontefract fixed the castle of Clitheroe, the seat of his barony, to which a numerous train of dependents during a period of seven succeeding centuries have owed homage and service. Robert de Lacy also founded the Cluniac priory of St. John in Pontefract, to which, however, he refused a confirmation of the church of Whalley, granted by his disturber Delaval, and, dying, left two sons, Ilbert and Henry. [1]
ILBERT DE LACY, the oldest son of Robert and the companion of his exile, was distinguished by his fidelity to King Stephen, and by his valour in the Battle of the Standard, fought near Northallerton; and, having married Alice, daughter of Gilbert de Gaunt [afterwards remarried to Robert de Mawbray [2]], died without issue. He was therefore succeeded by his brother
HENRY DE LACY the first, who, rivalling his ancestors in the devout liberality of the times, A.D. 1147, founded a Cistertian abbey at Barnoldswick, and afterwards translated it to the more genial climate of Kirkstall. He is remembered as lord of Blackburnshire by having granted out the manor of Alvetham, with Clayton and Accrington, to H. son of Leofwine, which was the second alienation of that kind after the accession of his family to the Honor of Clitheroe. Of the successive restitutions of these brothers by Stephen and Henry II. to the estates of their family, related by Dugdale in a narrative inextricably confused, after the decisive evidence before adduced that the restoration really took place under Robert their father, it is now become superfluous to speak; suffice it therefore to say, that Hnery, of whose marriage however nothing is recorded, [3] left a son
ROBERT DE LACY the second, of whom it is very confidently told by Dugdale, on the authority of his MS. [4], that he founded the castle of Clitheroe and the chapel of St. Michael, with the consent of Geoffry dean of Whalley. The falsehood, however, of this story has already been proved. He married Isabella, daughter of . . . . . ., and, dying without issue, [August 21,] 1193, [1] was interred in the abbey of Kirkstall. With him ended the male line of ths great family, [2] and in fact the blood of the Lacies itself, so that he had no other resource than to devise his vast estates, consisting of sixty knight's fees, to his uterine sister [3] AWBREY, daughter of Robert de Lizours, who married