Oswaldslow

Who holds it

Name

Mauger

Title

Bishop of Worcester (elect)

Since

Elected before 23 August 1199; not yet consecrated

Confidence

high

A royal clerk and physician to Richard and John. Illegitimate, so his election needed papal dispensation. Innocent III quashed the election on that ground; then, impressed when Mauger pleaded in person, confirmed it, issued a decretal in his favour and consecrated him himself at Rome on 4 June 1200. On 1 January 1200 he is bishop-elect with his case before the pope. His predecessor, John of Coutances, died in 1198, so the see has lacked a consecrated bishop for over a year.

What it holds

• The triple hundred of Oswaldslow, formed from three older hundreds (Cuthburgelow, Winburgetreow and Wulfereslaw): hundredal justice over the church's manors, with no sheriff's suit
• The bishop's and the monks' manors, among them Kempsey, Hallow, Hartlebury, Fladbury, Cropthorne, Bishampton, Bredon, Ripple, Overbury, Blockley and Tredington with Shipston
• Alvechurch and Stoke Prior, moved into Oswaldslow from Came hundred in the mid-12th century
• Command of the hundred's men for the fyrd and its ship-service, recorded in Domesday

How it was acquired

Claimed from King Edgar's charter of 964 ('Altitonantis'), a forgery made to buttress the church's rights; Domesday (1086) records the bishop's exclusive jurisdiction; Bishop Wulfstan (d. 1095) had his sac and soc in Oswaldslow confirmed by the crown.

How things stand that morning

The see is held by an elect whose election is before the pope; who is taking the revenues of the bishop's manors that morning (the elect or royal keepers) is not pinned.

Wealth

Rents and justice of a large block of Severn and Avon valley manors; salt from the church's pans at Droitwich.

Threats

• The pope's verdict on Mauger's election
• Royal custody of the temporalities while the see lacks a consecrated bishop

Advocates and rivals

The sheriffs of Worcestershire (the Beauchamps of Elmley); the cathedral priory, whose manors share the hundred; the neighbouring church liberties of Evesham, Pershore and Westminster.

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

1. 4 June 1200Innocent III, having quashed Mauger's election for illegitimacy and then dispensed him, consecrates him at Rome.Depends on: The pope's favour and Mauger pleading in person at the curia. Stopped by: The pope holding to the quashing, or the king dropping his candidate.

Places of note

• Worcester cathedral: Cathedral priory; the city itself is the king's

Where the sources disagree

• The campaign notes say Innocent 'quashed the election' as a fact on 1 January. The sources consulted date only the consecration (4 June 1200); the quashing and the reversal both seem to come while Mauger was at the curia, probably in the first half of 1200. Whether the quashing had already happened by 1 January is not pinned (Wikipedia, Mauger of Worcester).

Evidence: Oswaldslow's privileges are famous and well studied; the manor list is from Domesday-based knowledge and not checked one by one here.

On the map: Oswaldslow was a scatter of manors, not a block; each is drawn as a small district. Worcester city is left out.

Primary sources for England

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• Chronicle of Jocelin of Brakelond, Jocelin of Brakelond (about 1198 to 1203). An inside account of Bury St Edmunds under Abbot Samson, written while the events were fresh. Read online
• Chronicle of Melrose, Anonymous (monks of Melrose abbey) (about 1173 to 1270, in many hands; the 1200 entries are near contemporary). The main Scottish annal for the year, kept at a Cistercian house on the Tweed. Read online
• Chronicle of Roger of Howden, Roger of Howden (about 1192 to 1201). The fullest single narrative for the year. Read online
• Chronicle of the Princes, Anonymous (Welsh translation of a lost Latin chronicle kept at Strata Florida) (Latin original to about 1282, compiled from contemporary annals; Welsh versions about 1300 and later). The native Welsh record of the year. Read online
• Chronicle; Deeds of the Kings, Gervase of Canterbury (Chronica about 1188 to 1199; Gesta Regum about 1199 to 1210). The Chronica stops in 1199, so for 1200 the witness is the briefer Gesta Regum, which notes John's peace with Philip, the coronation of Isabella at Westminster on 8 October 1200, and matters touching Canterbury: the archbishop Hubert Walter as chancellor, the cathedral priory's quarrel with him, and the Lambeth college dispute lately settled by the pope. Read online
• English Chronicle of Ralph of Coggeshall, Ralph of Coggeshall (about 1200 to 1224, in stages). Short but independent entries for 1200 from a Cistercian house in Essex: John's levy on the Cistercians and the carucage, the peace with Philip, the king's new marriage and the queen's coronation, and the death of Hugh of Lincoln. Read online
• Flowers of History, Roger of Wendover (about 1220 to 1235 at St Albans). For 1200 Wendover is mostly Howden rewritten, so he is a second witness only where he adds St Albans material: a long account of Hugh of Lincoln's last months, death and funeral, and anecdotes about John's conduct toward the Cistercians and his new queen. Read online
• Images of History, Ralph de Diceto (about 1188 to 1202). A London view of the year from the dean of St Paul's, who knew the justiciar and the bishops personally. Read online

22 more in the sources library for The British Isles.