St Davids

Who holds it

Name

Vacant since Peter de Leia's death in 1198; Gerald of Wales is the chapter's elect

Title

Bishop of St Davids

Since

Vacant from 1198

Confidence

high

On Peter de Leia's death in 1198 the chapter again put forward Gerald of Wales (Giraldus Cambrensis), archdeacon of Brecon, who acts as bishop-elect for most of the next four years. Hubert Walter refuses to confirm him and fights St Davids' claim to be an archbishopric free of Canterbury; the Welsh princes, Llywelyn ap Iorwerth above all, back Gerald. Gerald made three journeys to Rome (1199-1200, 1201, 1202-03), so on 1 January 1200 he is most likely at or near the curia on the first of them.

In April 1203 Innocent annuls both elections and Geoffrey of Henlaw is appointed.

What it holds

• Pebidiog (Dewisland): the commotes of Mynyw (the St Davids peninsula) and Pencaer, with St Davids, Solva, Trefin, Mathry, Llanrhian and Llanwnda
• Marcher rights confirmed under Henry I (1115): justice over all offences except high treason, taxation, charters, the raising of men
• Llawhaden: the bishop's castle (built by Bishop Bernard about 1115) and lands in Daugleddau; the Lord Rhys took the castle about 1192, and its state after his death in 1197 is not pinned
• The shrine of St David and its pilgrims
• Manors elsewhere in the diocese (thin)

How it was acquired

Church land of St David's since before the Normans; the bishops became marcher lords under Henry I's charter of 1115. The exchequer, chancery and court of Dewisland later moved to Llawhaden.

How things stand that morning

Vacant: the temporalities are in royal hands; Gerald, the chapter's choice, is pursuing his case at Rome. Who holds Llawhaden castle is not pinned.

Wealth

Pilgrim offerings at St David's shrine; rents and fisheries of the peninsula.

Threats

• A royal nominee imposed on the see
• War in Dyfed among the Lord Rhys's sons and against the Anglo-Normans
• Hubert Walter's hostility to Gerald and to the archbishopric claim

Advocates and rivals

Hubert Walter and the crown, who want a compliant Anglo-Norman bishop; the Welsh princes of Deheubarth and Gwynedd, who back Gerald; William Marshal, earl of Pembroke since 1199, and the Flemish and Norman lords of Pembroke and Rhos next door; the sons of the Lord Rhys, fighting over Deheubarth.

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. During 1200 (not pinned)Gerald pleads his case at the curia; there is no decision in 1200 (both elections are annulled only in April 1203).Depends on: The pope's caution and Hubert Walter's opposition. Stopped by: Hubert or the king accepting Gerald's election.

Places of note

• St Davids cathedral: Shrine of St David and the bishop's seat
• Llawhaden castle: The bishop's castle, taken by the Lord Rhys about 1192

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Gerald's case is richly documented in his own writings; the marcher status and the extent of Pebidiog are clear; Llawhaden's position in 1200 is not.

On the map: Pebidiog is traced from Newgale and the Brandy Brook round the coast to Goodwick and down the Letterston line; Fishguard is left outside. The bishop's lesser manors are not drawn.

Primary sources for March of Wales

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.

• Annals of Wales, Anonymous (St Davids and other Welsh houses) (10th to 13th centuries; the B and C texts continue to 1286 and 1288). Short Latin annals whose later versions are kept at St Davids and Cistercian houses. 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
• Monastic Annals (Margam, Tewkesbury, Burton, Winchester, Waverley, Dunstable, Bermondsey, Worcester, Osney) (12th to 14th centuries). Nine sets of house annals, each with a short entry for 1200. Read online
• The History of William Marshal, Anonymous (a poet called John, writing for the Marshal family) (about 1224 to 1226). A knight's view of the Angevin succession: the council at Vaudreuil in April 1199 where the Marshal and Hubert Walter argued for John over Arthur, the Marshal's crossing to secure England, John's coronation, and the Marshal's part in Normandy in 1199 and 1200 as holder of Longueville and Orbec and a go-between with Philip. Read online
• The Registers of Pope Innocent III for 1199 to 1201, Innocent III and the papal chancery (22 February 1199 to 21 February 1201). The pope's outgoing letters for the year, in his chancery's own copy, touching nearly every realm in the atlas. Read online
• The Charter Rolls of King John (1199 to 1216, at the royal chancery). The enrolled charters of John's first years, beginning with his accession in 1199: confirmations to towns, bishoprics and abbeys, grants of land and office, and the great grants to men like William Marshal and the king's new allies in Poitou. Read online
• The Great Rolls of the Pipe for 1199 and Michaelmas 1200 (1199 and 1200, at the Exchequer). The audited accounts of every sheriff and farmer for the Exchequer year ending Michaelmas 1200: county farms, the scutage of 1199, the carucage of 1200, debts of magnates and towns, wardships, and the fines offered to the new king.

3 more in the sources library for The British Isles.