Hampshire

Who holds it

Name

Hugh de Bosco (Hugh du Bois)

Title

Sheriff of Hampshire

Since

1193

Born

Not pinned

Family

Not pinned

Confidence

medium

The list of sheriffs drawn from the Pipe Rolls gives Hugh de Bosco for 1193-1200, then William Briwere with Ralph de Bray in 1201. He accounts for the year from Michaelmas 1199.

Overlord

King John

What it holds

• The shire farm and courts
• Custody of Winchester castle and the county gaol (normally with the sheriff; not pinned for 1200)

How it was acquired

Shire of Wessex; sheriff appointed by the king.

Allies and rivals

The sheriff shares the shire with the bishop of Winchester's liberties and the earl of Devon's island.

How things stand that morning

Under Hugh de Bosco as sheriff. Across the borders: Surrey and Sussex (south-east researcher) to the east, Berkshire to the north, Wiltshire and Dorset to the west.

Wealth

The Southampton wine and wool trade, the St Giles fair, the downland sheep, the New Forest. No figures.

Military

Royal castles of Winchester, Portchester and Southampton; the coastal ports for the crossing to Normandy.

Threats

• Forest grievances
• The war in France drawing on the ports and ships

Sheriff in 1200

Name

Hugh de Bosco

How

Sheriff, answering for the farm at the Exchequer

Since

1193

Hundreds

Thirteenth-century hundreds include Alton, Andover, Barton Stacey, Basingstoke, Bishop's Sutton, Bishop's Waltham, Bountisborough, Buddlesgate, Christchurch, Crondall, Evingar, Fareham, Fawley, Finchdean, Fordingbridge, Holdshot, Kingsclere, King's Somborne, Mainsbridge, Meonstoke, the New Forest, Odiham, Overton, Pastrow, Portsdown, Redbridge, Ringwood, Selborne, Thorngate, Titchfield and Wherwell, with East and West Medina on the Isle of Wight. Many are the bishop's or abbeys'.

Forests

The New Forest, Bere by Portchester, Bere Ashley, Pamber, Woolmer, Alice Holt, Buckholt and the Hampshire part of Chute.

Castles

Winchester, Portchester and Southampton (royal); Wolvesey, Bishop's Waltham and Merdon (bishop of Winchester); Carisbrooke and Christchurch (earl of Devon); Basing (Port).

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. Late February 1200John lands on the south coast on his return from Normandy (the port is not pinned; Portsmouth and Southampton are the usual).Depends on: The truce holding Stopped by: War in Normandy

Places of note

• Winchester castle: Royal castle

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Sheriff from the PRO list via Wikipedia; hundreds after the VCH.

On the map: Traced along the historic boundary at a coarse scale; the parishes moved between Hampshire and Wiltshire in 1895 are only roughly followed.

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.