Herefordshire

Who holds it

Name

Walter de Clifford (listed for 1199); Geoffrey FitzPeter is listed without a date between Clifford and Braose

Title

Sheriff of Herefordshire

Since

1199 (after William de Braose's long tenure, 1191-1199)

Born

About 1160

Family

See Clifford.

Confidence

low

Wikipedia list of sheriffs of Herefordshire: 1191-1198 William de Braose (with William of Burghill from 1197); 1199 Walter de Clifford; then Geoffrey FitzPeter, undated; 1200 William de Braose and William of Burghill; 1201-1203 Hubert de Burgh. Walter de Clifford's article also gives 1199.

Overlord

King John

What it holds

• The county farm and the profits of the shire court
• Custody of Hereford castle
• The fee farm of Hereford (granted to the citizens 1189)
• The revenues of the vacant see (in royal custody)

Allies and rivals

Braose, Lacy, Mortimer and Clifford dominate the shire's baronage.

How things stand that morning

Quiet; sheriff not pinned.

Wealth

Wool (the Leominster district), cattle, cider is later; the Wye trade.

Military

The shire levy; baronial castles along the Welsh edge.

Threats

• Welsh raids into Archenfield, Ewyas and the Golden Valley

Sheriff in 1200

Not pinned between Walter de Clifford (sheriff in 1199) and Geoffrey FitzPeter (the justiciar, who appears to have held the shire briefly as custodian before William de Braose returned with William of Burghill as his deputy in 1200). This record names Clifford as the likelier holder on the morning of 1 January 1200.

Hundreds

Broxash, Greytree, Grimsworth, Huntington, Radlow, Stretford, Webtree, Wigmore, Wolphy and Wormelow (Archenfield), with Ewyas Lacy as a Marcher district (later medieval forms; 1200 arrangement approximate).

Forests

The royal forest of Haywood south of Hereford; Mortimer's chase of Deerfold; the Forest of Dean lies across the Wye in Gloucestershire (esw).

Castles

Royal: Hereford, Goodrich. Baronial: Wigmore (Mortimer), Richard's Castle (Say heirs), Weobley (Lacy), Clifford, Ewyas Harold, Kilpeck, Snodhill, Wilton, Eardisley, Lyonshall, Huntington and Kington (Braose), Brampton Bryan.

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. 1200William de Braose becomes sheriff again with William of Burghill as deputy.Depends on: John's favour to Braose Stopped by: John's other choices
2. 1200 (consecrated 24 September)Giles de Braose becomes bishop of Hereford.Depends on: Election Stopped by: Papal quash

Places of note

• Hereford castle: Shire castle

Where the sources disagree

• The sheriff on 1 January 1200 is not pinned: the list gives Walter de Clifford for 1199 and Geoffrey FitzPeter undated before Braose's return in 1200.

Evidence: Sheriff list confusing for 1199-1200; hundreds from later forms.

On the map: Historic county line traced roughly; Clifford and Huntington are left inside though they were Marcher.

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.