Yorkshire

Who holds it

Name

Geoffrey FitzPeter, earl of Essex and justiciar of England, sheriff through an under-sheriff (not named in the sources checked)

Title

Sheriff of Yorkshire

Since

1198 (Wikipedia list: 1198-1201). Before him Archbishop Geoffrey of York held the shrievalty (1194-98), having bought it; after him William de Stuteville (1201-03)

Confidence

medium

Overlord

King John

How things stand that morning

In the king's peace. The justiciar's deputy runs the shire; the archbishop's quarrel with the crown and his canons simmers.

Sheriff in 1200

Geoffrey FitzPeter, earl of Essex and justiciar of England, sheriff through an under-sheriff (not named in the sources checked). 1198 (Wikipedia list: 1198-1201). Before him Archbishop Geoffrey of York held the shrievalty (1194-98), having bought it; after him William de Stuteville (1201-03)

Answers for

The county farm and the farm of the city of York; the profits of the county court and of justice; escheats and wardships taken into the king's hand; custody of York castle; the debts recorded at the York archa of the Jews (set up under the Ordinances of 1194).

Hundreds

• East Riding: Buckrose, Dickering, Harthill, Holderness, Howdenshire, Ouse and Derwent
• North Riding: Allertonshire, Birdforth, Bulmer, Gilling East, Gilling West, Hallikeld, Hang East, Hang West, Langbaurgh, Pickering Lythe, Ryedale, Whitby Strand
• West Riding: Agbrigg, Barkston Ash, Claro, Ewcross, Morley, Osgoldcross, Skyrack, Staincliffe, Staincross, Strafforth and Tickhill
• The Ainsty, west of York (not yet joined to the city)

Forests

• Royal: Galtres, Pickering, Knaresborough (kept by Stuteville)
• Private chases: Hatfield (Warenne), Bowland (Lacy), the forests of Richmondshire and Skipton

Castles

• Royal: York, Scarborough, Pickering, Knaresborough, Aldborough, Tickhill, Bowes
• Baronial: Pontefract, Almondbury, Conisbrough, Sandal, Richmond, Middleham, Skipsea, Skipton, Helmsley, Malton, Skelton, Mulgrave, Topcliffe, Kirkbymoorside, Sheriff Hutton, Sheffield, Burton in Lonsdale

Liberties

Richmondshire (the honour of Richmond); Holderness (Aumale); the archbishop's liberties; the bishop of Durham's Allertonshire and Howdenshire; St Peter's liberty in York; the honours of Pontefract and Tickhill.

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. March 1200John comes to York to meet William the Lion, who does not appear.Depends on: The Scottish talks Stopped by: War in Normandy
2. 1200, date not pinnedThe carucage of 1200 is assessed and levied on the ploughlands of the shire.Depends on: The king's grant of the tax Stopped by: Resistance by the clergy or the barons
3. 1201 (after 1200)William de Stuteville becomes sheriff.Depends on: Royal appointment Stopped by: Nothing likely

Places of note

• Shire town and castle: Seat of the sheriff and the county court

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Sheriff from the Wikipedia list; under-sheriff not pinned.

On the map: Historic county outline, rough; Lunedale and the upper Tees are drawn as Yorkshire, and Sedbergh, Dent and Bowland are included.

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.