Gloucester

Who he is

Name

King John, holding the lands of Isabella of Gloucester in his own hand

Title

Earl of Gloucester in right of his wife until the annulment; after it, lord of the heiress and her lands

Since

29 August 1189 (marriage at Marlborough); in his own hand as lord of the heiress since the annulment of 1199

Born

John 24 December 1166; Isabella about 1160-1173 (not pinned)

Family

Isabella (also called Hawise) is the youngest of the three daughters and co-heiresses of William FitzRobert, 2nd earl of Gloucester (died 23 November 1183), whose only son Robert died in 1166. Her sisters: Mabel, married to Amaury, count of Evreux (their son is Amaury of Evreux), and Amice, married to Richard de Clare, earl of Hertford (their son is Gilbert de Clare). Under the settlement of 1176 Henry II made Isabella sole heiress of the earldom for John, and bought off the elder sisters' husbands.

Confidence

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The marriage was voided on grounds of consanguinity (John and Isabella were both great-grandchildren of Henry I and no dispensation was ever obtained) by bishops of Normandy and Aquitaine, not by Rome. Howden puts the divorce in 1199; Wikipedia's account says it was done 'by the spring of 1200'. The day is not pinned and the campaign's main notes carry a ruling on it. Either way John holds the lands that morning: as her husband, or as lord of an unmarried heiress returned to wardship.

Where Isabella herself lives that winter is not pinned; she is in John's custody and he can marry her to whom he likes. John later gave the title of earl to her nephew Amaury of Evreux (after Le Goulet, not yet), and sold her marriage to Geoffrey de Mandeville in 1214.

Overlord

The crown (John is both lord and overlord here)

What it holds

• Tewkesbury: the honour's English caput, the earls' manor house (Holm castle) and the huge manor and hundred of Tewkesbury; patronage of Tewkesbury Abbey, FitzHamon's foundation and the earls' burial church
• Gloucestershire manors of the honour: Fairford, Thornbury, and many others across the county (not all drawn)
• Burford in Oxfordshire, a borough of the honour with a merchant gild under its old charter from Robert FitzHamon, confirmed by Earl William (attribution from the town's later charters)
• Cranborne and Cranborne Chase on the Dorset and Wiltshire border, the earls' private chase where the king's foresters had no say
• Petersfield in Hampshire, a borough planted by the earls: its charter came from Earl William and was confirmed by his widow Hawise
• Patronage of Keynsham Abbey in Somerset, founded by Earl William about 1166 for the soul of his son Robert
• Bristol: the town grew under the earls' castle and John gave it its charter of liberties as count of Mortain; the castle itself is in the king's custody (see King's demesne (south-west) and Bristol)
• Glamorgan with Cardiff, Kenfig, Neath and Newcastle: the Welsh half of the inheritance, drawn by the Wales researcher
• The knights' fees of the honour across southern England, owed to whoever holds the earldom

How it was acquired

Robert FitzHamon received Gloucester lands and conquered Glamorgan under William II; his daughter Mabel carried them to Robert of Gloucester, Henry I's bastard, made earl about 1122. Earl William (1147-83) died without a surviving son. Henry II kept the honour as guardian 1183-89 and Richard married Isabella to John in 1189. Archbishop Baldwin objected to the marriage and laid John's lands under interdict; the papal legate John of Anagni lifted it on John's appeal.

Allies and rivals

The rival claimants are the heiress's sisters' sons: Amaury of Evreux (son of Mabel), who is count of a town Philip of France has held since 1199, and Gilbert de Clare (son of Amice), heir of the earl of Hertford. Both will want the earldom when John lets it go. The Berkeleys (FitzHarding) at Berkeley and Bedminster are the earls' old neighbours and allies at Bristol. William Marshal, sheriff of Gloucestershire, is the king's man in the county.

How things stand that morning

In the king's hand. No one is earl of Gloucester on 1 January 1200. Isabella is a ward in John's custody, her marriage his to give. The honour's manors are farmed by the king's keepers and its knights answer to the king; Bristol castle and town are the king's; Glamorgan is the king's lordship in Wales.

Wealth

Rich and varied: the Severn and Avon trade of Tewkesbury and Bristol, the corn and wool of the Cotswold and Vale manors, the Cranborne chase, the borough rents of Bristol, Burford and Petersfield, and the Glamorgan lordship. No figures.

Military

The honour's knights' fees are one of the largest bodies of knight service in England (the earl's return in the Cartae Baronum of 1166 is the source; no figure given here). Castles: Bristol (royal custody), Cardiff and the Glamorgan castles (wal), Tewkesbury's Holm castle. The earls' men fought hard for the Empress in the 1140s; Earl William was suspected in 1173-74 and had to surrender Bristol castle to Henry II.

Threats

• The claims of the two sisters' lines once John gives up the lands
• Isabella's own complaint against the annulment, if she or a protector takes it to Rome
• The lands are a prize John can use to buy loyalty or money, which keeps their future unsettled

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. 22 May 1200At Le Goulet John cedes Evreux and the Evrecin to Philip. In compensation Amaury of Evreux is recognised as earl of Gloucester and given the title and part of the honour, while John keeps Bristol, Glamorgan and Isabella's person.Depends on: The treaty being made on those terms Stopped by: No treaty, or a peace that leaves Evreux to Amaury
2. 24 August 1200John marries Isabella of Angouleme, closing the door on any return to Isabella of Gloucester.Depends on: John's choice and the Lusignan betrothal Stopped by: A different marriage policy

Places of note

• Tewkesbury Abbey and Holm castle: The honour's English caput and the earls' burial church
• Cranborne: Caput of the earls' chase
• Keynsham Abbey: The earls' Augustinian foundation (about 1166)
• Burford: Borough of the honour
• Petersfield: Borough of the honour

Where the sources disagree

• The GM's Church notes (Part 8, 6) say the marriage 'is being voided' by Norman and Aquitanian bishops, as if the case were still open; Howden dates the divorce to 1199, and Wikipedia says it was done 'by the spring of 1200'. This record does not need the exact day: John holds the lands in either case. The GM's ruling decides whether Isabella is still queen in name on 1 January.

Evidence: The descent, the marriage date and the later grants are well recorded; the annulment's exact date, Isabella's whereabouts, and which manors the king's keepers ran directly that winter are not pinned.

On the map: Only the caput and a few blocks are drawn; the honour's manors were scattered over many shires. Bristol is drawn as the king's and as a town; Glamorgan by the Wales researcher.

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.