King's demesne (south-west)

Who he is

Name

John

Title

King of England, duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, count of Anjou, lord of Ireland

Since

Crowned at Westminster 27 May 1199

Born

24 December 1166 (33 on 1 January 1200)

Family

Youngest son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. His marriage to Isabella of Gloucester has been voided by his bishops (see Gloucester); his half-brother William Longespee is earl of Salisbury (Salisbury). The realm record is written by the south-east researcher.

Confidence

high

John spends the winter of 1199-1200 in Normandy and does not cross to England until late February 1200, so the demesne here is run by his officers: the justiciar Geoffrey FitzPeter, the sheriffs, the castellans and the foresters under Hugh de Neville, chief forester.

What it holds

• Winchester castle, the royal hall and the treasury at Winchester (the king's old treasure-house, though the Exchequer now sits at Westminster)
• The New Forest, William I's forest between the Avon and Southampton Water, with its wardens and verderers
• Portchester castle and the Forest of Bere; Southampton castle, where the king's wine is stored; the new town of Portsmouth with the king's house (charter of 1194)
• The royal manors of Hampshire: Andover, Basingstoke, Odiham, Kingsclere, Alton and others (Odiham's castle is not yet built: 1207-14)
• Windsor castle and Windsor Forest, with the manors of Cookham and Bray
• Woodstock palace and park with Everswell, and the Forest of Wychwood; Oxford castle; the forests of Shotover and Stowood
• Clarendon palace and forest; the castles of Old Sarum, Marlborough, Ludgershall and Devizes; Savernake, Chute, Grovely, Melksham, Chippenham and Braydon forests; the manors of Chippenham, Calne, Corsham, Bedwyn and Warminster
• Corfe castle and Purbeck; Sherborne castle (royal since Stephen took it from the bishop of Salisbury in 1139); Gillingham manor, house and forest; the Dorset manors of Fordington, Bere Regis and Portland
• Somerset: Somerton, Cheddar and Axbridge, Milborne Port; the forests of Exmoor, Mendip, Selwood, Neroche and North Petherton
• Devon and Cornwall: Exeter castle (Rougemont); Lydford castle, built in 1195 as the prison for the forest and stannary courts, and the forest of Dartmoor; the earldom of Cornwall in the king's hand (Earldom of Cornwall); the tin stannaries (Stannaries)
• Gloucestershire: Bristol castle, one of the strongest in England, royal since Henry II took it from Earl William after 1174; Gloucester castle (with the sheriff); St Briavels castle and the Forest of Dean with its iron forges; Kingswood forest by Bristol; the manors of Cheltenham, King's Barton and Awre
• Escheats and honours in hand: the honour of Gloucester (Gloucester), the honour of Wallingford (Wallingford), the earldom of Cornwall (Earldom of Cornwall); the barony of Bampton was restored to Fulk Paynel in 1199

How it was acquired

Royal demesne of the West Saxon kings and the Conqueror; forests made by William I (the New Forest) and extended by Henry II; Bristol castle taken in hand after 1174; Corfe and Sherborne taken from their builders in the Anarchy. John held much of the south-west as count of Mortain from 1189, forfeited it in 1194, and brought it back to the crown on his accession.

Allies and rivals

The bishops of Winchester, Salisbury, Bath and Exeter and the great abbeys hold much of the land in between. The barons of the south-west are mostly loyal or in the king's grip this winter. The forest law is the great grievance of every shire here.

How things stand that morning

Held through the king's officers while John is in Normandy. Sheriffs on 1 January 1200: Hampshire, Hugh de Bosco; Berkshire, Nicholas de Kennet; Oxfordshire, Gilbert Basset (Hugh de Neville's term ended in 1199; the day of the change is not pinned); Wiltshire, William Longespee, earl of Salisbury; Somerset and Dorset, Robert Belet; Devon and Cornwall, Hugh Bardolf with Osbert FitzWilliam as deputy; Gloucestershire, William Marshal (see each shire record). The constables of most royal castles that winter are not pinned in the sources checked; where a sheriff keeps the shire castle it is said in the shire record.

One keeper is known: Hugh de Neville, the chief forester, has had custody of Marlborough since 1194 (Marlborough (keeper)).

Wealth

Forest revenues (fines, assarts, pannage, venison and timber), demesne manors, borough farms, the tin of Devon and Cornwall, the port customs of Southampton and Bristol, Dean iron, and the honours in hand. No figures.

Military

The castle chain of the south: Winchester, Portchester, Southampton, Corfe, Sherborne, Old Sarum, Marlborough, Ludgershall, Devizes, Windsor, Oxford, Wallingford, Bristol, Gloucester, St Briavels, Exeter, Lydford and Launceston. Garrisons and keepers: not pinned that winter. The south coast ports send ships for the crossings to Normandy.

Threats

• Resentment of the forest law in every shire, above all Devon and Cornwall, where the whole county is forest
• The cost of the war in France falling on the demesne and the sheriffs' farms
• Disputed honours in hand (Gloucester) that rival claimants want back

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.

In 1200

1. Late February 1200John crosses from Normandy to England, landing on the south coast, and goes on a progress that takes in the demesne here before returning to Normandy in late April.Depends on: The truce with Philip holding and nothing keeping John in Normandy Stopped by: War breaking out in the Vexin or the Loire valley
2. 1200 (spring)The carucage of 1200 is levied across the shires to pay the relief owed under the coming peace.Depends on: The settlement with Philip going ahead Stopped by: No treaty

Later, on the likely course

1. 1204The men of Devon and of Cornwall buy charters disafforesting their shires except Dartmoor and Exmoor.Depends on: John's need for money Stopped by: Outside 1200; noted for the campaign's long view

Places of note

• Winchester castle: Royal castle, hall and treasury
• Windsor castle: Royal castle on the Thames
• Woodstock palace: Royal palace and park
• Clarendon palace: Royal hunting palace
• Corfe castle: Royal castle in Purbeck
• Marlborough castle: Royal castle, John's former seat
• Ludgershall castle: Royal castle and hunting lodge
• Devizes castle: Royal castle, built by Bishop Roger of Salisbury
• Sherborne castle: Royal castle since 1139
• Old Sarum castle: Royal castle on the hill above the old cathedral
• Portchester castle: Royal castle in the Roman fort on Portsmouth harbour
• Southampton castle: Royal castle and wine store
• Bristol castle: Royal castle
• St Briavels castle: Castle of the Forest of Dean
• Exeter castle (Rougemont): Royal castle
• Lydford castle: Prison of the forest and stannary courts, built 1195
• Gillingham: Royal manor house and forest

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The castles, forests and manors are well known from the Pipe Rolls and the forest records; who kept each castle on 1 January 1200 is mostly not pinned, and the Oxfordshire and Wiltshire shrievalties changed hands around Michaelmas 1199.

On the map: The forests are drawn only where the king's own hand lay heavy (the New Forest, Dean, Dartmoor, Windsor, Wychwood, Savernake, Clarendon); in law the royal forest covered far more, including all of Devon and Cornwall. Castles are drawn as small discs or with their districts.

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.