Salisbury

Who he is

Name

William Longespee, with Ela of Salisbury

Title

Earl of Salisbury in right of his wife

Since

1196, when Richard I married him to Ela

Born

William: in or before 1167 by the usual reckoning (some put it nearer 1176); Ela: about 1187, at Amesbury

Family

William is the bastard son of Henry II (his mother was Ida de Tosny), so King John's half-brother. Henry II gave him the honour of Appleby in Lincolnshire in 1188 and acknowledged him as his son. Ela is the only child and heiress of William FitzPatrick, 2nd earl of Salisbury (died 1196), and granddaughter of Earl Patrick, killed in Poitou in 1168. No children are recorded by 1200; their eldest son William is born about 1209-12.

Confidence

high

The marriage and the earldom date from 1196. He is the king's close kinsman and one of his most trusted captains. Where he is on 1 January 1200 is not pinned: likely with John in Normandy.

Overlord

King John (his half-brother)

What it holds

• Amesbury, where Ela was born, with the family's manors on Salisbury Plain (Chitterne, Shrewton and others)
• Aldbourne and its chase in north-east Wiltshire
• Lacock, Ela's manor (the abbey there is her foundation of 1232, far in the future)
• Canford in Dorset, with the harbour hamlet of Poole as its port
• Patronage of Bradenstoke Priory, founded by Walter of Salisbury in 1142
• The third penny of Wiltshire; the family's claim to keep Old Sarum castle
• William's own honour of Appleby in Lincolnshire (Midlands researcher's ground)

How it was acquired

Edward of Salisbury held these lands at Domesday; his son Walter's son Patrick was made earl by the Empress about 1142-43; Patrick's son William died in 1196 leaving Ela; Richard I married her to his half-brother William Longespee the same year.

Allies and rivals

Close to the king by blood and service. The bishop of Salisbury and the castle garrison share the hill of Old Sarum uneasily. Neighbours: the Bohuns of Trowbridge, the king's foresters of Clarendon and Savernake.

How things stand that morning

Held by William and Ela without challenge. William accounts for Wiltshire as sheriff from Michaelmas 1199 (the PRO list puts him in office 1200-03, which is the Exchequer year from Michaelmas 1199; Stephen of Turnham and Wandregisil de Courseulles accounted for the year before), with Robert de Berneres as his deputy.

Wealth

Sheep and corn of Salisbury Plain and the Wiltshire downs, the Canford heath and Poole harbour, the third penny. No figures.

Military

The earldom's knights' fees (Cartae Baronum, 1166); William is a seasoned captain of Richard's wars in Normandy. No castle of his own is recorded here apart from the claim to Old Sarum.

Threats

• Dependence on the king's favour
• No heir of the body yet

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 serves John in Normandy and England; he keeps the shrievalty of Wiltshire through 1200-03.Depends on: John's favour Stopped by: A quarrel with the king

Places of note

• Amesbury: Family manor, Ela's birthplace
• Canford: Dorset manor of the earldom
• Old Sarum castle: Royal castle the family claims to keep

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The marriage, title and kinship are certain; the list of manors is drawn from the later descent (Amesbury, Aldbourne, Lacock, Canford) and is not a full survey; the day he took the shrievalty is not pinned.

On the map: The earldom's lands were scattered manors; only the main ones are drawn.

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.