Whittington

Who he is

Name

Meurig (Maurice), son of Roger of Powys

Title

Holder of Whittington castle

Since

Henry II gave Whittington to his father Roger of Powys in 1165; Meurig's own tenure before April 1200 is not pinned

Born

Not pinned

Family

A Welsh family in royal service; his son Gwenwynwyn (Werennoc) succeeds in August 1200.

Confidence

medium

Wikipedia (Fulk FitzWarin).

Overlord

King John

What it holds

• Whittington castle and its manor

How it was acquired

Royal grant to his father (1165).

Allies and rivals

Rival: Fulk FitzWarin III, claimant.

How things stand that morning

Held by Meurig's family; Fulk's claim pending before the king.

Wealth

A border manor.

Military

Whittington castle.

Threats

• Fulk FitzWarin

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. 11 April 1200John grants Whittington to Meurig.Depends on: John's preference for the cheaper, loyal Welsh claimant Stopped by: Fulk winning the king's favour
2. August 1200Meurig dies; Whittington passes to his son Gwenwynwyn (Werennoc).Depends on: Natural death Stopped by: Play

Later, on the likely course

1. By April 1201Fulk FitzWarin is in armed defiance of the king with his followers; pardoned November 1203, recovers Whittington October 1204.Depends on: The April 1200 grant Stopped by: John granting Whittington to Fulk

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Dated royal grants.

On the map: Small manor block.

Primary sources for March of Wales

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.

• Annals of Wales, Anonymous (St Davids and other Welsh houses) (10th to 13th centuries; the B and C texts continue to 1286 and 1288). Short Latin annals whose later versions are kept at St Davids and Cistercian houses. 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
• Monastic Annals (Margam, Tewkesbury, Burton, Winchester, Waverley, Dunstable, Bermondsey, Worcester, Osney) (12th to 14th centuries). Nine sets of house annals, each with a short entry for 1200. Read online
• The History of William Marshal, Anonymous (a poet called John, writing for the Marshal family) (about 1224 to 1226). A knight's view of the Angevin succession: the council at Vaudreuil in April 1199 where the Marshal and Hubert Walter argued for John over Arthur, the Marshal's crossing to secure England, John's coronation, and the Marshal's part in Normandy in 1199 and 1200 as holder of Longueville and Orbec and a go-between with Philip. Read online
• The Registers of Pope Innocent III for 1199 to 1201, Innocent III and the papal chancery (22 February 1199 to 21 February 1201). The pope's outgoing letters for the year, in his chancery's own copy, touching nearly every realm in the atlas. Read online
• The Charter Rolls of King John (1199 to 1216, at the royal chancery). The enrolled charters of John's first years, beginning with his accession in 1199: confirmations to towns, bishoprics and abbeys, grants of land and office, and the great grants to men like William Marshal and the king's new allies in Poitou. Read online
• The Great Rolls of the Pipe for 1199 and Michaelmas 1200 (1199 and 1200, at the Exchequer). The audited accounts of every sheriff and farmer for the Exchequer year ending Michaelmas 1200: county farms, the scutage of 1199, the carucage of 1200, debts of magnates and towns, wardships, and the fines offered to the new king.

3 more in the sources library for The British Isles.