Research Notes:
Dudding states, [1]
Thomas of Saleby's only son William died young ... He had married a wife who was evidently many years younger than himself, and when, after the death of the heir a daughter was born to them—he being then advanced in years and she middle aged—suspicion was at once aroused.
If their son had lived, this rather belated family event would have caused only a little surprise; but to the next heir, William son of Robert de Hardreshull, and nephew of Thomas of Saleby, the news of it came as a serious blow.
William ... accused his relations of fraud. More than this, he appealed to the courts both of the King and the bishop of Lincoln, against them, for passing off, as he said, a strange child as their own.
The bishop claimed the trial for his court on the ground that it was an ecclesiastical and not a civil case, but with no success. The parties were ordered to appear at Westminster, fifteen days after the feast of St. Hilary, 1195. Thomas appointed Agnes his wife to appear for him if he could not be present, but if she could not attend he would be there to hear judgment.1
No record remains of the judgement which was then pronounced, but it was evidently in favour of Thomas and Agnes, and we hear nothing more about this litigation till after the death of Thomas in 1199. In that year William de Hardeshull gave the King 500 marks "to obtain judgment in the King's Court respecting the inheritance which he claimed against the daughter of Thomas of Saleby, and for an inquisition to ascertain whether she was the daughter of the said Thomas or not."2
Now, however, a new complication had taken place. The overlord, Petronilla de Craon, being under age, Grace of Saleby, the child in question, had become the ward of the King; who immediately, child of five though she was, gave her in marriage to Adam de Nevill, son of Ralph, younger brother of Hugh de Nevill the powerful chief forester.
The King having taken possession of the property as well as the person of Grace, Adam gave 20 marks "that one of his servants might be allowed to be with those of the King for the safe keeping of the crops and chattels which he had on the land which was the possession of Thomas, the son of William of Saleby, that no mischief or injury might be done, and that William de Hardreshull should by no means be allowed possession of that land, except by Judgment of the King's Court.3
A day was then appointed to William de Hardreshull and Adam de Nevill, "who had in his care, Grace, a certain damsel who was said to be the daughter of Agnes who was the wife of Thomas of Saleby."4
1 Rot. Cur. Regis. I, 78, 79.
2 Rot. de Oblatis I John, 20.
3 Ibid. 21
4 Rot. Cur. Regis. I John, I, 45a.William de Hardreshull was to give 500 marks if the enquiry resulted in the decision that Grace, the wife of Adam de Nevill, was not the daughter of Thomas of Saleby, and if in consequence he should have the land which he claimed against them. If the decision should be that the land should remain with Adam and his wife, Adam was to give 500 marks.1
We find nothing further concerning the suit, but Adam and Grace retained the property.
Such is this strange story as we glean it from the records, but only the bare bones are revealed to us. As in most of these old suits, the vital part, the evidence of witnesses, has not been preserved.
In this case, however, we have from another source the whole story as told by a contemporary, and one too who had his part in the events he described. It appears that bishop Hugh of Lincoln, with his usual impetuosity, in spite of the ruling of the King's Judges, having quite made up his mind as to who were the guilty parties, proceeded to try them. The account of his procedure contained in the history of his life being of great interest, and not very readily accessible, a full translation is here given.
The Lincolnshire Knight and his Wife.
There was in the county of Lincoln a certain knight, now advanced in years, who had a childless wife. He had a brother, also a knight, an active and intelligent man, who by the law of inheritance, if he should die without issue, would succeed to his property. His wife was displeased at the prospect, fearing perhaps, that when she became a widow, she would come under the dominion of this man, towards whom she was never very well affected. Incited therefore, as by the cunning of an evil serpent, to avoid his succession to the inheritance and the dreaded consequences to herself, seeing that she had no child of her own, she passed off as her own the child of another.
The knight to whose prejudice this plan of malicious wickedness was conceived discovered the plot directed against him, but being able neither to convict nor to hinder the author of it, brought the matter to the notice of his friends, and earnestly sought their assistance, yet with little profit.
Meanwhile the woman, pretending to have given birth to a child, produced in public the female child of a peasant procured from a neighbouring village, and tended it very carefully as though really her own. She also sent for the true mother, and committed to her the task of nourishing her own offspring.
1 Pipe Roll 2 John.
While these things were taking place not far from Lincoln, the festival of Easter drew near. Therefore the knight thus defrauded by the cunning of a woman, taking with him certain discreet men who had heard rumours of this evil deed, came to the bishop and told all his suspicions, for as yet he was not fully informed whose the child was who was to disinherit him, or how procured.
Then the just and pious man being deeply moved on hearing these things, ordered the husband of the malignant woman to be brought to him without delay, and taking him aside, earnestly disputed with him, urged, intreated him, doing his utmost to wring from him a confession of his fault. He, however, fearing more the wrath of an impudent wife than the justice of God, and being bewitched by his hissing serpent, at first denied that he had any knowledge of this crime; but being pressed further by the bishop, and moved by the strong testimony of public opinion, to which it appeared unlikely that he, being an old and infirm man, could have issue, or that he could fail to be aware of his wife's falsehood, he at length betrayed himself by this reply, "I have been for a long time," said he, "troubled with bodily infirmity, therefore I have known little of my wife's secrets, but I will, if it pleases you, enquire more closely as to the truth of this thing, and let you know the result of my enquiry in the morning. Your assembly will, no doubt, perceive that an investigation may more usefully be made on the spot where the affair is supposed to have happened."
Then the president permitted him to depart, having admonished him in these words, "I would have you know," he said, "that if you perform less than you have promised, tomorrow sentence of excommunication will be solemnly and terribly pronounced by us against all those who appear to be the authors or supporters of this evil thing."
Thus dismissed, he returned to his own home, and related to his barren wife all that he had heard from the bishop and what the bishop had proposed. Whereupon, she gnashing her teeth and shamelessly abusing the unfortunate man, strongly dissuaded him from returning to his faithful adviser; and he, weakly giving way to his female ruler, to whose perverted discipline he had long been the slave, remained at home, adding the crime of lying to his former error.
The next day came, which was the glorious Paschal festival of the blessed Resurrection of the Lord, and the bishop, after the usual words of holy exhortation to the people, explained to all the outcome of this business, enlarged on the enormity of the evil, and strongly asserted that it could not fail but that great misfortune to offenders followed upon the censure of the pastoral office. Also he explained more fully how great was the crime to attempt by such means to inflict upon a brother and his posterity so serious a loss. Indeed, such sins were often accounted worthy of death. He then bound with the fetters of a curse all those who had taken part in the disinheriting of the knight by the substitution of the child.
Nor, indeed, did Satan long delay to exercise the tyranny of his rage against those delivered to him by the sentence of the just man. For attacking on the following night the man, who by cloaking the perversity of his wife rather encouraged than by reproving corrected her, he suddenly seized upon his soul. Unexpectedly he died even in the bed in which he had placed himself as though about to enjoy peaceful slumber. ...
The legitimate heir being excluded from the succession, the King allowed the bestowal of the child and her possessions upon a certain youth who was the brother of Hugh de Nevill, the chief forester of the kingdom. This child, though barely four years of age, he proposed solemnly to marry, little caring that he would by this means be depriving another of his patrimony. When this came to the ears of the bishop, who had often by general regulation forbidden the marriage of those of improper age, he at once, forbade by special interdict any priest or faithful Christian whatsoever to take part in these particular nuptials. By this means he provided both for the eternal and temporal security of many—considering also the common law that full enquiry should be made into a thing of this kind lest injury be done to any party by such a marriage.
Shortly afterwards, the bishop being absent in Normandy on some business of the King, the relations and supporters of the aforesaid youth came together in a certain remote village, and there, owing to the simplicity or greed of the priest of that place, were solemnly joined in marriage in face of the church, the little child and the knight, the peasant and the gentleman, the serf and the freeborn. So great was the greed to occupy the right of another that neither the degradation of a man of noble birth nor the manifest loss of salvation hindered the impious match.
The bishop having returned from foreign parts was speedily informed of what had taken place. The priest, the minister of such a marriage, was then punished by suspension both from benefice and office, and against the rest of the transgressors, who contumaciously refused to appear before him, sentence of excommunication was passed.
In the meantime the maid of the pretended mother through whom the strange child had been sought and found, being terrified by conscience revealed every detail of the affair, first to the confessor of the church of Lincoln, Master William de Branfed, subdeacon of holy memory, and at length by his exhortation to the bishop himself, with a great profusion of tears.
Then the bishop in order to improve the occasion, keeping secret for the present that which he had heard in secret, ordered his former sentence to be repeated publicly far and wide in every church on the following Sunday. As soon as this was done the unhappy woman, the originator and the source of so great an evil, coming to her right mind looked with horror on the wicked deed which she had committed. At length, moved to a wise resolution, like the accessory and helper of her fault the before-mentioned maid, she came to the bishop, and first to him alone, afterwards to several discreet men—of whom the writer was one—mournfully confessed her sin and acknowledged with groaning that she had betrayed her own husband and defrauded his brother, the one to death, the other to confiscation and disinheritance.
All this was duly made known by the bishop to the metropolitan of Canterbury, at that time chief justice of the whole kingdom; to the brothers and friends of the ravisher, so to speak, of the alienated property; and almost to the whole of the nobles and barons of the court of England. Nevertheless the husband of the innocent child, with his advisers, clung to the evilly obtained possession- They even declared that according to the laws of England a child whom the husband of a legitimate wife held to be legitimate whilst he lived was his legitimate issue. On this pretext the true heir was still kept out of his inheritance; although, through fear of the bishop, and because of the almost universal knowledge of the facts of the case, a definite judicial sentence was not pronounced against him.
The champion of the truth, however, having passed over into Normandy—repeating before he went, as he had often done previously, that though the knight had married the child, as he wished, he would know very well that he had married the offspring of a peasant, nor would he rejoice very much in that—these factious men again fixed a day for the parties at London, on which, they promised themselves, the litigation would be ended in their favour.
Wherefore Adam de Nevill, for this was the name of the man who had married the young girl, surrounded by a troop of his friends, hastened towards London, and on the night before the day on which the judges promised him as his own the property of which at present he was only the guardian, lodged at an inn not far from the city. While his advisers and supporters took counsel with the judges in the city as to the form of the sentence to be given, he, merry and drunken, was placed in bed at his lodging; but death joining itself to stupor, he was suddenly destroyed, and hurried alone before the judgment seat of the Judge of Judges to receive the recompense ot his deeds, as unprepared as his fate was unexpected.
He being thus taken away and suddenly torn from his earthly tabernacle, his widow was given, she being as yet little fitted for marriage, to a certain chamberlain of the King. Again, after the departure of the saint from this world, the miserable child was given into the hands of a third husband, by far worse than those who went before, whom, on account of numberless injuries inflicted upon many churches, a manifold curse holds in bondage.
What will be the end of this man, unless he take heed to himself, may be foretold with no uncertain voice, his works already going before to judgment.
The woman also who was the cause of all this mischief, having prolonged her life for some time in grief and trouble, now closed it in bitter death.1
1 Vita S. Hugonis Epis. Linc. Lib. IV, Cap. V.
This account adds a strong human element to the former dry legal outline, but we cannot take it as conclusive.
Adam of Eynsham, excellent monk, chaplain and biographer of bishop Hugh, was far too deeply prejudiced to be a reliable witness where a woman was concerned. Although, probably, he knew little of Agnes of Saleby, he never mentions her without abuse, and even imagines scenes of violence at her own home of which he could have known nothing.
On the other hand, William de Hardreshull, for it was he rather than his father who was the chief litigant, was not the ingenuous person the writer would have us believe him to be, as the short account of his life in the next chapter will show. He was a Warwickshire man although he had Lincolnshire property, and would be almost unknown to the bishop. Yet it seems to have been on his mere suspicion that the old knight was summoned to Lincoln and urged so strongly to confess. That Thomas failed to return needs no explanation of the "enchantment of a hissing serpent," when we know that he died the following evening.
Adam de Nevill was greatly in the wrong to marry a child of five years for her fortune, or rather his relations were to blame, for he was probably quite a youth; but we cannot help feeling that the further question of the child's identity was obscured by the well known enmity between bishop Hugh and Hugh de Nevill the chief forester. There was a distinct bias in the case, unconscious no doubt on the part of the bishop, who, we feel sure, acted in a good faith.
The alleged confession of Agnes and her maid is a more serious matter, but when we consider that confession was the sole means of escaping from the heavy burden of excommunication, it would not be surprising if these women confessed to crimes of which they were guiltless. ...
In the Pipe Roll of 3 John, Agnes of Saleby is said to owe the King 11li 14s 8d. It is added that half a mark had been paid into the treasury, and that she now owed 11li 8d.
Adam de Nevill having died, Norman de Caritate or de Camara, the King's chamberlain, gave the King 200 marks to have with her lands the damsel whom King Richard had given to Adam de Nevill.1 In the Chancery Rolls of 3 John he is found still to owe the 200 marks.
Norman confirmed to the monks of Kirkstead the toft which Thomas the son of William of Hainton had given in his territory of Southrey. He confirmed also to them the bovate of land which they held in Strubby of the same Thomas, and remitted the services due for both these gifts.2
Norman de Camara enjoyed Grace's possessions only a few years. In 1205 she was again disposed of by the King, who for 300 marks gave her in marriage to Brian de Insula.3 A precept was issued from Windsor, 22nd January, 1205, to the sheriff of Lincolnshire, informing him that the King had given to his knight Brian de Insula, the daughter and heir of Thomas son of William of Saleby in marriage with all her land, and commanding him to put Brian without delay in full possession as Norman de Caritate held it.4 ...
1 Rot. de. Oblatis 1 John, p. 40.
2 Lansd. MSS. 207a. 255.
3 Fine Roll 6 John, 240.
4 Close Roll 6 John, m. 10.It is gratifying to find that the value of Grace as a wife increased with each husband; but the husbands showed a regretable slowness in paying the price agreed upon ... Brian de Insula, or de Lisle, was a great favourite of King John and constantly employed by him and his son Henry III ...In 1233 he was sheriff of Yorkshire5; and the next year he died, leaving as heirs Thomas Breton and Alice his wife, William de Glamorgan and Ralph de Stopham.6
On the death of Brian, his wife Grace at last obtained possession of. her property, which consisted at that time of lands in Hainton, Strubby, Saleby, Scothern, East Rasen, Tothby and Cuxwold. In Hainton she held, in 1242, of Thomas de Greyley, or Gresley, and he of the King, one knight's fee, and in Hainton, Barkwith and Strubby one fee of Thomas de Scotney.7 In Saleby one fee of Petronilla de Craon, and she of the king, on which she paid 40s. scutage.8 In Scothern Richard de Nevill held two carucates of land of Grace and she of the King, an old fief.9 In East Rasen she had half a knight's fee of the honour of Lancaster.10 In Tothby the 22nd. part of a fee of the archbishop of York.11 In Cuxwold the 9th part of a fee of William Blanchard, and in the same place four bovates of the king in chief.12...
6 Fine Roll 18 Hen. Ill, m. 2.
7 Testa de Nevill 308, 311, 332.
8 Ibid. 331, 333.
9 Ibid. 350.
10 Ibid. 304, 316.
11 Ibid. 331.
12 Ibid. 318, 352.Not long after the death of her third husband Grace married Geoffrey de Wurth, this time we will hope a man of her own choice.
In 1250 she and Geoffrey settled the manors of East Rasen and Hainton upon Robert son of Jordan de Wurth, probably Geoffrey's nephew—"To have and hold by him and his heirs of Geoffrey and Grace and the heirs of Grace for ever, paying by the year a pair of gilt spurs or sixpence for all service,"4 and for this Robert gave Grace 120li. On the back of this fine is "William de Hardredishill puts in his claim."
Grace died in 1259, and being without issue, William de Hardreshull, grandson of the William who had disputed her right, was declared her heir and succeeded to her property. The King received homage of him and ordered all the lands of which Grace died possessed to be delivered to him, security first having been taken for the payment
of four marks into the exchequer.54 Lincs. Notes and Queries VII. 251.
5 Fine Roll 43 Hen. Ill, m. 9.
[1] Reginald C. Dudding, History of the Manor and Parish of Saleby with Thoresthorpe in the County of Lincoln (Horncastle: W. K. Morton & Sons, 1922), 13-24, [HathiTrust].