Honour of Richmond
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The Honour of Richmond in north-west Yorkshire was granted to Count Alan Rufus by William the Conqueror in the year 1071. The honour, which was assessed for the service of 60 knights, was one of the most important fiefs in Norman England.[1]
Territory
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Most of the land granted to Count Alan in Yorkshire had previously belonged to Edwin, Earl of Mercia. It consisted of three main land divisions; the wapentakes of Hang, of Gilling and of Hallikeld. The first two of these correspond to later medieval civil land divisions or wapentakes: the third is less easily defined.
The Gilling territory consisted mainly of land which lay between the River Tees and the River Swale, with the Tees forming the northern border which separated the land from that granted to the Bishop of Durham. The western border was the watershed of the Pennines and the southern border was the watershed between the River Ure and the Swale. The River Wiske formed the eastern border. Gilling village, which was close to the boundary, was the manorial centre before Count Alan supplanted it with Richmond Castle. The division of Hang, or Hangshire, had the River Swale as its northern boundary; its western boundary was the Pennine watershed and its southern boundary was the watershed with the River Wharfe and the River Nidd. The eastern border followed small streams and minor landmarks from the previous watershed to the Swale. The wapentake meeting place was situated on the Hang Beck in Finghall parish. The third part of the territory, Hallikeld, consisted of the parishes lying between the River Ure and the River Swale until their confluence at Ellenthorpe.
The Honour of Richmond, being 60 km from east to west and 45 km from north to south, took in most of the land between the River Tees and the River Ure and ranged in its landscape from the bleak mountainous areas of the Pennines to the fertile lowlands of the Vale of York.
List of Holders of the Honour of Richmond
The holders of the Honour of Richmond were usually referred to as Lords of Richmond. The Honour of Richmond was sometimes held separately from the titles Earl of Richmond, and later Duke of Richmond. Grants were sometimes partial, and sometimes included or excluded Richmond Castle as noted in the list below.
- Alan Rufus
- Alan the Black - brother of Alan Rufus
- Stephen, Count of Tréguier - brother of Alan Rufus
- Alan (The Black, or le Noir), 1st Earl of Richmond - son of Stephen of Tréguier, and nephew of Alan Rufus and the first Alan the Black
- Conan IV, Duke of Brittany - surrendered to Henry II of England
- Held in guardianship by Henry II of England pending the marriage of his son Geoffrey to Constance, the daughter of Conan IV
- Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany and Constance, Duchess of Brittany as hereditary Countess of Richmond
- Arthur I, Duke of Brittany - imprisoned by John I of England, Jean sans Terres
- Eleanor, Fair Maid of Brittany - considered by many hereditary Countess of Richmond imprisoned by John I of England, Jean sans Terres, and Henry III of England
- Guy of Thouars - third husband of Constance; forfeited to King John in 1204 upon taking up arms to avenge the death of Arthur I
- Ralph de Blundeville, Earl of Chester - granted in 1205; Ralph had been Constance's second husband.
- Pierre Mauclerc - the husband of Alix of Thouars and the son-in-law of Guy of Thouars and Constance of Brittany; received a partial grant of the Honour in 1218, and forfeited to Henry III when Pierre paid homage to French King Louis IX; declined an offer of the Honour and the Earldom of Richmond from John I due to his loyalty to the French King.
- Peter II of Savoy, Earl of Richmond
- John I, Duke of Brittany
- John II, Duke of Brittany
- John of Brittany, Earl of Richmond
- John III, Duke of Brittany
- John de Montfort, Earl of Richmond - upon his death, Earldom returned to the crown in 1342; it remained with the crown during most of the Breton War of Succession in part to ensure it would not fall into the hands of the King of France.
- John of Gaunt - surrendered the Earldom and Honour, at the insistence of the King, to pursue Kingship of Castille
- John V, Duke of Brittany, son and heir of John de Montfort; forefeited twice, in 1381 (due to the First Treaty of Guerande) and 1384 upon paying homage to French King Charles V; the second forfeit represented the permanent loss of the Honour and the Earldom by the Dukes of Brittany.
- Anne of Bohemia
- Ralph de Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland - Honour held for life without peerage Earl of Richmond
- John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford and 1st Earl of Richmond
- reverted to the Crown (1435-1450)
- Ralph Neville, Earl of Westmoreland - partial grant of Richmond Castle in 1450
- Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond - father of Henry VII
- Henry Tudor - forfeited to Edward IV
- George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence - granted Honour and castle without peerage Earl of Richmond by Edward IV in 1462
- Richard, Duke of Gloucester - retained upon becoming Richard III of England
- Henry Tudor - regained the Honour upon winning the crown of England in contest with Richard III; Honour merged with the Crown
- Held by members of Tudor and Stuart Dynasties
- Charles Lennox - conferred on Lennox Family in 1675 by Charles Lennox's father Charles II
Notes
References
- ^ Butler, Lawrence (2003). "4.The origins of the honour of Richmond and its castles". In Robert Liddiard (ed.). Anglo Norman Castles. Woodbridge, Suffolk: The Boydell Press. pp. 91–95. ISBN 0-85115-904-4.