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Hugh de Neville

Hugh de Neville[a](died 1234) was theChief Foresterunder the kingsRichard I,JohnandHenry IIIof England; he was thesherifffor a number ofcounties.Related to a number of other royal officials as well as a bishop, Neville was a member of Prince Richard'shousehold.After Richard became king in 1189, Neville continued in his service and accompanied him on theThird Crusade.Neville remained in the royal service following Richard's death in 1199 and the accession of King John to the throne, becoming one of the new king's favourites and often gambling with him. He was named inMagna Cartaas one of John's principal advisers, and considered by a medieval chronicler to be one of King John's "evil counsellors".[2]He deserted John after theFrench invasion of England in 1216but returned to pledge his loyalty to John's sonHenry IIIafter the latter's accession to the throne later that year. Neville's royal service continued until his death in 1234, though by then he was a less significant figure than he had been at the height of his powers.

Hugh de Neville
The church atWaltham Abbey,where Hugh de Neville was buried
Chief Forester of England
In office
1198–1216 & 1224–1229/34
Sheriff of Oxfordshire
In office
1196–1199
Sheriff of EssexandSheriff of Hertfordshire
In office
1197–1200
Sheriff of Hampshire
In office
1209 –c.1213
Sheriff of Lincolnshire
In office
1227–1227
Personal details
Died1234
Resting placeWaltham Abbey
Spouse(s)(1) Joan de Cornhill
(2) Beatrice
ChildrenJohn de Neville
Henry de Neville
Herbert de Neville
Joan

Early life and career

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Neville was the son of Ralph de Neville, a son ofAlan de Neville,who was also Chief Forester.[3]Hugh had a brother,Roger de Neville,who was part of Hugh's household from 1202 to 1213, when Roger was given custody ofRockingham Castleby King John.[4]Another brother was William, who was given some of Hugh's lands in 1217.[5]Hugh, Roger, and William were related to a number of other royal officials and churchmen, most notable among themGeoffrey de Neville,who was aroyal chamberlain,andRalph Neville,who becameBishop of Chichester.[6]Hugh de Neville employed Ralph de Neville at the start of Ralph's career, and the two appear to have remained on good terms throughout the rest of Hugh's life.[7]

Hugh de Neville was a member of the household of Prince Richard, laterRichard I,[8]and also served Richard's father, KingHenry IIat the end of Henry's reign, administering twobaroniesfor the king.[9]Neville accompanied Richard on theThird Crusade;he was one of the few knights whofought with the kingon 5 August 1192 outside the walls ofJaffa,when the king and a small force of knights and crossbowmen fought off a surprise attack bySaladin's forces.[10]Neville's account of events was a source for the chroniclerRalph of Coggeshall's entries on Richard's activities in the Third Crusade.[8][b]

In 1194 Neville acquired thewardshipof Joan de Cornhill, daughter ofHenry de Cornhill,and married her four years later. Also in 1194 he was given custody of the town ofMarlboroughin Wiltshire,[11]and in 1196 he was appointed asSheriff of Oxfordshire.[6]He was also named in 1197 asSheriff of EssexandSheriff of Hertfordshire,offices he held until some time in 1200.[9]

Chief Forester

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A 1215 copy ofMagna Carta,which records de Neville as one of the royal councillors

Neville was appointed as Chief Forester under King Richard I[12]in 1198.[13]As the official in charge of theroyal forests,he held one of the four great offices of the state: the others were thejusticiar,thechancellor,and thetreasurer.The forester was responsible for enforcing theforest law—the special law that applied to the royal forests[c]—and presided over theforest justices,who held foresteyres.There was also a special forestexchequer,or forest treasury.[15]In 1198 Neville presided over anAssizeof the Forest that was described by the chroniclerRoger of Howdenas greatly oppressive.[16]The revenues could be considerable; in 1198 the forest eyre brought in £1,980.[17]Neville stated in 1208 that over the previous six and a half years the amount raised by the various revenues of the forests had been £15,000;[18]in 1212 it had been £4,486.[17]Forest law was resented by the king's subjects, not just for its severity but also because of the large extent of the kingdom that it encompassed. It covered not just woodlands, but by the end of the 12th century between a quarter and a third of the whole kingdom. This extent enabled theNormanandAngevinkings to use the harsh punishments of forest law to extract large sums of money for their government.[14]

Neville continued to hold the office of Chief Forester under King John and he was often the king's gambling partner.[19]He was a frequent witness to John'sroyal charters.[20]Under John, Neville was named to the offices ofSheriff of Hampshirein 1210,[9]andSheriff of Cumberland,offices of which he was deprived in 1212.[21]He was also reappointed to theshrievaltiesof Essex and Hertfordshire in 1202, holding them until 1203.[22]

In 1210 King John fined Neville 1,000marksbecause he had allowedPeter des Roches,theBishop of Winchester,to enclose some hunting grounds without royal permission; although Roches was close to the king, his action was an infringement of the royal forests. Neville's large fine was probably a warning that the king was serious about enforcing the forest law; it was eventually rescinded.[19]In 1213 Neville was placed in charge of the seaports along the southwest English coast fromCornwalltoHampshire,[22]but some time in 1213 it appears that he fell from royal favour, although the circumstances are unknown. A fine of 6,000 marks was assessed on him for allowing two prisoners to escape, as well as other unrecorded offences, although the king did subsequently remit 1,000 marks of the fine. In 1215 Neville lost his office of chief forester.[23]He was present atRunnymedefor the signing ofMagna Cartaand was mentioned in the preamble as one of King John's councillors,[4]as well as serving as a witness to the document.[9]Roger of Wendover,a chronicler writing in 1211, listed Neville as one of King John's "evil counsellors".[2]

John's later reign and service under King Henry III

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John's style of ruling, and his defeats in theAnglo-French Warin 1214, had alienated many of his nobles.[24]Initially, a faction of the barons forced John to agree toMagna Cartato secure less capricious government from the king.[25]John, however, after agreeing to their demands, secured the annulment of the charter from thepapacyin late 1215. The opposition magnates then invited PrinceLouis of Franceto take the English throne, and Louis arrived in England with an army in May 1216.[24]

Neville joined the rebel barons in 1216,[1]shortly after Prince Louis invaded England.[26]Neville surrenderedMarlborough Castle,a royal castle in his custody, to Prince Louis in mid-1216. Louis had not besieged the castle, and it appears that Neville took the initiative in making overtures to the prince. When John heard of the change of sides, he confiscated all of Neville's lands held directly from the king on8 July1216. On 4 September 1216 the king further confiscated lands belonging to other rebels that had been granted to Neville before the surrender of Marlborough; some were re-granted to Neville's brother William. Hugh de Neville's son, Herbert, also joined the rebels.[5]

After King John's death in October 1216, Neville and his son made their peace with the new king, Henry III, John's son. Both men had their lands restored in 1217, but the offices that the elder Neville had held were not returned quickly. Custody of some royal forests was returned by 1220, but the office of Chief Forester was not returned until some time later.[27]In 1218 Neville was supposed to have had theforest of Rockinghamreturned to his custody, butWilliam de Forz,theCount of Aumale,refused to return it.[28]It was not until 1220 that de Neville managed to recover his custody of Rockingham forest.[29]By 1224 Neville was once more Chief Forester,[30]but he never regained the power and influence that he had held under John.[8]When he lost the office for the second time is unclear. The historian C. R. Young states that he held the office until his death in 1234 when it passed to his son John,[27]but Daniel Crook, writing in theOxford Dictionary of National Biography,claims that Neville lost the forester office in 1229, to be replaced byJohn of MonmouthandBrian de Lisle.[9][d]He also served asSheriff of Lincolnshire.[22]

Records and lands

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Neville's household records for 1207 survive, detailing his itinerary for the year; in one eight-week period his household visited eleven different towns.[32]In 1204 his wife offered the king 200 chickens for the right to sleep one night with her husband, an obligation recorded in the royal records.[1][e]The historian Daniel Crook suggests that this shows that Joan Neville was one of the barons' wives who attracted King John's sexual attentions.[9]

Neville inherited lands in Lincolnshire worth one half of aknight's fee.These were augmented with gifts from Richard and John, much of which were inEssex.He also acquired lands inSurreyand inSomerset,and his marriage to Joan brought him estates in Essex.[35]Joan's lands also brought him into conflict withFalkes de Breauté,the husband of Joan's younger sister and co-heiress, and the two brothers-in-law were involved in lawsuits over their wives' lands for more than five years.[36]Joan and her sister were also co-heiresses to the barony of Courcy, in right of their mother Alice de Courcy.[9]

Death and legacy

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Neville's first wife, Joan de Cornhill, died after December 1224. Some time before April 1230 he married secondly Beatrice, the widow of Ralph de Fay and one of the five daughters ofStephen of Turnham.Joan and Neville had at least three sons—John, Henry[9]and Herbert.[5]Neville also had a daughter named Joan.[9]

Neville died in 1234,[3]although his death was incorrectly recorded byMatthew Parisas occurring in 1222.[f]Neville was buried atWaltham Abbey,of which he had been a patron.[9]Besides Waltham, he also made gifts toChrist Church Prioryin Canterbury,Bullington Prioryin Lincolnshire, andSt Mary's Nunnery, Clerkenwell.[37]The historianSidney Paintersaid of Neville's career during John's reign that "a strong argument could be advanced for the thesis that the royal official who wielded the most actual power during John's reign was the chief forester, Hugh de Neville".[38]Another historian, J. R. Maddicott, states that Neville was head of "one of the most detested branches of royal administration".[39]

Notes

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  1. ^SometimesHugh Neville[1]
  2. ^The later medieval writerMatthew Parisrecorded a colourful story about Neville encountering a lion while on crusade. This story may have been made up by Paris from the fact that Neville used a lion on his seal, since no earlier writer mentions this story.[9]
  3. ^Forest law was designed to protect the habitat of the deer and other hunted animals. It was unrelated to the customs andcommon lawof England and its punishments were quite severe compared to the normal punishments of the common law.[14]
  4. ^De Lisle was Neville's deputy as chief forester in 1225.[31]
  5. ^Neville's entry in theOxford Dictionary of National Biographystates that the fine was 200shillings,[9]but the original Latin of the record states plainly "Uxor Hugonis de Nevill' dat domino Regi CC. gallinas eo quod possit jacere una nocte cum domino suo Hugone de Nevill'",[33]and "CC. Gallinas" in that sentence is "200 Hens".[34]
  6. ^This error led some earlier historians to postulate two different Hugh de Nevilles—the forester and a son also named Hugh. This disproved theory then had the elder Hugh dying in 1222 and the invented son dying in 1234.[9]

Citations

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  1. ^abcWarrenKing Johnp. 190
  2. ^abVincent "King John's evil counsellors"Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
  3. ^abYoungMaking of the Neville Familyp. xi
  4. ^abYoungMaking of the Neville Familyp. 30
  5. ^abcYoungMaking of the Neville Familyp. 31
  6. ^abYoungMaking of the Neville Familypp. 18–19
  7. ^YoungMaking of the Neville Familyp. 79
  8. ^abcYoungMaking of the Neville Familypp. 24–25
  9. ^abcdefghijklmCrook "Neville, Hugh de" inOxford Dictionary of National Biography
  10. ^GillinghamRichard Ipp. 215–216
  11. ^YoungMaking of the Neville Familypp. 25–26
  12. ^TurnerKing Johnp. 45
  13. ^YoungRoyal Forestsp. 38
  14. ^abSaul "Forest"Companion to Medieval Englandpp. 105–107
  15. ^TurnerKing Johnp. 61
  16. ^YoungRoyal Forestspp. 29–30
  17. ^abYoungRoyal Forestsp. 39
  18. ^TurnerKing Johnp. 84
  19. ^abWarrenKing Johnp. 145
  20. ^TurnerKing Johnpp. 57–58
  21. ^YoungMaking of the Neville Familyp. 29
  22. ^abcCokayneComplete PeerageIXpp. 479–480
  23. ^YoungRoyal Forestspp. 50–51
  24. ^abHuscroftRuling Englandpp. 150–151
  25. ^BartlettEngland Under the Norman and Angevin Kingsp. 64
  26. ^CarpenterMinority of Henry IIIp. 12
  27. ^abYoungMaking of the Neville Familyp. 32
  28. ^CarpenterMinority of Henry IIIp. 72
  29. ^CarpenterMinority of Henry IIIp. 199
  30. ^YoungRoyal Forestsp. 70
  31. ^CossOrigins of the English Gentrypp. 115–116
  32. ^BartlettEngland Under the Norman and Angevin Kingsp. 142
  33. ^CokayneComplete PeerageIXp. 480 footnote g
  34. ^LathamRevised Medieval Latin Word-Listp. 207
  35. ^YoungMaking of the Neville Familyp. 33
  36. ^YoungMaking of the Neville Familyp. 47
  37. ^CokayneComplete PeerageIXp. 480 footnote j
  38. ^Quoted in YoungMaking of the Neville Familyp. 24
  39. ^Maddicott "Oath of Marlborough"English Historical Reviewp. 316

References

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  • Bartlett, Robert C.(2000).England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings: 1075–1225.Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press.ISBN0-19-822741-8.
  • Carpenter, David(1990).The Minority of Henry III.Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.ISBN0-520-07239-1.
  • Cokayne, George E.(1982).The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct, or Dormant.Vol. IX (Microprint ed.). Gloucester, UK: A. Sutton.ISBN0-904387-82-8.
  • Coss, Peter (2003).The Origins of the English Gentry.Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.ISBN0-521-82673-X.
  • Crook, David (2004)."Neville, Hugh de (d. 1234)".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(revised January 2008 ed.). Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/19942.Retrieved1 December2017.(subscription orUK public library membershiprequired)
  • Gillingham, John(1999).Richard I.New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.ISBN0-300-07912-5.
  • Huscroft, Richard (2005).Ruling England 1042–1217.London: Pearson/Longman.ISBN0-582-84882-2.
  • Latham, R. E. (1965).Revised Medieval Latin Word-List: From British and Irish Sources.London: British Academy.OCLC299837723.
  • Maddicott, J. R.(2011)."The Oath of Marlborough, 1209: Fear, Government and Popular Allegiance in the Reign of King John".English Historical Review.126(519): 281–318.doi:10.1093/ehr/cer076.
  • Saul, Nigel(2000). "Forest".A Companion to Medieval England 1066–1485.Stroud, UK: Tempus.ISBN0-7524-2969-8.
  • Turner, Ralph V. (2005).King John: England's Evil King?.Stroud, UK: Tempus.ISBN0-7524-3385-7.
  • Vincent, Nicholas (2004)."King John's Evil Counsellors (act. 1208–1214)".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/95591.ISBN978-0-19-861412-8.Retrieved1 December2017.(subscription orUK public library membershiprequired)
  • Warren, W. L. (1978).King John.Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.ISBN0-520-03643-3.
  • Young, Charles R.(1996).The Making of the Neville Family in England 1155–1400.Woodbridge, UK: Boydell Press.ISBN0-85115-668-1.
  • Young, Charles R. (1979).The Royal Forests of Medieval England.Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.ISBN0-8122-7760-0.

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