Liddel Strength

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Liddel Strength (behind the trees on the horizon)

Liddell Strength is a ruined castle in Carwinley in the English county of Cumbria . It consists of earthworks , the remains of an Anglo-Norman frontier fortress, the seat of the Barons von Liddel. The wooden moth was destroyed by the Scots in 1346 ; previously there was possibly a ring mill and later a peel tower may have been built at this point, fragments of which can still be found today. The ruin lies on a cliff on the south bank of the Liddel Water above the mouth of the river in the Esk . This is the final elevation before the River Esk reaches the Solway Plain. Liddel Water and River Esk form today's English-Scottish border; formerly they were the southern border of the Debatable Lands , an area whose affiliation was disputed between England and Scotland.

Other names and possible misinterpretation

The castle ruins were also called Liddel Moat and the Moat Quarter of the parish Kirkandrews-on-Esk was named after them. The castle is also referred to as the Peel of Liddel or Castle of Liddel in medieval documents . However, this is not Liddel Castle (or Liddel Motte ), which is higher up in Liddesdale (Valley of Liddel Water) near Castleton , beyond modern Newcastleton . Liddel Strength was the seat of the Barons von Liddel (on the English side of today's border); there was also a barony of Liddesdale (on the Scottish side of today's border), the seat of which was originally Liddel Castle in upper Liddesdale (built and owned by the De Soules ), later superseded by Hermitage Castle (sometimes called The Strength of Liddesdale ) . At his death in 1300 John Wake held both titles of baron from the King of England, but they were his "lands of Liddel and Hermitage". The border was not stable in the Middle Ages and both castles sometimes belonged to one country and sometimes to the other. Another complication is that Canonbie , of Liddel Strength just upstream on Liddel Water, originally got its name from a canonry that was originally called the Liddel Religious House . In the Middle Ages , the church of Canonbie was sometimes called "Church of Liddel".

Postulated meaning before the Norman conquest of England

William Forbes Skene postulated in the 19th century that "Carwinley" was a corruption of "Caer Wenddolau" or "Gwenddolau's Fort", that the impressive moat with its curtain wall was much older than the castle and once protected a fortress of Gwenddoleu , a Celtic ruler who was defeated and killed in 573 in the Battle of Arfderydd , which took place in this interpretation in Arthuret ( Arturethe in medieval documents). A 15th century manuscript in the British Library ( MS Cotton Titus A XIX ) contains the story of Lailoken and Kentigern , in which Saint Kentigern meets a naked, hairy madman (Lailoken - presumably the original name of Merlin ) who goes through a terrible battle fought on the plains between Liddel and Carwannock went insane. The identification of correspondence about place names is far from certain, while Skene's equation of Ardderyd and Arthuret is now generally accepted. Another candidate for Caer Wenddolau can be found in the parish of Arthuret (just 1.6 km from Carwinley) : the Roman Fort Castra Exploratorum , the remains of which impressed early historians but were no longer visible to Skene because they were no longer visible when the Netherby was built Hall were destroyed. (At a meeting of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society at this point in 1926, a paper read out by RW Collingwood denied any possibility that Liddel Strength, "for a long time (...) an object of historical interest, about which was not always well informed", originated before the Norman conquest of England.)

Barony Liddel

The barony of Liddel included roughly the current parishes of Arthuret , Karkandrews-on-Esk and Nicholforest . It is said to have been created by Ranulph le Meschin, 3rd Earl of Chester , before or in the first decade of the 12th century and given to Turgis Brandos . It then fell to his son William Brandos (probably also known as William of Rosedale ) and then to Turgis or Turgot de Rossedale (Rosedale in Yorkshire). Benedict of Peterborough reports in 1174 that King William the Lion during his siege of Carlisle “(...) personally marched through Northumbria with the remaining part of his army and devastated the lands of the king and his barons, that he took the castle of Liddell by force of arms, which belonged to Nicholas de Estuteville (…) ”. It is not clear how Nicholas des Stuteville ousted the De Rosedales, but he was well connected; the second son of a High Sheriff of Yorkshire , his grandfather, was one of the Yorkshire magnates who took part in the Standard Battle. Henry II seems to have preferred the family; two of the other castles that William took were the responsibility of the Stutevilles. A Stuteville was in the group of knights who later captured William at Alnwick in 1174 , and Heinrich established Stutevilles as castellans at two castles that William delivered to Heinrich. Even if Nicholas' branch of the Stuteville family were Barons von Liddel, Liddel was never their headquarters; which was in Cottingham in the East Riding of Yorkshire , where they entertained King John Ohneland around 1200 and from him in 1201 received a permit to fortify their country house (English: "License to Crenellate").

The lands of the Stutevilles fell by marriage to the Wake family (whose headquarters were in Bourne , Lincolnshire ) and in 1346 the castle belonged to "the noble Baron Sir Thomas Wake, Lord of Liddel," as he said in the Lanercost Chronicle in an English report Incursion into Scotland is described, which he led in 1337. (The incident was supposed to be a bigger one, but was limited to 12 days due to the bad weather.). Wake was one of "the disinherited" ( The Disinherited , novel by Jack Conroy ) and fought in the Battle of Dupplin Moor . Wake and his sister Margaret had both married the Plantagenets : he was the son-in-law of Henry Plantagenet, 3rd Earl of Lancaster , she (who was initially married to a son of the Comyn family who was killed by Robert the Bruce at the Battle of Bannockburn ) had married Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent , who had then died, but made her the mother of the "Fair Maid of Kent" even if she did not live long enough to become the mother-in-law of the Black Prince .

Castle

Some fortification must have been necessary from the earliest days of the barony, and the land donation to the priory of Canonby in 1165 by Guy de Rossedale brought the fishing rights in the Liddel from the "moat" to the church. The first definitive mention of a castle can be found in Benedict of Peterborough (see above). Its name may be misleading: it was certainly more than a fortified residential tower like most of the Peels that have survived to this day , but even the first moth with a wooden palisade was not a particularly solid castle by the standards of the mid-14th century (one thinks that "Strength" is a translation of the Latin "Fortalitum", a small second class fort). The earthworks consist of a mound in an inner courtyard with a less fortified outer courtyard around it. The earthworks of the inner courtyard are massive (about 48 × 58 meters with a height difference of 8 meters between the bottom of the trench to the edge of the wall, which is still preserved today), but only form a semicircle, with the steep, 50-meter-high slope facing the river is on the north side. The fortifications cover an area of ​​around 1.5 hectares. There is no ditch between the mound and the inner courtyard, which raises the suspicion that the mound was later placed on an earlier ringwork. In the 1280s, the castle had a wooden knight's hall with two solar panels (dining room for the family) and cellars with adjoining outbuildings (kitchens, granaries, barn, ( grangie ) and chapel), probably also made of wood, although some buildings are in poor condition were. In 1300 a contract was made to “repair the Motte and the moat, to reinforce and re-clad them, as well as the Peel Tower and the palisade, and to build apartments in the Motte for the men under arms Garrison if necessary ”.

Conquest and destruction of the castle (1346)

In October 1346 David Bruce fell , forced by his ally King Philip VI. of France , who argued that King Edward III. of England was so preoccupied with the siege of Calais that northern England was left without proper defense, entering England with a force of about 12,000 men, some of whom had been supplied with modern equipment from France. He began his campaign, which ended with the Battle of Neville's Cross , by attacking Liddel Strength.

In October 1346, the Liddel Strength garrison was under the command of Sir Walter de Selby . Selby is described by Geoffrey the Baker as "dominus Gualterus de Seleby, miles magne probitatis", but had a colorful past. He had been a supporter of Thomas Plantagenet, 2nd Earl of Lancaster , and in particular an accomplice to Sir Gilbert de Middleton , who in the aftermath of the Battle of Bannockburn had ravaged and blackmailed the land around Mitford Castle in Northumberland until he went too far : In Rushyford , County Durham "seized and robbed [Sir Gilbert 1317] two cardinals who had recently landed in England because they had come with the aforementioned Louis de Belmont to consecrate him as Bishop of Durham ". Mitford Castle was quickly captured and Sir Gilbert was brought to London, where he was hanged, gutted and quartered in the presence of the Cardinals , but Selby escaped to Scotland. When Robert le Bruce took Mitford Castle "by deceit" in 1318, he made Selby his castellan to mistake it for the Scots, but in 1321, during a two-year truce, handed it over to Robert de Umfraville and others against their promise, King Edward II. Convince them to return Selby's forfeited lands. But King Edward II refused and Selby was imprisoned in the Tower of London until 1327 . When many prisoners with ties to Thomas of Lancaster were released after the deposition of Edward II, Edward III pardoned . Selby and, after investigating his case, gave him back those of his lands that were still in royal hands. After that, Selby was a loyal citizen; he was knighted and served Edward III, who in 1302 gave him the barony of Plenderleith in Roxburghshire .

In 1337 he was made constable of Bothwell Castle , Edward III's headquarters. in Scotland, made (or suggested), but the castle was besieged, recaptured and razed by the Scots later that year . In March 1345 or 1346, when the English crossed the Esk and stole £ 1000 worth of cattle and equipment from the Scottish side, Selby was one of the five local knights charged with investigating the incident and reporting to the Royal Council.

A Scottish vanguard, led by William Douglas, Lord of Liddesdale , arrived at Liddel Strength on the morning of October 6, 1346; King David and the bulk of the troops followed that evening. It was not until the fourth day that the Strength was attacked, after the troops had armed themselves with spears, stones, swords and clubs before sunrise, and they carried out attacks from all sides on the fortress and its defenders. So both forces fought bravely, in the castle and in front of it; many were wounded and some fell until some of the Scottish troops, equipped with beams, roof beams, earth, stones and fascines, filled the trenches in front of the castle. Then some bulkheads, protected by the shields of the soldiers, broke through the base of the walls with iron tools and many of them penetrated the fortress in this manner without further resistance. Knights and soldiers who invaded the fortress killed everyone they found with just a few exceptions, thus conquering the entire fortress.

One of these exceptions was Walter de Selby : English chroniclers agree that King David behaved badly towards him, but differ in details. In Geoffrey le Baker's version of events, he was brought before King David and begged for mercy (e.g. to be detained to obtain a ransom, see Sumption p. 510 for normal procedures). The king's answer was to have two of Selby's sons strangle to death before his eyes and then behead Selby himself, who was almost mad with grief. But one of Selby's sons proved his right to the Barony of Plenderleith in 1357; He explained the time delay by saying that "at the time his father was being executed by the Scots in the Peel of Liddel, the said James was arrested and imprisoned with them for eight years or more so that he could not assert his rights" . The Lanercost Chronicle instead says that Selby accepted that he was going to die; the favor he asked of King David was to be given a weapon, so that he might die in battle as a knight should. King David not only denied him this; he even had him executed without first being allowed to go to confession.

The castle was never rebuilt. When Thomas Wake died in June 1349, the manor of Liddel was reduced to “£ 70 16 s. 2 d. estimated what the plot of the destroyed castle is worth 6 d ”. The title fell to Margaret , who died three months later, but Thomas' widow Blanche received the annuity from Liddel and Bourne near Stamford , where she was to be buried. She lived until 1380; when she died, Liddel Strength was "utterly worthless because it had been destroyed by the Scots". Then the title and estate fell to Henry, Earl of Derby , future King Henry IV , and so eventually became part of the Duchy of Lancaster .

Individual references and comments

  1. ^ Liddel Strength . Pastscape. Historic England. English Heritage. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
  2. ^ Liddel Strength . Pastscape. Historic England. English Heritage. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
  3. ↑ Liddel Castle (67934) . 'Canmore' (Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland). Retrieved June 30, 2016.
  4. ^ R Donaldson-Hutton: Liddel Strength in Cumberland . Pp. 50-53. 1965. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
  5. ↑ Unfortunately, Bain ( Calendar of Documents ) only has one index name for Liddel and Liddesdale. A well-known victim of this fact is John Sadler: Border Fury: England and Scotland at War 1296–1568 , who confused the two and relocated Castleton to the mouth of the Liddel Water in the River Esk.
  6. ^ John Sadler: Border Fury: England and Scotland at War 1296-1568 . Pearson Education, Harlow 2006. ISBN 978-1-4058-4022-4 . P. 220.
  7. ↑ Cal. Doc.Scotland, ii. 1154 e.g. B. Document 1154 (p. 299) in Joseph Bain: Calendar of Documents Relating to Scotland: Volume II: AD 1272-1307. . HM General Register House. 1884. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
  8. ↑ These canons were acquired by Turgot de Rossdale during the reign of David I of Scotland ; 1167 gave Guido de Rossdale with the consent of his son Rodolph "42 acres between Esk and Liddel where they meet"; this and article text by James Donaldson: The new statistical account of Scotland , Chapter: #Parish of Canonbie .
  9. ^ James Donaldson: The new statistical account of Scotland . W Blackwood and Sons. Pp. 483-498. 1845. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
  10. ↑ William Forbes Skene: The Four Ancient Books of Wales Vol I . Edmonston and Douglas. 1868. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
  11. ^ William Forbes Skene: Notice of the Site of the Battle of Ardderyd of Arderryth in Proc Soc Antiq Scot . Issue 6 (1866). Pp. 91-98.
  12. ↑ in particular Cal. Doc.Scotland, iii. 974 z. B. Document 974 (p. 176) in Public Record Office: Calendar of documents relating to Scotland: Volume 3: AD 1307-1357 . HM General Register House. 1887. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
  13. ↑ Myrddin Wyllt . Archived from the original on May 18, 2013. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved March 10, 2013. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.celtnet.org.uk
  14. ↑ Various websites locate the battle just like John Fordun without special evidence - but Sir Walter Scott offers in his notes on Thomas the Rhymer in his poetic works Scotichronicon iii c31 , in which (according to Scott) a conversation between St. Kentigern and Merlin, at that time under the name Lailoken, included ... Skene's 1872 edition of the Scotichronicon (which he had cleared of all that he considered to be a later interpretation) does not seem to mention Ardderyd (or anything like that), let alone his location, and his book III, chapter 31, reads Saint Columba's prophecy about the sons of Aydanus - His Death - Saint Drostan and his Parentage .
  15. ^ WD H Sellar: William Forbes Skene (1809-92): Historian of Celtic Scotland . Pp. 3-21. 2001. Retrieved March 10, 2013.
  16. ^ Castra Exploratum Roman Fort . Pastscape. Historic England. English Heritage. Retrieved July 1, 2016.
  17. ↑ A fort and a significant settlement existed here, presumably with a harbor on the River Esk, which is still muddy today ... Stukeley saw Roman remains that he believed to be a fort, and he, Gale and Goodman describe a settlement that extends from the fort extending out to the northwest towards the river, with various roads, one of which with a bathhouse was discovered in 1732. Leland saw the "ruinous walls of wonderful buildings" and was told of rings and brackets in the walls for mooring ships, while early editions of Camden describe "wonderful and vast ruins of an ancient city." Stukeley saw a cemetery down the hill, but does not write which side of the house it is supposed to be on ... The latest direct dating evidence is a coin from Gordian (238–244 AD), but it is reasonable to assume that the settlement was inhabited well into the 4th century, as were the four other outer forts of the Caracallic system.
  18. ^ RW Collingwood: Liddel Strength . Pp. 390-397. 1926.
  19. ^ A b Early Yorkshire Charters: Volume 9: The Stuteville Fee . Cambridge Library Collection. 2013. Retrieved July 4, 2016.
  20. ^ Gesta Henrici II , quoted in excerpts in Alan O Anderson: Scottish Annals from English Chroniclers AD 500 to 1286 . David Nutt. 1908.
  21. ↑ He got all of their lands, both Liddel and Rosedale. - Early Yorkshire Charters.
  22. ↑ The source continues. “(...) and Brough Castle and Appleby Castle , the royal castles that Robert de Estuteville held; and Warkworth Castle , which Roger, son of Richard, held; and Harbottle Castle , which Odenel of Umfraville held "
  23. ↑ CP Lewis: Anglo-norman Studies 28: Proceedings… Boydell Press, 2006. (via Google , accessed July 4, 2016.)
  24. ^ Baynard Castle, Cottingham . Gatehouse Gazetteer. Retrieved July 4, 2016.
  25. ^ Herbert, Sir Maxwell: The Chronicle of Lanercost, 1272-1346: Translated with notes . J. Maclehose. P. 306: Lanercost Priory. 1913. Retrieved July 4, 2016.
  26. ↑ The Lanercost Priory, where the Lanercost Chronicle was written, is less than 20 miles from Liddel Strength and was pillaged by the Scots soon after the fall of Liddel Strength. The Lanercost Chronicle thus provides almost an on-site description of the events. (Most other chroniclers remain unclear as to the geography of the border; the Lanercost Chronicle gives the name of the farm where the Scots crossed the border into Tynedale.) But, as Sir Herbert noted, the Lanercost Chronicle is by no means impartial.
  27. ↑ a b Wake Thomas (DNB00) . Wikisource.
  28. ↑ The line of succession can be found in Some Descendants of Baldwin WAKE Lord of Bourne (1180-1213) . ancestryregister.com. follow. Margaret was obviously an ancestor of George Washington .
  29. ↑ James (Rev.) Morton: The monastic annals of Teviotdale: or, The history and antiquities of the abbeys of Jedburgh, Kelso, Melros, and Dryburgh . WH Lizars. 1832. Retrieved July 4, 2016.
  30. ↑ George Neilson: Peel: Its Meaning and Derivation: An Inquiry Into the Early History of the Term Now Applied to Many Border Towers . George P. Johnston. 1894.
  31. ^ From documents about the royal guardianship via Thomas Wake: Calendarium Inquisitionum post mortem, i. 74–75 , from which one can recognize Wake's lands and Baldwin's death in 1282.
  32. ^ Nikolaus Pevsner, Mathew Hyde: The Buildings of England . Chapter: Cumbria, Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness . Yale University Press, New Haven 2010. ISBN 978-0-300126-63-1 . P. 454.
  33. ↑ Neilson p. 14; Quote related to Bain ii. 1173 , e.g. B. Document No. 1173 (p. 299) in Joseph Bain: Calendar of Documents Relating to Scotland: Volume II: AD 1272-1307. . HM General Register House. 1884. Retrieved July 4, 2016.
  34. ↑ Jonathan Sumption: The Hundred Years War. Volume I: Trial by Battle . Faber and Faber, London 1999. ISBN 978-0571200955 . P. 659.
  35. ↑ See Sumption p. 550. Compare with Sumption's estimate (p. 497) that the English army that invaded Normandy at the beginning of the Crecy campaign was 7,000-10,000 men strong.
  36. ^ A b Chronicon Galfridi le Baker de Swynebroke ( Latin, English ) Clarendon Press. S. 87, 1889. Retrieved July 5, 2016.
  37. ↑ Sir Arthur E (Bart.) Middleton: Sir Gilbert de Middleton: and the Part he Took in the Rebellion in the North of England in 1317 . Mawson Swann and Morgan Limited. 1918.
  38. ^ Herbert, Sir Maxwell: The Chronicle of Lanercost, 1272-1346: Translated with notes . J. Maclehose. P. 218: Lanercost Priory. 1913. Retrieved July 4, 2016.
  39. ↑ because may be considered significant because the documents of the Lanercost Chronicle had chosen a different candidate in the chapter and Louis was forced on them (according to Middleton, see above). Middleton denies any previous destruction or extortion, arguing that political dissuasion from Louis was intended but got out of hand - but Middleton's text, he says, is “part of the records of the Middleton family of Belsay, Northumberland, written for use in the family". Sadler conveys (according to Sadler, see above p. 145) both points of view, but describes Sir Gilbert as a "renegade knight". Sadler's description of Selby (a former constable of one of the great royal castles) as "renegade King Walter Selby" probably stems from this episode over 25 years ago.
  40. ^ A b John F. Dodds: Bastions and Bellingerents: Medieval Strongholds in Northumberland . Keepdate Publishing, Newcastle upon Tyne 1988. ISBN 978-1899506453 . P. 500.
  41. ^ Herbert, Sir Maxwell: The Chronicle of Lanercost, 1272-1346: Translated with notes . J. Maclehose. P. 220: Lanercost Priory. 1913. Retrieved July 4, 2016.
  42. ↑ Middleton says Selby was involved, but cannot prove it.
  43. ↑ Sir Arthur E (Bart.) Middleton: Sir Gilbert de Middleton: and the Part he Took in the Rebellion in the North of England in 1317 . Mawson Swann and Morgan Limited. P. 66, 1918.
  44. ↑ Cal. Doc.Scotland, iii. 981 , e.g. B. Document No. 981 (p. 177) in Public Record Office: Calendar of documents relating to Scotland . HM General Register House. 1887. Retrieved July 5, 2016.
  45. ↑ Sir Arthur E (Bart.) Middleton: Sir Gilbert de Middleton: and the Part he Took in the Rebellion in the North of England in 1317 . Mawson Swann and Morgan Limited. P. 96, 1918.
  46. ↑ Cal. Doc.Scotland, v. 767 , e.g. B. Document No. 767 (p. 264) in Calendar of Documents Relating to Scotland . Scottish Record Office. P. 696. Retrieved July 5, 2016.
  47. ↑ Cal. Doc.Scotland, iii. 1454 , e.g. B. Document No. 1454 (p. 265) in Public Record Office: Calendar of documents relating to Scotland . HM General Register House. 1887. Retrieved July 5, 2016.
  48. ↑ a trusted military advisor to King David of Scotland and neighbor of Liddel Strength, who clearly had an interest in seeing it destroyed.
  49. ↑ "only" 200 men, say Donaldson-Hutton ( see above ) and others, but if this is true, "only" would rather mean "not exactly": In 1340 the garrison of Edinburgh Castle were under 150 men (their wages were over £ 1000 per year), which from Stirling Castle under 125 men (wages over £ 850 per year) according to Cal. Doc. Scotland, iii. 1323 ; the head of Berwick had less than 500 men (wages: £ 1200 a quarter) to defend the town and castle, although "the whole country up to the gates of the state was at war". The Lanercost Chronicle gives no number of defenders, but it can be assumed for the Scots with over 30,000 men.
  50. ↑ Cal. Doc.Scotland, iii. 1338 , e.g. B. Documents Nos. 1323 (p. 241) and 1338 (p. 244) in Public Record Office: Calendar of documents relating to Scotland . HM General Register House. 1887. Retrieved July 5, 2016.
  51. ^ A b Herbert, Sir Maxwell: The Chronicle of Lanercost, 1272-1346: Translated with remarks . J. Maclehose. P. 331: Lanercost Priory. 1913. Retrieved July 4, 2016.
  52. ↑ Cal. Doc.Scotland, iii. 1670 , e.g. B. Document No. 1670 (p. 308) in Public Record Office: Calendar of documents relating to Scotland . HM General Register House. 1887. Retrieved July 5, 2016.
  53. ↑ "unworthy of the knighthood with an aggravated vindictiveness," says Neilson; if the Lanercost Chronicle is to be believed (the whole story is not one of the usual monastic inventions), Selby was practically telling David that his conduct was unworthy of a king (which may have made him behave unworthy of a Christian).
  54. ↑ Cal. Doc. Scotland , iii. 1562 , e.g. B. Document No. 1562 (p. 282) in Public Record Office: Calendar of documents relating to Scotland . HM General Register House. 1887. Retrieved July 5, 2016.
  55. ↑ SC 8/150/7464: petition of Blanche, Lady Wake . (UK) National Archives. Retrieved July 5, 2016.
  56. ↑ Cal. Doc.Scotland, iv. 292 , e.g. B. Document No. 292 (p. 62) in Public Record Office: Calendar of documents relating to Scotland . HM General Register House. 1888. Retrieved July 5, 2016.

Coordinates: 55 ° 3 ′ 33.8 "  N , 2 ° 56 ′ 16.4"  W.