Nicola de la Haye

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Nicola de la Haye (also de la Haie ) (* between 1150 and 1156; † November 20, 1230 in Swaton , Lincolnshire ) was an English noblewoman. In 1191 she successfully defended her castle against siege for a month. As a widow, she assumed the role of sheriff, which was actually reserved for men . So she preserved her legacy in the turmoil of the First War of the Barons and during the minority of King Henry III.

Origin and marriage

Nicola de la Haye was the eldest daughter of Richard de la Haye and his wife Matilda, a daughter of William de Vernon . Her father had the Erbamt the Constable of Lincoln Castle stop and also served as Sheriff of Lincolnshire . He died in 1169. Since he had no surviving sons, his inheritance was divided between his two daughters. Nicola married twice. Her first marriage was to William Fitzerneis. After his death around 1178, she married Gerard de Canville, a second marriage before 1185 . Nicola had inherited the office of constable of Lincoln Castle that her two husbands held for her. In August 1189 she traveled with Canville to Barfleur in Normandy , where King Richard I confirmed Nicola as Constable of Lincoln Castle and heiress of estates both in England and in Normandy for a fee of 700 marks .

Supporter of Johann Ohneland

In 1191, during the king's absence on the Third Crusade , Canville supported Johann Ohneland , the king's younger brother, who returned to England illegally. As a result, Nicola was besieged in Lincoln Castle for a month by the royal justiciar William de Longchamp in 1191 . In 1194, for a fee of 300 marks, she acquired the right to marry her daughter from the returning King Richard, with the exception of marrying the king's enemies. This fee was paid over several years. In 1200 she was still negotiating the payment with King Johann Ohneland before the debt was paid off in 1212. Nevertheless, she had a good relationship with Johann Ohneland. Her husband died in late 1214.

The Lincoln Castle moth, vigorously defended several times by Nicola de la Haye

Role in the First War of the Barons

During the First Barons' War , the king visited Lincoln Castle twice in February and September 1216. After Nicola had fended off another conquest of the castle in the summer of 1216, she was ready on the second visit of the king, because of her advanced age, to resign from her position as administrator of Lincoln Castle. The king refused this request and confirmed her as constable. A few weeks later, a few hours before his death on October 18, 1216, he is said to have handed over to her and his confidante Philip Mark the office of Sheriff of Lincoln, which on January 7, 1217 by the minority government of Henry III. has been confirmed. Nicola was then besieged in Lincoln by troops of the rebellious barons and the French Prince Ludwig until she was horrified in 1217. Allegedly, Bishop Peter des Roches is said to have reached her through a secret route during the siege. He assured her that relief was near, and indeed her fierce defense of the castle contributed to the decisive defeat of the rebel and French siege army on May 20, 1217 by the royal troops at the Battle of Lincoln .

Next life

After the relief of the castle, Nicola was replaced as sheriff, but she resolutely held on to her office as constable, although William II Longespée , the husband of her granddaughter Idonea, tried to claim the office for himself. It was not until 1226 that she handed over her post as castellan and withdrew to her Wittum in Swaton in Lincolnshire, which she had been awarded in 1219 at the latest. From this estate she still had an annual income of £ 20. Since her eldest son Richard de Canville had already died, his daughter Idonea became her heir.

literature

  • Louise J. Wilkinson: Women in Thirteenth-Century Lincolnshire . Boydell Press, Woodbridge 2007. ISBN 978-0-86193-285-6 , pp. 20-26

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Louise J. Wilkinson: Women in Thirteenth-Century Lincolnshire . Boydell Press, Woodbridge 2007. ISBN 978-0-86193-285-6 , p. 14
  2. ^ Louise J. Wilkinson: Women in Thirteenth-Century Lincolnshire . Boydell Press, Woodbridge 2007. ISBN 978-0-86193-285-6 , p. 13
  3. ^ Louise J. Wilkinson: Women in Thirteenth-Century Lincolnshire . Boydell Press, Woodbridge 2007. ISBN 978-0-86193-285-6 , p. 19
personal data
SURNAME Haye, Nicola de la
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sharks, Nicola de la
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English nobles
DATE OF BIRTH between 1150 and 1156
DATE OF DEATH November 20, 1230
Place of death Swaton