CHAP. IV.

Reign of Richard I. A.D. 1189 to A.D. 1199.

RICHARD, in consequence of his great valour, surnamed Coeur de Lion, succeeded his father on the throne of England. It seems, however, that his brother, John, retained the government of Ireland, in pursuance of the donation of 1177, already mentioned. During the reign of Richard, (long absent in the Holy Land), and part of that of John, the country was plunged into continued commotion; confederacies were formed against the English, who suffered many reverses; but disunion among the natives, combined with skill and firmness on the part of the government, at length restored a temporary peace.

*

In the first year of this reign, Isabel, only daughter and heir of Strongbow, by Eva, princess of Leinster, was married to William Maxfield, lord Maxfield, earl marshal of England. This nobleman descended thus: Walter Maxfield accompanied William the Conqueror to England, as his marshal; this Walter had issue William, who had issue, Walter, whose son was John, whose son was William, married to Isabel. He was greatly in favour with king Richard, and at his coronation carried the royal sceptre, on which was a cross of gold.

A.D. 1191. This year, the aforementioned William, earl marshal, was appointed lord justice, or governor of Ireland; in which office he continued for six years; a long period in those unsettled times. He was a man of much personal valour, and from his princely possessions in Ireland, was considered the most eligible governor; at a time when the higher powers seemed to abandon all care of the country. He was also the third of the temporal coadjuters appointed by Richard to assist the bishop of Ely in the administration of affairs in England.‡

King Richard returned from the Crusades in 1194. One Fulco, a priest, spoke very boldly to him on the vices of his court. "Thou hast, O mighty king," said he, "three daughters of very vicious and evil dispositions; take good heed of them, and betimes provide them with good husbands; I mean Pride, Covetousness, and Lechery." The king smiled, and calling his lords and barons, said: "Here before you all, I do presently bestow my three daughters. First, I give my daughter, swelling Pride, to the proud Templars; my greedy daughter, Avarice, to the covetous order of the Cistercian monks; and my daughter, Lechery, to the wanton prelates of the church."§ This dialogue, assuredly, presents no very flattering picture of the state of morals, either of clergy or laity, in those days.-The Knights Templars soon after

Hanmer. He is styled Wm. de Hampsted, by Sir W. Betham, in the Kavanagh pedigree.

+ Ibid.

Cox. Borlase.

§ Hanmer. Goldsmith.

wards established themselve in our county; the record of which event will be found in its proper place.

In the year 1197,* Hamo de Valoniis, or Hanno de Valois, (a gentleman of an ancient family in Suffolk), succeeded William, earl marshal, in the governorship of Ireland. This deputy, finding the Irish treasury nearly exhausted, did not hesitate attempting to effect its replenishment, by an invasion of ecclesiastical property. About the same period, John, a Cistercian monk, and abbot of the monastery De Rosea Valle, otherwise Monasterevan, was appointed to the bishopric of Leighlin, by the charter of that diocese; and, in consequence of the absence of the archbishop of Dublin, John Comin, (who was either in England or Normandy), he was duly confirmed by Mathew O'Heney, archbishop of Cashel, and apostolic legate of Ireland. Hanno de Valois, however, opposed the election of John, seized the temporalities of the cathedral of Leighlin, and took possession of the property of the canons. Under these circumstances, archbishop O'Heney was deterred from consecrating John; who, finding he had no other resource, proceeded to Rome, where he was well received by Innocent III., who immediately performed the ceremony of consecration. The pope then handed the newly appointed bishop a letter, addressed to the chapter, clergy, and people of the town and diocese of Leighlin ; in which, among other matters, he mentions, that he has consecrated John, that he now sends him to his church, and commands that he may be obeyed. Pope Innocent also wrote a very severe letter to John, lord of Ireland, in which he complains of the violent and unjustifiable proceedings of his deputy, Hanno, in presuming to oppose the election of the canons, and taking possession of their goods. He censures John, for detaining the archbishop of Dublin in Normandy, and commands him not to molest the bishop whom he had consecrated, in the performance of his duty, nor permit him to be injured by any other person either in spirituals or temporals. He further desires him to compel Hanno to surrender to the church and canons of Leighlin, the property of which they had been deprived; and threatens, that in case of refusal, certain wishes of his will not meet with compliance. By another epistle, his holiness orders, that the bishop shall not be subject to excommunication, except by the pope, unless for manifest and reasonable cause. These letters were written in September, 1198, being the first year of the pontificate of Innocent III., and are to be seen among the decretal epistles of that pontiff.-John, bishop of Leighlin, enjoyed his new dignity but two years, having died in 1201.† Hanno de Valois continued governor till the death of Richard I., when he was recalled. At a subsequent period, he granted twenty plough-lands to John Comin, archbishop of Dublin, and his successors, as compensation for the detriment which the metropolitan see had sustained at his hands.+

Richard I. died at Chalons, in France, on the 6th of April, 1199.

• Incorrectly stated by Lanigan. 1192. Ware. Lanigan. + Lanigan.

CHAP. V.

Reign of King John. A.D. 1199, to A.D. 1216.

Jons, who had been lord of Ireland since 1177, usurped the crown of Great Britain, on the death of his brother Richard. Arthur, nephew of John, was the rightful heir, but he was, it is said, murdered, by order of his uncle, who by this nefarious deed secured the succession to the throne. Hubert, archbishop of Canterbury, was a chief instrument in effecting this usurpation. The pen of the bard of Avon, as well as that of the graver historian, have done ample justice to the transactions of this dark period in our annals.

William, earl marshal, was created earl of Pembroke, by the king, on the 27th May, 1199.* Thus was he raised to the high rank, as he already enjoyed the extensive possessions, of the late Richard, earl of Pembroke, his father-in-law.

In this reign, Gilbert de Borard founded a preceptory at Killarge, in our county, under the invocation of St. John the Baptist, for Knights Templars.† (6).

t

Herlewin succeeded John in the bishopric of Leighlin, in the year 1201. He was, like his predecessor, a Cistercian monk. The order of Cistercians was by far the most wealthy in the kingdom; which circumstance will amply account for the advancement which so frequently attended them. He bestowed on the burgesses of Old Leighlin, their burgages or dwelling-houses, accompanied by a grant of the franchises or free-laws of Bristol, (on the rules of which corporation, many in Ireland were modelled); reserving to his see a yearly rent of twelve-pence out of every burgage. This was the first charter of Old Leighlin; but I cannot find that any full copy of it is extant. We should observe, that the word burgage, here used, is to be taken in a sense different from its common acceptation. It is generally understood to mean, a socage tenure, by which a citizen, burgher, or townsman, held his house or lands within the city, borough, or town from the king or lord, at a certain yearly rent; and was classed among the ignoble tenures, which had no relation to knight's service. Here, however, it is to be taken as implying, not the tenure, but the dwelling-house in a borough town; or a burgess's house. A burgage in some places is called a frank-house. The liberties of Old Leighlin extended about a mile and a half round the town, and were defined by large stones, inscribed Terminus. burgens. Lechlinen hic lapis est.§

William, earl marshal, and earl of Pembroke arrived in Ireland, A.D. 1207|| Since his recal from the government of Ire

Mills Catalogue of Honour.

+ Monast. Hib. p. 36. Ware's Works, vol. 1. p. 456. fol. ed. § Ledwich's Antiquities of Ir. || Hanmer, Cox, Hibernia Anglicana. vol, i, p, 51,

H

land, he had been employed by John as ambassador to the French court, and in other offices of importance. He was much, and justly, in great favour with the royal family; as is evidenced by the repeated honours and splendid gifts conferred upon

him.

The earl commenced the erection of his castle of Kilkenny, immediately after his arrival, and in the following year (1208) was presented by his sovereign with a renewal grant of the principality of Leinster, which he enjoyed in right of his wife. This charter, (which may be seen among the records preserved in the tower of London, dated 9th John, 18th March,), appears to have contained some exceptions as to royalties, which were not introduced into that granted by Henry II. to Strongbow. The following is an abstract of its contents. It confirms to earl William all his lands in Leinster, with the appurtenances, to hold to him and his heirs by the service of an hundred knight's fees: saving to the king and his heirs, the city of Dublin, and two cantreds adjoining, and the coinage of money, and suit and service of the county of Dublin, as was heretofore customary. Saving also to the king and his heirs, the pleas of the crown, as treasure, trove, rape, forstall, burnings, and appeal for breach of peace, or felony between the inhabitants of his territory. Saving likewise complaints for want of justice in his courts, so that the complainant may prove the default in the king's court, and that the plea should receive its final determination by the king's writ: saving also, that if any one should complain of injury done him by earl William or his court, and the complainant gives recognizances and pledges in the king's court to prosecute his complaint, that the said plea be determined by the judgment of the king's court. Finally, saving the collation of bishoprics and dignities belonging to them.-Then the king grants to earl William, the custodium of idiots of the lords of these fees, which otherwise are held of the king in capite; saving the marriages of the heirs of such fees.*

On the 8th day of November, 1208, John further granted to William, earl marshal and Pembroke, the marshalship of Ireland, in fee; by patent dated at Woodstock.

About this period, the said earl marshal, incorporated the town of Kilkenny, exempting it from toll, lastage, pontage, and all other customs throughout Leinster;† and there can be no doubt, that it was at the same time he granted the following charter to Carlow, (being the first it received) as the privileges run in the same terms.

CHARTER GRANTED TO THE BURGESSES OF CATHERLAGH BY WILLIAM EARL MARSHAL AND EARL OF PEMBROKE.

(Translation.)

Be it known to all men, now and hereafter, that I, WILLIAM MARSHAL, EARL OF PEMBROKE, have granted to my Burgesses of Catherlagh all such liberties as Burgesses ought to have, and

Harris's Ware.

+ Cox. Hib. Ang.

as it is lawful for me to confer, to be held and enjoyed for ever of me and my heirs by them and their heirs.

Imprimis, viz. That no Burgess shall be drawn into any suit, or answer any plea which shall arise within the bounds of the Borough, in the castle, or elsewhere, than in the hundred court of the town; except pleas which concern the men of my household or my bailiffs; but it shall be held in the hundred court of the town. No homicide committed within the bounds of the manor shall be esteemed a murder. Item, no Burgess shall be compelled to single combat, or any appeal which may be made against him, unless for the death of a man and for larceny, or any other plea for which single combat can be reasonably awarded. Also the said Burgesses shall be quit of toll, lastage, passage, pontage, and all other customs throughout my whole territory and jurisdiction, except in my town of Pembroke and my town of Wexford. No Burgess shall be amerced in any sum of money unless by the adjudication of the hundred court, and that amerciment also to the utmost shall not exceed ten shillings; the half of which shall be excused and the other half rendered as an amerciment. But in minor pleas, such as of bread and beer, or other like forfeiture, the amerciment shall not exceed two shillings; the half of which shall in like manner be remitted, and the other half shall be rendered as an amerciment; and if any one for bread and beer, or such like, shall have incurred an amerciment for the first time, it shall not exceed two shillings, the half of which shall be remitted, as has been before said, and the other half rendered as an amerciment. But if on second offence, he shall have incurred a like penalty, he shall pay two shillings, and if on third offence he shall have incurred like judgment, he shall pay half a mark, and the hundred courts shall be held weekly. Item, no Burgess shall be drawn into any suit by misnomers. Item, it shall be lawful for every Burgess to plead without frequent motion; it shall be lawful for the said Burgesses to distrain their debtors, by such distress as shall be found in the town of Catherlagh, or if it happens that the plea shall be of live stock or for distress taken and brought into the hundred, and if perchance it shall have happened that toll shall have been taken from any Burgess within my land, or jurisdiction, if any one shall have taken it and have been required to restore it, and shall have refused by seizure, if the goods of any one of the same place from whence he is, shall be found at Catherlagh, they shall be distrained to recompense them. It shall not be lawful for any foreign merchant to sell cloth by retail, or to keep a wine tavern in the town of Catherlagh, unless for forty days; and if any one would have it for a longer period, what remains shall be seized for the common profit of the Burgesses of the town. No Burgess shall be driven or distrained within my land or jurisdiction for another's debt, or unless he be surety or principal debtor. No Burgess shall be compelled to bail any one, even though he should have holden from him unless by his own free will. I have also granted to the said Burgesses of Catherlagh, that they may con