Eustace fitz John (died 1157), Constable of Chester, was a powerful magnate in northern England during the reigns of Henry I, Stephen and Henry II. From a relatively humble background in South East England, Eustace made his career serving Henry I, and was elevated by the king through marriage and office into one of the most important figures in the north of England. Eustace acquired a great deal of property in the region, controlled Bamburgh Castle, and served jointly with Walter Espec as justiciar of the North.
After Henry I's death in 1135, Eustace became involved in the Anarchy, the warfare between the supporters of Stephen and his rival the Empress Matilda, the latter led by Matilda's uncle David, King of Scotland. He surrendered Alnwick Castle and Malton Castle temporarily to David, while Bamburgh was taken by Stephen. Eustace became a supporter of David, fighting and suffering defeat at the Battle of the Standard in 1138. He maintained most of his lands in the north, however, and from around 1144 became one of the main followers of Ranulf II, Earl of Chester, through whom he gained even more land. Eustace subsequently founded three religious houses and died on a campaign with Henry II in 1157.
Origins and early career
Eustace's family came from the southeast of England.[1] His father John fitzRichard was a tenant-in-chief who appeared in the Domesday Book owning estates in Essex and Norfolk.[1] The family was not of exalted origin, representing the middle rank of society.[2] Eustace had two known sisters, Agnes and Alice. He also had two brothers, Pain (Payne) and William, and it is thought that Pain—whose career was as successful as Eustace's—was probably the eldest.[3] Eustace likely did not inherit much from his father but instead depended on success as a royal servant.[4]
Eustace is witnessing royal charters from at least 1119, but may have been at Henry's court as early as 1114.[5] Through Henry's patronage, Eustace married two heiresses, both of whom brought him lands. Beatrix de Vesci, daughter and heiress of Ivo de Vesci, brought him control of Alnwick Castle and the barony of Alnwick in Northumberland.[6] He probably received, in addition, land in Lincolnshire as well as five-and-a-half knight's fees in Yorkshire previously belonging to Ranulf de Mortimer (died 1104).[7] Although it has often been claimed that this marriage brought Eustace the lordship of Old Malton, a former royal manor in the North Riding of Yorkshire, this was probably a separate gift from the king.[8] Eustace's marriage to Beatrix occurred sometime before 1130.[9]
Eustace had thus emerged as one of the key players in Henry's reordering of Northumbrian society following the destruction of the earldom of Northumbria in the late 11th century.[13] According to historian William Kapelle, Eustace was one of the "three mainstays of Henry's new regime in the North", the other two being Walter Espec and King David of Scotland.[14] In Northumberland he is known to have commanded authority over at least ten local notables, including John FitzOdard lord of Embleton and Robert II de Umfraville lord of Redesdale.[15] Eustace's barony of Alnwick stretched across the potential Scottish invasion routes of the Tweed basin and was one of the two largest baronies in the county,[lower-alpha 1] holding between 14 and 17 knight's fees by 1166, nearly three times the size of the average lordship in the county.[15]
Henry I's only surviving pipe roll, for 1129–30, shows that Eustace served jointly as justiciar of the north along with Walter Espec, and had custody of the former capital of the Northumbrian earldom, Bamburgh Castle.[10] Allowances made to Eustace for the repair of the gate of Bamburgh Castle and the construction of fortifications at Tickhill and Knaresborough in Yorkshire are also recorded in this pipe roll.[10] This and evidence of royal writs show that Eustace and Walter Espec had justiciar responsibility for the counties of Cumberland, Northumberland, Durham, and Yorkshire, a role that involved hearing pleas and conveying instructions from central government.[16]
The Anarchy
The death of Henry I on 1 December 1135, led to the accession of Stephen de Blois, to whom Eustace submitted.[1] Stephen's seizure of the throne was contested by Henry I's daughter, the Empress Matilda, who had been Henry's designated heir. The Gesta Stephani claimed that certain "very intimate friends of Henry" had been against Stephen from the beginning because of loyalty to Henry's daughter Matilda, and names Eustace's brother Pain as one of these, making it quite possible that Eustace had likewise never been on Stephen's side.[17] However, they, just like Eustace, did swear fealty to Stephen after a short time.[18] This capitulation meant that Stephen let them keep the honours and positions they had held under Henry, and Stephen is even found confirming the grants of Eustace's family between 1136 and 1138.[19]
Matilda was supported by her uncle King David of Scotland, and he did not accept Stephen's succession peacefully.[20] Thus Eustace was placed in the front line of a new war. When David invaded northern England, Eustace's castle of Alnwick was among those captured by David in the first two months of the year (though it was returned in March).[1] Stephen relieved Eustace of control of Bamburgh Castle when he returned from his punitive invasion of Lothian early in 1138.[21] It has been claimed that Eustace must have gone over to David's side by the end of 1137 when David invaded northern England.[22] There is no proof, however, that Eustace had switched allegiance at this point.[23]
After David crossed back into Northumberland in April 1138, Eustace became one of David's active supporters, and during David's siege of Wark Castle in May, Eustace tried to persuade him to besiege Bamburgh Castle instead.[24] Eustace had had a long association with the Scottish king, or at least with his Norman follower Robert I de Brus, as Eustace's name appears as a witness to David's charter recording the grant of Annandale to Robert, issued at Scone in 1124.[18]
Eustace fought at the Battle of the Standard in August 1138, fighting for David in the second line with the men of Cumbria and Teviotdale. The battle ended in defeat, and Eustace was wounded and fled to Alnwick in its aftermath, leaving his castle at Malton to be captured soon after.[25] Despite the defeat of David, peace the following year brought David victory, his son Henry becoming Earl of Northumbria and Huntingdon, and under the rule of Earl Henry, Eustace regained many of his Northumberland possessions and received other lands in the earldom of Huntingdon.[26] When a succession dispute for the bishopric of Durham erupted in 1141, Eustace supported the pro-David William Cumin against William de Ste Barbara; and in 1143, Eustace helped negotiate a truce between the two claimants.[27]
Eustace's number of known associations with David and Henry after 1144 is small, appearing only as a witness to one charter of Earl Henry issued at Corbridge at some point between 1150 and 1152.[28] Around 1144 Eustace seems to have entered a beneficial relationship with Ranulf II, Earl of Chester. Eustace was married to the sister of Ranulf's constable, William fitz William, and in 1143 or 1144 William died. This made Eustace's wife and her sister Matilda joint heiress to the lands and offices of William, who was childless.[29]
In either 1144 or 1145, Eustace obtained from Ranulf a large honour with lands mostly in Cheshire, Lancashire and Yorkshire, and gained the office of constable of Chester along with the status as chief counsellor in Ranulf's dominions.[30] Earl Ranulf's patronage also seems to have gained Eustace a grant by Roger de Mowbray (the earl's captive from the Battle of Lincoln) of fourteen knight fees worth of estates in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, with townships along the river Humber. This was probably part of the attempts of the earl and his half-brother the Earl of Lincoln William de Roumare to tighten their family's grip on the region.[31] Eustace's position vis-à-vis Stephen probably mirrored that of Ranulf, and like other pro-Matildans there was probably no permanent stabilisation of relations until the settlement between Stephen and Matilda in the winter of 1153.[32] In the following year, Eustace attested a charter King Stephen issued at York in favour of Pontefract Priory.[32]
Death and legacy
Eustace had a good relationship with Stephen's successor Henry II, and the latter seems to have regarded Eustace as one of his supporters.[33] Henry confirmed Eustace's gifts to his son William de Vescy and would recognise the latter's succession to his father's lands.[34] After Henry's accession in 1154, Eustace attested to the new king's charters. Eustace died in July 1157 at the Battle of Ewloe near Basingwerk in Flintshire, where on a campaign with Henry against the Welsh he was ambushed and killed.[35]
He founded Watton, scene of Ailred of Rievaulx's De Sanctimoniali de Wattun, jointly with a William Fossard.[39] Eustace's patronage of the Gilbertines was probably influenced by William, Earl of York and Henry Murdac, Archbishop of York.[40] Eustace witnessed two of Earl William's charters between 1150 and 1153, and obtained land from him.[41] Eustace's name appears on coins minted at York, a city under the control of the earl.[41]
Beatrix is recorded to have died in childbirth. Eustace married, secondly, Agnes de Halton, daughter of William fitz Nigel. He inherited the barony of Halton through this marriage. They had two known sons;
Richard fitz Eustace (d.c.1163), married Aubrey de Lisours, daughter of Robert de Lisours by Aubrey, sister of Ilbert II de Lacy (another baron captured by Earl Ranulf at the Battle of Lincoln), and had issue.[42] He became ancestor of a second line of de Lacys.[1]
Geoffrey fitz Eustace, named as his son in a charter of Watton Priory.
↑ Dalton, "Eustace Fitz John", p. 359; Green, Henry I, p. 244
↑ Mason, "Pain fitz John"; in many respects, Eustace's career in the north paralleled that of his brother Pain in the south-west of England; Dalton, "Eustace Fitz John", p. 360
↑ Dalton, Conquest, pp. 96–97; Dalton, "Eustace Fitz John", pp. 359–60
↑ Dalton, "Eustace Fitz John", p. 359; Tout and Dalton, "Eustace fitz John"
↑ Crouch, Reign of King Stephen, p. 164; Dalton, Conquest, 97–98
↑ Dalton, Conquest, p. 98; Dalton, "Eustace Fitz John", p. 362
Stephen, often referred to as Stephen of Blois, was King of England from 22 December 1135 to his death in 1154. He was Count of Boulogne jure uxoris from 1125 until 1147 and Duke of Normandy from 1135 until 1144. His reign was marked by the Anarchy, a civil war with his cousin and rival, the Empress Matilda, whose son, Henry II, succeeded Stephen as the first of the Angevin kings of England.
The Anarchy was a civil war in England and Normandy between 1138 and 1153, which resulted in a widespread breakdown in law and order. The conflict was a war of succession precipitated by the accidental death of William Adelin who drowned in the sinking of the White Ship in 1120. Henry sought to be succeeded by his daughter, known as Empress Matilda, but was only partially successful in convincing the nobility to support her. On Henry's death in 1135, his nephew Stephen of Blois seized the throne, with the help of Stephen's brother Henry of Blois, who was the bishop of Winchester. Stephen's early reign saw fierce fighting with disloyal English barons, rebellious Welsh leaders, and Scottish invaders. Following a major rebellion in the south-west of England, Matilda invaded in 1139 with the help of her half-brother Robert of Gloucester.
Alnwick Castle is a castle and country house in Alnwick in the English county of Northumberland. It is the seat of the 12th Duke of Northumberland, built following the Norman conquest and renovated and remodelled a number of times. It is a Grade I listed building now the home of Ralph Percy, 12th Duke of Northumberland and his family. In 2016, the castle received over 600,000 visitors per year when combined with adjacent attraction the Alnwick Garden.
The Battle of the Standard, sometimes called the Battle of Northallerton, took place on 22 August 1138 on Cowton Moor near Northallerton in Yorkshire, England. English forces under William of Aumale repelled a Scottish army led by King David I of Scotland.
The title of Earl of Northumberland has been created several times in the Peerage of England and of Great Britain, succeeding the title Earl of Northumbria. Its most famous holders are the House of Percy, who were the most powerful noble family in Northern England for much of the Middle Ages. The heirs of the Percys, via a female line, were ultimately made Duke of Northumberland in 1766, and continue to hold the earldom as a subsidiary title.
Ranulf II, 4th Earl of Chester (1099–1153), was an Anglo-Norman baron who inherited the honour of the palatine county of Chester upon the death of his father Ranulf Meschin, 3rd Earl of Chester. He was descended from the Counts of Bessin in Normandy.
The House of Percy is an English noble family. They were among the most powerful noble families in Northern England for much of the Middle Ages. The noble family is known for its long rivalry with the House of Neville, another family powerful in northern England during the 15th century. The Percy-Neville feud provoked the War of the Roses, at the time known as the Civil Wars, in England.
Alnwick Abbey was founded as a Premonstratensian monastery in 1147 by Eustace fitz John near Alnwick, England, as a daughter house of Newhouse Abbey in Lincolnshire. It was dissolved in 1535, refounded in 1536 and finally suppressed in 1539. The Alnwick Abbey site is located just within Hulne Park, on the bank of the River Aln. The only visible remnant is the impressive 14th-century gatehouse, a Grade I listed building.
The relationship between the Kingdom of England and King David I, who was King of Scotland between 1124 and 1153, was partly shaped by David's relationship with the particular King of England, and partly by David's own ambition. David had a good relationship with and was an ally of Henry I of England, the King who was largely responsible for David's early career. After Henry's death, David upheld his support for his niece, the former Empress-consort, Matilda, and expanded his power in northern England in the process, despite his defeat at the Battle of the Standard in 1138.
William Cumin was a bishop of Durham, and Justiciar of Scotland.
Events from the 1140s in England.
Events from the 1130s in England.
Pain fitzJohn was an Anglo-Norman nobleman and administrator, one of King Henry I of England's "new men", who owed their positions and wealth to the king.
William de Vesci (c.1125–1184) was an Anglo-Norman feudal lord and Sheriff. Born William fitz Eustace at Knaresborough Castle, Yorkshire, the son of Eustace Fitz John and Beatrix de Vesci, he took his mother's surname.
John de Vesci, sometimes spelt Vescy, was a prominent 13th-century noble. He was the eldest son of William de Vesci and Agnes de Ferrers. He married firstly Agnes de Saluzzo and secondly Isabella de Beaumont. John died c. 1289.
de Vesci is the surname of an old Norman noble family originating from Vassy, Calvados, also known as the House of de Vesci. The first records are about Robert de Vesci, Norman conqueror and Ivo de Vesci, Lord of Alnwick. The de Vesci family held lands in England, Ireland, Saluzzo in Piedmont and in Sicily. The family was also linked to the Scottish Crown through the marriage of Eustace de Vesci to Margaret, the oldest but illegitimate child and daughter of William the Lion by a daughter of Adam de Hythus. William de Vesci was one of the competitors for the Crown of Scotland, upon the death of Margaret, Maid of Norway in 1290.
Ivo de Vesci, sometimes spelt Vescy and first name sometimes Yves, was a prominent 11th-century English noble. He obtained lands and the lordship of Alnwick in Northumberland from King William II of England. He was also given lands in Malton, Yorkshire. It is not known whether he is the son or kinsman of the Robert de Veci who participated in the Norman conquest of England and was rewarded with great estates in the counties of Northampton, Warwick and Lincoln.
Beatrix de Vesci of Alnwick Castle, was an eleventh-century medieval noble lady of house de Vesci.
The Constable of Chester was a mediaeval hereditary office held by the Barons of Halton. The functions of the Constable are unclear, possibly they related to the custody of Chester Castle, as was the main function of most mediaeval constables, but Sanders (1960) says the office-holder was constable for the entire County Palatine.
The siege of Wark is a 1138 siege of Wark on Tweed Castle conducted from May–November by Scottish forces under David I against the defending English garrison. The siege was part of a campaign launched by David in support of his niece, the Empress Matilda, and her claim to the English throne over that of Stephen of Blois who had seized the throne in 1135. The invasion followed a similar campaign in 1136 when David had succeeded in gaining control of Cumberland, and raids launched in 1137 and earlier in 1138.
References
Burton, Janet E. (1999), The Monastic Order in Yorkshire, 1069–1215, Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought; 4th Series, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN0-521-55229-X
Crouch, David (2000), The Reign of King of Stephen, 1135–1154, Harlow: Longman / Pearson Education, ISBN0-582-22658-9
Dalton, Paul (1994), Conquest, Anarchy and Lordship. Yorkshire, 1066–1154, Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought, 4th Series, xxvii, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN0-521-45098-5
Dalton, Paul (1996), "Eustace Fitz John and the Politics of Anglo-Norman England: The Rise and Survival of a Twelfth-Century Royal Servant", Speculum, Medieval Academy of America, 71 (2): 358–383, doi:10.2307/2865417, ISSN0038-7134, JSTOR2865417, S2CID155189020
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