King Henry II and the restoration of royal authority- the use of castles

King Henry II and the restoration of royal authority- the use of castles

1. King

   • All Royal Castles to be surrendered
     • 1154- 49 castles under royal control, 225 in the hands of barons
       • 1214- 179 baronial castles to 93 royal castles
     • Stephens reign/ the landscape before Henry came to power
       • Barons took over royal castles of built their own.
         • This took money and power from the crown
     • E.g William of Aumale, earl of York, refused to give up Scarborough Castle . Both the castle and earldom were now forfeit
   • £21,000 spent on castle works (recorded int he pipe rolls of his reign) £6,500 spent on Dover castle alone
     • Renovation of castles from wood to stone

2. Purser

   • used rivalries between barons and his undisputed title as King to re-take royal castles
   • Faced opposition from the Earls of York, Hereford and Wigmore.
     • December 1154-, marched against William of York, both himself and Roger of Hereford surrendered
     • Laid siege to to Hugh of Wigmore's castles, took the castles and Hugh submitted in front of others in July
   • Self- imposed exile of Henry of Blois, Bishop of Winchester and brother to Henry's predecessor. He virtually ruled Hampshire and in his absence his castles were demolished

3. Huscroft

   • 1157 confiscates castles of Stephen's sons, count William of Boulogne, and of Hugh Bigod
   • 1155 issues the surrender of all royal lands
     • William of Aumale refuses to give up Scarborough castle
     • On the Welsh border, Roger of Hereford and Hugh Mortimor offer initial resistance
   • 1157 Earls of Suffolk and Norfolk surrender their castles
   • 1176 took all castles into royal custody for a time
   • Spent £46,00 between 1155 and 1215, an average of £760 annually
   • 1154 1 in 5 castles royal, 1214- 1 in 2
   • 1165 allows Hugh Bigod to take back two castles, but builds a large castle nearby worth £1400 in Orford to remind Hugh who had 'the ultimate power in the Kingdom

4. Carpenter

   • Before 1154 royal castles given away
     • Destroys the unlicensed castles created by Stephen
     • Geoffrey de Mandeville, earl of Essex, castle seized in 1157 but made to be one of Henry's judges at a later period
   • Took the royal castle of Bridgnorth from Hugh de Mortimor
   • Denied Walter, brother of Robert of Hereford, succession to the earldom and royal castles of Glouchester and Hereford
   • 1157 William, Stephens son, forced to surrender castle of Norwhich and Pevensey, eye and Lancaster - a breach of the Treaty of Winchester
   • King Malcolm surrenders all possessions in the North of England- breaking the the promises made to King David in 1147
   • Retained thirty castles he obtained in 1155, helping to convert 225 baronial and 49 royal castles to 179 baronial and 93 royal. A ration of 5:! to 2:!
   • £21,000 spent on castle building, average of £650 a year