A CRIMINAL OPERATING IN BARNSDALE IN THE 1290's
Following twelve years of research into the ballad character of 'Robin Hood', it emerged that the folkloric character seemed at first a creation of a fertile imagination. Even the name Robyn Hode [Robin Hood] was found to have originated from what is now recognised as a cryptic political song A Lytell Geste of Robyn Hode. This observation alone explains the difficulty of identifying such a person with this epithet and has confounded many genuine researchers looking for an historical inspiration for the ballad character.
However there was a real person living in Skelbrooke in an area commonly called 'Barnsdale' upon whom the character of the ballads at first appears to have been conceived. This young man was convicted of a number of heinous crimes in the Barnsdale area in the late 1200's. From research of the local families it has been recognised that they were not only understandably in direct contact with each other, but to some extent intermarried. This is important because in a culture of criminality, these families operated within a closed network.
Probably the most important
name in the grouping is FitzWilliam of Emley and Sprotbrough.
It is speculated that a member of the Le Waleys [Wallis/Walleis/Wallace]
family authored the Geste. This person was possibly
Sir Stephen II Waleys of Burghwallis [d.1347] a descendant
of Sir Richard I Le Waleys the first rector of Burgh [Wallis] whose
son Sir Stephen I is thought to be the cousin to Robert III Butler
of Skelbrooke, a plunderer and murderer from 'Barnsdale. Burghwallis
is a village alongside the Great North Road near Skelbrooke, what
in the Geste was called 'Watling Street'.The FitzWilliam family was anciently seated at Emley and gained Sprotborough by marriage with the De Lizours line. In the next generation the line of Plantagenet from Hamelyn Plantagenet [b ~1129] of nearby Conisbrough Castle was married to that of the FitzWilliams. Hamelyn was an illegitimate son of Geoffrey of Anjou and probably Adela [Ela] Talvas, Geoffrey of Anjou's concubine, for we see this first name in Adela Plantagenet, one of Hamelyn's daughters.
Adela Plantagenet was Robert III Butler's great grandmother whilst Hamelyn Plantagenet and Isabel De Warrene were
Robert's great x 2 grandfather and grandmother
who were buried far away from South Yorkshire in the Chapter
House at Lewes, Sussex. Hamelyn was thus a half brother to Henri
Curtmantel, one of the Norman Angevin Kings of England. Two
generations later Robert II Butler of Skelbrooke appears to
have been married to Agnes FitzWilliam. Their union produced
Robert III Butler of Skelbrooke. This line of noble descent supports
the ideas that developed in the 1500's that 'Robyn Hode'
was born of the nobility [i.e. Agnes FitzWilliam] who descended
from Geoffrey of Anjou through the illegitimate Hamelyn Plantagenet
of Conisbrough to his daughter Adela Plantagenet [alias Ela De Warrene].
Adela Plantagenet married Sir William FitzWilliam who descended from
Charlemagne, these two were Robert III Butler's great-grandparents.Thomas FitzWilliam [b 1205-9, d 1266] is identified as Robert III Butler's maternal grandfather. We have a reasonable amount of knowledge about Thomas for it is likely to be his Purbeck marble effigy which is found in Blyth Chapel, just across the South Yorkshire boundary in Nottinghamshire. This effigy is dated to before 1240.1
Image source : http://www.nottshistory.org.uk/articles/tts/tts1924/effigies/effigies1.htm
showing early FitzWilliam arms Lozengy argent and gules.
In Yorkshire, Thomas is known to have held lands at Woodhall, Darfield and Barnborough besides Emley, Hampole and Sprotborough. His father,William, who married Adela Plantagenet [Warrene] probably started the line of hereditary stewards to the Lords of Conisborough. Thomas was granted a free wareren at Plumtree, Nottinghamshire, held lands at Harworth near and other lands near Blyth [Notts.] and was probably taken prisoner at the Battle of Chesterfield in 1266.2
"It is not carved like later effigies to stand out from the base slab, but is worked to only about half the usual depth. Unfortunately the effigy is in a sadly dilapidated condition, but when perfect the knight lay within a canopy, consisting of an arch over the head and shafts with moulded capitals and bases at the sides. The legs have not been crossed, and the feet, to which spurs were attached, rest on two grotesque beasts. The sword lies diagonally underneath the shield, which is placed directly in front of the body and covers almost the whole of the upper part. The position of the arms is difficult to determine, but perhaps the right lay down that side whilst the left was bent upwards under the shield. The surcoat is short and both it and the shield are charged with the knight’s arms—lozengy. To find the surcoat thus ornamented with coat armour at this early date is very unusual and the writers cannot recall a parallel instance. Another point of exceptional interest is that the figure is depicted wearing a heaume, which completely covers the head and face... The heaume at Blyth is flat-topped and belongs to a type which appears to have come into use in the reign of Richard I and continued for about fifty years. There can be no doubt that it represents a member of the great South Yorkshire family of Fitzwilliam, whose arms were lozengy argent and gules. Roger [of Woodhall, Darfield], younger son of Sir Thomas Fitzwilliam, was living about this time at Braithwell, which though in Yorkshire is no great distance from Blyth."1
Robin
et
Marion,
written
about
1285
Thomas Fitzwilliam is considered here to be the maternal grandfather
of Robert III Butler of Skelbrooke, a person who may have helped
to inspire the character of the ballad hero, Robyn Hode.
The Battle of Chesterfield
was lost by the earl of Derby, Robert de Ferrers, styled "Earl of
Tutbury" whilst fighting Henry III's forces, he was taken prisoner
after being found hiding behind sacks of grain in Chesterfield Church.
De Ferrers had his lands confiscated and was declared an outlaw.
He was eventually allowed to repurchase his lands but was unable to
do so, dying in 1279. The De Ferrers estates eventually passed into
the hands of Edmund Crouchback [Henry III's second son] which then
passed to Thomas Plantagenet best known as the earl of Lancaster.
Many have recognised the parallels between Robert de Ferrers
and the balladic character of Robyn Hode. Certainly elements
of the earl of Derby's life may have been woven into the ballads
at Tutbury in the 1300's during the time of later owners of Tutbury,
such as Thomas Plantagenet and John of Gaunt.
|
| The site of the little known
and hidden De Lizours and later FitzWilliam castle near Sprotbrough.
The map is from the early 1850's with the modern A1 [M] - blue
line superimposed. The motte and bailey is now hidden amongst
an arm of Castle Hill wood a forgotten relic fortress of Robert
III Butler's grandparents. This site is unknowingly passed every
day by heavy traffic on the M1, the modern Great North Road.
It is best approached from the west by walking east across the
fields from Spring Lane after gaining permission. Sir William FitzWilliam
de Clairfait Lord of Emley and Hampole married Albreda De Lizours
~1163 and upon the death of Albreda's father >1193, De Clairfait
would have gained the estate. The 1854 map suggests that it is the
'supposed site of a castle', the modern O.S. map more boldly proclaims
it a 'Castle Mound'. As with Emley and Hampole it is conceivable that
Robert III Butler visited his grandparents as a child and played in the
woods and fields nearby. Cusworth Hall Park to the east was probably
the original estate. This estate adjoined the lands of the Butler's
of Skelbrooke to the north-east at Scausby Lees. Such a close association
of the lands of FitzWilliam and Butler probably helped lead to the
marriage of Robert II Butler of Skelbrooke and Agnes FitzWilliam of
Sprotborough. Scausby Lees lies astride the 'Roman Ridge' the ancient
southward extension of 'Watling Strete' named as early as the 1200's.
To the SSW lies the great fortress of Hamelyn Plantagenet at
Conisbrough |
The film, 'Robin Hood' appears to be once again falsely associated with Richard I 'Coeur de Lion' and the often maligned King John. It is directed by The Englishman, Ridley Scott and the script, as with the film of 'A Knights Tale', is written by Brian Helgeland but again, it is without any historical basis whatsoever. The false trail perpetrated by the film industry continues ever such.
Theme
Music [mp3]
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As a
descendant of Henry II's father we might recognise
some of the qualities of Henry in Robert Butler :
"... strongly built, with a leonine head, freckled face,
red hair and a cracked voice. Tough and athletic, he possessed
immense energy which enabled him to travel ceaselessly about
his extensive domains. Generous to the poor, a pillar of Justice
and an intellectual giant, Henry was the greatest of the Plantagenets
and arguably the most able English king since Alfred" - Plantagenet Somerset Fry, Kings and Queens.
Geoffrey Plantagenet who
became Archbishop of York was also an illegitimate child
but of Henri Curtmantel probably by Ykenai [Hikenai].
Ykenai was born about 1131 in Westminster, Middlesex.
Their child was Geoffrey Plantagenet Archbishop of York about
1151-1153 died December 18, 1212 in France, aged sixty. Others
have less convincingly made another of Henri's concubines
Rosamund de Clifford [FitzPonz/FitzPonce] to be the
mother of Geoffrey. This was Henri's great love the "Fair Rosamund"
of the ballads. She was born about 1133 in Clifford
Castle, Herefordshire and died about 1176 at Woodstock,
Oxfordshire. Clifford castle lies some six miles south of a village
called Huntington. Alice de Hastings was born here in 1606 and
she married Sir Gervase Clifton of Hodsock 1st baronet [b 1581 d 1666].
Gervase had seven wives the first of whom was Penelope Rich of
the manor of Wakefield whilst the seventh was Alice Hastings daughter
of Sir Henry Hastings of Eaton, 5th earl of Huntingdon. We
have said elsewhere that we suspect that this Sir Gervase was active
in promoting the idea that 'Robin Hood' was the 'Earl of Huntington'
and probably encouraged the tourist trade for the legendary ballad hero
at Nottingham. Rosamund
Clifford's grandparents were Richard FitzPons and Maud
FitzWalter. This name Maud FitzWalter and the title 'earl
of Huntington' may have passed from Sir Gervase to the court
of Elizabeth I then appeared in Munday's plays.
Footnote: In our search for a real person who modelled for the ballad character Robyn Hode, we may look to the criminal network of the 1290's in the Barnsdale area exposed by the trial of Robert III Butler of Skelbrooke. Skelbrooke is situated near where the vill of Barnsdale was sited at Barnsdale Bar, now marked by a round-about for the A1. However, further research leads us on to a far greater well-spring, the findings of which I hope to publish in the near future.
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Sources/References:
1. http://www.nottshistory.org.uk/articles/tts/tts1924/effigies/effigies1.htm
2. Richardson, Douglas. Plantagenet Ancestry, Genealogical
Publishing Co. 2004 p 330.
© Copyright Tim Midgley
2006, revised 30th January 2011.