The Family of William Longchamp, Bishop of Ely, Chancellor and Juticiar of England, 1190-119

( 15 ) THE FAMILY OP WILLIAM LONGCHAMP, BISHOP OP ELY, CHANCELLOR ANDJUSTICIAR OP ENGLAND, 1190—1191.x BY AGNES ETHEL CONWAY. The meteoric career of William Longchamp across thefield of English history reads like romance. Stubbs wrotethat few men had ever wielded the power that was placed in his hands by Richard I. and the Archbishop of Canterbury when they left England on the third crusade. The King,, whose personal knowledge of England was confined to two visits of a few weeks, left as Regent with supreme power a Norman who eould not even speak English. Longchamp'swhole life had been spent in France. He had worked first as a clerk under Henry II.'s son Geoffrey; then as chaplain to Richard, who promoted him to be Chancellor of Aquitaine. When Richard became King of England, Longchamp accompanied him across the Channel and was made Chancellor on the payment of £3000. On the last day of 1189 hewas consecrated Bishop of Ely. From the time of thedeparture of Richard on the crusade his public doings as- Justiciar fill the horizon at home. He was also made Papal Legate in the absence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The chronicles resound with alternate praise and blame.. Robert of Devizes writes:— " A visit of a single night cost the house which received him three years' savings. He entertained a train of 1000 horsemen. He moved through the kingdom like a flash of' lightning." The story of his fall and banishment from England on October 10, 1191, as the result of a conspiracy of Prince 1 My thanks are due to Mr. J . H. Round for reading this paper in manuscript, thus saving me from many pitfalls. 1 6 THE FAMILY OF WILLIAM LONGCHAMP. John and the many English nobles whom jealousy of the •sudden rise of Longchamp had inflamed, is told in detail by 'Stubbs in his Preface to the Chronicle of Roger of Hoveden, vol. iii. But the private side of his life, his relations with "his own family and the promotion of their interests during his two years of power remains untold. Such accounts of his relatives as have been given by Dugdale and Boivin- -Champeaux are contradictory; even Stubbs sheds little light upon them, although the subject is not without -interest, since five of Longchamp's brothers occupied public positions, and four of them founded families of importance. 'The advancement of his relations on every possible occasion was in fact, according to Roger of Hoveden, one of the •chief causes of his unpopularity :— " The Chancellor's nephews and relations, no matter how •distant and though born in a peasant's cottage, sought ardently to unite themselves in matrimony with counts, barons and magnates of the realm, thinking that they would •acquire the greatest favour from him by any show of relationship."1 To justify this attack by tracing to the years 1190 and 1191 the advancement of his relatives, either through matrimony or official promotion, is not uninteresting. The doing of it involves radical genealogical researches, since no pedigree yet made agrees with all the ascertainable facts, -and the number of different Henrys and Williams in all ^generations is bewildering. Although the Chancellor had six brothers, and four of them founded families, the name appears to have become extinct in England before the year 1400. It has been my •object to trace each branch to its end in an heiress, and to account as far as possible for every person bearing the name. The manuscript pedigrees in the British Museum3 are useless, and I put forward mine as being still in some 1 Roger of Hoveden, iii., p. 142. 5 Add.-MSS. 12,471, p. 43; 6082, p. 35 b. LONGCHAMP PEDIGREE. HUGH LONGCHAMP. He held " in maritagio " a knight's fee in Wilton and Linton in= Herefordshire (Black Book of the Exchequer). Pernor of the honour of Conches, Normandy, and in 1180 owed £706 16s. 6d, for balance of the account. Lied in 1196 as a monk in the Monastery of St. Stephen of Caen. :EVE DE LACY. HENBY LONGCHAMP. He held Wilton ns 1 knight's fee in 1166 (Black Book of=f MAUD. In 1204 Maud, the widow the Exchequer). Prom 1189 to 1203 he held the " terrse datse " of Wilton, valued at £16 10*. Concerried in a suit about Haydor, South Lincolnshire, in 1201. Died on the Four th Crusade, 1203. OSBEET DE CAILLY AND HILDEBUEGH of Baudemont. of Henry Longchamp, had an allowance of £10 a year out of Wilton (Liberate Roll, 5 John). GUY DE GKOUN of Preston. HUGH, surety: in 1180 for Hugh Longchamp when in disgrace for arrears; died 1195. 1st husband. : EMMA ST. LEGEE. =WALTEE DE BASKEBVILLE. 2nd husband. *WlLLIAM, Chanoellor, died 1197. HENBY, Abbot of Croyland 1191— 1236. OsBEET,=f=AVELINA, died 1208. GrEOirMffiY. HENBY,T=MAUD, of Ailington Castle 1191. MATXHEW= DE CLEBES, Castellan of Lions and Dover. =RICHEHDA fHENEY, Sheriff of Hereford 1189; Sheriff of Worcestershire 1194; living 1210. ROBEET, Abbot of St. Mary's, York, 1197 —1239. ? . . . . ^ A DAU. DEVBEDX. STEPHEN, surety for Bich-=rPABNEL =GEOFFBE\ ' ard I.'s ransom 1193 ; held DE DU BOTS. fief of Baudemont and Long_champ,and held Mutford in Suffolk and Prome Herbert 1196; died at Battle of Bouviues 1215. 1st husband. CAILLY. 2nd husband. MAUD=J=HENEY DE VEEE. A SON, died s.p. WILLIAM,: died 1204. 1st husband. PAIISEL =IIENHY=OLIVEE DE CltODN, mar. 1190; died 1262. DlSliAMABE. 2nd husband. DE VAUX. 3rd hus band. ISABELLA MYNEBS. granted Wilton in 1204 by a charter of King John; died 1212. sister of William Cauntelow. WILLIAM =rALICE: of Arlington Castle, came of age 3221; died 1256. 1st husband. JOAN, widow=HENBY, came=f HAWI S E . =MOEGAN of of Thomas of age 1230; 2nd wife. Karlyon, 1238. 2nd husband. Birkin, 1230. 1st wife. 1230; died 1237. MAUD=REYNOLD DE GBEY. His descendants owned Wilton for many generations. =HUGH, son of Richard of Blasted. 2nd husband. WILLIAM, HUGH=GEOEGIA WILLIAM=A DAU.=ROBEET living 1224. DE COLUMBABIIS, 1201. LONGCHAMP. 1st hushand. GEELEY. 2nd husband. STEPHEN DEVEEUX, given Prome Herbert by his uncle Stephen Longchamp; made a justice to deliver the gaols of Hereford 1218; died 1228. BALDEIC, inherited Castle of Douville and fief of Baudemont; died before 1223. WILLIAM, left 50s. for his obit in the Cathedral of Rouen. WILLIAM= LONGCHAMP. 1st husband. :PABXEL=BO.BEBT DE l'OISSY. 2nd husband. HENKY ,=pSvisiL negotiated money for a ransom in 1269; died 1274. HEEINGAUD. WILLIAM, Constable of the Bishop of Lincoln 1275. WILLIAM=ALICE, DUNGE- died VYN. 1275. ROBEET, owned Allington in 1254. OSBEET, living 1296, "impotens." Sold Allington Castle to Stephen of Penchester. HUGH. (Walter Dru imprisoned at Worcester for the death of Hugh Longchamp, 1284.) WALTEE PEDWAEDYN. ROGEI: PEDWAHDYN^ALICE, mar. 1276. OSBEET, died before 1327=?^VICE. ROGEB PEDWABDYN=AGNES, dau. of Lord Darcy of Essex. S IB HENBY LONGCHAMP, died 1341. HENBY LONGCHAMP, died 1352. THOMAS LONGCHAMP. * William and Osbert were " germane " brothers," t William and Henry were " uterine " brothers. THE PAMILT OP WILLIAM LONGCHAMP. 17 points conjectural, but to the best of my knowledge containing nothing irreconcilable with all the known facts. I t is unnecessary to recapitulate the Chancellor's life.1 The back of his episcopal seal of Ely shews a crescent enclosing an estoile of eight points wavy,2 and the combination, of star and crescent occurs in all the existing seals of the Longchamp family. It is possible that the Chancellor borrowed the devices from the field of the Great Seal of Richard I. The surname is derived from the place '' Longchamps " in the arrondissement des Andelis in the canton d'Estrepagni. Here Hugh Longchamp, the father of William, had a holding of 50 acres of land and half a virgate.3 He is said by the chroniclers to have been the son of a runaway serf from the territory of the Beauvaisis, a statement which Stubbs considered a calumny, put forth by the enemies of William Longchamp the Chancellor. In any case, Hugh, the father of the Chancellor, was the first of the family of whom any record remains. HUGH LONGCHAMP (father of William, Chancellor). 1152. He witnessed a Charter of Queen Eleanor.4 1154-55. The Sheriff: of Hereford " reddit compotum " of £24 15s. for the "terrse datse" of Richard Talbot and Hugh Longchamp.5 Erom 1155 to 1188 there are entries in the Pipe Roll, under Herefordshire in Wallia, each year shewing that the Sheriff was credited with £16 10s. as an allowance for the alienated lands of Hugh Longchamp in Wilton and Linton. This land Hugh seems to have obtained by marriage with one of the family of de Lacy, for in the Inquisition of 1 See Stubbs, Preface to Roger of Eoveden, vol. iii. Stubbs, Preface to the Epistulas Cantuarienses (Rolls Series). Boivin-Champeaux, Life of William Longchamp. - British Museum, Seal LTV, 27. 3 Le Prevost, Notes sur le departement de L'Eure, vol. ii., p. 323. 4 Round, Calendar of Documents in France, p. 375. 6 Red Book of the Exchequer, p. 650. Hall. VOL. XXXVI. c 1 8 THE FAMILY OP WILLIAM LONGCHAMP. Knight's Eees in 11661 Hugh de Lacy accounts as follows for "Eeodum 1 inilitis de feodo antiquo quod oblitus sum, feodum Willelmi de Burchope, quod tenet Hugo de Longo Campo in maritagio." At this time, too, he was fermor of the honour of Conches in Normandy, although nothing is recorded of him in connection with it before 1180, when there was a financial crisis in his affairs. In the Norman Pipe Roll of that year2 he is entered as owing the following sums :— £706 16s. 6d. for balance of account of the honour of Conches. £8 8s. for purprestures of the forest of Lions for eleven years. £66 10s. for rents of the carpenters of Longchamp for 7 years and 11 months. £7 16s. for the current year. £100 for waste of the district of Longchamp and for non-appearance on the summons of the Justiciar. No wonder an enemy of William Longchamp, Chancellor, could say his wickedness was inherited from his father ! s Hugh had four sureties on this occasion, namely, Ralph Tesson, Reginald of Pavilly, Richard Vernon, and his son Hugh Longchamp ; the former three were prominent barons, which reflects the importance of the elder Hugh. In the next Norman Pipe Roll, for 1198,4 he accounts for the same large sums, with the addition of £81 12s. for the rents of the carpenters of Longchamp for 9 years instead of for 7 years and 11 months. Stapleton infers that the King granted him restitution ; but before 1198 Hugh Longchamp was dead. Whether the debts were ever paid off we know not, but without doubt Hugh ended his life as a monk in the monastery of St. Stephen of Caen, to which he, his wife Eve and his sons William and Stephen gave their houses of Bella Valle and lands and tithes belonging to the Church of St. Martin de Longchamp; also the Chapel of St. Nicholas within the parish built by them.5 On the 8th 1 Black Book of the Exohequer, p. 155 (ed. Hearne). 2 Stapleton, Magni Rotuli Seaccarii Normannim, I., oxiii. •' G-iraldns Cambrensis. Vita Galfridi, p, 390 (Rolls Series). 4 Stapleton, Rolls, ii., p. coxiii. s Le Prevost, Notes, etc., ii., p. 323. THE FAMILY OP WILLIAM LONGCHAMP. 19 Kalends of November 1196 he died, in the same winter as his son William the Chancellor,1 HENRY LOM-GCHAMP (brother of Hugh and uncle of "William, Chancellor). There has always been considerable confusion in connection with this Henry Longchamp, which I will endeavour to elucidate. In Hearne's Black Book of the Exchequer (1166), among the Knights of Robert d'Ewias, Henry Longchamp appears as holding Wilton in Herefordshire as one knight's fee. Eour pages earlier is the entry already quoted, to the effect that Hugh Longchamp held a knight's fee " in maritagio" of Hugh Lacy. The overlords are indeed different, but in 1156 Hugh's fee was Wilton and Linton, valued at £16 10s., and from 1166 till 1189 Henry Longchamp was never mentioned again in connection with Wilton. Even in 1166, the year that the Black Book represents Henry as holding Wilton, the Sheriff is allowed £16 10s. on the Pipe Roll for the "terra data" of Hugh Longchamp in Wilton and Linton. But from Midsummer 1 Richard I. (1189) onwards it is Henry Longchamp who holds the " terrse datse " of Wilton instead of Hugh, though Hugh Longchamp did not die till 1196. It may be that in 1189 Hugh entered the Monastery of St. Stephen of Caen and gave Wilton to his son Hugh, and that Henry was a tenant of his nephew. A charter of 12042 distinctly states that Hugh, who held Wilton under Richard I., gave it to his son Hugh; but it is also certain that from 1189 onwards Henry held the land. After the death of Henry, Wilton went to the younger son of Hugh, the brother of the Chancellor, which perhaps shews that Hugh, junior, did not wish it either for himself or his elder son, and subinfeudated it to Henry. It also renders it probable that Henry, uncle of the Chancellor, had no son living to whom Wilton could 1 Neorology of Rouen among the Rolls transoripts. Archives of Normandy, No. 412, " excerpta ex necrologio ecclesise Rothomagensis de obitu principum Anglise." 2 Charter Rolls, 6 John. C 2 20 THE PAMILY OP WILLIAM LONGCHAMP. pass, and, as we shall see, his son William died before December 3rd, 1204, probably only shortly before his father. The Pipe Rolls from 1189—1203 record that Henry Longchamp held Wilton as "terrse datse" valued at £16 10s. Then he went on the fourth crusade. In 1202 the King commanded his bailiffs to take care of the lands and the wife of Henry Longchamp until he shall have come back from Jerusalem,1 and in 1204 Maud, the widow of Henry Longchamp, had an allowance of £10 a year out of Wilton.2 Villhardouin8 describes the beautiful army that went by way of Venice with Count Louis, and mentions " Henris de Lone-champ " by name. " Els en avint grant mesaventure, si com vos porrviz oir avant." In the " grant mesaventure" Henry died, and Wilton passed to Henry Longchamp his nephew, the son of Hugh Longchamp the younger. This Henry has hitherto been confounded with his uncle Henry, the brother of William the Chancellor. As will appear later,4 the younger Henry certainly did not die on the fourth crusade, but I have no proof that the elder Henry was a brother of Hugh, except that as he was mentioned in 1166 he must have been of the same generation, and was evidently a very near relation. His son William was married in 1190, and was of the same generation as William the Chancellor. Henry Longchamp, senior, seems to have owned land in Lincolnshire as well as in Herefordshire, for he is concerned in a suit about Haydor, South Lincolnshire, in 1201.5 HUGH LONGCHAMP (Hugh, junior, son of Hugh Longchamp and brother of William, Chancellor). In 1180 Hugh Longchamp appears as one of the four sureties for Hugh Longchamp, senior, when he was in disgrace for arrears as fermor of the honour of Conches.0 I 1 Patent Rolls, 3 John, p. 11. Record Commission. 2 Liberate Roll, 5 John, p. 84. 3 Ed. du Cange, p. 21. * See p. 32. 6 Selden Sooiety, vol. iii. Select Civil Pleas, No. 117, p. 47. 0 Stapleton, Rolls, i., p. 96. THE PAMILY OF WILLIAM LONGCHAMP. 21 imagine him, therefore, to have been the eldest son of Hugh. But he died before 1195, leaving two sons, Geoffrey and Henry,1 and the latter was granted Wilton by a charter of King John, 1204: "Know ye that we have given to Henry Longchamp, with the assent of his eldest brother Geoffrey, Wilton in Herefordshire with the castle which Hugh his grandfather gave to Hugh, the father of this Henry."2 If Hugh Longchamp, senior, really gave Wilton to his son Hugh, it must have been from him that Henry Longchamp, senior, held as tenant till Hugh, junior, died some time before 1195. Emma St. Leger, his wife, had by 1195 already married Walter de Baskerville and died, for in the Pipe Roll of that year3 Geoffrey Longchamp, son of Hugh, owed 25 marks to have seisin of the land of his mother Emma St. Leger, who had been the wife of Walter de Baskerville. GEOFFREY LONGCHAMP (eldest son of Hugh, junior). Geoffrey Longchamp married Isabella Myners, one of the three coheiresses of Henry Myners of Westbury in Gloucester shire. "WrHiiAH MXNEES4 (held manor and advowson of Westbury temp. John). Henry Myners (son and heir, seised of said advowson). Geoffrey Longchamp=Isabella. Pagenda. Another sister. .: He was one of the barons who compelled John to sign Magna Carta,5 and after his dea/th Isabella Longchamp gave her third share of the manor of Westbury to Henry 1 Pipe Roll, 7 Rio. I., Gloucester. 2 Charter Rolls, 6 John. 3 Printed in Madox, Exchequer, i., p. 613. 4 Wrottesley, Pedigrees from the Plea Molls, p. 77. 6 Preface to Roger of Moveden, vol. iii., p. oii. 22 THE PAMILY OP WILLIAM LONGCHAMP. of Bath, by a fine dated 1235-6.1 This tends to shew that there was no issue of the marriage, and the name Longchamp does not occur in the Gloucestershire Inquisitiones post Mortem from 1232—1300. HENRY LONGCHAMP (younger son of Hugh, junior, and nephew of William the Chancellor). In 1204 Henry received Wilton by charter from King John (see page 21). But in order to enter upon it he had to pay a relief to the King of 300 marks, 1 courser, price 20 marks, and 2 palfreys, price 10 marks.3 On the Pipe Roll of 1206 it was William Cauntelow who answered for the "terrae datse" of Wilton. Henry Longchamp married his sister Maud. In 1210 Henry was with John's enemies in Ireland,8 and in 1212 he died, leaving his heir, another Henry, a child under age. HENRY LONGCHAMP of Wilton (grandson of Hugh, junior). 1213. William Cauntelow, uncle of the child Henry, paid 300 marks to have the custody of his person and of Wilton,4 the same sum that the King had claimed in 1204 when the child's father had received Wilton. Every year of the minority of the heir of Henry Longchamp, William Cauntelow answers on the Pipe Roll for Wilton in place of his ward. 1230. Henry had come of age and owed the King 50 marks to marry Joan, widow of Thomas Birkin.5 1233. He was let off 30 of the 50 marks he owed for marrying Joan Birkin. (Close Rolls.) , 1236. He had protection until Michaelmas to go to Santiago (St. James of Compostella). (Patent Rolls.) There he must have died. .1237. Mandate to the escheators on this side Trent to 1 Pedes Finium, Bristol and Gloucester Archeeological Society, vol. 16. . 2 Pipe Roll, 8 John. Hereford in Wallia, under " Nova oblata." 3 Rotuli de Liberate, 12 John. 4 Rotuli de Pinibus, 15 John, p. 471. 0 Exoerpta e rotulis finium, vol. i., p. 207, and Close Rolls. THE PAMILY OP WILLIAM LONGCHAMP. 23 give seisin to Peter de Wakering and Walter de Tiwe, King's clerks, of the lands late of Henry Longchamp. (Patent Rolls, vol. iii., p. 139.) 1237. Grant to W. Bishop of Worcester of the custody, during the minority of the heir, of the land and heir of Henry Longchamp with the marriage of the heir. (Patt nt Rolls, vol. iii., p. 190.) 1237. Hawise gets dower for the lands which belonged to her late husband Henry Longchamp. (Patent Rolls, vol. iii.) 1238. Licence for Hawise, late the wife of Henry Longchamp, to marry Morgan of Karlyon. (Patent Rolls, vol, iii.) These items seem to point to the fact that Joan Birkin died soon after the marriage, and that the King took pity on the widower and did not press for his 50 marks. Then Henry Longchamp married Hawise, whose origin we know not. This time the heir was a daughter, Maud, who married Reynold de Grey and conveyed Wilton to the Grey family, in whose hands the property remained for many generations. Reynold de Grey and Maud his wife proved their title to it in the " Placita de Quo Warranto," p. 169, by giving the Longchamp pedigree. They say, first, that Hugh Longchamp held it of Richard I. by the service of finding two " servientes equites " for any Welsh war. This Hugh gave it to his son and heir Hugh, who gave it to his son Henry, which gift was Confirmed by a charter of King John. (Again, there is no mention of Henry Longchamp, uncle of the Chancellor.) Henry, son and heir, succeeded, and after his death Maud inherited Wilton. Thus the Longchamp name had died out in this branch of the family by the year 1237. Let us now return to the children of Henry Longchamp, uncle of the Chancellor, and first-cousins of William. WILLIAM LONGCHAMP (first-cousin of the Chancellor). In 1190 William Longchamp married Parnel de Croun, the daughter of Guy de Croun of Ereston, Lincolnshire, and 24 THE PAMILY OF WILLIAM LONGCHAMP. South Warnborough, Hants, a considerable heiress. This was a big match, and Stubbs says that William the Chancellor secured Parnel for him when he was a t the height of his power in 1190.1 Through this marriage he settled William and his descendants in life. I n the British Museum there is a fine seal of Parnel Longchamp.2 She stands on a carved corbel in a dress of heraldic bearings, lozengy for Croun. Elat head dress and mantle. In the right hand she holds a shield of arms with the three crescents for Longchamp. The pedigree of the family runs as follows :— m Sir ALAN DE CROHN (first founder of the=pMurieile. Abbey of Ereston, Lincolnshire). Sir MOEICE DE CEOUN (Eed Book of the Exchequer,=rClarice. 1172; living 1183. Harl. MS. 49, A, 3). Sir GUY DE CEOUN=j=Isabel. (1) "William=f=pAHNED, sole=(2") Henry Delamare=f (3) Oliver de Longchamp. I heiress. (died 3262). Vaux. HENEY LoNGCHAMP=pSybilHeringaud. John de Vaux. (died 1274). "Walter Pedwardyn. Alice (heiress)=pEoger Pedwardyn. Roger Pedwardyn=Agnes, daughter of Lord Darcy of Essex. (Eounded on B.M. 5530; modern paging 192.) Verified and slightly altered. Erom 1194 onwards William's name as a party to suits of land in Lincolnshire is of frequent occurrence, with that 1 Stubbs, Preface to Roger of Hoveden, iii. -' ' 2 British Museum, No. lxxix., 33. THE PAMILY OP WILLIAM LONGCHAMP. 25 of his wife Parnel.1 In 1199 " Willelmus est ultra mare in servieio domini Regis," and is not able to answer in Lincolnshire on a plea of Thomas Muleton.2 The end of this ease is seen in the Rotuli de Oblatis of 2 John, when Thomas Muleton pays 10 marks of silver. In 1201 William was at home,8 but during the course of the year he paid the King 60 marks " pro transportacione sua," which is accounted for on the Pipe Roll of Lincolnshire (3 John). He held 25 knights' fees of the King in chief. Another suit of 1202 about Ereston, Lincolnshire, shews that he was away from home4 at the time, on what business I know not, but he does not seem to have returned home alive. Perhaps he accompanied his father on the fourth •crusade. On September 17th, 1203,5 the King ordered that Parnel, the wife of William Longchamp, was to have the town of Ereston, Lincolnshire, " ad se sustendandum." The next year Walter Pincebec paid the dues to the King from William Longchamp's land in Wiltshire,6 and in the same year Richard Seingres paid 62^ marks to the King from his lands in Lincolnshire.7 The same year again the King gave all the lands of William Longchamp in Lincolnshire to William Cauntelow8 and received £140° from them. Evidently, therefore, William Longchamp had died before the end of 1204, and by the year after his wife Parnel had married her second husband Henry Delamare. This gentleman paid 50 marks to the King to have seisin of the lands of his wife Parnel in Southampton, Lincoln, Sussex and Wilts,10 and with his wife claimed dower against Henry Longchamp of Wilton.11 This dower, the third part C l Rotuli Curies Regis, 1194—1198. Palgrave. 2 Rotuli Curice Regis, 1199. Palgrave. c 3 Selden Society, Select Civil Pleas. Baildon, No. 78, p. 35. 4 Selden Society, I., Select Pleas of the Crown. 1200—1205, p. 18. 5 Rotuli de Liberate, 5 John. " Pipe Roll, (> Jolm, Wiltshire. 7 Pipe Roll, 6 John, Lincolnshire. 8 Calendar of Patent Rolls, 6 John. 9 Patent Roll, 6 John, Hereford in Wallia. 10 Rotuli de Pinibus, 7 John. 11 Pipe Roll, 9 John, Hereford in Wallia (Madox, Exchequer I., 100 y). 26 THE PAMILY OP WILLIAM LONGCHAMP. of Wilton, Parnel had no ' doubt first received from hei1 father-in-law Henry Longchamp, uncle of the Chancellor, who held Wilton at the time of her marriage. When her husband's first-cousin once removed, Henry Longchamp, inherited Wilton, she continued to claim her dower from him and his descendants to the end of her life, although she outlived her husband William Longchamp by 58 years ! Her claim is set out in full from the Coram Rege Rolls, 44 and 45 Henry III. (Hereford in Wallia). "Parnel, who was the wife of William Longchamp, claims against Reynold de Grey and Maud his wife the third part of the Castle of Wilton, etc., and against Hawise Longchamp (widow of Henry Longchamp) the third part of land in Wilton."1 This was 54 years after William died, when she was married to her third husband Oliver de Vaux, and had outlived two generations at Wilton. At last in 1262 she died, leaving her son and heir Henry Longchamp 50 years old or more.2 If he was born only just before "his father died, he must have been 58, and, as will appear later, heowas most probably an elder son. If Parnel married in 1190, as Stubbs thought (she was certainly married by 1194), she must have been about 90 when she died. HENRY LONGCHAMP (son of William and Parnel). In the Barons' wars Henry must have taken part with Simon de Montfort against the King, being entered as a rebel with Hugh Despenser, Robert Vipont and others.3 He certainly seems to have fallen upon evil days, for in 1269 he gave his manor of Warnborough, Hants, part of the de Croun inheritance, to Sir Philip Basset and his wife Ela, Countess of Warwick, in return for £200 which they paid to 1 General Plantagenet Harrison, MS. Extracts from the Public Records (Record Office), vol. xxviii., p. 838. 2 Petronilla de Vallibus, Inquisitiones Post Mortem, 46 Henry III. 3 Calendarium Genealogioum, p. 163. THE PAMILY OP WILLIAM LONGCHAMP, 27 Sir Hamo Le Strange for his ransom.1 This "ransom " was most probably connected with his misfortunes during the Barons' wars. On the feast of St. Andrew the Apostle, 1274, he died, leaving an heiress Alice, under age, in the custody of Walter Pedwardyn.2 In the following year his wife Sybil Longchamp paid the King £30 to be free to marry whom she wished.3 Henry Longchamp seems to have had a sister Alice, after whom his daughter was probably named, and a younger brother William, who appears as Constable of the Bishop of Lincoln in 1275.4 The year after Henry's death a long suit5 in Lincolnshire set forth that Alice, the wife of a certain William Dungevyn, held Cappelade and Holebeche as dowry. But when she died, because Alice Longchamp was a minor, these lands were taken into the hands of the King. Then William Longchamp paid the King 20 mai ks and was allowed to have them till the heiress Alice Longchamp came of age. This seems proof that Alice Dungevyn had been a Longchamp, and that William Longchamp, probably her brother, looked after her dower lands during the minority of his niece Alice. This lady, although a minor, was by 1276 married to Roger Pedwardyn, the son of her guardian Walter.0 She was still under age in 1280 when Roger Pedwardyn and Alice his wife, daughter and heiress of Henry Longchamp, undeT age, -were called to warrant in a plea of land.7 In 1277 William Longchamp went to Wales with John de Vaux;8 this was probably the same William and his half-brother, son of Oliver de Vaux. 1 Calendar of Charter Rolls, p. 116. 2 Calendariuni Genealogicum, p. 247. 3 Abbreviate Rotulorum Originalium, Lincolnshire, 4 Ed. I. 4 Hundred Rolls, i., p. 248. 5 Abbreviatio Rotulorum Originalium in curia scaccarii (Record Commission), p. 26. G General Plantagenet Harrison, MS. Extracts from the Public Records (Record Office), vol. xxiv., p. 757, 4 Ed. I. 7 De Banco Roll, Easter, 9 Ed. I., membrane 59. 8 1277 Patent Rolls. 2 8 THE PAMILY OP WILLIAM LONGCHAMP. I have been unable to trace any further descendants of WilHam and Parnel Longchamp; but it is possible that William, Constable of the Bishop of Lincoln, may have had •children who bore his name and are among those few whom I have found it impossible to identify. As in the case of the owners of Wilton, the elder line of Longchamp in Lin- •colnshire soon became extinct. This long excursus has carried us far from the nearest relatives of the Chancellor. I will now return to his remaining five brothers and their descendants. OSBERT LONGCHAMP (brother of the Chancellor). The chronicler, Giraldus Cambrensis, calls William, the •Chancellor, and Osbert " germane brothers,"1 so Osbert was presumably the nearest to him in age, as he seenls to have been in affection and association. The charge made by his •enemies against the Chancellor of unduly forwarding his relations can be most clearly seen in his career. William followed King Richard to England in 1189, and was made •Chancellor on December 11th. Already by November 30th, 1189, presumably through his influence, Osbert was given the custody of the Fleet Prison in London at a salary of £7 12s. Id./ and in the following year he was in receipt also •of £10 12s. lid. "pro custodia domorum Regis de Westmonasterium." 3 This double payment to him continued in every Pipe Roll of the reign of Richard. Early in 1190 the Chancellor went to York to punish the persecutors of the Jews, and took his brother Osbert with Tiim; he quashed the rebellion, displaced the former sheriff •John Marshall, who was responsible for the massacre, and in April appointed Osbert in his place.4 Osbert was also Sheriff of Westmoreland, and continued to hold the two sheriffdoms simultaneously in 1191, the " annus mirabilis " •of the Chancellor. It was probably also in this year that he 1 Giraldus Cambrensis, iv., p. 406. 3 Rymer, Feedera, i., 60. 3 Pipe Roll, 2 Rio. I., London and Middlesex. 4 Roger of Hoveden, iii., p. 34. THE PAMILY OP WILLIAM LONGCHAMP. 29 married Avelina, the heiress of Allington in Kent and Stisted in Essex, a marriage doubtless arranged by the Chancellor. Wilham had not done badly for this favourite brother during the short time he was all-powerful; but when the crash came on October 12th, 1191, Osbert and his brother Henry were pledges that the Chancellor would not escape,1 and when, neglectful of their promises, he did escape,. Osbert and Henry were deprived of their sheriffdoms. Till 1194, except for the fact that he continued to hold his posts at the Eleet prison and in the King's household,. Osbert entirely disappears from view. But in that year he was made Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk, and continued tohold the office for at least four years. In 1199 a second cataclysm occurred in his life. •. In the Pipe Roll of that year3 he owed 500 marks to have grace of the King and seisin of all his lands and chattels, of which he had been disseised by order of the King, and to retain his offices at the Eleet prison and the King's palace. This fine was gradually paid off, but nevertheless Robert, son of Nathaniel Leveland, replaced him in the two offices and waspaid the salary on the Pipe Rolls of John. Osbert had probably turned outlaw, for four years afterwards a certain Gilbert, son of Renfrid, paid a fine of £20 " quia ivit in foresta cum Osberto de Longocampo."3 Long before the fine was paid off Osbert died, in 1208, and his widow Avelina continued to pay it.4 It was not completely paid off till 1225. WILLIAM LONGCHAMP (son of Osbert). Osbert evidently named his son after his brother the Chancellor. He did not come of age till 1221, when he proceeded to pay two-thirds of his father's debt every year, 1 Ralph de Diceto, vol. ii., p. 100 (Rolls Series). 2 Pipe Roll, 10 Ric. I., Kent (Madox, Exchequer, i., 514 d). 3 Chancery Roll, 3 John, p. 119. 4 Por further details about Osbert, Avelina and their descendants, and thefine, see my article on the History of Allington Castle. (Arch. Cant Vol. XXIX.) 3 0 THE PAMILY OP WILLIAM LONGCHAMP. leaving one-third to be paid by his mother. He inherited Allington and Stisted, married a lady named Alice and died in 1256.1 His seal, on a document of 1238, is in the Chapter Library at Canterbury. It shews him on horseback, holding a shield bearing the device of three crescents, each surmounted by a star. OSBERT LONGCHAMP II. (grandson of Osbert). In 12562 he inherited Allington and Stisted, although he •seems to have had an elder brother Robert, who must have died before that year.3 In the Barons' wars he was on the •side of Simon de Montfort, for after the battle of Evesham Allington was seized by Roger of Leyburn and given back to Osbert.4 He is mentioned as "infirm" in 1277, and in 1296 as "impotens."5 Perhaps because of his infirmities he sold Allington for £200 to Stephen of Penchester in 1279,6 but retained Stisted in Essex. 1382. Avis, late the wife of Osbert Longchamp, holds Richemund manor in Cambridge.7 1347. The heirs of Osbert Longchamp hold Donyngton in Godeshethe hundred, Kent.8 1341. Sir Henry Longchamp holds Stisted in Essex.9 1353. Henry Longchamp of Stisted is dead.10 1355. Thomas Longchamp of Stisted grants land to Alexander Hanekyn.11 This is the last mention of the name Longchamp in connection with Essex, and again we must presume that the male line died out. 1 Canterbury Chapter House MS., Register B. 2 Pine Roll, 40 Henry III., p, 218. 3 Areh. Cant., XII., p. 224. 4 Calendar of Inquisitions Miscellaneous, vol. i., No. 748. 5 Parliamentary Writs, vol. i. •" Peet of Pines, 8—9 Ed. I., Kent, No. 151. T Close Rolls, 1332. 8 Arch. Cant., X., p. 158. 9 Seal B.M., 11,370, Ad. Ch. 15,456. 10 Close Rolls, 1353. Calendar, p. 542, 11 Canterbury Chapter Library, S. 324, and British Museum, Seal 11,372, ALLINGTON CASTLE From the south-west, as it was before 1847, from a water-colour drawing by Charles Tattershall Dodd, Senior THE PAMILY OP WILLIAM LONGCHAMP. 31 HENRY LONGCHAMP (brother of the Chancellor). This brother Henry was more closely associated with the Chancellor than any of the others, with the exception of Osbert. 1189. He was made Sheriff of Herefordshire in the place of Ralph Arden, Olanvill's son-in-law.1 This piece of patronage was no doubt one of the first dispensed by the Chancellor. 1190. Henry went to York after the massacre of the Jews, with the Chancellor and Osbert, and received £60. " Henrico de Longo Campo et aliis militibus qui abierunt Eboraeum propter occisionem Judeorum LX libras per breve cancellarii."2 1191. William the Chancellor gave the custody of the heir of Stephen Beauohamp to Henry.1 The post had first been bought by Bertram de Verdun and sold to the Chancellor for 20 marks profit. It was evidently a lucrative guardianship, and the heir must have been a tiny child, for in 1210, nineteen years later, Stephen Beauchamp is still paying his dues to the King through Henry Longchamp.3 The guardianship also led to quarrels with the Beauchamp family. 1199. Richard Beauchamp complained that Henry Longchamp came to his house at Felstede and robbed his chamber of a scarlet cloak, a velvet cloak, 4 doublets, 8 linen cloths and shoes of Cordova leather. Much litigation followed.4 When the Chancellor's misfortunes set in, Henry suffered the most. 1192. He was thrown into prison at Cardiff, from whence he could not render his accounts as Sheriff of Herefordshire. " Et quia nunquam sola veniunt scandala, Henricum de Longo-Campo, fratrem suum uterinum, pro reddendis absque scrupulo regni municipiis quee restabant, obsidem dare compulsus est. Qui et longo post tempore 1 Stubbs, Preface to Roger of Hoveden, vol. iii. 2 Pipe Roll, 2 Rio. I., Lincoln. 3 Pipe Roll, 11 John, Essex and Hertford. 4 Rotnli Curioe Regis, 1199, p. 121. 3 2 THE PAMILY OP WILLIAM LONGCHAMP. apud Kairdif in Wallia in vineulis et carcere tentus est,. justo Dei judieip."1 I t was not till 1194 that Henry was able to pay, "Henricus de Longocampo reddit compotum de anno tertio Regis Ricardi qui dilatus fuit propter captionem."3 1194. He became Sheriff of Worcestershire instead of Herefordshire, which Stubbs says was probably due to his connection with the Beauehamp family, in whom the sheriffdom of Worcestershire was hereditary, and formed the basis of the Beauchamp earldom of Warwick. He continued Sheriff of Worcestershire till 1205, and piled up considerable debts. On the accession of King John, Henry had to pay £100' to renew his custody of Stephen Beauchamp.3 1203. His debts begin to accumulate. £10 for arrears as Sheriff of Worcestershire and 165 shillings for odds and ends.4 In every successive Herefordshire Pipe Roll this debt of £18 5s. is accounted for immediately below the entries of Henry Longchamp, his nephew, in connection with Wilton and Linton. But in the Pipe Roll of 11 John these two Henrys are differentiated for the only time, and all possibility of confounding nephew and uncle is at an end.6 "Henricus de Longo Campo reddit compotum de £16 10s. in Wiltone. Henricus de Longo Campo frater cancellavii debet £18 5s. de pluribus debitis sicut continentur in rotulo VI."6 I t is also clear enough that this Henry, who was Sheriff of Worcestershire in 1203, was not the one who went on the fourth crusade and died there in 1203, whom I believe to have been his uncle. As the Chancellor had a second brother Henry who was Abbot of Croyland, I cannot think that he had a third of the same name, and all facts seem to point to the gentleman of the' fourth crusade as having 1 Giraldus Cambrensis, iv., p. 407. 2 Pipe Roll, 5 Ric. I., Hereford. 3 Rotuli de Oblatis, 1 John, p. 15. 4 Pipe Roll, 4 John, Hereford. 5 See p. 20. s P i p e Kol ] ) n John> Hereford in Wallia. THE PAMILY OP WILLIAM LONGCHAMP. 33 been an uncle of the Chancellor. Henry, Sheriff of Worcester, like the others, named a son after the Chancellor. Henry Longchamp is mentioned in the Testa de JSfevilt (p. 353) as holding Eltesle, Cambs, and William Longchamp, probably his son, appears on p. 359 as holding land in Cambridge and Huntingdon. WILLIAM LONGCHAMP (son of Henry the Sheriff, and nephew of the Chancellor ?). This namesake of the Chancellor is somewhat of a mystery. He makes his first appearance in 1198 as a defaulter. "Willelmus de Longo Campo debet 300 marcas pro saisina terrse suse habenda, unde Rex eum dissaisieirat et pro habenda benevolentia Regis."1 He gradually pays off the debt on the Pipe Roll of Lincolnshire, and is generally entered as " Willelmus filius Henrici de Longocampo." But in 7 Henry I I I . he answered for his debt in Herefordshire in Wallia. " Willelmus filius Henrici de Longocampo sicut respondit in Herefordshire in Wallia in rotulo precedente debet £50 16s. Sd., pro habenda terra un fuit dissaisitus et pro habenda gratia Regis Ricardi sicut continentur in rotulo IX Regis eusdem."3 This is obviously the same man, and the fact that he is alive in 1224 deprives us of the possibility of confusing him with William Longchamp of Lincoln and Hereford, son of Henry Longchamp and husband of Parnel de Croun, who died in 1204. We are therefore, in default of more knowledge, driven to assume that he was a son of Henry the Sheriff. HUGH LONGCHAMP (son of Henry the Sheriff). The Rotuli de Einibus of 6 John shew a certain Hugh, son of Henry Longchamp, in disgrace in 1204,3 "occasione 1 Pipe Roll, 9 Ric. I., Lincoln. 2 Pipe Roll, 8 Henry III., Lincolnshire. 3 Rotuli de Finibus, 6 John, p. 229. VOL. xxxvi , D 3 4 THE PAMILY OP WILLIAM LONGCHAMP. Normannorum," which is. a technical phrase for the forfeiture in England of those who " opted" for Normandy when John lost the province. Cantebrig. " Gilbert Peche gives the King 100 marks to have seisin of his lands of Brunne which he holds of Hugh Longchamp, son of Henry Longchamp, who was disseised " occasione Normannorum et pro habenda inde confirmatione domini Regis secundum cartam quam inde habet de predicto Hugone de redditu annuo, quousque predictus Hugo habuerit gratiam domini Regis, ita quod si forte predictus Hugo per gratiam domini Regis recuperavit terras suas non habebit seisinam de redditu predictarum V m arearum quousque reddiderit predicto Gilberto XL marcas." This instance is quoted by Powicke1 as a proof that King- John did not expect his confiscation of the " Terrse Normannorum " to be permanent. The actual charter from Hugh Longchamp to which Gilbert Peche refers is noted in the Genealogical Collections of two Elizabethan heralds,3 in an abbreviated form. " Hugo de Longochampo filius Henrici de Longocampo, Erancis et Anglis, confirmavit Gilberto Peche terras in Brune. Teste Ricardo de Gosfeld. Seale: 2 crescents, canton sinister." The place abbreviated as Brune is Bourn in Cambridgeshire, the caput of the Peverel Peche barony. I presume that Hugh was the son of Henry Longchamp who owned Eltisley, Cambs, and that this was Henry the Sheriff, although I have no positive proof. Hugh Longchamp, nephew of the Chancellor, was granted Eyleswrthe (Ailsworth), Northamptonshire, by Matilda de Diva in the reign of John.8 This was doubtless the same man, and he married Georgia de Columbariis in 1201.* . The descendants of this branch of the family I have been unable to trace, although, as Hugh Longchamp was I Powicke, Loss of Normandy, p. 424. s Genealogical Collections of James Stranceraan and Riohard St. George, British Museum, 5937, p. 139 (penoil). 8 Eyton, Hist, of Shropshire, ix., 77, referring to Glover's collections, B., P' 91- 4 Pipe Roll, 3 John. THE FAMILY OP WILLIAM LONGCHAMP. 35 eettled in Cambridge and Northampton, the Longchamps mentioned in that part of the country before 1300 were probably his descendants. The references are scanty. 1286. An inquisition made concerning the boundaries between Cambridge and Huntingdon includes WILLIAM LONGCHAMP.1 1301. HENRY LONGCHAMP is summoned from Cambridge and Huntingdon to do service against the Scots.2 1284. Walter Dru imprisoned at Worcester for the death of HUGH LONGCHAMP; has letters to the Sheriff of Worcester to bail him.3 If Henry, Sheriff of Worcester, brother of the Chancellor, had retained any land in Worcester, this Hugh might also be a descendant. A DAUGHTER OP HENRY THE SHERIFF. In the Testa de Nevill, under Norfolk v. Suffolk,4 we read that William Longchamp the Chancellor bought the soc of William Luvel of Werlingham in Suffolk and gave it to his brother Henry, and that Henry gave it " in maritagio" with his daughter to Robert Gresle. On December 5th, 1203,6 King John addresses Richard de Wiliker:— "Mandamus vobis quod liberetis Roberto de Greley uxorem que fuit Willelmi de Longocampo et filios suos ad ducendum eos nobiseum in Angliam." I have been unable to identify this William Longchamp. STEPHEN LONGCHAMP (brother of the Chancellor). The earliest mention of Stephen, brother of the Chancellor, occurs in the year 1190, when he witnessed a charter of Richard I. in Normandy as " Stephanus de Longocampo 1 Calendar of Close Rolls, 1286, p. 414. 2 Parliamentary Writs, vol. i., p. 713. 3 Calendar of Close Rolls, 1284, p. 307. 4 Testa de Nevill, p. 295. 6 Patent Rolls, 5 J qhn. Record Commission, p. 37. D 2 3 6 THE FAMILY OP WILLIAM LONGCHAMP. dapifer noster."1 As with the other appointments of the Longchamps which belong to the year 1190, we may imagine that he owed it to the influence of the Chancellor. This office brought him into continual personal relations with his sovereign Richard I. In 1193, with the Chancellor and five other barons, he was one of the sureties for Richard I.'s ransom treaty.3 In the treaty of Issoudun between Richard I. and Philip Augustus, Richard abandoned Gisors, Neaufle and the Norman Vexin^on condition that Stephen should hold the fief of Baudemont and Longchamp and do homage for them to the King of Erance.3 This fief of Baudemont and part of the Roumois had come to Stephen through his wife Parnel, the daughter and coheiress of Osbert de Cailly of Mutford in Suffolk, and Hildeburg, the lady of Baudemont. Maud, the other daughter, ma.rried Henry de Vere as her first husband, who was afterwards a competitor with Stephen for the Baudemont heritage.4 In 1197 Richard took back a great part of the Norman Vexin and gave the fortress of Longchamp to Stephen, who kept it till Philip Augustus conquered,6 and then held it under him till his death. In 1198 Stephen Longchamp, dapifer, renders account among the debtors of the Roumois, Normandy, for £73 18s. 8d. of the residue of the old ferm of the Prevote of Lions-le-foret, and of the ministerium of Bray and of Beauvoir, and paid £7 this year.6 Stephen was associated with the Chancellor and his father Hugh Longchamp in their donations to the Monastery of St. Stephen of Caen, which must have taken place before the year 1196, when Hugh died.7 I imagine that after 1191 Stephen and the Chancellor were the only brothers left in Normandy, the others all being settled in England, and therefore they alone would have been likely 1 Madox, Exchequer, i., o. 2. 2 Roger of Hoveden, iii., p. 220. 8 Stapleton Rolls, ii., oxii. 4 Stapleton Rolls, ii., oxv. ' Le Prevost, Notes sur le dSpartement de VEure, ii., p. 324. 0 Stapleton Rolls, ii., cxi. 1 Le Provost, Notes, etc., ii., p, 323. THE FAMILY OF WILLIAM LONGCHAMP; 37 to be associated with their father in a gift of this kind. Stephen also owned lands in England, having Mutford in Suffolk by right of his wife, and Erome Herbert in Herefordshire, the gift of Walter de Lacy,1 who was probably a relation of his mother. He had to pay a fine to the King of 30 marcs and 2 palfreys to enter upon the gift,3 and was quit in 1203.3 Meanwhile in 1202 King John had taken possession of Lions-le-foret in Normandy, and needed a fortress at Douville to protect it. This was the property of Stephen Longchamp, and in 1203 the garrison were drawing the King's pay.4 On April 8th, 1203, the King sent a writ to the Constable of Chester to allow Stephen to have acquittance of £40 money of Anjou, due for the maltote of a ship-load of wines,5 to fortify his house at Douville. But this favour was short-lived; in Normandy the English were having reversal after- reversal, and King John finally abandoned the province. Stephen at first accompanied him, but soon decided to return to Normandy, and his sons were delivered to John as hostages and kept in the castle at Wallingford.6 October 22nd, 1203. R. Aguillun, Constable of Wallingford, is ordered to keep the son of Stephen Longchamp in custody.7. September 6th, 1204. Robert Aguillun, Constable of Wallingford, is to set free Baldric, the eldest son of Stephen, who had a licence to go with his father to Normandy, but he is to keep the other.8 This other son, William, was ordered to be set free on November 28th, 1205.9 John seems to have fluctuated considerably in his dealings with Stephen at this time, probably because Stephen wavered between his allegiance to him and to Philip Augustus. 1 Charter Rolls, 2 John. 2 Chancery Roll, 5 John, Hereford. 3 Liberate Roll, 5 John. 4 Stapleton Rolls, ii., p. cxiv. 6 Rotuli Normannise, Hardy, p. .87. 6 Stapleton Rolls, ii., cxiv. . * Rotuli de Liberate, 1203, p. 69. B Patent Rolls, 6 John, p. 45. 9 Patent Rolls, 6 John, p. 48. 3 8 THE FAMILY OP WILLIAM LONGCHAMP. October 26th, 1204 (Patent Rolls, 6 John). The Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk was commanded to seize Mutford, which had belonged to Henry de Vere, and which had been committed by the King to Stephen Longchamp. November 22nd, 1204. The Sheriff of Suffolk is to cause Stephen Longchamp to have the land of Reynold de Bois in Mutford if it were not worth more than £12. November 10th, 1205. The Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk is to cause Stephen Longchamp to have seisin of the land which he had held in his bailiwick as long as it should be the King's pleasure. After this date Stephen seems to have gone back peacefully to Normandy with his sons, and to have held his land of Philip Augustus. Of his further relations with John I can find no trace. He gave his manor of Erome Herbert, the gift of Walter de Lacy, to his nephew Stephen Devereux of Herefordshire, the son of a sister,1 and in Henry I l l ' s reign Mutford was an escheat in the King's hands from Stephen Longchamp and Henry de Vere.2 So much for his English possessions. He died in the battle of Bouvines in 1215 fighting against John.3 Afterwards Parnel, his widow, married Geoffrey de Bois, and with him left a joint gift to the Church of St. Amand at Rouen.5 Baldric Longchamp, the elder son, inherited the Castle of Douville and the fief of Baudemont, and held them both" of the Duchy in 1220.4 William, the younger son, left 50s; for his obit in the Cathedral of Rouen.2 Of their marriage we know nothing, but descendants they must have had, since in 1288 Philippe le Bel gave to "John de Veneur le moitie de toutes les choses qui nous estoient venues, les quelles GATTTIER et ROBERT DE LONGCHAMP tenoient et poursoient, en temps que il vivoient, du don et de l'otroi nostre devant dit seigneur et pere en la ville de Longchamp."6 Parnel, the daughter of Stephen Longchamp, according 1 Charter Rolls, 7 John. . . 3 Stapleton Rolls, ii., oxvii. •f Rigord, ed. Pithou, p. 217. 4 Powicke, Loss of Normandy, p. 490. 5 Le Prevost, Notes, etc., p. 324. THE FAMILY OF WILLIAM LONGCHAMP. 39 to Stapleton, married successively William Longchamp, Knight, and Robert de Poissy, Knight,1 but he gives no authority, and I have been unable to identify this William Longchamp. It is possible, but not likely, that he may be confusing this Parnel with Parnel de Croun. HENRY LONGCHAMP, Abbot of Croyland (brother of the Chancellor). Henry Longchamp was a monk at Evesham till his brother, the Chancellor, made him Abbot of Croyland Abbey in Lincolnshire in 1191, another instance of the family advancement. His career as Abbot is given in detail in Ingulph's History of Croyland.* The two earlier portions of this history to 1117 are notorious forgeries; the continuation from 1135—1470, which covers the career of Henry Longchamp, is by an anonymous Prior, and is accepted as genuine.3 Henry was Abbot for 46 years, and in 1193 travelled as far as Spires to see King Richard about a claim for a marsh made against him by the neighbouring Prior of Spalding. His rule was marked by continual litigation with his neighbours and by much building in the monastery. His seal as Abbot exists in perfect condition in the British Museum.4 It is a pointed oval 2| x If inches. St. Guthlae, full length, holds up his flagellum in his right hand, with the inscription " Sigillum Su Guthlaci Anachorite." The counter-seal is a small pointed oval l ^ x | inches, with the impression of an ancient engraved gem of the head of Janus wearing a Phrygian cap; the face to the left is bearded, to the right that of a youth.5 Above the gem in the setting is a star, below it a crescent. 1 Stapleton Rolls, ii., cxvii. 2 Bohn's Classics, p. 282 et seq. a Victoria County History, Lincoln, vol. ii., pp. 107—109. 4 Campbell, iv., 4. 5 So &ays the B.M. catalogue of seals. The head does not look to me a double one. 40 THE FAMILY OF WILLIAM LONGCHAMP. ROBERT LONGCHAMP (brother of the Chancellor). Robert entered the religious life as a monk of the Monastery of St. Stephen of Caen, the refuge of his father. Afterwards he was Prior of Ely, no doubt appointed by the influence of the Chancellor when he became Bishop, as Robert was holding the office in 1190. The Chancellor seems to have had this brother's interests particularly on his mind, as during the year 1190 he was intriguing with the monks of Westminster to persuade them to choose Robert as their Abbot.1 Unfortunately he was at the same time pulling wires to get himself elected Archbishop of Canterbury, which was one of the leading factors in his own downfall. I t was at the very moment of his disgrace that the monks of Westminster were about to elect their new Abbot, and, out of pique and a wish to defeat the Chancellor's plans, Robert was not appointed.3 It was only after the Chancellor's death at Poitiers in 1197 that his desire of promotion for this brother was realized. Roger of Hoveden3 relates that " Dominus Rex, non immemor servitii quod predictus cancellarius ei fecerat, dedit Roberto fratri illius, priori Eliensi, abbatiam Sanctse Marise Eboraci." He remained Abbot from 1197 to 1239, being therefore the longest lived and probably the youngest of the brothers of the Chancellor. His seal as Abbot shews him standing on a columnar pedestal with the pastoral staff in his right hand and a book in his left: "Sigill' Roberti dei gratia Abbis S'ce Marie Ebor."4 William Longchamp had two sisters : Richenda, who married Matthew of Cleres in Normandy, Castellan of Dover Castle, and of Lions near Longchamps, and a nameless one who married a nameless gentleman of Evreux. Her son was the Stephen to whom Stephen Longchamp gave Erome Herbert. Richenda was a masculine lady of great character, who commanded the Castle of Dover in 1 Robert of Devizes, p. 34. 2 Stubbs, Preface to Roger of Hoveden, vol. iii. 3 Roger of Hoveden, iv., p. 17. 4 British Museum, lxxv., 36. THE FAMILY OF WILLIAM LONGCHAMP. 41 the absence of her husband. Her daring attempt to take Geoffrey, Archbishop of York, the King's half-brother, prisoner in Dover Castle, his consequent disguise, and her pursuit of him to the Priory of St. Martin is told in detail by Stubbs.1 It was one of the dramatic episodes in the history of Longchamp's fall, and shews Richenda to have been a lady of indefatigable spirit in helping her brother. When the Chancellor returned to England he spent some time as her guest at the castle. Preface to Roger of Hoveden, iii. 4 2 THE FAMILY OF WILLIAM LONGCHAMP. APPENDIX. There are three members of the Longchamp family whose provenance I have been unable to trace:— I.—Excerptis e Rotuiis finium Norfolk. 29 Henry III. 1245. Mathew Bezille, guardian of the land and heir of Nicholas Longchamp, is to pay 4 marks aid for Isabella the king's sister, which Nicholas himself granted. II.—De Banco Roll. Easter Term, 3 Ed. III. Membrane 41, dorso. Ebor. Adem de Longchamp=daughter of G-alfrid le "Waleys. Elena, to whom, and to the heirs of her body, Galfridus le Waleys gave lands in Munketon. Alicia, daughter and heiress. De Banco Roll. 2 Ed. III., Michaelmas. Membrane 92. Ebor. Alicia filia Elene de Longchamp versus Beatrix de WaBthill, de 1 messuagis et 6 acras terrro cum pertinentiis in Munketon. III.—Catalogue of Gascon Rolls, vol. i, p. 364. 1421. De hsereditatibus Henrico Longchampo.