A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



and Leicester in size7 It may have possessed three 

 churches, for Anglo-Saxon sculptured stones have 

 been found both at St. Sepulchre's and St. Peter's 

 churches,* and the early reference to All Saints' fair* 

 suggests that ihis church also may be pre-Norman. 



In Domesdayi" Northampton has the marks of an 

 old county borough. It is extra-hundredal, being 

 rated in the Northants Geld Roll** at a quarter of a 

 hundred. It is characterised by heterogeneity of 

 tenure, containing 87 royal burgesses holding their 

 burgages of the King, whilst some 219 other houses 

 belong to 34 different lords. Of these lords, 24 

 hold other lands of the King in the county, and the 

 21 houses of Swain the son of Azur are explicitly 

 said to pertain to liis rural manor of Stoke Bruerne. 

 To the old borough, which held 60 royal burgesses 

 under Edward the Confessor, a new borough contain- 

 ing 40 royal burgesses had been added. Unlike the 

 majority of county boroughs, Northampton appears 

 to have no mint ;*^ on the other hand, it is unique 

 among Domesday boroughs in ha\'ing its farm assessed 

 at a fixed sum {£30 'os. od.), payable by the burgesses 

 to the sheriff. There is mention of a ' Durandus 

 prepositus,' *^ who may well have been the town 

 reeve and have acted in this matter as the sheriff's 

 subordinate. The ' portland ' mentioned on folio 

 219b seems on a balance of evidence to belong rather 

 to the carucated Stamford than to the hidated 

 Northampton.** There is no mention of a castle ; 

 its creation was to be the work of the first Norman 

 earl, and the Countess Judith, lady of 16 houses, 

 had not yet given place to her daughter's husband. 

 The other chief tenants were the Bishop of Coutances 

 (23 houses), the Count of Mortain (37 houses), and 

 William Peverel (32 houses). The ' waste ' con- 

 dition of 35J- houses is probably attributable to the 

 raid of 1065. 



With the Norman Conquest Northampton became 

 a town of national importance. Its geographical 

 situation, ' in the middle of the kingdom,' as Geoffrey 

 Ic Scrope said in his opening speech at the Eyre of 

 Northampton in 1329,*'' made it a valuable strategical 

 point for a government wliich was determined to 

 control the north and west as well as the south and 

 cast, and even before the line of Scnlis earls had 

 died out, the castle built by the first of them had 



been taken over as a royal residence and fortress.*' 

 The neighbourhood of the royal hunting lodges 

 of Silverstone and Kings Cliffe and the royal palace 

 of Geddington accounts, no doubt, for a large number 

 of brief royal visits,*' but its general convenience as a 

 meeting place is attested by the number of political, 

 social, ecclesiastical and mihtary events that occurred 

 here. Among the long series of councils and parlia- 

 ments held at Northampton, from the time of Henry I 

 to that of Richard II, may be mentioned the council 

 of 1 1 31, at which the barons of Henry I swore fealty to 

 Maud;'* that of 1 164 at which Becket was condemned 

 by the King's court and appealed to the Pope ;*' 

 that of 1 1 76, at which the assize of Northampton 

 was pubUshed j^" that of 121 1, in which John and the 

 Legate Pandulf had their famous deb.tte ;^'** that of 

 1232, in which the lands of the Earl of Chester 

 were partitioned ;^* that of 1318, at which Edward II 

 and Thomas of Lancaster came to terms for the time 

 being ;'^ the parliament of 1328, at which peace 

 was made with Scotland and the statute of Northamp- 

 ton was passed;^' and the parliament of 1380, 

 at which the imposition of the Poll Tax was decided 

 on.** The importance of the fairs of Northampton 

 is noticed below, and the town was also a favourite 

 centre for tournaments from the time of Henry III 

 to Edward III.** Many church councils and chapters 

 were held here,** and at least three crusades launched. 

 In February 1214, according to the chronicle of St. 

 Andrew's priory, 300 persons of both sexes took the 

 cross here ;*' in November 1 239, Richard of Cornwall 

 and nobles too many to enumerate, swore on the altar 

 of All Saints' that they would lead their troops that 

 year to the Holy Land ;*' in June 1268 the two sons 

 of Henry III, with 120 other knights and many others, 

 took the cross at Northampton.** 



To its geographical position is due the part played 

 by Northampton in the various civil wars. It com- 

 manded one of the main roads from London to the 

 North, and was a good base for movements against 

 the west or south-west. In 1173 it was one of the 

 strongliolds that held out for Henry II, and next 

 year Wilham of Scotland made his submission there.** 

 In 1215 the first move of the insurgent barons was to 

 besiege Northampton,'* and the castle was one of 

 four which were to be given into their hands as a 



' y.C.H. Kcribanis. i, 276. 



• Cox and Scrjcantson, Hut. of Ch. oj 

 the Holy Sepulchre^ \orthantpt. p. 30; 

 R. M. Serjeantton, Hitt. of Ch. of St. 

 I'elrr, h'oitbampl. p. 12. 



• See hfloWj under Fairs. 



'" y.C.II. Northants. i, 301. 



" Ellis, Gen. introd. to Dohiejday^ i, 186. 



*' W. H. Stevenson suggested that coins 

 minted here may have been credited to 

 Southampton, whose Saxon name was 

 identical in form. A'ng. Hut. Met: xiv, 

 59&. 



'* Gilbert, son of Durand, acted as 

 reeve in 1189-90 (Pipe Roll), and put hit 

 name to the first toHTi cuttumal. Bntcson, 

 Soto. Cuttowi, i, xli. 



'* I'.C.II. Korthaitls. i, 2-S. It should 

 be observed, however, that carucates arc 

 found at Northampton in 1274 R'^t. 

 nund. ii, I. 



*' Enii. Iliit. Rex. xxxix, 250. A similar 

 exprcsiion, Tfin^ujm tnrefjit medio^'it used 

 in ijjS at a Provincial Chapter of the 

 Benedictines (Wilkint, Conrilm. ii, 6x8). 



'* liy 1133. R. M. Serjeantson. The 

 Castle of iVo/ thampt. p. 2. 



*' For John's 30 visits see Rot. Lttt. 

 Pat. I. (Rcc. Com.), Itinerary of King 

 John. For Henry Ill's constant visits 

 see below under 'I'he Castle ; Edward II 

 was here in 1307, I33'>, 1310, 1311, 1317, 

 1318. (Chart. R.) 



*' William of .Malmcsbury, Histona 

 Novelt.i. (Rolls Ser.) (f/i-iM /<''g«ra), ii. 534. 



'• Ciron. Rog. de Hovedoii (Rolls Ser.), 

 i, 224-8. 



" Ibid, ii, 89. 



'"" .innal .Mon. (Rolls Ser.), 1,209-219, 

 not in 1210, as stated V.C.H. Northants. 

 ii, 9. 



^* Bracton^t Notebook^ case 1273. 



" Pari R. i, 453. 



'• Ibid, ii, 28. 



" Ibid. iii. 88. 



*' 'I'uurnaments arranged to be held at 

 Northampton were forbidden in 1218, 

 1219, 1227, 1228, 1233, 1234, T237, 1241, 

 1247. 1249. [Sec Cal Pal. and Matthew 

 Paris, Chron. Maj. (Rolls Ser.), iv, 88, 



647 ; v, 54]. For tournament of 1265 see 

 below ; fur that at which Geoffrey le 

 Scrope was knighted under Edward II 

 sec Harris Nicolas, Scrope and Grosvenor 

 Rotlj i, 142, 144; for one in 1342, Muri- 

 muth (R.S.J, p. 124. 



" At least 46 iicncdictinc chapters 

 were held here, and 20 chapters of 

 Augustinian canons. See below under 

 St. Andrew's Priory and St. James' 

 .\bbey. The lirst general chapter of 

 the Cistercian order in England met 

 here (between 1400 and 1104), and 

 Dominican chapters were licld here in 

 1231, 1271, 1272, 12S4, 1312, 1362. 

 (/r*i^'. Hist. Rev. xliv, 386. Serjeantsony 

 The RIack Fnars of Not thampt.) 



" Corpus Christ! Coll. Camb. MS. 

 281 (2) s.a. 1214. 



" Matthew Paris, Chron. Maj. (Rolls 

 Ser.), iii, 620. 



" Annal Mon. (Rolls Ser.), iv, 217. 



" Chron. Rog. de Hoveden (Rolls Ser.), 

 ii, 54. 



" ll'aliei of Coventry (Rolls Scr.),ii, ZI9. 



