POLITICAL HISTORY 



the hands of the Danes, 1 but was recovered and rebuilt by Earl Leofric of 

 Mercia, who held the manor of Newark. 8 The omission of any entry con- 

 cerning it in Domesday is, of course, no evidence for its non-existence, and 

 possibly some such fortifications as those built by Edward the Elder at Not- 

 tingham may have been raised for the defence of the town. However, the 

 first actual fortress was built in 1 123 by ' Alexander the Magnificent,' bishop 

 of Lincoln, and brother of the famous Roger, bishop of Salisbury, 8 under the 

 plea that such fortifications were absolutely necessary in his diocese in those 

 times of lawlessness, ad tutamen et dignitatem episcopi* Although Alexander 

 had sworn allegiance to Maud as ' lady of England and Normandy,' he 

 immediately transferred his allegiance to Stephen on Henry's death. How- 

 ever, in the anarchy which followed, both Alexander and his uncle, Nigel of 

 Ely, fell under Stephen's suspicion, and in 1139 were thrown into prison until 

 they should surrender their castles. 6 Alexander, kept sub vili tugurio, was 

 hurried across England with Stephen and his army to Newark, and kept with- 

 out food until the garrison surrendered. With Newark in Stephen's possession, 

 and Nottingham in the hands of William Peverel, 8 one of his most trusted 

 adherents, the county was inevitably drawn into alliance with Stephen's cause. 

 In 1 140, a few months before the siege of Lincoln was begun, Robert earl of 

 Gloucester, one of Maud's adherents, by the prompting of Ralph Painel, who 

 was evidently a private enemy of William Peverel, advanced on Nottingham 

 and took the city. Some of the citizens fled, others were slain, and many 

 burnt as they sought sanctuary in houses and churches ; for when one citizen 

 who seemed richer than the others was led to his house and forced to dis- 

 cover his treasure to the enemy, he led them into a cellar where his riches 

 were kept, and while they were gloating over the spoil slipped out, shut and 

 bolted the door behind him, and, setting fire to the house and cellars, burnt 

 the spoilers with the spoil. But the fire spread over the whole city, and 

 Nottingham, that noble city which, according to the chronicler, had remained 

 peaceful, rich, and populous from the time of the Conquest, was utterly 

 destroyed. 7 It seems evident, however, that even if the town was burnt so 

 completely the castle must have escaped, as in the next year the Empress 

 Maud, after her success at Lincoln, is said to have forced the castle from 

 William Peverel, and to have given it into the custody of William Painel, 

 who was probably some connexion of the Ralph before mentioned. 8 Early 

 in 1142, when Maud's cause seemed to be hopeless, Stephen's adherents in 

 the county seemed to have taken courage, and garrisoned themselves in an 

 offensive position at Southwell. Thus William Painel went out from Not- 

 tingham with a body of troops to raze the fortifications that had been made 

 in the precincts of the church of St. Mary, Southwell, and whither a 



* Cornelius Brown, op. cit. 6. ' Ibid. 8, 9. 



1 Ann. Man. (Rolls Ser.), iv, 1 8. Gtrvase of Cant. (Rolls Ser.), vii. 



4 Will, of Malmes. Geit. Reg. Angl. sub Hist. Novell, ii, 547. 



5 Ibid. 548-55. The account of the seizure of the castles, and the later discussion of the case before the 

 papal legate is here given in full. 



* A descendant of the William Peverel, of Domesday, probably a great great grandson. 



r Gervase of Cant. (Rolls Ser.), i, 112. Flor. ffigorn (Engl. Hist. Soc.), ii, 128, 129. ' Itaque destructa 

 est Snottingaham, urbs nobilissima, cum, ex quo Normanni Angliam sibi subjugaverunt, usque ad hoc tempus, 

 in summa pace et quiete, populosa multitudine et opulentia rerum omnium referta fuisset.' 



8 Symeonis monachi opera omnia (Rolls Ser.), ii, 309. ' Castrum de Notingham imperatrix Adela exegit 

 a Willelmo Peverel, et imposuit custodem in eo Willelmum Painel cum militibus suis.' 



I 321 41 



