STOCKTON WARD 



HART 



his younger son William de Brus.** In 1 198 William 

 de Brus made an exchange of land in Northumberland 

 with Adam de Carlisle, and pledged his land in 

 Hartness.*"' He married Christina and was dead in 

 12 I 5.8* William's son Robert de Brus IV,'^^ called 

 the Noble, married Isabel, second daughter of David, 

 Earl of Huntingdon, the younger brother of Mal- 

 colm IV of Scotland, and thus brought into the 

 family the royal blood which gave his descendants a 

 claim to the throne of Scotland.™ Robert the Noble 

 died apparently before 1230, and was succeeded by 

 his son Robert de Brus V, the first competitor for 

 the throne of Scotland.'' 



Robert de Brus V is mentioned as the tenant of 

 Hartness under Peter de Brus in I2ji,'- and dated 

 a charter at Hart in 1288.'' He died 31 March 1295, 

 and was succeeded by his son, Robert de Brus VI,"^ the 

 second competitor, who married Marjory, daughter 

 and heir of Niel Earl of Carrick, and thus brought 

 this title into the family.'^ Robert de Brus VI died 

 in I 304, and was succeeded by his son Robert, Earl 

 of Carrick, afterwards King of Scotland.'^ 



In 1306 Robert Brus VII murdered John Comyn 

 in the church of the Grey Friars at Dumfries, and 

 was accordingly outlawed by Edward I, who declared 

 his lands forfeit.'^ At this time the king was in 

 the midst of a quarrel with Bishop Bek, and had 

 seized the temporalities of Durham into his own 

 hand. He took possession of Brus's forfeited lands, 

 although the bishop claimed forfeitures of war within 

 his liberty.'* 



Edward I granted Hart to Robert de Clifford in 

 May 1306.'^ Bishop Bek appears to have acquiesced 

 in this, but subsequent bishops of Durham carried on 

 a long and almost fruitless struggle to regain possession 

 of the forfeitures. The king. Parliament, and the 

 law courts were always re-idy to acknowledge the 

 bishop's theoretical rights, but practically the lands 

 remained in the hands of the king's grantees and the 

 king exercised rights of overlordship.^ 



Robert, first Lord Clifford, was killed in the battle 



of Bannockburn, 24 June 1314.*^ Bishop Kellaw 

 appointed a bailiff on 19 August to administer his 

 lands, the custody of which was also claimed by the 

 mesne lords.*^ On 2 May i 3 I 5 the royal escheator 

 seized the manor into the king's hands and the custody 

 was afterwards granted to Humphry de Bohun, Earl 

 of Hereford, during the minority of the heir Roger.*' 



Roger, second Lord Clifford, took part in Lan- 

 caster's insurrection ; his lands were seized by the 

 king in 1322 and granted to John of Brittany, Earl 

 of Richmond.** The manor of Hart, with the rest 

 of the Clifford lands, was restored to his brother and 

 heir Robert in i 327.** 



Robert died in i 344 seised of the manors of Hart 

 and Hartness which had formerly been held by Peter 

 de Brus, Robert de Clifford, 

 aged fourteen, being his son 

 and heir. The manor was 

 worth ;^loo and was held of 

 the Bishop of Durham by the 

 service of two knights' fees and 

 suit at the court of Sadberge 

 every three weeks.** Bishop 

 Bury at once appointed a 

 keeper of the manor of Hart,*' 

 but as before the king granted 

 out the custody of the minor's 

 lands there, which he bestowed 

 upon Maurice de Berkeley,** 



the brother of Robert de Clifford's widow.*' The 

 young Lord Clifford died before 17 March 1346, 

 when thecustody of his lands was granted to Thomas de 

 Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, during the minority of 

 his brother and heir Roger,*^ to whom the earl married 

 hi» daughter Maud. This grant was extended to 

 Hart in October i 3 \.6.^^ 



Isabel, widow of Robert, third Lord Clifford, 

 received a third of Hart as dower.*^ In 1357 

 Roger, fifth Lord Clifford, received licence to settle 

 his manors of Hart and Hartlepool upon himself and 

 his wife Maud.*' He died on 13 July 1389 ; after 



Clifford. Cbecky or 

 and azure a fette guUi, 



the son was the Robert de Brut who in 

 1 183 married Isabel daughter of William 

 the Lion of Scotland, who was married 

 again in 1191 (^Chron^ de Mailroi [Banna- 

 tyne Club], 92, 99). 



*" See Dugdale, Mon. vi, 269. 



" Fell cfF. 10 Ric. 1 (Pipe R. Soc), 



53-54- 



^ Douglas, Scots Peerage (ed. Paul), 

 ii, 429 et Bcq. i Cal, Doc. Scotland, i, 110. 



«« Ibid. 



'^ Douglas, loc. cit. 



" Cat. Doc. Scotland i, 350 ; Robert de 

 Brus the Noble is generally said to have 

 died in 124; [cf. Dougias, loc. cit.), but 

 there was an heir of Robert de Brus, a 

 mtDor in 1230 ; see charter to borough of 

 Hartlepool printed in Sharp, Hiit, of 

 Hartlepoolf App. p. i. 



" Cal. Inj. p.m. (Edw. I), ii, 189. 



■' Cal. Chan. R. 1 257-1 300, p. 412. 



^* Chronicon H^altert de Hemingburgh 

 (Eng. Hist. Soc), ii, 69 ; Cal. Doc. Scot- 

 land, ii, 164, 217. His widow Christina 

 (widow of Adam de Jessemuth) had dower 

 in Hart (ibid. 217). His first wife was 

 Isabel de Clare. Annates Monastics (Rolls 

 Ser.), i, 1 29. 



'^ Chron. de Maslros (Binnatyne Club), 

 219. 



'• Cat. Doc. Scotland, ii, 388, 400. 



" Cal. Chart. R. i 300-26, p. 69. He 

 was crowned King of Scotland in the fol- 

 lowing March. 



"* Lapsley, Ttii Co. Palat. of Dur. 

 (Harvard Hist. Studies), 42 et seq. ; 

 r.C.H. Dur. ii, 16; Cal. Pat. 1330-4, 

 p. 360. 



'•' Hartlepool was granted in the follow- 

 ing October. Cal. Pat. i 301-7, p. 436 ; 

 Cal. Chjr . R. 1300—26, p. 69. 



^ Lapsley, loc. cit. ; Hist. Dunelm. 

 Script. Tres (Surt. Soc), pp. 88, 95, 

 118, cccclii ; Reg. Pal. Dunelm. iv, 129, 

 182; Cal. Close, 1327— 30, p. 144; Cat. 

 Pat. 1330-4, p. 360; Chan. Muc. bdle. 

 57, file I, no. 4 ; cf. Exch. Dep. Mich. 

 28 and 29 Eliz. no. 1 3. 



*' G.E.C. Peerage (new ed.), iii, 291. 



" Reg. Palat. Dunelm. (Rolls Ser.), i, 

 595 ; ii, '059. 



'• Pari. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 362-4 ; cf. 

 418 b ; Cal. Pat. 1313-17, p. 549. The 

 Bish' p petitioned Parliament on the sub- 

 ject of his right to the escheat (Fjr/. S. loc. 

 cit.). 



" Cal. Chart. R. 1300-26, pp. 441, 

 443- 



** Cal, Close, 1327—30, p. 158. A month 

 earlier Robert de ClifTord •• keeper of the 

 manor had been ordered to amove the 

 king's hands in favour of Bishop Lewis 



257 



consequent on a decision by Parliament 

 that the Bishop was entitled to forfeitures 

 of war within his libcrty(ibid. p. 144). The 

 Bishop brorght a suit in Chancer)* agiinst 

 Robert de Clifford after the restoration to 

 the Utter (Chan. Misc. bdle. 57, file 1, 

 no. 4 [6 Ed V. III]). 



" Dur. Rec. cl. 3, no. 2, fol. 24 d. j 

 Cal. Inq. p.m. viii (Edw. Ill), p. 381 (see 

 for this inquisition a list of the lands held 

 of the manor of Hart by knight service. 

 Castle Eden formed part of the Bnis fee, 

 but from the wording of a charter in 

 Guisho' Ckartul. [Surtees Soc. ii, 329] it 

 does not seem to have been io Hartness) ; 

 Cal. Pat. 1343-5, p. 298. 



*' Richard d' Aungervitte of Bury (Surt. 

 Soc), 204. 



*• Cal. Fine R. 1337-47, p. 381 ; Cal. 

 Pat. 1345-8, p. II ; Cat. Close, 1343-6, 

 pp. 503, 624. 



«» G.E.C. under Chfford and Berkeley. 



»» Cal. Pat. 1345-8, pp. 58, 96. G.E.C. 

 Peeragf {new ed.) says before 1 Nov. 1345 

 in France. " Ibid. p. 194. 



"Co/. Fat. 1354-8, p. 572. She 

 married Thomas de Musgrave and died 

 in 1362 (ibid.; Chan. Inq. p.m. 36 

 Edw. Ill, pt. i, no. $2; Cal. Close, 1 360-4, 



F- 153)- 



" Cal. Pat. 1354-8, p. 527. 



33 



