POLITICAL HISTORY 



There is no doubt that during the confusion which followed the 

 Norman invasion in 1066 King Malcolm seized Cumberland and became 

 sovereign of the district between the Solway and the Duddon. The state- 

 ment of the 'Cronica de Karleolo' cannot be gainsaid that Cumbria in 

 1069 embraced the southern province to its furthest limit. 1 But how 

 long the Scottish sovereignty lasted is another question. It is difficult to 

 discuss Gospatric's relation to Cumberland apart from the general history 

 of Northumbria, though it is clear enough from the evidence of the 

 writ above mentioned that he was not only a great landowner in the 

 district like Earl Tostig, his predecessor, 2 but that he was its ruler 

 and overlord. If the date of the grant could be settled with certainty, 3 

 a more trustworthy deduction might be made about the part Gospatric 

 played to preserve the integrity of the Northumbrian earldom against 

 Scottish and Norman intrigue. He was a personage of great prestige in 

 the northern province. A scion of the illustrious house of Bamborough, 

 allied in blood on his father's side with the reigning family of Scotland, 

 and the grandson of Ethelred, the English king, 4 Gospatric exercised a 

 predominant influence in Northumberland when William the Con- 

 queror landed at Pevensey. On no other assumption than that he 

 attempted at the outset to revive the independence of the ancient king- 

 dom, or at least to maintain an independence comparable to it, can the 

 statements of the chronicles be explained or reconciled. It was his 

 policy to play the Scot against the Norman and to hold the balance of 

 power between them. He courted the protection of Malcolm or William 

 as it suited his purpose. In 1067 he secured from King William a recog- 

 nition of his title to Northumberland as an earldom, 5 upon which he 

 had manifest claims in right of his mother, Aldgitha, daughter of Earl 



1 The 'Cronica de Karleolo' was drawn up in 1291 by the prior and convent of Carlisle, after 

 a diligent examination of the chronicles and writings in their possession, and transmitted to Edward I. 

 by the hand of Alan de Frysington, precentor of the church, when that king was seeking historical 

 information concerning Scotland. The entry relating to the extent of Cumbria in 1069 is as follows : 

 '1069. Cumbria dicebatur quantum modo est Episcopatus Karleolensis et Episcopatus Glasguensis et 

 Episcopatus Candidecase et insuper ab Episcopatu Karleolensi usque ad flumen Dunde ' (Palgrave, 

 Documents and Records, p. 70). This statement is often regarded as retrospective, but if so, why should the 

 canons have been so particular in recording the date at which Cumbria attained such dimensions ? It 

 is quite clear that its territorial extent had undergone some alteration in 1069. 



a Domesday Book, i. 30 1. 



3 It is not known in what year Gospatric died, though Roger of Hoveden (i. 59, ed. Stubbs) has 

 recorded the place and manner of his death. When the grantor speaks in the writ of the peace which 

 Earl Syward and he had bestowed on their vassals, he appears to be referring back to a period when he 

 had been Earl of Northumberland. He would scarcely have used such a phrase had he been the earl 

 in possession. In that case the date must have been after 1072, when he was deprived of the earldom 

 (Symeon, ii. 196, ed. Arnold; Hoveden, i. 126, ed. Stubbs). There is nothing in the writing to suggest 

 whether Gospatric ruled the district as an independent sovereign or as a subject of the Scottish crown. 

 If the date be taken after 1072, there can be no question of his dependence on Scotland notwith- 

 standing the absence of any mention of Scottish sovereignty. On the assumption that the grant was 

 made while he was Earl of Northumberland, 106772, his independence of Scotland is unassailable. 



* Symeon, i. 216, ii. 199, 383 ; Chronicle ofMelrose, in ann. 950. 



5 There is little doubt that Gospatric succeeded to the earldom in 1067, though the date of his 

 appointment is often placed in 1068 or 1069. If we compare the statements in the Anglo-Saxon 

 Chronicle under 1067 that ' Gospatric eorl and tha betstan menn foron into Scotland ' and under 1068 

 that ' Gospatric eorl mid Nordhymbrum and ealle tha landleoden ' took part in the destruction of York, 

 we can form no other conclusion. 



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