POLITICAL HISTORY 



John's castle of Tickhill; it was, however, invested by the Bishop of Durham, now acting on 

 I King Richard's side, and he abandoned the siege with reluctance when a truce was proclaimed in 

 April.^° In February 1 1 94 the bishop resumed the siege, but it was not until the garrison were 

 assured of the presence of the king in England that Robert de la Mare, the constable, agreed to 

 surrender.*^ The king went on to York, where the citizens found it politic to make a gift of 

 200 marks ' to show their joy at the return of the king from Germany.' ^^ Richard at this 

 time deprived Hugh Bardolf of the office of sheriff and of the castles of York and Scarborough, 

 afterwards selling the sheriflFdom to his half-brother. Archbishop Geoffrey, for 3,000 marks.'' 

 At the same time Sir Richard Malebiche paid 300 marks for pardon for his share in John's 

 rebellion and to recover the estates which he had forfeited in connexion with the massacre 

 of the Jews.^ 



During the reign of John scarcely a year passed in which that restless king did not pay a visit 

 to Yorkshire.^' In January 1 20 1 he came to Cottingham, where he stayed the night with 

 William de Stuteville, and next day went on to Beverley ; he and Queen Isabel then visited 

 Scarborough on their way to Durham, and returning south visited York at Mid-Lent (March 4).*' 

 At York, where Archbishop Geoffrey made his peace with the king, the reception of the royal party 

 was not cordial, and the citizens were fined ;£i00 because they did not come to meet the king on 

 his arrival and did not provide lodgings for his archers.*' At the end of March 1210 King John 

 met the heads of the Cistercian abbeys at York and demanded from them a subsidy, which they 

 refused to grant.** He returned to the city at the end of the same year in order to keep Christmas 

 there.** The barons of Yorkshire — Percy, Brus, Stuteville, Mowbray, and Roos — played a 

 prominent part in the struggle with the king,'" and although Earl William of Aumdle was one of 

 the last great nobles to desert John's cause he was one of the twenty-five barons who swore to the 

 observance of Magna Carta.'"^ To ensure the observance of the charter four castles were to be put 

 at the disposal of the barons, and of these one was Scarborough,'^ which John some three months 

 before had put into the hands of Geoffrey de Nevill and strengthened with a forceof sixty Serjeants and 

 ten crossbowmen.'' At the same time the castle of Richmond was restored to Roald son of Alan, 

 instead of being destroyed as the king had previously ordered.'* On the first day of January 1 2 1 6 

 John entered Yorkshire "^ at the head of an army and passed through Doncaster and Pontefract to 

 York, Thirsk, whose inhabitants paid 80 marks to save their town from being burnt,'^ and Allerton, 

 and so into Durham, returning on 31 January to Guisborough, where he spent a week, then 

 moving out to Skelton. On 1 2 February he went down to Scarborough, where Earl William of 

 Aumile was probably in command,'' and three days later to York. His expedition had been 

 completely successful ; of the Yorkshire castles Helmsley almost alone withstood him ; '* the others 

 he either took into his own hands or, as in the case of Malton," destroyed ; the citizens of York 

 and the men of Beverley had alike to pay ^^ijOOO,^™ Roald son of Alan ransomed his men who 

 had been taken in the castle of Richmond by payment of 200 marks and six suits of armour,^ and 

 other Yorkshire landowners were mulcted in various sums. The county was left under the control 

 of Robert de Vipont, Brian de Lisle, and Geoffrey de Lucy,^ but soon after Louis landed in England 

 Robert de Roos, Peter de Brus, and Richard Percy recovered the greater part of Yorkshire in the 

 baronial interest,' and in June King John wrote to the Earl of Chester that if he considered that 

 Richmond Castle could not be held it should be destroyed.* 



On the death of John, Yorkshire went over solidly to the cause of Henry III, and although 

 Earl William of AumMe, Robert de Vipont, and Brian de Lisle endeavoured to continue the policy 

 of plundering which they had pursued under the late king, they were soon reduced to order.' 

 In June 1220 King Henry came to York to meet King Alexander II of Scotland, who awaited 



'" Hoveden, op. cit. iii, zo8. " Ibid. 238-9. 



'' Pipe R. 6 Ric. I. «3 Hoveden, op. cit. iii, 2+1. 



" Pipe R. 6 Ric. I. r , '^ 



** Itinerary, printed in Rot. Lit. Pal. (Rec. Com.), vol. i. 

 ! ^ Hoveden, Chron. (Rolls Ser.), iv, 156-7. 



'' Pipe R. 3 John. 88 c^^j^_ gi i^^^ y^_ -j^^jj^ g^^> .. 



«» Matt. Paris, C/5ro». May. (Rolls Sep.), ii, 531. 



'» Ibid. 585. 9. iby_ 6o^_ 



" Ibid. 603. 83 ^^/_ ^^■^_ p^^_ (J^^^_ f.^.^ . 



'' Ibid. 143. 95 ggg thg Itinerary. 



^ Rot. de Oblath et Fin. (Rec. Com.), 569. »' Rot. Lit. Pat. (Rec. Com.) i 1 1:2 



'» Matt. Paris, Chron. Maj. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 642. »' Pipe R. 17 John 



'™ Rot. de Oblatis et Fin. (Rec. Com.), 574. 



' Ibid. 569 ; Rot. Lit. Pat. (Rec. Com.), i, 163. ' Matt. Paris, Chron. Maj. (Rolls Ser) ii 6i.i 



^bid. 663. * Rot. Lit. Pat. (Rec. Com.), i, 186. 



Matt. Pans, op. cit. m, 33. Earl William made another attempt at rebellion in the winter of 1 220-1 

 but was soon compelled to give in ; ibid. 60 ; Royal Letters Hen. Ill (Rolls Ser.), i, 171. ' 



3 401 51 



