A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE 



The grant of Edgar to the church of Ely was 

 confirmed by Ethelred and Edward the Confessor.* 

 In the Great Survey of 1086, and in the Iwputitw 

 Eliennt taken about the same time, Hatfield was still 

 assessed at 40 hides, of which half was demesne land 

 and a large proportion forest. 5 It continued in the 

 possession of the abbots until 1 109/ when it was 

 transferred to the Bishops of Ely. 



HATFIELD HOUSE. The Bishops of Ely, from 

 an early date, had a house at 

 Hatfield, which they frequently 

 visited, 7 and at which they 

 often entertained royal visitors. 

 King John passed through 

 Hatfield in March 121 1, 8 and 

 Edward I spent a few days 

 there in February 1 303. 9 

 Edward II visited it in July 

 I309,"and Edward III was 

 six times there, including the 

 Christmasofmfi. 11 In 1514, JJ? ££% G "'" 

 probably on the nomination 

 of Henry VIII, Hannibal 



Zenzano, the king's farrier, was made lessee of the 

 manor and keeper of the parks, 1 - and from this time 

 the king seems to have made use of Hatfield House 

 almost as if it belonged to him, although it did not 

 really come into his possession until 1538. In 1517 

 Lady Frances Brandon, daughter of the Duke of 

 Suffolk and mother of Lady Jane Grey, was born and 

 christened there. 13 Henry VIII visited it in November 

 1522, 14 the same month in 1 c,24, 16 and August 1 525. 10 

 In June 1528 he removed to Hatfield from Hertford 

 ' because of the sweat.' The Marquess of Exeter and 

 his wife were ill and the master of the horse 'com- 

 plained of his head ; nevertheless,' says Henneage, 'the 

 King is merry and takes no conceit.' ,7 Princess Mary 

 resided at Hatfield with a household suitable to her 

 state as Princess Royal until Henry's divorce from 

 Katherine of Aragon in 1533. In December of that 

 year her household was diminished, and the infant 

 Princess Elizabeth was also conveyed there. 18 A 

 little later Mary's household was entirely dissolved 

 and she remained at Hatfield as a mere lady-in- 

 waiting to the infant Elizabeth. 19 In March 1534, 

 when the young Elizabeth was removed from Hatfield 

 to Hunsdon, Mary refused to accompany her, but she 

 was put by force by a certain gentleman into a litter 

 with the queen's aunt and thus compelled to make court 

 to Elizabeth. She afterwards made a public protest.* 



In 1538 the manor of Hatfield was conveyed by 

 Thomas Bishop of Ely to Henry VIII, in exchange 

 for the site of the dissolved monastery of Ickleton, 

 the possessions of the dissolved priory of Swaffham 

 Bulbeck, a single parish, and various lands in Essex. 21 



The Princess Elizabeth and the young Edward 

 seem to have passed much of their childhood at 



Hatfield, and Elizabeth, although removed from there 

 at the death of her father, had returned there by 

 1 548, when she received the ambitious attentions of 

 Thomas Seymour Lord Sudeley. 



In 1 549 Edward VI granted the manor of Hatfield 

 to John Earl of Warwick,* 3 but Princess Elizabeth 

 had become so attached to it that she petitioned 

 against its loss, in consequence of which the Earl of 

 Warwick returned it to the king in 1550," and with 

 the consent of the Privy Council it was conveyed to 

 Elizabeth herself, who gave other lands in exchange to 

 the Earl of Warwick.* 1 



At the accession of Queen Mary Elizabeth left 

 Hatfield, but in 1555 was permitted to return there 

 under the supervision of Sir Thomas Pope, and 

 devoted herself to study. There Elizabeth refused 

 proposals of marriage from Philibert Duke of Savoy 

 and Prince Eric, son of Gustavus Vasa of Sweden. 

 She was there in November 1558 when the news of 

 Mary's death was brought to her ; this news she 

 received, according to tradition, seated under an oak 

 tree in the park, which still exists. Her first three 

 councils were held at the house before she quitted it 

 for London. Hatfield was still maintained as a royal 

 palace and Elizabeth paid frequent visits to it. After 

 her death in 1603 it was 

 granted in dower to Anne of 

 Denmark, the queen of 

 James I.- 6 James, however, 

 in the same year visited the 

 Earl of Salisbury at his manor 

 of Theobalds, and was so 

 pleased with it that he entered 

 into negotiations with the earl 

 for the exchange of that manor 

 with Hatfield.-* The transfer 

 was effected in 1607, Robert 

 Earl of Salisbury receiving the 

 grant of the lordship and 

 manor of Hatfield, with the 

 three parks, and all appurte- 

 nances, to hold in socage.* 7 In 



1 6 11 he obtained a licence, for himself and his heir*, 

 to alienate lands and tenements in Hatfield 'notwith- 

 standing the statute of Quia Emptores terrarum,orany 

 other statutes.' 28 As soon as he had entered upon 

 possession of Hatfield Lord Salisbury appears to have 

 set about pulling down half the old palace and build- 

 ing the present house. S!) (For description of both 

 see below ) 



Immediately after Lord Salisbury had settled at 

 Hatfield he initiated a scheme for the relief of the poor 

 there by means of the establishment of a weaving 

 industry, and in December 1608 he made an agree- 

 ment with one Walter Morrall, by which Morrall 

 was to teach his art to fifty persons to be chosen by 

 the earl in the parish of Hatfield. 3 " 3 * 



s, 338. » AcHifP.C. .--c-*,p-5-- 



*» Pat. 1 "«. I, pi. xi, m. s- 



>• See under Theobald. , ftrf. S- '- 

 Dam. 1603-10, p. 3S4- 



" Pat. 5 Jm. I, pt. mw, m. 19. 



" Cat. S. P. Dom. 1611-1!, p. 



"St. Albam Bid Hirn. Archil, t-i 

 ;-, 148 ; Arch. S-c. Tram, i (4), 3 4«-9- 

 4 ; Pat. »» Cat. & P. Dm. 1603-10, p- 47» I 



Sr. Alb™ aid Htr„. Aniit. ■""' *"*■ 

 --, 96. S«. Tram, i (4), JJO. 



titMfimtt.if»i 



92 



