306 



Erlestoke and its Manor Lords. 



He had no doubt been one of the " flower of the youth of 

 England " who under the leadership of Baldwin had lately been 

 compelled to surrender the castle of Exeter to King Stephen 1 after 

 a siege of three months. From Exeter he probably fled with 

 Baldwin to the Isle of Wight, and thence, when threatened by 

 King Stephen from Southampton, to the court of the Count of 

 Anjou. 2 



In 1139 Baldwin returned to England " with a bold and spirited 

 band of soldiers," and landed at Wareham with the main army of 

 the Empress Maud, 3 and Stephen de Mandeville no doubt came 

 over with his friend, for in 1142 he is found actively fomenting 

 the civil war in the west and " busily employed in undermining 

 the King's power." 4 From this time until he made his journey to 

 Jerusalem we ha've no information as to his movements, but it 

 seems doubtful if such a " persevering soldier " and consistently 

 loyal adherent to the Angevin cause would have abandoned his 

 efforts on behalf of the Empress and her son until success had 

 been achieved. For this reason, and for others given above, it 

 seems probable that the journey to Jerusalem occurred after the 

 Treaty of Wallingford (1153) had secured the succession of Henry 

 of Anjou to the English throne, and that Stephen de Mandeville 

 died in 1154. 



The cartularies of St. Sauveur and Montebourg supply several 

 details of his family and of his possessions in Normandy. His gift 

 of four quarters of corn from his mill at Olonde is confirmed to the 

 former by Roger de Argentiis 5 one of the family to whom Olonde 

 was granted by Philip Augustus in 1205, 6 and his gift of a sixth 

 part of the corn of his mill at Barneville by his son Roger, 7 who 



1 Gesta Stephani, Bohn, p.. 337. 

 2 Ibid, p. 344. Roger de Wendover, I., 485. 

 3 Gesta Stephani, p. 364. 

 4 Ibid, p. 417. 

 5 MS., Latin, 17137, No. 208. 



6 Stapleton, II., cxc. 

 7 MS., Latin, 17157, No. 311. 



