Château Gaillard After Richard

Château Gaillard had a long history after its creation by Richard I, and what remains can still be visited today.

Richard I built it in Normandy as a staging site for his war with Philip II of France, but died shortly after its completion. His younger brother and successor, John, was unsuccessful in defending his lands against Philip, and lost Gaillard along with Normandy in 1204.

After capturing several other Norman castles, Philip besieged Gaillard in September 1203. The castle might have survived a prolonged siege, being well-provisioned. The citizens of Andeli—the town that grew up at the base of the hill on which Gaillard was situated—fled to the castle to escape the Normans, and the additional mouths that needed food and water stretched the supplies thin. Furthermore, John did not send any troops that winter to help the garrison, and Gaillard fell into Philip's hand in March of 1204.

The castellan, Roger de Lacy, requested of the surrounding French that the civilians be given safe passage. Over the course of two days, about 1000 civilians departed the castle and went safely through the French army. When Philip found out, he was furious, and forbade any more leniency. He knew that more people to feed would shorten the ability to withstand a siege. When de Lacy sent out the rest of the civilians, the French attacked them. Hundreds of non-combatants found themselves attacked by soldiers on one side, and up against locked gates on the other. They huddled at the base of the outer walls, and many starved over the winter. In February 1204, Philip arrived on the scene, and ordered that the remaining civilians be fed and let go.

The French got through the defenses in stages: first the outermost wall was breached by undermining it, then an inner barrier was breached by finding a latrine that allowed them to enter the chapel. Once the French were inside, they lowered the drawbridge for the rest of the army. de Lacy kept retreating to inner defenses, but finally surrendered on 6 March.

Gaillard was useful for many purposes. It was the prison for Margaret of Burgundy in the Tour de Nesle Affair. During hostilities between England and Scotland, King David II of Scotland fled to France and was hosted at Gaillard with some retainers from 1333, when he was only nine years old, until his return to Scotland in 1341.

The castle switched from English to French possession several times during the Hundred Years War, until the last switch in 1449 when the French took it and have had possession ever since. By 1573, however, it was uninhabited and in need of radical repair. Henry IV of France ordered it demolished in 1599.

Poor Roger de Lacy, who did his best but had no support from his king. I'll tell you abut him tomorrow.

John de Coupland's Mistake

When John de Coupland apprehended King David II of Scotland during the Battle of Neville's Cross in 1346(see illustration), his future was secured. The ransom of a king would have set up John and his descendants forever. It didn't work that way, however. John's duty was to hand such a prisoner over to John's liege lord, King Edward III.

Edward was in France, however (which was why David thought it was a good time for attacking England). So John had to secure his prisoner until he could properly hand him over. They were in the middle of battle, however, so John rode 15 leagues to get away from the ongoing battle and any Scots who might try to rescue their king. He arrived at a castle in Ogle, well north of the battle site, and stopped there to secure the prisoner.

Word got around, and Edward's queen, Philippa, sent word that King David was to be brought to her, as the highest ranking person in England at the time. John refused, saying he would only surrender David to the king. Philippa was outraged at this snub, and wrote to Edward in Calais. Edward sent his messengers to go to England and tell de Coupland to appear before the king in Calais ASAP. John made sure David was secure, and went to Calais.

When he came before Edward, John explained that he did not mean to offend the queen, but he felt his duty was to the man to whom he made his oath of loyalty. King Edward forgave him the slight to the queen, and gave him the order to return to England and hand his captive over to Philippa.

At that point John de Coupland's life changed. Edward made him a knight banneret and £500 per year for life, plus an additional £100 for staying by the king with 20 men at arms. This was a very large boost to his fortunes, since he had only been earning £20 per year previously for his service. de Coupland went back to England and took David to Philippa, who had gone north to York. She brought David back to the Tower in London, where he was made comfortable. (He had already been attended by physicians who had removed most of two arrows in his face.) He was England's captive for 11 years, until 1357.

de Coupland was also made the Constable of Roxburgh Castle and the Sheriff of Roxburghsire (although the Castle title was mostly honorary, since at the time it was under Scottish control—its possession went back and forth between England and Scotland). He had other titles which would have brought him revenue. He became a very wealthy landowner in the north of England.

He was killed on 20 December 1363 by a band of men. Edward ordered an inquiry, which determined that it was a premeditated attack, and identified several names of men involved. They perpetrators all fled north to Scotland, however, and no retribution came about. de Coupland likely made enemies in the north by owning so much land and by his history as the man who captured the Scottish king.

Now, as to the term "knight banneret." How was that different from just being a knight? What were the different types of knight? We'll go into that next time.

King David's Ransom

During the Battle of Neville's Cross, when King David II of Scotland heeded France's request to attack England as part of their Auld Alliance, David realized things were going ill for him. Although the Scots had the greater numbers, and the belief was that the English army was fully engaged on the continent in the Hundred Years War, England had left its northern forces behind, precisely because Edward III didn't trust Scotland.

David had dismounted to fight, and his location on the battlefield had become unclear. He had taken two arrows to his face, and attempted to hide from the enemy. Contemporary accounts state that he hid under a bridge over the River Browney. A group of English soldiers near the bridge saw him reflected in the water of the river and moved to capture him. He fought back and knocked out two teeth of John de Coupland, who took him prisoner.

David was held prisoner from 1346 to 1357. First he was brought to Bamburgh Castle, where surgeons tried to remove the arrows. The tip of one could not be removed and was the cause of headaches for the rest of his life. (John Bradmore would have been useful here, but he was still a child. He was then taken to London and put in the Tower. When Edward III returned from France, David was transferred to Windsor Castle. Finally, David and his household were put in Odiham Castle (its ruins are pictured above). Captivity for a king was generally comfortable, but in 1355 he was forbidden any contact with his family, which may have accelerated negotiations for his ransom (Edward was always looking for more money for his wars).

On 3 October 1357, a treaty was signed that gave 10,000 marks each year for ten years as ransom. He returned to Scotland with an English mistress, Katherine Mortimer. (David had married Edward III's sister, Joan of the Tower, in 1328 when she was seven and he was four. They had no children. She died in 1362.) Mortimer was killed in 1360 by men hired by the Earl of Angus. David had another mistress, Margaret Drummond, whom he married in 1364. (Then he took another mistress, Agnes Dunbar.)

This ransom plan worked for a few years, but the Scottish nobles could not raise 10,000 marks in 1363, and David went to London to try to re-negotiate a settlement. He offered to leave Scotland to Edward or one of his many sons in David's will. In 1364 Scotland's Parliament rejected a proposal for Edward's son Lionel of Antwerp to become the next king. David kept talking to Edward, prolonging the consequences of non-payment (which would mean going back into captivity).

David died on 22 February 1371, aged 46. He was buried quickly in the nearest likely place, in Holyrood Abbey. He wished to be buried near his parents in Dunfermline, but his successor, Robert II, wanted to "conclude" David's reign as quickly as possible to begin his own.

Now, the transition above between paragraphs two and three was hardly a transition at all: it would appear that from his capture to his captivity just "happened" in a flash. It wasn't that easy, and John de Coupland almost got in trouble for it. When the dust settled, however, de Coupland made out extremely well. I'll explain his almost fall but steady rise tomorrow.

The Battle of Neville's Cross

Scotland's relationship with England has always been an issue on the island of Great Britain. They were "friendly enemies," since England would have loved to possess the entirety of the island. Sometimes it pursued this aim through warfare, sometimes through supporting or installing a king of Scotland that would be loyal to England's king. For its part, Scotland sometimes could not help but invade southward to gain real estate and resources, or simply go to war against England to assert its independence.

To that end, there were over the years what are called the wars of Scottish Independence. They were successful in that Scotland managed to maintain its independence from England. During the Second War of Scottish Independence, which took place between the years 1332 and 1357, one of the battles was fought at Neville's Cross, right next to Durham England.

The catalyst for this particular battle was not any particular incident of aggression between the countries. Scotland had made a treaty with France in 1295 called "the Auld Alliance" against their common antagonist, England. France was fighting England in the Hundred Years War, and called on Scotland to help based on the treaty. England was currently invading France, and Scotland's attack could either weaken England for a later counter-invasion by France or cause England to pull troops away from France.

As it turns out, it did neither. Scotland's army of 10-12,000 was led by King David II. They were met by Ralph, Lord Neville with about 6-7000 men. The Scots were soundly defeated and David captured. His ransoming effort also created a truce between the two countries that lasted four decades.

How did the superior numbers lose the battle? France convinced the Scots that they would have an easy time of it with the English army on the continent, but the English had plenty of soldiers at home who were more experienced. The Scottish army had a few noblemen on horseback, but the majority were on foot and had swords and daggers and shields. They had a few archers. The English had more archers with longbows and rained arrows on the Scots until the fighting got closer, and more plate armor.

Before being stopped at Neville's Cross (so-called because of an Anglo-Saxon stone cross at the location), the Scots did do damage to the countryside. They destroyed a castle called the Peel of Liddell and plundered the Great Priory of Hexham. They would have sacked Carlisle, but the city offered them money to leave them alone.

During the battle, King David had dismounted to fight on foot. At one point he decided to hide. I want to talk about his discovery, capture, and ransom next. See you tomorrow.