Eustace fitz John: Difference between revisions

|death_cause = Killed by the Welsh in anbattle ambush

|parents = [[John fitz RichardfitzRichard]]

'''Eustace fitz John''' (died 1157), [[Constable of Chester]], was a powerful [[magnate]] in [[northern England]] during the reigns of [[Henry I of England|Henry I]], [[Stephen, King of England|Stephen]] and [[Henry II of England|Henry II]]. From a relatively humble background in [[South East England]], Eustace made his career serving Henry I, and was elevated by the king through marriage and office into one of the most important figures in the north of England. Eustace acquired a great deal of property in the region, controlled [[Bamburgh Castle]], and served jointly with [[Walter Espec]] as [[justiciar]] of the North.

After Henry I's death in 1135, Eustace became involved in [[the Anarchy]], the warfare between the supporters of Stephen and his rival the [[Empress Matilda]], the latter led by Matilda's uncle [[David I of Scotland|David]], [[King of Scotland]]. He surrendered [[Alnwick Castle]] and [[Malton Castle]] temporarily to David, while Bamburgh was taken by Stephen. Eustace became a supporter of David, fighting and suffering defeat at the [[Battle of the Standard]] in 1138. He maintained most of his lands in the north, however, and from around 1144 became one of the main followers of [[Ranulf II, Earl of Chester]], through whom he gained even more land. Eustace subsequently founded three religious houses, and died on a campaign with Henry II in 1157.

Eustace's family came from the south-eastsoutheast of England.<ref name=Eustace-ODNB>Tout and Dalton, "Eustace fitz John"</ref> His father [[John fitzRichard]] was a tenant-in-chief who appeared in the ''[[Domesday Book]]'' owning estates in Essex and Norfolk.<ref name=Eustace-ODNB/> The family was not of exalted origin, representing the middle rank of society.<ref>Dalton, "Eustace Fitz John", p. 359; Green, ''Henry I'', p. 244</ref> Eustace had two known sisters, Agnes and Alice. He also had two brothers, [[Pain fitzJohn|Pain]] (Payne) and William, and it is thought that Pain—whose career was as successful as Eustace's— wass—was probably the eldest.<ref>Mason, "Pain fitz John"; in many respects, Eustace's career in the north paralleled that of his brother Pain in the south-west of England; Dalton, "Eustace Fitz John", p. 360</ref> Eustace likely did not inherit much from his father, but instead depended on success as a royal servant.<ref>Dalton, ''Conquest'', pp. 96–97; Dalton, "Eustace Fitz John", pp. 359–60</ref>

Eustace is witnessing royal charters from at least 1119, but may have been at Henry's court as early as 1114.<ref>Dalton, "Eustace Fitz John", p. 359; Tout and Dalton, "Eustace fitz John"</ref> Through Henry's patronage, Eustace married two heiresses, both of whom brought him lands. [[Beatrix de Vesci]], daughter and heiress of [[Ivo de Vesci]], brought him control of [[Alnwick Castle]] and the barony of [[Alnwick]] in Northumberland.<ref>Crouch, ''Reign of King Stephen'', p. 164; Dalton, ''Conquest'', 97–98</ref> He probably received, in addition, land in Lincolnshire as well as five -and -a -half [[knight's fee]]s in Yorkshire previously belonging to Ranulf de Mortimer (died 1104).<ref>Dalton, ''Conquest'', p. 98; Dalton, "Eustace Fitz John", p. 362</ref> Although it has often been claimed that this marriage brought Eustace the lordship of [[Malton, North Yorkshire|Old Malton]], a former royal manor in the [[North Riding of Yorkshire]], this was probably a separate gift from the king.<ref>Dalton, "Eustace Fitz John", p. 362</ref> Eustace's marriage to Beatrix occurred some timesometime before 1130.<ref>Dalton, ''Conquest'', p. 97</ref>

The other marriage, which also occurred before 1130, was to Agnes daughter of the [[constable]] of [[Chester]] [[William fitz Nigel]], and this eventually brought Eustace more land in [[Yorkshire]] at [[Bridlington]] as well as in [[Northamptonshire]] at [[Loddington, Northamptonshire|Loddington]]. Both landholdings were held from the [[earl of Chester]].<ref name=Dalton-99>Dalton, ''Conquest'', p. 99</ref> Eustace would gain control of many other sub-tenancies, held from a number of lords, including the [[Archbishop of York]], [[Bishop of Durham]], [[Nigel d'Aubigny]], and the [[count of Aumale]],<ref>Dalton, ''Conquest'', p. 99; Dalton, "Eustace Fitz John", pp. 363–64 for a more extensive list</ref> and in Henry's reign he held lands at [[Aldbrough, East Riding of Yorkshire|Aldborough]], [[Tickhill]] and [[Knaresborough]] from the king as a [[tenant-in-chief]].<ref>Kapelle, ''Norman Conquest'', p. 199</ref>

Eustace had thus emerged as one of the key players in Henry's reordering of Northumbrian society following the destruction of the [[earldom of Northumbria]] in the late 11th- century.<ref>Green, ''Henry I'', p. 317</ref> According to historian [[William Kapelle]], Eustace was one of the "three mainstays of Henry's new regime in the North", the other two being Walter Espec and [[David I of Scotland|King David of Scotland]].<ref>Kapelle, ''Norman Conquest'', p. 198</ref> In Northumberland he is known to have commanded authority over at least ten local notables, including [[John FitzOdard]] lord of [[Embleton, Northumberland|Embleton]] and [[Robert II de Umfraville]] lord of [[Redesdale]].<ref name=Dalton-365>Dalton, "Eustace Fitz John", p. 365</ref> Eustace's barony of Alnwick stretched across the potential Scottish invasion routes of the [[River Tweed|Tweed]] basin, and was one of the two largest baronies in the county,{{efn|The other being the [[House of Balliol|Balliol]] barony of [[Bywell]].<ref name=Dalton-365/>}} holding between 14 and 17 knight's fees by 1166, nearly three times the size of the average lordship in the county.<ref name=Dalton-365/>

The death of Henry I on 1 December 1135, led to the accession of [[Stephen of England|Stephen de Blois]], to whom Eustace submitted.<ref name=Eustace-ODNB/> Stephen's seizure of the throne was contested by Henry I's daughter, the [[Empress Matilda]], who had been Henry's designated heir. The ''[[Gesta Stephani]]'' claimed that certain "very intimate friends of Henry" had been against Stephen from the beginning because of loyalty forto Henry's daughter Matilda, and names Eustace's brother Pain as one of these, making it quite possible that Eustace had likewise never been on Stephen's side.<ref>Dalton, "Eustace Fitz John", pp. 366–68</ref> However, they, just like Eustace, did swear fealty to Stephen after a short time.<ref name=Dalton-366>Dalton, "Eustace Fitz John", p. 366</ref> This capitulation meant that Stephen let them keep the honours and positions they had held under Henry, and Stephen is even found confirming the grants of Eustace's family between 1136 and 1138.<ref>Dalton, "Eustace Fitz John", pp. 366–67366–367</ref>

Matilda was supported by her uncle King David of Scotland, and he did not accept Stephen's succession peacefully.<ref>Oram, ''David I'', pp. 121–23121–123.</ref> Thus Eustace was placed in the [[front line]] of a new war,. and whenWhen David invaded northern England, Eustace's castle of Alnwick was among those captured by David in the first two months of the year (though it was returned in March).<ref name=Eustace-ODNB/> Stephen relieved Eustace of control of Bamburgh Castle when he returned from his punitive invasion of Lothian early in 1138.<ref>Crouch, ''Reign of King Stephen'', pp. 73–74</ref> It has been claimed that Eustace must have gone over to David's side by the end of 1137, when David invaded northern England.<ref>Oram, ''David I'', pp. 134–35134–135</ref> There is no proof, however, that Eustace had switched allegiance at this point.<ref>Dalton, "Eustace Fitz John", pp. 367–70367–370; Tout and Dalton, "Eustace fitz John"</ref>

After David crossed back into Northumberland in April 1138, Eustace became one of David's active supporters, and during David's siege of [[Wark on Tweed|Wark Castle]] in May, Eustace tried to persuade him to besiege Bamburgh Castle instead.<ref>Crouch, ''Reign of King Stephen'', p. 81; Dalton, "Eustace Fitz John", p. 367</ref> Eustace had had a long association with the Scottish king, or at least with his Norman follower [[Robert I de Brus]], as Eustace's name appears as a witness to David's charter recording the grant of [[Annandale, Dumfries and Galloway|Annandale]] to Robert, issued at [[Scone, Scotland|Scone]] in 1124.<ref name=Dalton-366/>

Eustace fought at the [[Battle of the Standard]] in August 1138, fighting for David in the second line with the men of Cumbria and Teviotdale. The battle ended in defeat, and Eustace was wounded and fled to Alnwick in its aftermath, leaving his castle at Malton to be captured soon after.<ref>Crouch, ''Reign of King Stephen'', p. 82; Dalton, "Eustace Fitz John", p. 370; Tout and Dalton, "Eustace fitz John"</ref> Despite the defeat forof David, peace the following year brought David victory, his son [[Henry, Earl of Northumbria|Henry]] becoming Earl of Northumbria and Huntingdon, and under the rule of Earl Henry, Eustace regained many of his Northumberland possessions and received other lands in the earldom of Huntingdon.<ref>Oram, ''David I'', pp. 140–44.; Tout and Dalton, "Eustace fitz John"</ref> When a succession dispute for the [[bishopric of Durham]] erupted in 1141, Eustace supported the pro-David [[William Cumin (bishop)|William Cumin]] against [[William de Ste Barbara]]; and in 1143, Eustace helped negotiate a truce between the two claimants.<ref>Dalton, "Eustace Fitz John", p. 371; Tout and Dalton, "Eustace fitz John"</ref>

Eustace's number of known associations with David and Henry after 1144 is small, appearing only as a witness to one charter of Earl Henry issued at [[Corbridge]] at some point between 1150 and 1152.<ref>Dalton, "Eustace Fitz John", p. 371–72</ref> Around 1144 Eustace seems to have entered a beneficial relationship with [[Ranulf II, Earl of Chester]]. Eustace was married to the sister of Ranulf's constable, William fitz William, and in 1143 or 1144 William died. This made Eustace's wife and her sister Matilda joint heiress to the lands and offices of William, who was childless.<ref>Dalton, "Eustace Fitz John", p. 372</ref>

In either 1144 or 1145, Eustace obtained from Ranulf a large honour with lands mostly in Cheshire, Lancashire and Yorkshire, and gained the office of constable of Chester along with the status as chief counselorcounsellor in Ranulf's dominions.<ref>Dalton, "Eustace Fitz John", pp. 362, 372</ref> Earl Ranulf's patronage also seems to have gained Eustace a grant by [[Roger de Mowbray (died 1188)|Roger de Mowbray]] (the earl's captive from the [[Battle of Lincoln (1141)|Battle of Lincoln]]) of fourteen knight fees worth of estates in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, with townships along the [[river Humber]]. This was probably part of the attempts of the earl and his half-brother the Earl of Lincoln [[William de Roumare, Earl of Lincoln|William de Roumare]] to tighten their family's grip on the region.<ref>Dalton, "Eustace Fitz John", pp. 372–73</ref> Eustace's position vis-aà-vis Stephen probably mirrored that of Ranulf, and like other pro-Matildans there was probably no permanent stabilisation of relations until the settlement between Stephen and Matilda in the winter of 1153.<ref name=Dalton-379>Dalton, "Eustace Fitz John", p. 379</ref> In the following year, Eustace attested a charter King Stephen issued at [[York]] in favour of [[Pontefract Priory]].<ref name=Dalton-379/>

Eustace had a good relationship with Stephen's successor [[Henry II of England|Henry II]], and the latter seems to have regarded Eustace as one of his supporters.<ref>Dalton, "Eustace Fitz John", pp. 379–80</ref> Henry confirmed Eustace's gifts to his son William de Vescy, and would recognise the latterslatter's succession to his father's lands.<ref>Dalton, "Eustace Fitz John", p. 380; Tout and Dalton, "Eustace fitz John"</ref> After Henry's accession in 1154, Eustace attested to the new king's charters. Eustace died in July 1157 at the [[Battle of Ewloe]] near [[Basingwerk]] in [[Flintshire]], where on a campaign with Henry against the Welsh he was ambushed and killed.<ref>Dalton, "Eustace Fitz John", p. 380</ref>

Eustace fitz John was remembered as a great monastic patron. He patronised [[Gloucester Abbey]], a [[Benedictine]] house, as well as the [[Augustinians|Augustinian]] [[Priory of Bridlington]].<ref name=Eustace-ODNB/> In 1147, he founded his own abbey, [[Alnwick Abbey]], as a daughter-house of England's first [[Premonstratensian]] monastery, [[Newhouse Abbey]] in [[Lincolnshire]].<ref>Dalton, "Eustace Fitz John", p. 375</ref> Two years later, Eustace turned his favours to the order of [[Gilbert of Sempringham]], in 1150 founding a [[Gilbertine]] priory at [[Malton Priory|Malton]] in Yorkshire and another [[Watton Priory|priory]] (with a nunnery) at [[Watton, East Riding of Yorkshire|Watton]] (also Yorkshire) around the same time.<ref>Dalton, "Eustace Fitz John", pp. 374–75</ref> Later tradition held that Eustace founded these houses in penance for fighting withalongside the Scots, but thisthere hasis no basisoriginal inevidence factfor this.<ref>Burton, ''Monastic Order'', p. 137</ref>

He founded Watton, scene of [[Ailred of Rievaulx]]'s ''[[De Sanctimoniali de Wattun]]'', was founded jointly with Eustace's landlorda William Fossard.<ref>Dalton, "Eustace Fitz John", pp. 375–76</ref> Probably Eustace's patronage of the Gilbertines was probably influenced by the policies and inclinations of [[William le Gros, 1st Earl of Albemarle|William, Earl of York]] and [[Henry Murdac]], Archbishop of York.<ref>Dalton, "Eustace Fitz John", pp. 375–79</ref> Eustace had become closely associated with the Earl of York. He witnessed two of Earl William's charters, between 1150 and 1153, and obtained land from him.<ref name=Dalton-374>Dalton, "Eustace Fitz John", p. 374</ref> And Eustace's name appears on coins minted at York, a city under the control of the earl.<ref name=Dalton-374/>

Several sources, including [[Roger of Howden]], report that Eustace had only one eye,;<ref name=Eustace-ODNB/> however, this appearsis likely to be attributeda reference to his father, [[John_fitzRichard|John "Monoculus'" FitzRichard]].

Eustace fitz John married twice. His first wife was [[Beatrix de Vesci]], daughter and heiress of [[Ivo de Vesci]], and they had the one known son;

*[[William de Vesci]] (d. 1184), married Burga, daughter of [[Robert III de Stuteville]], and had issue. William was the [[sheriff]] of Northumberland]] between 1157 and 1170, and would become the ancestor of the Northumberland de Vescy family.<ref name=Eustace-ODNB/>

Eustace married, secondsecondly, Agnes de Halton, daughter of [[William fitz Nigel]],. He inherited the [[Halton (barony)|barony of Halton]] through this andmarriage. theyThey had two known sons;

*[[Richard fitz Eustace]] (d.c. {{Circa|1163}}), married Aubrey de Lisours, daughter of Robert de Lisours by Aubrey, sister of [[Ilbert II de Lacy]] (another baron captured by Earl Ranulf at the [[Battle of Lincoln (1141)|Battle of Lincoln]]), and had issue.<ref>Dalton, "Eustace Fitz John", p. 373</ref> He became ancestor of a second line of de Lacys.<ref name=Eustace-ODNB/>

*Geoffrey fitz Eustace, named as his son in a charter of [[Watton prioryPriory]].

* {{citation | last = Dalton | first = Paul | title = Eustace Fitz John and the Politics of Anglo-Norman England: The Rise and Survival of a Twelfth-Century Royal Servant | jstor = 2865417 | journal = Speculum | volume = 71 | issue = 2 | year = 1996 | publisher = Medieval Academy of America | pages = 358–383 | issn = 0038-7134 | doi = 10.2307/2865417| s2cid = 155189020 }}

* {{citationcite ODNB |lastlast1=Tout |firstfirst1= T. F. | last2 = Dalton | first2 = Paul |editor-first1= Paul |editor-last1= Dalton |contribution= Eustace fitz John (d. 1157), justice and baron |year=2008 |title=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography|doi= 10.1093/ref:odnb/9614 |url= http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/9614 |access-date=2009-01-06 }}