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The History of William Marshal, Earl of Chepstow and Pembroke, Regent of England. Book 1 of 2, Lines 1-10152.

The History of William Marshal was commissioned by his son shortly after William’s death in 1219 to celebrate the Marshal’s remarkable life; it is an authentic, contemporary voice. The manuscript was discovered in 1861 by French historian Paul Meyer. Meyer published the manuscript in its original Anglo-French in 1891 in two books. This book is a line by line translation of the first of Meyer’s books; lines 1-10152. Book 1 of the History begins in 1139 and ends in 1194. It describes the events of the Anarchy, the role of William’s father John, John’s marriages, William’s childhood, his role as a hostage at the siege of Newbury, his injury and imprisonment in Poitou where he met Eleanor of Aquitaine and his life as a knight errant. It continues with the accusation against him of an improper relationship with Margaret, wife of Henry the Young King, his exile, and return, the death of Henry the Young King, the rebellion of Richard, the future King Richard I, war with France, the death of King Henry II, and the capture of King Richard, and the rebellion of John, the future King John. It ends with the release of King Richard and the death of John Marshal.

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Bishop Robert de Strafford 1292-1362

Around 1292 Robert de Stratford was born to Robert de Stratford.

In 1331 Robert de Stratford [aged 39] was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Between 23rd July 1337 and 18th August 1337 Robert de Stratford [aged 45] was elected Bishop of Chichester.

In March 1338 Bishop Robert de Strafford [aged 46] was appointed Lord Chancellor which office he held until July 1338.

Annales Paulini. In the same year, on the eighth day of December [1339], Bishop Richard [Wentworth] died, and on the thirteenth day of December he was laid to rest in the church of St Paul. On the day after the feast of the Conversion of St Paul [25th January 1340], Master Ralph de Stratford [aged 40], a kinsman of the archbishop1, was elected bishop.

Eodem anno, viii. die Decembris, obiit Ricardus episcopus, et xiii die Decembris traditur sepulturæ in ecclesia Sancti Pauli. In crastino Conversionis beati Pauli electus fuit in episcopum magister Radulfus de Stratford, consanguineus archiepiscopi.

Note 1. John Straford [aged 65], Lord Chancellor and Archbishop of Canterbury. John's brother was Robert Straford [aged 48], Bishop of Chichester. It isn't clear how Ralph, and John and Robert were related.

Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough. King Edward, having crossed the sea, entered England1, removed his ministers, namely the chancellor2, treasurer3, and others4, and in their place appointed, at his own pleasure, not clerics but laymen. He also began certain undertakings, as will appear in what follows, led by the counsel of certain supporters; and for this reason John, Archbishop of Canterbury, wrote to him in French a letter5 containing the following.

Rex Edwardus, mari transito, Angliam intravit, ministros suos, videlicet cancellarium, thesaurarium, et alios, amovit, non clericos immo seculares ad placitum suum substituit, nonnulla, ut in sequentibus patebit, fautorum ductus consilio inchoavit, unde et Johannes Cantuariensis archiepiscopus ei literam in Gallico scripsit, talia continentem.

Note 1. Edward arrived at the Tower of London on Thursday, the 30th of November [1340], about midnight. Claus. 14 Edward III p.2, m.12, d.; Rymer, Fœdera, 2.1141.

Note 2. Robert Stratford [aged 48], Bishop of Chichester.

Note 3. Roger de Northburgh, Bishop of Litchfield Coventry.

Note 4. Among these were Lord Nicholas de la Beche, Constable of the Tower; Andrew Aubrey, Mayor of London; Lord Thomas Wake; Sir John Stonore, Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench; Michael Wath, Henry Stratford, and Robert Chickwel, Clerks of the Chancery; and Philip Thorp, Clerk of the Exchequer.

Note 5. A copy of this letter in the original French form will be found in Rymer, 2.1143.

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On 9th April 1362 Bishop Robert de Strafford [aged 70] died.

Chronicle of Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbroke. At dawn, the king immediately summoned1 the chancellor, the treasurer, and the justices then present in London. He at once intended to send the Bishop of Chichester [the chancellor] and the Bishop of Coventry [the treasurer], stripped of their offices, to Flanders as pledges for money. But the Bishop of Chichester explained to the king and his council the danger of the canon law that threatened those who imprisoned bishops. So the king allowed them to leave the Tower. However, the senior justices: Sir John de Stonore, Sir Richard de Willoughby, Sir William de Shareshull, and especially Sir Nicholas de la Beche, who had previously been the constable of the Tower of London, and Sir John Molyns, knight; likewise, the merchants Sir John de Pulteney, William de la Pole, and his brother Richard; and the senior clerks of the chancery: Sir John de St. Paul, Michael de Wath, Henry de Stratford; and of the Exchequer, Sir John de Thorp, and many others, he ordered to be thrown into various prisons. He did not release them until his anger, which he had conceived over the withholding of money that ought to have been sent for the siege of Tournai, had subsided.

Statim in aurora misit rex pro cancellario, tesaurario, et iusticiariis tunc Londoniis existentibus, et statim episcopum Cicestrensem cancellarii dignitate et episcopum Coventrensem ab officio tesaurarie absolutos voluit misisse in Flandriam impignorandos pro pecunia; set Cicestrensis exposuit sibi et suis periculum canonis qui imminet episcopos incarcerantibus, et sic ipsos turrim exire permisit. Iusticiarios vero maiores, scilicet dominum Iohannem de Stonore, dominum Ricardum de Wyleby, dominhum Willelmum de Scharesheolle, et precipue dominum Nicholaum de la Beche, qui prius fuit custos turris Londoniarum, et dominum Iohannem Molyns militem; item, mercatores dominos J de Pulteney, Willelmum de la Pole, et Ricardum fratrem eius; et clericos cancellarie maiores, videlicet dominos Iohannem de Sancto Paulo, Michaelem de Wath, Henricum de Stratford, et de skakkario dominum Iohannem de Thorp et alios quam plures, iussit diversis carceribus mancipari. Nec eos absolvit quousque sua melancolia concepta de pecunie detencione, quam ad obsidionem Torneacensem debuerant misisse, fuerat sedata.

Note 1. Robert Stratford, bishop of Chichester and brother of the archbishop, was chancellor; Roger de Northburgh, bishop of Coventry, treasurer. John Stonore was chief justice of the Common Pleas; he was restored 9th May 1342. Richard Willoughby and William de Shareshull were justices of the Common Pleas. Nicholas de la Beche, constable of the Tower, became, in 1343, seneschal of Gascony. Michael Wath was Master of the Rolls, 13341337; and was succeeded by John of St. Paul, 1337-1340. Foss, Judges of England, 3.

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