THE RULE OF THE MONKS (1275-1406)
THE DAWN OF THE REFORMATION (1406-1539)
The Isle of Man was
plainly at this period not held by the crown of England in right of conquest,
nor has it ever since been. It belonged by right of descent from the ancient Norwegian
kings to a subject of the King of England (Dingwall).
It is extremely important to mark this point in Manx history; Largs
as giving a clue to the real position of the Isle of Man with respect to the crown
and constitution of Great Britain. The British Parliament therefore can have no
right (except that which might makes) to annex the Isle of Man as a county to
England, or alter the ancient form of government, without the sanction of the
insular legislature itself. (Benedictine)
The
Constution of old Time, the which we have given in our Days, how yee should be
governed on your Tynwald Day.
Henry, Duke of Lancaster,
(afterwards Henry 1Y. of England,) soon after his landing, in 1309, besieged Bristol
Castle. He had, however, previously, on the 18th of October, given and granted
the Isle of Man to Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland,
by charter. The possession, however, of the Isle of Man by Henry Percy, the Earl
of Northumberland was but of short continuance. Lordship
of Man, with all such Islands & Seigniories thereunto belonging as were Sir
William Le Scrop’s kt now deceased. He was four years after, on his attainder,
deprived of it again by Act of Parliament, and in the seventh yeare of his reign
(A.D. 1406) the king granted it to Sir
John Stanley for life only. Subsequently (A.D. 1407) he extended the grant to
him in perpetuity, in as full and ample a manner as it had been granted to any
former lord to be held of the crown of England, by paying to the king, his heirs
and successors, a cast of falcons at their coronation. Sir
John Stanley died in the beginning of 1414, being at the time Lord-Lieutenant
of Ireland. He married Isabel, only daughter of Sir Thomas Latham, of Latham,
and thence took the eagle and child for his crest.
In May, 1316, on Ascension
Day, Richard de Mandeville,
and his brothers, John and Thomas, with a company of Irish freebooters, landed
at Ronaldsway, and demanded of the Manx supplies of provisions, cattle and money.
Their request being rejected, they formed themselves into two divisions, which
marching up the country, again united at the foot of South
Barrule; then uttering the Irish war-whoop, they fell upon the Manx who had
there drawn up their forces to receive them. At the first onset the Manx fled
in a body. The victorious Irish, roaming through the country, plundered it of
every thing on which they could lay their hands. The sanctity of the venerable
abbey of Rushen availed nothing against this lawless company; they stripped it
of all its furniture, flocks and cattle. Spending a month in this manner, and
at their leisure digging up much silver which had been buried in various places,
they stowed their vessels with the best effects of the country, and returned safe
home. We find in Chaloner an
account given of certain proceedings of King Edward II. against Henry de Beaumont,
in the yeare 1323, when, on account of certain acts of disobedience and insolence
towards the king, he was corn-mitted to prison. It appears that, in the sixteenth
yeare of the reign of that king, on the 13th of May, the king, being at York,
summoned a Privy Council to advise about a certain treaty between himself and
Robert Bruce.
In 1333, Edward
III. directed seizin to be made of the Isle of Man, then in
possession of the Scots; but Edward
Baliol presenting himself to him as his liege lord, did fealty for the same,
and under him the Scots still retained the Island. The expulsion from Scotland
of Edward Baliol, who had been intruded upon the throne by Edward III. in the
place of David II., placed the Isle of Man
again in the power of the Bruce family.
The Russell family of Co. Down
dates back to the 12th century at Downpatrick. In 1348, William
Russell was elected bishop of the Sodor diocese by the clergy of the Island
of Man in the cathedral church of St. German in Holm of Man. The first step towards
the aggrandisement of the Church was to increase her income while making her discipline
more severe, and these objects were attained by the enactment of thirty-four canons
at a diocesan synod held at Kirk
Braddan, under the presidency of Bishop Mark, in 1291.
We may note also, that the great English abbey, already so powerful in Man, increased
that power by the acquisition, in 1299,
of the churches of' St. Michael and St. Maughold, in addition to its already considerable
properties, and we find its abbot holding the important office of custodian of
the island.
In 1334,
visitation dues are mentioned for the first time, each church in Man being compelled
to pay twenty shillings on such occasions. In 1350,
Bishop Russell's synod passed several canons, which, though chiefly relating to
the duties of the clergy, contained stringent penalties for being absent from
church, and regulations for the repairs of churches by the parishioners, and of
chancels by the rectors. The first of these was a mission to Norway, probably
in 1288. In 1289, he was
one of the guardians of the kingdom of Scotland, and, in 1292, he was an auditor
at the parliament held at Berwick in that year. Among other events in his life,
we may note his having, in 1291, held a diocesan synod; his being summoned, in
1296, to make his allegiance to Edward I of England; and, in 1299, his appropriation
to the abbey of Furness of the churches
of St Michael and St Maughold.
We have thus traced the election of the
Sodor bishop through the various stages of election by the king, clergy, and people
to election by the monks of Rushen, and finally to his appointment by the pope.
Among other instances of interference by the pope in the affairs of this diocese,
is his setting aside the election of an abbot of Rushen. It would appear that
a certain William of Cockerham had become Abbot of Rushen, either by election
or, if the bull of Urban V in 1363 is to be relied on, by force. In this bull,
the pope declared, in accordance with a decree of Innocent VI, that "abbatial
and other dignities and benefices" could only be disposed of by the Roman Pontiff.
He therefore ordered Roger, a monk of Furness,
to be appointed to Rushen
in the absence of William.
The 13th and 14th century form of the Lancashire
place-name Ince was Ines, Inis, and the
personal name derived from it was at first the same, e.g. William
de Ines, in reference to land in Pemberton, Final Concords, 1292. (An Inquisitio
Post-mortem in 1429 upon the effects of John de Ines is witnessed, by the way,
by Norris, Blundell, Crosse, Radcliffe and Bryge, all of them names which then
or later were settled in Man.) Afterwards, both the place-name and the personal
name were shortened to Ins and Ince. In the Manx Manorial
Roll of 1510 we find both Ince and MacInesh. It seems quite possible that
the latter, now Kennish, pronounced Kinnish, was merely the earlier arrival of
the two from Lancashire, and not the equivalent
of the Ulster McGuinness and the Scottish MacInnes, which it is said to be, or
yet of the other and distinct name Innes which has spread widely from its birthplace
of Innes in Elginshire. Similarly, MacCunneree (1417), MacCundre, Cundra, Condra,
Cunnery, Conder, and other variations on the same theme, a name which Moore classed
as obsolete but which is still extant in different forms — it occurs as Condra
on the Douglas and Braddan War Memorials — may represent MacAndrew or MacEndrid,
or even the Munster Connery or the Connaught Conry, but it is at least as likely
to be the Lancashire place-name Cunderhey. William de Cunderhey, for instance,
appears in a Preston Inquisition of 1312, and its modern English derivatives seem
to be Gundry and Goundry, and possibly Conder.
From the part of England
nearest the Island comes Cleator (MacCletter in 1510), a Cumberland
place-name (Cleterhe in 1201, Cleterghe 1294, Cletter 1490, etc., see Sedgfield,
Place-names of Cumberland), which gave rise to the English surname de Cleitere
in the Cumberland Pipe Rolls, 1236, and de Cleter in a Whitehaven Grant of 1351
(Moore Documents, No. 88). Like other Anglo-Manx
families the Cleators settled also in Ireland; in the 13th and 14th centuries
Claters appear as grantors and as witnesses in the Cartulary of St. Mary's Abbey,
Dublin. Kerruish, so common in Maughold, can be taken back through, e.g., Kerush
in 1610, and McKerrous, still in the same parish, in 1510, to McFergus in the
Keys of 1422. The vanishing of the F and stressing of the last syllable are paralleled
in Irish place-names containing FERGUS: Attyreesh, Carrigareesh, Derryrush (Joyce,
iii.), but the Irish surname, with both "O" and " Mac " formerly, has retained
the initial. Woulfe says the family of McFergus entered Ireland from Scotland
early in the 17th century.
First, the Murray
family, who, as successors to Randolph,
held it by the grant from Robert Bruce, and though driven from the actual possession,
still styled themselves Lords
of Man, and quartered the arms of the Island with their own certainly down
to 1398, when the first Duke
of Albany was created of that family. Secondly, the Montacute
family, deriving their claim from Affrica de Conaught, who, in the yeare 1305,
had made over her presumed right to Sir Simon (Ic Monte-acuto, (Simon Montacute,
or Montague,) by a deed of gift recorded by Sacheverell,
out of the Chartulary of Castle Acre. From Sir Simon Montacute, the claim thus
descended to his son Sir William Montacute, Earl of Salisbury.
The third
claimant was Mary, daughter of William do Waldebeof, whose father, John de Waldebeof,
had married Mary, daughter of Reginald, last king but one of the race of Godred
Crovan. Mary was thus great-grand-daughter, in direct descent, of Reginald, the
son of Olave the Black. Through
the influence of Edward III. a reconciliation of the last two claims was effected,
by the happy union, in 1343, of Sir William Montacute (the Earl of Salisbury)
with Mary de Waldebeof. The king then furnished him with men and shipping to prosecute
his own and his lady’s right, which he did so successfully that he soon won the
Island from the Scots, and was crowned King of Man, A.D. 1344.
The Montacute
family, however, still retained their claim; and, in the yeare 1393, William,
Earl of Salisbury, son of the former William, and grandson of Sir Simon Montacute,
sold his right and title to Sir William Scroop, chamberlain to the king, and afterwards
( 1397) created Earl of Wiltshire.
The barons of Audley;
who tells us that the barons of Audley built Healey-castle, in the county of Stafford,
upon lands given to them by Hervey de Stafford, as also Alde-Leigh, by Thoebald
de Verdon; and from these (says he) sprung the family of the Stanleys, Earls
of Derby. Mr. Cambden indeed tells us in his survey of Staffordshire,
that the Family of Stanley were seated at Audley, situate in the northern part
of that county, called the Moorlands,
near the head of the river Trent, and about a mile west of it; that the land was
craggy and stony, and thinks that the family might take their name from thence,
but does not acquaint us how long the family might have been seated there, nor
even who resided there in his time.
The original of the
Stanleys was of Saxon extraction, were all the families in England, whose
surnames end in ley, ton, and comb; as Bolton,
Dalton, Walton,
Sefton, and Singleton,
&c. Also Stanley, Tyldesley,
Townley, Mawdsley,
Walmsley, &c. and also Duncomb,
Tidcomb, Jacomb, and Edgecomb,
&c. and that the family now before us, was seated at Stoneley as aforefaid. They
were here long before the coming in of William Duke of Normandy, and that he was
attended in his expedition to England by one Adam de Audley, or Audithley, as
the French have it. And that he was accompanied from Audithley in Normandy, by
his two sons, Lidulph and Adam; and that on the Duke's obtaining the crown of
England, he gave Adam, the father, large possessions, as indeed he did all his
followers.
Mr. Cambden observes in his notes on this family, that it is
strange to read what lands King Henry III. confirmed to Henry de Audley, the son
of Mrs. Stanley (as hereafter) and his family, which were bestowed upon them by
the king, the bounty of the peers, and even of private persons. And to heighten
and increase the grandeur of this favourite family, who had attended and greatly
served her husband King William; Queen-Maud, his wife, and daughter of Baldwin,
Earl of Flanders, commonly called Maud the Stranger, gave to Adam de Audithley,
the father, the seate of Red-castle, in the county of Salop,
with all the lands and tenements thereto belonging, and where at is probable that
family resided, to their building of Heatly-castle, in the county of Stafford,
upon lands given them by Hervey de Stafford
as before; which brought them into that county, and from whence they were first
filed Barons of Healey, but which of them built that cattle.
And in the
yeare 1400, the king for his most eminent services in the preservation of the
peace of the kingdom, continued him there, and by commission appointed him Lord
Lieutenant of Ireland for six years. John
Holland, Duke of Exeter; Thomas Holland,
Duke of Surrey; John Montague, Earl of
Salisbury; Hugh Spencer, Earl
of Gloucester; John Bishop of Carlisle; Sir Thomas Blunt, and Maudlin, chaplain
to King Richard; who after some
conference, resolved to take away the King's life.
Owen Glendour, an Esquire
of Wales, brought up at the inns of court in London (a man of a fiery and aspiring
temper) who endeavoured to draw his countrymen the
old Britons into a general rebellion against King Henry; and to encourage
them therein, insinuated, that this was the critical time to effect his and their
liberty, from the English yoke: for that a new conspiracy was formed against King
Henry by the Percys, Earls of Northumberland
and Worcester, with Henry Hotspur,
and other persons of great power, by whose assistance they could hardly fail of
becoming a free people once more, under their own Princes; by which they were
so effected, that a triple leauge offensive and defensive, was entered into by
Glandour, the Piercys, and the Earl
of March, under their hands and seals; whereby it was agreed, that all England
and Wales should be divided into three parts; the first from Severn and Trent.
south and eastward, to be the portion allotted to the Earl of March: secondly,
all Wales and the lands beyond Severn, westward, to be the lot of Owen Glendour:
and thirdly, all the remainder of the land from Trent, northward, to belong to,
or be the Lord Piercys. Upon this conclusion, the Piercys being joined by a large
body of Scotch and drawing to their party the Earls of Stafford and Scroop, the
Archbishop of York, with many others
of great power, purposed to join the Welsh captain, Owen Glandour, and his Welsh
forces. The Piercys being joined by a large body of Scotch and drawing to their
party the Earls of Stafford and Scroop, the Archbishop of York, with many others
of great power, purposed to join the Welsh captain, Owen Glandour, and his Welsh
forces.
The Isle of Man being by Northumberland's late rebellion, forfeited
to the king, he called Sir William Stanley from the government of Ireland, and
gave him commission, with a proper force of men and ships, to seize that island
to his majesty's use, which he completed; and Sir John Stanley's presence with
the King being of the utmost consequence, his majesty appointed his younger son,
Thomas Earl of Lancaster, Lord Lieutenant
of Ireland, who landed at Carlingford, in that kingdom, the second of August,
1405; and for his better assistance,
appointed Sir John Stanley, Attorney-general to that prince.
On the sixth
of April, 1407, Sir John delivered up the said patents, to be cancelled in the
chancery of England; in consideration whereof, the king re-granted the Isle of
Man to Sir John Stanley and his heirs for ever, with all the royalties and franchises
thereto belonging, together with the patronage of the bishopric there, under the
stile and title of KING of MAN, in as full and ample manner as it had been granted
to any former lords thereof.
Beginning first with John Stanley, Esq;, eldest
son of Sir John Stanley by Isabel de Latham, who was at his father's death (whom
he succeeded) of the age of twenty-three or twenty-four years. He was a youth
of great genius and vivacity of spirit, being early taken notice of at court,
and made steward of the household to King
Henry VI. and was in the sixth yeare of that King, by the name of John Stanley,.
Esq; made constable of Carnarvon-castle, in Wales. For the Welsh were at time
(as it were) but young subjects to England, uneasy in temper, and on every change
of government frequently in tumults and insurrections, occasioned by the late
rebellion of Owen Glendour aforesaid, many of whole party and factious principles
still surviving, failed not to stir up new commotions, as occasion offered.
King
Henry, in the seventeenth yeare of his Reign, (Mr. Stanley, being then groom of
the Bed-chamber to that Prince) gave him, in reward of his loyalty, and faithful
services, a grant of all the lands late Nichol's and Saxon's, in the counties
of Carnarvon and Flint;
also by a new commission appointed him Governor of Carnarvon, and Constable of
the castle there for life, with the fee of 401, per annum; and also constituted
him Sheriff of Anglesea for life, with the fee of 201. per annum, and honoured
him with knighthood, by which character we shall treat of him hereafter. And,
in the mean time inform the reader, that by his vigilance and prudent management
he not only suppressed all insurrections, but reduced the country to full obedient
and tranquility.
In which he was greatly assisted by one John Dumbill,
a valiant captain, who had served under his father when governor of the Castle
of Roxburgh, in Scotland, and was. for his good and faithful service in Wales
retained the King's servant, with a pension of 51. per annum, for life, payable
out of the King's Exchequer at Chester. This Dumbill was the son of one Dumbill,
of Oxton, in Wirral, in the county of Chester, and the original ancestor of the
Dumbills of Lime, in that county; and, (as far as I can collect) was appointed
by Sir John Stanley, his Lieutenant in
that government during his absence. Thus Sir John, having made all very peaceable
in Wales, resolved to visit the Isle of Man, where affairs were in some disorder;
leaving the conservation and care of the people under his government, to his trusty
friend, Captain Dumbill.
1,
2, 3,
4, 5, 6