A dying queen and a failing knight

#OTD in 1290 Eleanor of Castile was moved to the house of Richard Weston, about halfway between Marnham and Lincoln. The queen was too ill to continue on the journey towards London, and died at Richard’s house on the 28th.

Her host, Richard Weston, was an interesting character. In his youth he had sided with Simon de Montfort, and returned to the king’s peace in 1266. He spent the rest of his life as a county knight, and not a very successful one.

Richard only took up knighthood, in 1268, because in that year all Lincolnshire landowners with land to an annual value of £20 were distrained to become knights. His eldest son Hugh died young in 1288, and the younger, William, was a penniless cleric.

Harsh as it may sound, the queen’s death came at an ideal time for him. Shortly before Eleanor’s arrival, Richard had been forced to sell off his manor of Weston at a knock-down price. This explains why he was living at Harby instead of Weston when the royal household came knocking.

From Richard’s perspective, Queen Eleanor’s last illness was a Godsend. While the royal couple were in his house, he persuaded Edward I to do him some favours. On 23 November a charter of free warren was made out to Richard Weston, ‘the king’s host’; this granted Richard and his wife exclusive hunting rights over the beasts of the warren over their lands. Anyone else who hunted there without permission would be liable to a penalty of £10. This was fee payable to the crown, while the damages went to Richard.

On 29 November, the day after Eleanor died, the king issued a writ to the sheriff, ordering him to cease persecuting Richard Weston and his family for outstanding debts. On 29 or 30 the king and his court left Harby with Eleanor’s body, never to return.

Richard was not forgotten, however. With his usual clumsy handling of affairs, he got himself in a scandal at Nottingham, where he served as a justice of gaol delivery. In November 1291 he and a fellow justice, William of Colwick, were accused of tampering with the records of the court. Seventy jurors swore to their guilt, which meant Richard was in serious trouble. Before he could be put on trial, however, he was pardoned on the verbal command of the king.

The advantages Richard gained from the royal visit were only temporary. His fortunes continued to decline, and by 1300 he and his wife were engaged in a fire-sale of their remaining lands. In July the elderly knight was desperate enough to strap on his armour, for the first time in over thirty years, and do military service in Scotland: he served as a mounted constable in charge of 577 Nottinghamshire archers at the siege of Caerlaverock in Galloway.

Meanwhile his wife, Agnes, continued to sell off land. Perhaps worn out by the Scottish campaign, Richard died in January 1301. He was probably in his 60s. Against the odds, Agnes managed to claw back enough land to provide for her widowhood. This lasted for at least 18 years, but she drops out of sight after 1319.