TORPEL

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Ela "De Camera" De Torpel, born about 1100, married Richard De Reinbudcourt, born about 1090, poss. of Chipping Warden, Northamptonshire; died after 1130 , of Sutton?, Bedfordshire?.

Child of Richard De Reinbudcourt and Ela De Camera is:

i.          Margery(Margaret) De Reinbudcourt, born about 1120 , of Ramerick, Hertfordshire; died after July 1203; married Robert Foliot.

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My Notes:

Thorold was apparently abbot in 1070, when Peterborough was burned by locals and/or Danes on hearing that William I was naming a stern French clergyman named Thorold to be the abbot of Peterborough.

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As posted to Soc. Gen. Medieval, July 2006:

Robert Leigh Ward's 1985 paper on the ancestry of Mayflower passenger Henry Sampson ("The Baronial Ancestry of Henry Sampson, Humility Cooper, and Ann (Cooper) Tilley", The Genealogist, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 166-186), gives the name Ela "de Camera" for the wife of Richard de Reinbudcourt (fl. 1120-1130). Their daughter and heiress was Margaret de Reinbudcourt, living 1203, who married Robert Foliot. This note summarizes my research into Ela "de Camera" and her husband, Richard.

 

Richard's father was Guy (Wido) de Reinbudcurt, a large Domesday Northamptonshire landholder. Sanders (Ivor J. Sanders, "English Baronies," Oxford University Press, 1960, p. 33) says "The family name is taken from Raimbeaucurt, near Douai."

 

I will unhesitatingly put forward this family name as the one with the most spelling variations of any in William's army. Thus far, I have seen the name spelled as Raimbeaucourt (the current spelling for that village near Douai), Raimbecurt, Raimecurt, Rainbercurt, Rainbucurt, Rainbudcourt, Rainbudcurt, Rainbuedcurt, Rainecurt, Ramburtcurt, Rambutcurt, Reinbudcourt, Reinbuedcurt, Reincurt, Rembercurt, and Rembutcurt. This variation was noted in the Victoria County History of Northamptonshire, Vol. 1, p. 292: "Another tenant-in-chief who had a large holding in the shire was Guy de 'Reinbuedcurt,' (In auxiliary documents relating to Cambridgeshire his surname is found as Raimbecurt, Rainbucurt, Rainbudcurt, Rainbuedcurt, Ramburtcurt, Rambutcurt, etc. ) whose whole barony was held, in the hands of his heirs the Foliots, by the service of 15 knights. Although there is in France more than one place from which his name might be derived, Raimbeaucurt in the 'Nord,' near Douai, seems to me the most likely. In that case we must add him to the Flemings..."

 

VCH Northamptonshire also tells us a little more about Guy's son Richard. From Vol. 3, p. 181:

"Huxloe Hundred, Burton Latimer...In 1086, it was held of the king in chief by Guy de Reinbuedcurt (10), whose son Richard was the tenant under Henry I. Richard is said to have pledged the manor in payment of a gambling debt, to the King (12), who granted it, to hold at pleasure, to Alan de Dinant, a Breton..."

 

Domesday Descendants has this on p. 655:

"de Rainbercurt, Ricardus..According to a Peterborough manuscript, cited by King, "Peterborough Abbey" 27-27, Richard had married a sister of Robert, son of Roger Infans of Torpel, a tenant of the abbey." [References: Dugdale, "Monasticon Anglicanum," III, p. 499, no. II; Keats-Rohan, "Northamptonshire Survey" (1999), pp. 98-103 (Cott. Vesp. E 22, fos 94r-95v), pp. 103-10 (Cott. Vesp. E 22, fos 96r-99v); Stenton, "English Feudalism," App., no. 8.]

 

Next, an excerpt from "Earl David of Huntingdon, 1152-1219, A Study in Anglo-Scottish History," K. J. Stringer, 1985, pp. 133-134:

"...Robert Foliot's marriage by c1150 to Margery de Reinbuedcurt, the heiress of the barony of (Chipping) Warden, had scarcely elevated the Foliots into the magnate class. The Warden honour had been valued at around only £94 in 1086. It also carried an onerous servitium debitum: fifteen knights were owed, and a surplus enfeoffment of two fees de novo was reported in 1166 (58). Marriage extended the territorial base and the Foliots rose into the baronage; but to portray Margery as a 'noble prize' and her inheritance as 'a valuable Honour' serves only to exaggerate their true importance (59).

 

"The Braybrooke cartulary describes an early loss. Margery's father Richard de Reinbuedcurt threw dice with King Henry (I) and lost 25 marks. The king wished him to settle before he rose from the game, and since he had no ready money conditions of payment were set so that if he defaulted the king would receive the money from the manor of Burton. Richard cleared the greater part of the debt, but because he did not observe the agreement and also because the king resented his mistreatment of his wife, whom the king had given him from his chamber, he dispossessed Richard of Burton and kept it (60).

 

"Such royal pettiness seems more typical of John than of Beauclerk; but the story is confirmed by independent evidence in its essential detail, and it represents a setback from which the lords of Warden never seem to have recovered. Robert Foliot sought to regain Burton Latimer (Northants) from Henry II by negotiating new terms of payment. Yet he too failed to satisfy the king, and by 1166 the Dinans held it 'in voluntate domini regis' (61). Meldreth (Cambs) and Wroston (Oxfordshire) [Wroxton], once important components of Reinbuedcurt demesne, were also wholly alienated at this stage (62)..."

 

(59) Respectively, Morey and Brooke, Gilbert Foliot, p. 41; Wardon Cart., p. 325.

(60) Extract from BL MS Sloane 986, fos. 72v-3r (copy of an inquest dated temp King John), also translated, with different wording, in Wardon Cart. p. 325.

(61) BL MS Sloane 986, fo. 73r; Red Book of the Exchequer 1:332; VCH Northamptonshire 3:181. For corroboration of the account in the Braybrooke cartulary see further CRR 8:6.

(62) VCH Cambs 8:70-2, 86; VCH Oxfordshire 9:175.

 

Finally, an excerpt from Edmund King's article, "Large And Small Landowners In Thirteenth–Century England. The Case Of Peterborough Abbey", in Past and Present, Vol. 47, pp. 26-50 (1970):

"...Torpel was one of two families to owe the service of six knights, the other being St. Medard. The property of each of them was assessed at four fees within the Soke of Peterborough, and two outside. In each case the latter became separate tenancies in the mid-twelfth century. The Torpel manors in this category were Cotterstock and Glapthorne, in the Nene valley, twelve miles from the abbey and the same distance from the manor of Torpel. Around 1100 their occupation was disputed. Perhaps still in dispute, for such was the ideal portion, they were given to Roger of Torpel's daughter on her marriage with Richard of Reinbuedcurt. They were purchased back by Roger's heir, Robert, and sometime before 1135 given to Robert as a separate tenancy when infirmity forced him to hand on the honour to his younger brother (Descriptio, no. 3; P.B.C., fo. 27r-v; Pytchley 28-34)...Robert...then gave the two manors to the hospital of St. Leonard...But the family regained control during the next reign, and these were demesne manors of Torpel in the 13th century. The Torpels were the chief of the honorial barons; it was a powerful family which could regain property from an abbey like Peterborough."

 

The above excerpts clearly show that "Ela de Camera", the wife of Richard de Reinbuedcurt was a daughter of Roger "Infans" de Torpel, and a maiden at court, given to Richard by Henry I. Interestingly, none of the sources above give this young lady a name of her own, and Ward's article failed to provide a source for that bit of information.

 

The ongoing research into Henry Sampson's ancestry now can add a new line, that of Torpel, "Ela's" father. Roger "Infans" held Torpel, Northamptonshire and neighboring estates. He appears to have been one of the 160(?) Norman knights brought with him as "hired guns" by the Norman Thorold, Abbot of Malmsbury, when he took over in 1069 as abbot at Peterborough. Another of these original Peterborough knights was named Geoffrey Infans, and he is sometimes described as "Geoffrey nepos abbatis." Mellows in his 1927 book, "Henry Pytchley'sBook of Fees", thinks this meant that Roger was also a relative of Thorold. The Chronicle of Hereward the Wake says Asceline Waterville (also seen as Azeline de Wateville) also was a nephew of Thorold, and there was intermarrying between the Watervilles and Torpels. Thorold is also seen referred to as "Thorold de Fécamp." Fécamp, Seine-Inférieure is on the coast of Haute Normandy, 25 miles north of Le Havre. If Thorold was indeed a relative of Roger Infans, this may be the area from which Roger came.

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Torpel (near Ufford and Peterborough, parish of Helpston, ruins immediately west of village), Northants (and maybe Rutland or Lincs, all converge at today's Peterborough)--

Fees located in Northants: Ufford, Helpston, Bainton, Ashton, Ailsworth, Glinton, Lolham, Maxey, Northborough, Nunton, Southorpe, Pilton, Cotterstock, Glapthorne.  Torpel also seen as Torrel and Thorp.

 

DD, p. 655 cites a Peterborough MS which says Richard de Rainbercurt married a sister of Robert, son of Roger Infans of Torpel, who was a tenant of Peterborough Abbey. Roger Infans (Roger de Torpel "0") also had a younger son Roger I, named with Robert de Torpel on 1129/30 Pipe Roll. Roger I gave manors of Glapthorne and Cotterstock (Nene valley, 12 miles from abbey and same distance from manor of Torpel) with his daughter when she married Richard de Reinbuedcurt.

 

Richard de Reinbuedcurt threw dice with King Henry (I) and lost 25 marks. The king wished him to settle before he rose from the game, and since he had no ready money conditions of payment were set so that if he defaulted the king would receive the money from the manor of Burton (Burtone, Burton Latimer) Northants. Richard cleared the greater part of the debt, but because he did not observe the agreement and also because the king resented his mistreatment of his wife, whom the king had given him from his chamber, he dispossessed Richard of Burton and kept it (60).

 

Richard de Reinbuedcurt sold the wedding manors back to Robert de Torpel. Richard also had to sell Meldreth (Cambs) and Wroston (Oxon), once important components of Reinbuedcurt demesne. By 1135 Robert Torpel had contracted leprosy and turned over the Torpel honour to his younger brother Roger, keeping the two manors to live on(?). 1147 Robert gave the two manors to St Leonard's hospital outside Peterborough when he entered it. But the family regained control during the next reign, and these were demesne manors of Torpel in the 13th century. The Torpels were the chief of the honorial barons; it was a powerful family which could regain property from an abbey like Peterborough.

 

Roger I had a son Roger II who m. by c1160 to Ascelina, dau. of Geoffrey de Waterville and his wife Ascelina (dau. or sister of Payn) Peverel. (Geoffrey was son of Ascelin de Waterville). They had a son Roger III who succ. his mother in 1220. This last Roger was said to have been of Girton, Cambridgeshire.  That Roger m. Mabel ___ and had a son William and a dau. Asceline who m. Ralph Camoys.

 

Roger Infans was probably one of the Norman knights brought with him by Thorold (Turold, Torald, Thurold) when he took over as abbot at Peterborough (abbot 1069-1700). Another of these original Peterborough knights was named Geoffrey Infans, and he is sometimes described as "Geoffrey nepos abbatis."  Mellows in the 1927 book, "Henry Pytchley'sBook of Fees", thinks this shows that Roger was also a relative of Thorold. Chronicle of Hereward the Wake says Asceline Waterville (also seen as Azeline de Wateville) also was a nephew of Thorold. Thorold also seen referred to as Thorold Abbot of Malmesbury before named to Peterborough. Also said he was also Bishop of Bayeux in 1098-1099. Turold was also referred to as "Thorold de Fécamp." Fécamp (no "s"), Seine-Inférieure is on the coast of Haute Normandy, 25 miles N of Le Havre. If Turold was an uncle of Roger Infans, this may be the area from which Roger came.

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Other Notes:

Rot. de Dom. et pueris et puellis

Ancient Deeds

Testa de Nevil

Pipe Rolls

Patent Rolls

Red Book of the Exchequer

Early Yorkshire Charters

Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300: volume 3, 1977, British History Online

Henry of Pytchley's Book of Fees, W. T. Mellows, ed., 1927

Domesday Descendants

From Norman Conquest to Magna Carta: England 1066-1215, C. Daniell, 2003

Earl David of Huntingdon, 1152-1219, A Study in Anglo-Scottish History, K. J. Stringer, 1985

William the Conqueror: The Norman Impact Upon England, D. C. Douglas, 1967

Sanders, English Baronies, 1960

The Reformation of the Twelfth Century, Giles Constable, 1998

Past and Present, v. 47

Past and Present, v. 68

Peterborough Abbey, Edmund King, 1973

English Historical Review (EHR)

Complete Peerage

Earl David of Huntingdon

VCH Bucks

VCH Cambridgeshire

VCH Northants

VCH Wilts

Feudal Cambridgeshire, W. S. Farrer, 1920

Battle Abbey Roll, Cleveland, 1889

Cameos from English History, from Rollo to Edward II, C. M. Yonge, 1873, Proj. Gutenberg online

Handbook to the Cathedrals of England, Richard John King, 1862

Song of Roland

English Cathedrals.... S. Van Rensselaer, 1902

Internet page noting persistence of Torpel name in Torpel Way

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Rot. de Dom. et pueris et puellis:

p. 15, footnote--

(1) It is evident that 'Walteri de Gaufrevill(a)' is an amazing freak of the scribe for 'Gaufredi de Walterivill(a)', for a Geofrey de Waterville occurs on the Pipe Roll of 1161 as paying 10 marcs on his knight's fees in Cambs. or Hunts. On turning to the 'Liber mem. eccl. de Bernewelle', it will be found that Asceline, one of the three sisters and co-heirs of William Peverel of Bourne, a Cambs. barony, married a Waterville who must have been the above Geoffrey (who would thus hold jure uxoris), for she left two daughters  (and coheirs to their brother Ralf), Asceline 'de Waterville' and Maud 'de Diva.' Corby, being here entered as the marriage portion of Maud, was clearly the knight's fee held (in her right) by William 'de Diva' of the bishop in 1166 (Red Book). In 1212 it was held by  the two sisters jointly (ibid.; Testa).

   The family of Dives (Diva) had settled in Sussex and Northants at the Conquest under the Count of Mortain. Those of Waterville and of Torpel, into which Asceline, the other sister married, held under the abbot of Peterborough.

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Ancient Deeds:

D. 186. Demise by the lady Amice, the prioress, and the convent, of St. Michael's without Stanford, on the advice of Sir Hugh de Leycester, their prior, to Walter son of John de Melton, for five years, of the fourth part of a common oven in Melton, which part was given to the said church, in frank almoin, by the lady Mabel de Torpel, paying 20s. yearly. Michaelmas, A.D. 1260.

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Testa de Nevill, Part 2:

1242-43--

Birton'. Item Ricardus filius Hugonis, heres Rogeri Torpel, et Wydo Wake tenent in Birton' iiij. partem unius militis de Olivero de Eyncurt, et idem Oliverus de domino rege in capite de conquestu.

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1242-43--

Feoda Oliveri de Eyncurt--

Rogerus filius Hugonis, heres Rogeri de Torpel et Wydo Wack' tenent iiijtam partem unius feodi in Bructon' de veteri feoffamento.

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Pipe Roll for 27H2 (1180-81)--

p. 90, Norhanton, Norhantescira--

De placitis Hugonia de Guneuill' et Willelmi Basset et Willelmi filii Radulfi.

…Tomas de Coleuill' redd. comp. de .1. l. pro habenda custodia puerorum Rogeri Torpel (de Torpel, C.R.) et terre sue donec etatem habeant. In thesauro .1. m. Et debet .xxv. m…

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Pipe Roll for 24H2 [1177-78]--

Index entry for Rogerus Torpel, to page 50, but page 50 [Norhants entries] is illegible.

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Pipe Roll for 22H2 [1175-76]--

p. 50, Norhantescue--

Rot. 4, m. 2--

Nova placita et nove conventiones per Hugonem de Gundevill' et Willelmum Basset et Willelmum filium Radulfi justicias errantes.

…Tomas de Coleuill' redd. comp. de .c. m. pro habenda custodia puerorum Rogeri Torpel (de Torpel, C.R.) et terre sue donec etatem habeant. In thesauro .xvj. l. et .j. m. Et debet .1. l…

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Pipe Roll for 13H2 [1136-37]--

Norhantona--

Rog. de Torpel . redd Comp . de xl s. de miscdia. In thro libauit. Et Quiet. est.

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Patent Rolls, 1225:

Rogero de Torpel in comitate Norhamtonie named as a traveling judge.

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Red Book of the Exchequer:

1211-12--

Honor Abbatis de Burgo.

Northants--

Rogerus de Torpel tenet feoda vj militum...

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Early Yorkshire Charters, Farrer/Clay:

[later than my interest]

9:53, Stuteville Fee--

...Leonia possessed an interest in the honour of Bourn, co. Cambridge. This honour had been held by William Peverel, and on his death in 1147-48 his coheirs were his four sisters. They were Maud, who married Hugh de Dover and d.s.p.; Alice who m.Hamo Pecche and had issue; Roaise who m. Rollo de Harcourt, by whom she had a daughter Aubreye wife of William Trussebut; and Asceline who m. Geoffrey de Walterville and whose eventual heirs were their two daughters...Although the evidence may suggest that Leonia's interest represented that of the fourth Peverel sister, Asceline de Walterville, the origin of such an interest is obscure. It does not appear to have survived her death; and in 1220 Roger de Torpel, son of one of Asceline's daughters, fined for his relief on his mother's land, forming an inheritance for him of a sixth part of a barony; clearly his moiety of his grandmother's third part of the honour of Bourn.

[footnote] It is curious to find that both Asceline's daughters, who died in 1220 and 1228, were of age during Leonia's tenure...

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Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300: volume 3, 1977, British History Online:

pp. 118-50, Canons for Whom no Prebends can be Assigned--

Geoffrey de Torpell'  (fn. 4)

 

First occ. as can. ? c. 1163 (R.A.L. IX no. 2500, see app. 22). Last occ. ? late 1183 or early 1184 (Danelaw Chs. no. 291, and R.A.L. IX no. 2603, see app. 31; cf. cart. St. Andrew, Northampton, fo. 37v, of ? c. 1180, see app. 30). Does not occ. in L.P. II, of c. 1187 (app. 33). Presum. already d. when listed among debtors of Aaron the Jew, from 1191 to 1197 (P.R. 3 Ric. I (P.R.S. n.s. ii) p. 19-9 Ric. I (P.R.S. n.s. viii) p. 107).

. . .

4 Prob. Torpel, par. Helpston, Northants. The manor of Torpel was a fee of Peterborough abbey (see E. King, Peterborough Abbey 1086-1310 (Cambridge, 1973) pp. 24, 27-8, 38-40 etc.), but the place is now lost and the name has fallen into disuse (see Deserted Medieval Villages, ed. M. W. Beresford and J. G. Hurst (1971) pp. 53, 198).

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Henry of Pytchley's Book of Fees, W. T. Mellows, ed., 1927:

[Includes side by side Latin and English translation]

…orig. written in late 1300s…

…Ref. to Thorold of Castor, fos. 64 and 65…

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p. xviii--

Knight's Fees of Peterborough Abbey--

compiled from Black Book and Swaffham's Register--

1. Title of Fee: St. Medard, First Feoffee: Anketil; 6 fees.

2. Title of Fee: Torpel, First Feoffee: Roger Infans; fees located in Northants: Ufford, Helpston, Bainton, Ashton, Ailsworth, Glinton, Lolham, Maxey, Northborough, Nunton, Southorpe, Pilton, Cotterstock, Glapthorne; 6 fees.

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p. li--

List of knights of Peterborough compiled from Robert of Swaffham's list of 1252, who in turn compiled it from an amended Rotulus, extracts of which are in The Greater Book of John of Achurch and The Register of the Lands of the Abbey. The date of the amended Rotulus is apparently about 1186-96, after the new knights of the chamber had been enfeoffed. The amended Rotulus was in turn based on an original one, which may have been a portion of the missing Rotuli Wincestrie.

The Rotulus (Original c1086, amendment c1186-96. Reconstructed from disjointed paragraphs in the Register of the Lands of the Abbey…amendments in italics

2. Torpel. Rogerus Infans (2) tenent (sic) in comitatu Norhamtonie xii. hidas terre, scilicet, in Torpel, Makeseya, Ufford, Pilkyngtona, Glapthorne, Cotherstoke et pertinenciis et facit seruicium sex militum.

(2) fo. 96.

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p. 28--

Torpel (1).

Roger de Torpel holds twelve hides of land in Northamptonshire to wit: in Torpel, Maxey, Ufford, Pilton (2), Glapthorn, Cotterstock, Northborough, Lolham, Bainton and Ashton and appurtenances and therefore he performs the service of six knights. Swaffham fo. 267.

   Also in the Black Book, fo. 154 (3). Also by the charter of King Richard which states: "The fees of six knights in Torpel, Ufford, Pilton and in the vills of Maxey, Cotterstock, Glapthorn and appurtenances, which Roger de Torpel holds."…It is also mentioned by an inquisition, contained in the Black Book towards the end, which was taken in the 27th year of the reign of King Henry, son of King John, that he is a tenant in the vills above mentioned and it adds Nunton, Deeping, Ashton(4) and Southorpe (and) that he holds four fees (5). Of the six fees above mentioned Robert de Lolham holds a quarter of a fee in Lolham and an eighth in Maxey, which is in the hands of his tenants there, rendering to the countess ten pounds per annum, as in the Register of Abbot Godfrey, fo. 17 (6). Peter de Arderne holds an eighth of a fee in Maxey, which once belonged to Robert Colville. The chamberlain of Burgh holds as half a knight's fee the tenements in Northborough, Nunton and Maxey, which belonged at one time to Geoffrey of Northborough, by the gift of the said Geoffrey, whose charter is registered in Swaffham, fo. 219.

   And Roger Torpel quitclaimed as in Swaffham, fol. 275. Moreover when we sued out (7) our writ and before John Camoys enfeoffed the Queen of Torpel (8), this Roger held of us the said tenements amongst his other tenements and therefore we could not hold the same tenements from him because it would follow that the same person might be both lord and tenant of the same tenement which is against the common law.

   Sir Thomas Camoys whose tenants are in the Black Book (9), fo. 154, holds one fee and a half in Pilton, according the said inquisition in the register of abbot Godfrey. And be it known that master Stephen of Ufford held there three parts of one fee, Robert of Potton a third of a fee, Thomas Fitz-Geoffrey a fourth part and a sixth part of a fee there. These tenements in Pilton are held of us in chief and not of the lords of Torpel because John de Camoys did not alienate the said tenements to the queen but he and his heirs were always in seisin and always held of us immediately, for which reason sir Thomas Camoys did homage to dan Adam the abbot at Warmington.

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p. 29--

   ...William Fauvel holds half a fee in Southorpe of the manor of Torpel…

   ...In Cotterstock and Glapthorne are a knight's fee and a sixth part of a fee. Sir John Camoys once lord of Torpel gave these tenements by a fine levied therefor, to John de Kirkby…

   ...This John had as heir one brother William and this William de Kirkby attorned to abbot Richard of the homage and other forinsec [sic] services;…

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p. 32--

   ...In the manor of Torpel is one fee and a fourth part of one fee and a fifth part of one fee to which manor appertain certain tenements in Bainton, Maxey, and Ufford, which a certain Eleanor, Queen of England, acquired from a certain John Camoys, lord of Torpel…

   …Be it also remembered that abbot Robert granted by indenture to Roger the fourth of Torpel and to his heirs…that they should be free from herbage in Peakirk fen only…

   …The tenements which Peter de Arderne holds in Maxey, certain are of Torpel, and certain of the chamberlain of Burgh, but his tenements in Northborough are held of the chamberlain, as appears in the beginning of the chamberlain's charter, Swaffham, fo. 229. Also be it known that the first to be enfeoffed of the tenements in Torpel with its members was Roger Infans. And be it known

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p. 33--

that once they held tenements in Warmington (Swaffham fo. 286) out of which they enfeoffed the nuns of Stamford(20) and the nuns of Wothorpe(21) of rents and meadows, whereof John Adkoke still holds a part from the said nuns…

   …The deed of Roger de Torpel above mentioned:

   To all the sons of holy mother church to whom the present writing shall come, Roger de Torpel, Greeting. Know of you that I have given and by this my present charter have confirmed…for the soul of my spouse Mary and for the welfare of my soul and of all my ancestors and heirs in pure and perpetual alms  20s. of annual rent for ever…land in Warmington which Lefsi holds, 2s.; land in Warmington which Reginald holds, 12d.;…land in Warmington which Walter Fitz-Hugh holds, 4s.; …land in Ufford which Geoffrey son of Alice holds, 3s…

   This deed is kept under lock and key in the possession of the nuns of Stamford. They also have a meadow there of the gift of the said Roger de Torpel.

   …In the Red Book of the Exchequer it is stated: Roger de Torpel holds six knight's fees. Also elsewhere "Torpel, (24), Ufford, Walcote, Bainton and Ashton, three fees. In Lolham a quarter of a fee. In Maxey an eighth of a fee…

= = =

(1) The first tenant of the six knight's fees of Torpel was Roger whose cognomen was Infans. He was probably a relative of abbot Thorold. The other original Peterborough knight, bearing the same cognomen, was Geoffrey Infans of Gunthorpe and Southorpe, who is sometimes described as Gaufridus nepos abbatis. Bridges in error in stating that Roger was a minor (v. Bridges, 2:599) and it was also a mistake to say that Roger Infans was alive in 1146, when Pope Eugenius confirmed the knight's fees by name to the abbot and convent of Peterborough (Sparke, H.C., p. 80). The draftsman of the bull inserted in the majority of cases the names of the original feoffees to identify each fief. It should be noted, however, that the second bull of Pope Eugenius of the same date, confirming the endowments of the sacristy, contains the names of the contemporary holders of some fees, who paid a portion of their tithes to the sacrist. Thus we read in the first bull "Feudum Galfridi Infantis, Gunnetorp, Suttorp, etc.," and in the second bull "Duas partes decimae…Yvonis de Gunnetorp."

   Domesday records "In Pichetone tenet Rogerius de abbate ii hidas et dimidiam" (D.B. 1:221b). This Roger witnessed a charter in 1107 in the abbot's court, (Pytchley, Liber Cartarum, fo. 6), and also in 1117. At the time of the first Pipe Roll in 1130 Robert de Torpel was tenant. In 1144 Roger the second appears as a witness in the abbot's court. He may be the tenant whose name is mentioned in the Pipe Rolls in 1165 and 1167. He died about 1178 as there is a note in the Pipe Roll (24H2) that Thomas de Coleville rendered an account of £16 and one mark for having the wardship of the sons of Roger Torpel and their land until they attained their majority. (See also B.M., Vesp. E. 22, fo. 99).

   Roger's wife Ascelina was the daughter of Saher de Quinci (P.R. 3R1).

   A third Roger is named in the charter of Richard I in 1189 and in 1212 in the Red Book of the Exch. (fo. 158). From him abbot Benedict acquired the advowson of the church of Maxey in 1190 (Swa., edit. Sparke, p. 100). He attested several charters of abbot Andrew (1194-99, C.A.R.P., nos. 9 and 12) and abbot Robert (1214-22, Ibid. Nos. 4, 24 and 52; L.N. fos. 176-9). In a dispute about the wardship of his heirs, abbot Alexander (1222-26) expended 300 marks. (Swa. edit. Sparke, p. 116). One of the witnesses of a charter of abbot Martin (1226-33) was Roger de Torpel, minor. See also Excerpta e Rot. Fin., 1:133, 152).

   It is difficult to identify the different Rogers. It will be noted that Pytchley describes one as Roger the fourth. The manor of Torpel before 1254 came into the possession of Ralph de Camoys (L.N. 245d., Bridges 2:680). His son Ralph died 1277 (vied Inq. P.M., vol. 2, no. 212), being succeeded by his son John de Camoys. The latter surrendered the manors of Torpel and Upton to Edward I in 1280 and the king settled them upon Queen Eleanor. In 1308 the two manors were granted to Piers Gaveston and Margaret his wife…For further information relating to the different manors originally held by the Torpel knights, vide Bridges 2:374, 526, 599 et seq. Calendar of Fine Rolls 1:289. See below, note 7.

(2) D.B. 1:221b. In Pilchetone tenet Rogerius de abbate ii. hid et dim.

(3) This list of "Feoda abbatis de Burgo" in the Black Book, fos. 154 et seq. is mentioned in the introduction, p. xlii.

(4) …quoddam hamelettum, qui vocatur Ayston pertinens ad Thorp…

(5) This is a doubtful passage. The extent of the manors of Torpel and Upton, taken after the death of Queen Eleanor, states: "The manors of Torpel and Upton are held of the abbot of Burgh by the service of four fees." But part of the holding in Lolham belonged to the Southorpe fief and was acquired by Queen Eleanor from Geoffrey of Southorpe…

(6) Extenta maneriorum de Torpel et Uptone…

(7) Impetracio: an application for the issue of a writ. See Rot. Parl. 5,1, p. 310, AD 1314-15, no. 90; v. 2, p. 30, AD 1319; Cal. Rot. Cart. 5, 3, pp. 111, 131; Ibid. pp. 416, 434; Ancient Petitions, PRO, file 2, no. 78; file 201, no. 10032; file 37, no. 1814; file 312, E44, 45.

(8) In 1279.

(9) Lib. Nig. fo. 153…

(20) St. Michael's priory, Stamford. A. H. T.

(21) Wothorpe priory, which came to and end in 1349, and was annexed to St. Michaels. A. H. T.

(24) This note must be from a list compiled at a date much later than 1212. In 1243 Robert de Colville held the 1/8 fee in Maxey. Geoffrey de Lolham 1/4 in Lolham and 1/8 in Maxey and Geoffrey de Northborough held 1/2 fee in Northborough and Nunton…

= = =

p. 107, Tot--

...and be it known that Northwood was once called Totteswood, whereof there is a statement in the deed of Roger de Torpel (Swaffham, fo. 275). And concerning the tenements given to the almoner (Swaffham, fo. 220), to wit, by six charters there, and all (tenements) contained in those charters are of this fee...

= = =

Index:

Under Torpel, Ascelin, says see under Waterville...

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Domesday Descendants, p. 655:

de Rainbercurt, Ricardus

Son of Guy de Raimbeaucourt. Pres. a younger son who succ. on the death of an elder brother, since Ingelran son of Guy features in several Domesday entries, though no reference is found to Richard until after 1086. Neither his father's nor his obit dates are known, but he was alive in the 1120s. His heir was a daughter Margery, wife of Robert Foliot. According to a Peterborough manuscript, cited by King, "Peterborough Abbey" 27-27, Richard had m. a sister of Robert, son of Roger Infans of Torpel, a tenant of the abbey.

  Dugdale, "Monasticon Anglicanum," III, p. 499, no. II; Keats-Rohan, "Northants Survey" (1999), pp. 98-103 (Cott. Vesp. E 22, fos 94r-95v), pp. 103-10 (Cott. Vesp. E 22, fos 96r-99v); Stenton, "English Feudalism," App., no. 8.

= = =

p. 738--

de Torpel, Robert

Son of Roger Infans of Torpel, a Domesday tenant of the abbey of Peterborough. Accounted to rehave [get again] his land in Northamptonshire 1129/30. A Peterborough charter reveals that land in Glapthorne and Cotterstock had been given in marriage with Robert's sister and that he had later bought the land back; for a while, when Robert was suffering from leprosy, it had been managed by his brother Roger, but late in his life Robert gave all his land and rights there to Peterborough (cited in King, Peterborough Abbey, pp. 28-39).

   Pipe Roll 31H1, 85-nh.

 

de Torpel, Roger

Son of Roger I Infans of Torpel, a Domesday tenant of Peterborough abbey. Occurs with Robert de Torpel on the 1129/30 Pipe Roll.

   Pipe Roll 31H1, 85-nh.

 

de Torpel, Roger

Successor of Roger I Infans of Torpel by the 1160. Married Ascelina, daughter and coheiress of Ascelina Peverel of Bourn and her husband Geoffrey de Walterville. He d. 1176 leaving a son Roger IV de Torpel who succeeded his mother in 1220 (Sanders, 19).

   Pipe Roll 11H2, 95-nh; Pipe Roll 12H2, 65-rt.

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From Norman Conquest to Magna Carta: England 1066-1215, C. Daniell, 2003:

p. 23--

In 1070 William the Conqueror had sent Turold to be abbot of Peterborough abbey. The region was rebellious and Turold not only brought with him 160 knights, but then proceeded to build a castle near the abbey and also parcel out nearly half the abbey's lands top his kinsmen...

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Earl David of Huntingdon, 1152-1219, A Study in Anglo-Scottish History, K. J. Stringer, 1985:

p. 133+--

   The Foliots and their successors the Leidets (55) had a roughly similar history to that of the Foxtons; both houses, even as tenants by barony of the English crown, were ultimately hard pressed to support the expenses of knighthood. The Foliots' Huntingdon interest in 1185 included the Bedfordshire manor of Sutton and claims to various properties which they disputed with Earl David (56). Hitherto, the family was distinguished by service as stewards of the honour, kinship with the great churchman Gilbert Foliot, and illicit (but temporary) 'invasions' during the Anarchy (57). Yet Robert Foliot's marriage by c1150 to Margery de Reinbuedcurt, the heiress of the barony of (Chipping) Warden, had scarcely elevated the Foliots into the magnate class. The Warden honour had been valued at around only £94 in 1086. It also carried an onerous servitium debitum: fifteen knights were owed, and a surplus enfeoffment of two fees de novo was reported in 1166 (58). Marriage extended the territorial base and the Foliots rose into the baronage; but to portray Margery as a 'noble prize' and her inheritance as 'a valuable Honour' serves only to exaggerate their true importance (59).

   The Braybrooke cartulary describes an early loss. Margery's father Richard de Reinbuedcurt threw dice with King Henry (I) and lost 25 marks. The king wished him to settle before he rose from the game, and since he had no ready money conditions of payment were set so that if he defaulted the king would receive the money from the manor of Burton. Richard cleared the greater part of the debt, but because he did not observe the agreement and also because the king resented his mistreatment of his wife, whom the king had given him from his chamber, he dispossessed Richard of Burton and kept it (60).  

   Such royal pettiness seems more typical of John than of Beauclerk; but the story is confirmed by independent evidence in its essential detail, and it represents a setback from which the lords of Warden never seem to have recovered. Robert Foliot sought to regain Burton Latimer (Northants) from Henry II by negotiating new terms of payment. Yet he too failed to satisfy the king, and by 1166 the Dinans held it 'in voluntate domini regis' (61). Meldreth (Cambs) and Wroston (Oxon), once important components of Reinbuedcurt demesne, were also wholly alienated at this stage (62).

(55) Basic details on the Foliot-Leidet line are set out in HKF 2:383-5; Wardon Cart., pp. 325-8; A. Morey and C.N.L. Brooke, Gilbert Foliot and his Letters (Cambridge 1965), pp. 38-41.

(56) HKF 2:314,383-4; RRS [Regesta Regum Scottorum, ed. G.W.S. Barrow, et al] 1:no. 12; BL MS Addit. 46701, fos. 68v, 92r.

(57) On these last see A. Saltman, Theobald Archbishop of Canterbury (London 1956), nos. 206-8, 277; J. A. Robinson (Gilbert Crispin, Abbot of Westminster (Cambridge 1911), pp. 48-9.

(58) Red Book of the Exch., ed. Hall, 1:331-2. On the date of Robert Foliot's marriage see Saltman, Theobald, no. 277 (there dated 1148 x 54, but more likely 1148 x 50), with VCH Northants 1:384 and n. 3.

(59) Respectively, Morey and Brooke, Gilbert Foliot, p. 41; Wardon Cart., p. 325.

(60) Extract from BL MS Sloane 986, fos. 72v-3r (copy of an inquest dated temp King John), also translated, with different wording, in Wardon Cart. p. 325.

(61) BL MS Sloane 986, fo. 73r; Red Book of the Exchequer 1:332; VCH Northants 3:181. For corroboration of the account in the Braybrooke cartulary see further CRR 8:6.

(62) VCH Cambs 8:70-2, 86; VCH Oxon 9:175.

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William the Conqueror: The Norman Impact Upon England, David C Douglas, 1967:

p. 327--

...With the exception of Aethelwig, abbot of Evesham, who was honooured by William and kept in office until his death in 1077, the English abbots as a body were undistinguished at the beginning of William's reign...Turold from Fécamp, successively abbot of Malmesbury and Peterborough, was a soldier rather than a monk and no friend to the monasteries over which he presided...

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Sanders, English Baronies, 1960:

p. 19, Bourn, Cambridgeshire--

Picot, Domesday lord of Bourn, d. post 1092 leaving Robert who lost his lands and was forced to flee the realm after rebelling against H1.

   Pain Peverel, one of the king's familiares, was granted the fief c1122 (1). Pain d.s.p. c1130-3.

   William son of Robert Peverel, nephew of Pain, obtained the barony. William d.s.p. 1147-8 on the crusade and his heirs were his sisters Maud, Alice, Rose, Asceline (2).

   Maud, who inherited one-quarter of the barony, m. Hugh de Dover d.s.p. 1171-2. She d.s.p. 1185 when her lands were divided between the representatives of her three sisters (3).

   Alice, whose inheritance of one-quarter of the barony increased to one-third, m. Hamo I Peche d. 1178-85 lord of Great Bealings, and the lands remained with this family (4).

   Rose, whose inheritance of one-quarter of the barony increased to one-third, m. Rollo de Harcourt. She d. ante 1185 leaving her daughter Aubrey.

   Aubrey m. William Trussebut d. 1175-6. This section of the barony followed the history of Hunsingore...

   Asceline, whose inheritance of one-quarter of the barony increased to one-third, m. first Geoffrey de Waterville d. 1162. She m. second in 1163, Saher de Quincy d. 1190. Radulph de Waterville, son and heir of Asceline by her first husband, d.s.p. c1175. His heirs were his sisters Asceline and Maud.

   Asceline de Waterville, who inherited one-sixth of the barony, m. first Roger I de Torpel d. 1176. She d. 1220 when her son Roger II de Torpel made fine for lands in Hinxton, Cambs, which his mother held of the king for one-sixth of a barony (Hinxton was part of Picot's estate (VCH Cambs 1:392, 411). Saher de Quincy wsa elder brother of Robert de Quincy and uncle of Saher, first Earl of Winchester). Roger II d. 1225, Roger III, son and heir, d. 1229 leaving William d.s.p., a minor, in 1242 when his heir was his sister Asceline.

   Asceline took  one-sixth of the barony to her husband Ralph I de Camoys d. 1259 of Flockthorpe in Hardingham.

Ralph II, son and heir, d. 1277 leaving John d. 1298, Ralph III, son and heir, d. 1336...(Ralph II is said in his inquisition post mortem to hold Hinxton by service of half a barony. This should be half of one-third...)

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The Reformation of the Twelfth Century, Giles Constable, 1996:

p. 84--

…When Robert of Torpel in 1147 gave himself and some property to God, St Peter, and the abbey of Peterborough, 'It was agreed that in his lifetime he should receive a monk's corrody, and four of his servants knights' corrodies, and on his death he should assume the monk's habit' (195).

(195) King (1973), p. 28, who translated this charter from MS Peterborough, Dean and Chapter, 5, fol. 27; see p. 25 for knights' corrodies in the Descriptio of c1130.

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Past and Present, JTOR online University database:

47:26-50 (1970)--

"Large and Small Landowners in 13th Century England. The Case of Peterborough Abbey," Edmund King--

The poor and needy, according to the author of the Life of Edward the Second, were inevitably avaricious, for they lacked the necessities of life. Now,in his day, the rich were emulating them:

   'Observe how the earls and other magnates of the land, who could live according to their station on their inheritance, regard all their time as wasted, unless they double or treble their patrimony; wherefore they pester their poorer neighbours to sell what they have inherited, and those who will not be persuaded they plague in many ways, until they are so straitened that they perhaps offer for a song what they could earlier have sold for a good price.'

(Vita Edwardi Secundi, ed. N. Denholm-Young, 1957, pp. 99-100.)

…in the thirteenth century…Peterborough abbey…those selling to the abbot and his villeins "comprise a large proportion of local gentry and yeomanry." (M. M. Postan, The Cambridge Economic History of Europe, 1 (2nd edn. 1966), 592-5).

   …In 1147 an agreement with Roger of Torpel when he retired to the abbey gave him a monk's corrody, and the four servants who came with him were to have knight's corrodies (P.B.C., fo. 27r-v)…[King makes the point here that original status of a knight was not very high, so that even a servant could be given a knight's subsistance; knights later had a much higher status and there were fewer of them]

…Peterborough carried the service of 60 knights, which was a unique burden for a monastic house, and largely as a result the size of each fee was extremely small. Around 1100 the "average" Peterborough knight had a fee worth £2 10s. a year, amounting to two hides. In consequence, the "knights of Peterborough" in Henry I's day are a motley and singularly unimpressive crew (King, EHR 48 (1969), pp. 84-101). Not all their descendants, obviously, are to be regarded as knights in terms of the thirteenth century…

   …The history of seven families will be considered in this section. They are chosen because they can be studied in some detail, and they are a sample in this respect only. There is no family here which stayed relatively still in the 13th C, for stable families leave few records. The first two families, the Torpels and the Watervilles, are related. These are baronial families within the honour, and their history shows similar features. The next three families are on a lower level. The Northboroughs were sub-tenants of Torpel; the Miltons, with just over 2 hides, and Tot with just one, held directly of the abbey. Finally there are 2 families, the Hotots of Clapton and the Thorpes…

   ...of the Peterborough fees, that at Milton included six bovates in Cleatham, a good 60 miles away in Lincolnshire. The small Tot fee in Paston was partly made up of land in Prestgrave, Leicestershire, nearly 25 miles away. The baronial fees within the honour show the same distribution. St. Medard, with 6 fees, had lands in 6 villages in three counties; Torpel, with the same, had land in 14 villages in Northants; Gunthorpe, with 3 fees, had land in 13 (28). Already in 1086 there are on most knightly estates properties clearly marked out for subinfeudation. When did this happen? At this point, with this question, each of the family histories starts.

   Torpel was one of two families to owe the service of 6 knights, the other being St. Medard. The property of each of them was assessed at four fees within the Soke of Peterborough, and two outside. In each case the latter became separate tenancies in the mid-twelfth century. The Torpel manors in this category were Cotterstock and Glapthorne, in the Nene valley, 12 miles from the abbey and the same distance from the manor of Torpel. Around 1100 their occupation was disputed. Perhaps still in dispute, for such was the ideal portion, they were given to Roger of Torpel's daughter on her marriage with Richard of Reinbuedcurt. They were purchased back by Roger's heir, Robert, and sometime before 1135 given to Robert as a separate tenancy when infirmity forced him to hand on the honour to his younger brother (Descriptio, no. 3; P.B.C., fo. 27r-v; Pytchley 28-34). This land was given him, we are told, "with the assent of King Henry and many of the barons of the land, to remain with Robert to hold and alienate as he please". (P.B.C., fo. 27r-v. For similar clauses see The Cartulary of Turbury Priory, ed. A. Saltman (Hist. MSS Comm., JP. 2, 1962), no. 103; Durham Episcopal Charters, 1071-1152, ed. H. S. Offler (Surtees Soc. 179, 1968), no. 11). He then gave the two manors to the hospital of St. Leonard outside Peterborough when he entered it in Stephen's reign, and in this way details of a very interesting family settlement have been preserved. But the family regained control during the next reign, and these were demesne manors of Torpel in the 13th century. The Torpels were the chief of the honorial barons; it was a powerful family which could regain property from an abbey like Peterborough.

  The next event materially affecting the family's position was the marriage of the second Roger of Torpel with Asceline de Waterville. This was an alliance with another Peterborough family of similar rank. Ascelin de Waterville around 1100 had held 14 hides in Northants, as 3 fees…two large manors in the Soke, Marholm and Upton, and an interest in several manors in the Nene valley…the next generation…the manors in the Soke…went to Ascelin's two sons, Hugh and Geoffrey. His 2 daughters had each a virgate…The younger son Geoffrey…married Asceline, the youngest of the four sisters of Pain Peverel…Their son died without heirs, and their two daughters, Asceline and Maud, inherited. It was the elder of these who married Roger of Torpel.

    The manors of Torpel and Upton, together thereafter and much transferred, are the tenurial product of this union…Asceline's great-grandson, William of Torpel, d. 1242 and was succeeded by his sister, who naturally found a husband within the year (34). This man, Ralph de Camoys, held Torpel and Upton, as did his son. But by this stage the family was heavily in debt both to Jew and Gentile (Cal. Close Rolls, 1268-72, p. 392; ibid., 1272-9, p. 259)…Early in 1280 the manors of Torpel and Upton were leased to the crown for 10 years in quittance of a debt of 500 marks…by the end of the year the manors had been granted away permanently…1281 the king granted the manors to Queen Eleanor…

…As well as the abbey…there were several parties with an interest in [Northborough] in 1225--Roger of Torpel, Robert of Braybrooke, and Fineshade Priory. But the abbey saw its competitors off the field, and in the second quarter of the century largely rebuilt the estate which Geoffrey of Northborough had dissipated in the first.

   From Northborough we now go up the scale, as it were, to the family of Southorpe. In 1100 Geoffrey "the abbot's nephew" (nepos abbatis) had eight hides in Northamptonshire, for the service of three knights…Gunthorpe and Southorpe [in the Soke] and Stoke Doyle and Hemington in the Nene valley ten miles away…

   Geoffrey had four sons. the eldest, Ives, had the whole of the estate for a good forty years, from c1135 to at least 1178. The second son, Richard, had part of the third fee, in Hemington, by 1176. Of the third son nothing is known. The fourth occurs around 1150 holding a virgate in Helpston "of the fee of Ives his brother"…Ives was in debt to the abbey by the middle of H2's reign. To redeem this, shortly after 1170 he mortgaged the fmaller part of the third fee, Stoke Doyle…

…Geoffrey of Southorpe…leased Torpel and Upton from Queen Eleanor in 1281, and he seems also to have borrowed money from her…

   …Southorpe, Torpel and Waterville were substantial tenants of the abbey, and each of them had scope to alienate parts of their holding in the 12th C. Torpel, the largest, did so by the second quarter of the century, then Waterville in the mid-century, and finally Southorpe in the third quarter. Alienation was possible because "there was a good deal of play in the joints of the average fee". But in some fees, those of men at the bottom of the feudal ladder, there was no play at all. These will be called "basic" fees; all the families which follow had holdings of this sort.

   …Tot…Milton…

   …Each of the above, the four main families, and the two considered along with Torpel, have this in common. Their main property is in the Soke of Peterborough. They are chiefly studied from sources compiled at the abbey, and it is not surprising that in them the abbey appears as the dominant agent…

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Past And Present, 68 (1975), pp 3-37:

"Sir Geoffrey de Langley and the Crisis of the Knightly Class in 13th-Century England," P. R. Coss--

[Reprinted in 'Landlords, Peasants and Politics in Medieval England‎,' T. H. Aston, 2006]

…13th c. in England was a time of great difficulty for the smaller landowner…prompted…by the acquisitions of Peterborough Abbey…and…by those of west midland monastic houses…decline in number of knights during the course of the 13th C…ecclesiastical landowners were involved in the redemption of land indebted to Jews (2).   

   Since then, Dr. E. King has studied the Peterborough material more closely and, in a valuable article, has offered the subject for debate (4)…

   The important questions now would seem to be: to what extent were persons other than religious corporations profiting on the land market? And, were the difficulties which beset the smaller landowners

sufficient for us to speak of  'a severe social and economic crisis for the class as a whole'? This article…is based upon evidence from a fifteenth-century cartulary which preserves details of the investment of Sir Geoffrey de Langley, a servant of Henry III…

   Of Geoffrey's acquisitions, three in particular lend themselves to detailed examination. In each ase the land was acquired through the acquittance of debts to Jews…

   …One clear parallel [to the career of Geoffrey de Langley] is that of the royal clerk Walter de Merton. Born between 1200 and 1025, Walter is in evidence in the Chancery in 1236-8. He was released in 1241-2 to join the service of Bishop Farnham of Durham. His series of acquisitions, again chiefly through buying up encumbered estates, began in 1240…

   …As far as the magnates are concerned few are known, as yet, to have played any significant part in the 13th-C land market. One who did so was Richard de Clare, earl of Gloucester and Hertford…Humphrey de Bohun, earl of Hereford and Essex, was similarly active in the early decades of the 14th C…On the present state of evidence,however, the main rivals to the religious corporations would appear to be laymen in the service of the crown, such as the Braybrookes and Geoffrey de Langley, and royal clerks like Walter de Merton…The Braybrookes had interests in a number of counties…but their greatest gains were made in Leics. and Beds. In Bucks they, and later Walter de Merton, competed with the Cistercian abbey of Biddlesden (104)…

   …Who were the debtors? They came in fact from the whole range of knightly or once-knightly families. Dr. King's sample is a useful cross-section ranging as it does from the Torpels who held six fees of the abbey of Peterborough and were "the chief of the honorial barons" to the Northboroughs who held half a fee of them…most of those who sold out to the Braybrookes earlier in the century had been of the lesser sort. The exception here was Wischard Ledet and his wife from whom they [the Braybrookes] acquired two fees at East and West Langton, Leicestershire, and substantial land at Sutton, Bedfordshire…The Southorpes, though in debt from the time of Henry II, survived until 1275-80, as did the Torpels. In most cases which have received detailed study, the major sale came either after a period of leasing or following a string of minor alienations. In most, again, the difficulties appear to range and in fact to deepen over several generations…The conclusion is hardly escapable: the knightly class was passing through a period of economic crisis, a crisis that was both extensive and prolonged…

   …Once the political crisis broke, moreover, both the exploiters of the land market and the moneylenders themselves came under fire. Clause 25 of the Petition of the Barons (May 1258) complains that "Jews sometimes transfer their debts and lands pledged to them to magnates and other powerful persons in the kingdom, who thus enter the lands of lesser men".

(2) H. G. Richardson, The English Jewry under Angevin Kings, 1960, esp. ch. 5.

(4) E. King, "Large and Small Landowners in Thirteenth-Century England", Past and Present 47 (1970)…This article was largely reprinted in his Peterborough Abbey 1086-1310: A Study in the Land Market  (Cambridge, 1973), where it forms the basis of ch. 2.   

(104) The Braybrookes are dealt with in G. H. Fowler, The Cartulary of Old Wardon, Bedf. Rec. Soc. 13 (1930), app. 3, and by Richardson, op. cit., pp. 100-2, 170-80…

= = =

Mortmain in Medieval England,S. Raban--

[Reprinted in 'Landlords, Peasants and Politics in Medieval England‎,' T. H. Aston, 2006]

...in 1291, Peterborough had been granted custody of the manors of Torpel and Upton (Northants) during the king's pleasure. The annual render was again £100. These manors had formerly been held of the abbey in knights' fee, but were alienated to the crown by their tenants because of debt...

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Peterborough Abbey 1086-1310,  a Study in the Land Market, Edmund King, 1973:

[Reprinted in 'Landlords, Peasants and Politics in Medieval England‎,' T. H. Aston, 2006]

p. 13--

[c1100 Hugh Candidus wrote his chronicle, and mourned loss of monastery's holdings. Monastery was once rich, but reduced to penury. Abbot Thorold gave lands to his kinsfolk and knights who came with him, so the abbey lost over half its holdings. King comments on Hugh's writing: That Thorold enfeoffed his kinfolk is not open to doubt (2), King then goes on to explain away some of Hugh's strong stand].

 

(2) The first tenant of the Southorpe fee is referred to as "Geoffrey the abbot's nephew" (Pytchley, p. 68 note). He is also referred to as Geoffrey Infans, which makes it likely that the first tenant of the Torpel fee, Roger Infans, was a nephew of Thorold also (Ibid. p. 34 note [note actually is on p. 33]). He is perhaps the 'Roger nephew of the abbot' who held of the abbey at Slipton in the Northants Survey (VCH Northants 1:365).

= = =

p. 16, footnote--

For Thorold's career see Hugh Candidus, pp. 80-6 and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (E) s.a. 1070.

= = =

p. 17--

The Soke of Peterborough, which the abbey owned almost in its entirety, saw the creation of only two fees of any size, Torpel and St. Medard. Each of these lay largely in the north and west of the Soke, the area of the poorest agricultural land. The property nearest the abbey, with but a few exceptions, was retained…

= = =

p. 27--

Document...a good specimen of this material, and bears on a problem of considerable importance, that of the heritability of land.

 

"Be it known to all men both present and to come that in the year of our Lord 1147, the twelfth year of the reign of king Stephen, Robert of Torpel the son of Roger Infans of Torpel came a sick man into the chapel of St. Leonard in the hospital of Peterborough. There in the presence of many who stood around, monks, clerks and laity, of his children also and of his men, he gave to God and St Peter and the church at Peterborough himself body and soul, together with all his land in Cotterstock and Glapthorne, to hold with every right, in wood and open country, in land and meadows, and in every other thing. This he granted as his just inheritance, of his own patrimony, to which he had succeeded on the death of his father, along with all the other lands and the honour of Torpel. This same property had in fact been given to his sister as a dowry on her marriage with Richard of Lambercourt (1), and Robert had bought it back from Richard for forty marks. Previously when Robert was infirm and afflicted with leprosy his brother Roger had taken up the honour of Torpel, but the land here transferred--in the king's view and with the king's assent and that of many of the barons of the land--was to remain to Robert for him to hold and alienate as he please, without restriction. To confirm this gift to the church of Peterborough he sent his pledge twice a day by the hand of a monk to the altar of palms, that is to say the green altar. And it was agreed that in his lifetime he should receive a monk's corrody, and four of his servant knights' corrodies, and on his death he should assume the monk's habit." (P.B.C., of. 27r-v)

 

This document conveys the atmosphere of a feudal society. There is mention of royal assent to this transaction, but it must have been largely a formality. The strength of the landowner's position is clear.  Here the son of a Domesday tenant grants lands to the abbey 'as his rightful inheritance which he had as part of his patrimony'…

. . .

(1) It must be very likely that is Richard of Reinbuedcurt, son of Guy, who occurs in the Northamptonshire Survey; Sanders, English Baronies, p. 33; VCH Northants, 1:389.

= = =

p. 32--

…the following were the judges and witnesseswhen Leofwin the brother of Colgrim lost a case against the abbey in 1118: Ascelin of Waterville, Geoffrey ot Gunthorpe, Roger of Torpel,…Geoffrey of Castor…Five of these men occur as knights in the Descriptio: Ascelin of Waterville and Roger of Torpel are men of substance within the honour…There are one or two of the honorial baronage--often Torpel, often Waterville, often de la Mare. Then there are the smaller knights…

= = =

p. 35--

…When Robert of Torpel entered the monastery in 1147 he received a monk's corrody, while four of his servants were to have knights' corrodies…

   …In the terms of the thirteenth century we cannot regard as knights more than a fraction of the motley crew raised by abbot Thorold towards the feudal host…Thus in 1100 Turold of Castor had two hides and a virgate, for which he owed the service of two knights…But this ceases to be a knightly family…

= = =

p. 38--

   Torpel was one of two families to owe the service of six knights, the other being St. Medard. The property of each of them was assessed at four fees within the Soke of Peterborough, and two outside. In each case the latter became separate tenancies in the mid-twelfth century. The Torpel manors in this category were Cotterstoke and Glapthorne, twelve miles from the abbey and the same distance from the manor of Torpel. Around 1100 their occupation was disputed. Perhaps still in dispute, for such was an ideal portion, they were given to Roger of Torpel's daughter on her marriage to Richard de Reinbuedcurt. They were purchased back by Roger's heir, Robert, and sometime before 1135 given to Robert as a separate tenancy when infirmity forced him to hand on the honour to his younger brother (2). This land was given him, we are told, 'with the assent of King Henry and many of the barons of the land, to hold and alienate as he please' (3). He then gave the two manors to the hospital of St Leonard outside Peterborough when he entered it in Stephen's reign, and in this way details of a very interesting family settlement have been preserved. The family regained control in the next reign, and these were demesne manors of the Torpel fee in the thirteenth century. The Torpels were the chief of the honorial barons; it was a powerful family which could regain property from an abbey like Peterborough.

   The next event materially affecting the family's position was the marriage of the second [I think should be third, and that King is wrong here, but he is following Sanders, who disregards Roger I completely and treats Roger II as the first Roger in the sequence] Roger of Torpel with Asceline of Waterville. This was an alliance with another Peterborough family of similar rank. Around 1100 Ascelin of Waterville had held fourteen hides in Northants, as 3 fees…The manors in the Soke…went to Ascelin's two sons, Hugh and Geoffrey. His two daughters each had a virgate…The younger son Geoffrey was a knight of Robert earl of Gloucester early in the civil war, and married Asceline, the youngest of the four sisters of Pain Peverel, who were his heirs to the barony of Bourn. Their son died without heirs, and their two daughters, Asceline and Maud, inherited. It was the elder of these who married Roger of Torpel (2).

(2) Regesta 3:58, 68, 115-6; Sir Christopher Hatton's Book of Seals, ed. Loyd and Stenton (1950), no. 212; Sanders, English Baronies, pp. 19-20.

##############################

EHR, Jan. 1969 (JTOR online university database):

"The Peterborough 'Descriptio Militum' (Henry I)", Edmund King, pp. 84+--

The Descriptio Militum de Abbatia de Burgo is a survey of the military potential of Peterborough Abbey, dating from the early years of the 12th C…used extensively by historians…

[King argues that the printed text represents not one document, but two, and that the first document thus identified dates from rather earlier than previously believed.]

…The separation of the two Peterborough texts is interesting also in that it makes it possible to study the process of enfeoffment at two separate points; the one at the beginning of Henry I's reign [1100], the other at the end [1135]…

the concept of knight-service seems to change somewhat…only the later text…mentions holdings described as owing fractions of a knight's service. There is other evidence to suggest that men only began to think in this way in the early years of the twelfth century. It was only then that the abbey came to qualify the statement that a man served as a knight by noting the precise arrangement which enabled him to serve…Roger Infans claimed to have lost a hide and a half in Cotterstock ( [Descriptio?] No. 3. But he had regained this by the time of the Northamptonshire Survey (VCH Northants 1:388), and when in 1147 he granted it to the hospital of St. Leonard outside Peterborough it was as 'suam iustam hereditatem quam habuit de patrimonio suo' (Peterborough, Dean and Chapter MS 5, fo. 27r)).

 

[first text dates] from the tenancy of Eudo Dapifer; a rather earlier one is given by the tenancies of Picot son of Colswein and Roger of Lovetot. Picot held a tenancy in Riseholme, which had been given to his father…he seems to have succeeded his father soon after Domesday…first datable document recording him is from 1101, the last from c1110-15. Roger of Lovetot succeeded sometime after Domesday to certain of the property of Eustace the sheriff of Huntingdonshire…

 

   …A text of the original Descriptio…follows…

   Society of Antiquaries MS 60, of. 14r (19r).

Hec est Descriptio Militum de Abbatia de Burgo--

[Third item, so part of earlier text, suggests King in his explanation of the document]

…(3) Rogerius Infans tenet in Hamtonascira xij hidas, et inde servit se vj militum. Et calumniatur se esse minoratum de j hida et dimidia in Codestoc, et in Lineseia j carrucatam…

…(6) Ascelinus de Waltervilla tenet xiij hidas et ij partes j virge, et inde servit se tercio milite…

= = =

(28) The Peterborough knights' holdings are usefully tabulated in "Pytchley", pp. xviii-xxi, from where these figures were taken.

(29) "Descriptio", no. 3; P.B.C., fo. 27r-v; Pytchley, pp. 28-34.

(30) P.B.C. fo. 27r-v. For similar clauses see The Cartulary of Tutbury Priory, ed. A. Saltman (Hist. Manuscripts Comm., JP.2, 1962), no. 103; Durham Episcopal Charters, 1071-1152, ed. H. S. Offler (Surtees Soc., 179, 1968), no. 11.

#############################

Complete Peerage:

5:506, Camoys--

Ralph de Camoys, son and heir of Ralph de Camoys (d. 1259), by Asceline, heiress of Torpel, Northants, was aged 45 and more at his father's death (Cal. of Inq., 1:121)...

############################

VCH Bucks:

Vol. 4 (1927), Clifton Reynes--

Clifton Church was bestowed by Simon de Borard in the early 13th century on the Prioress of Stamford, but, as he was then a minor in the custody of Roger Torpel, he recovered the presentation against the prioress in 1229, compensating her with 8s. rent and 1 virgate in Stathern (Leicestershire)...

#################################

VCH Cambridge:

Vol. 5 (1973), Arrington--

About 1211 Arrington was said to be held of the bishop of Lincoln who held it under the earl of Gloucester, (fn. 51) but no more is known of the bishop's interest in it. In 1223 and 1225 Roger Torpel claimed that Maud de Dive should perform feudal services to him for Arrington because she had done homage for it to her sister, Asceline de Waterville, Roger's mother. (fn. 52) In 1266 part of Arrington was found to be held of the earl of Winchester who held of the earl of Gloucester. (fn. 53) Asceline de Waterville, mother of both Asceline and Maud, had married as her second husband Saher de Quincy (d. 1190), whose successors became earls of Winchester. (fn. 54)

51         Red Bk. Exch. (Rolls Ser.), ii. 529.

52        Cur. Reg. R. xi, p. 417; xii, p. 24.

53        Cal. Inq. p.m. i, p. 199.

54        I. J. Sanders, Eng. Baronies, 19.

= = =

Vol. 5 (1973), Orwell--

By 1161 the manor was held by Asceline, daughter or niece of Pain Peverel of Bourn, wife first of Geoffrey de Waterville (d. 1162), and then of Saher de Quincy (d. 1190). (fn. 53) It descended to her daughter Asceline de Waterville, wife of Roger Torpel (d. 1176), (fn. 54) and to their son Roger (d. 1225). (fn. 55) Mabel, widow of Roger or his son Roger (d. by 1229), (fn. 56) was granted dower in the estate in 1232. The chancellor had custody of the land, and wardship and marriage of the heir, during the minority of her son, (fn. 57) William, who died childless in 1242, whereupon his sister Asceline, wife of Ralph Camoys (d. 1259), inherited. (fn. 58)

53         Red Bk. Exch. (Rolls Ser.), i. 35; cf. Complete Peerage, xii (1), 746–7.

54        Pipe R. 1176 (P.R.S. xxv), 50.

55        Ex. e Rot. Fin. (Rec. Com.), i. 133.

56        Close R. 1227–31, 197–8.

57        Ibid. 1231–4, 56; Ex. e Rot. Fin. (Rec. Com.), i. 187.

58        Cal. Pat. 1232–47, 301; Ex. e Rot. Fin. (Rec. Com.), ii. 303.

= = =

Vol. 6 (1978), Hinxton--

By 1086 Picot the sheriff had received for two manors 15½ hides in Hinxton once held by 20 sokemen, mostly King Edward's men. (fn. 30) They passed with the rest of his property to the Peverel family. The estate, held originally as 1 knight's fee, descended to Asceline de Waterville, a sister and coheir of William Peverel (d. after 1147), and was eventually divided between her two daughters. (fn. 31)

 

One moiety of HINXTON manor was assigned to her daughter Asceline, whose son Roger Torpel inherited her lands in 1220. (fn. 32) On his death in 1225 the manor descended to his son Roger (d. 1229) whose son William died under age in 1242. The estate then passed to Roger's daughter Asceline, (fn. 33) later married to Ralph de Camoys (d. 1259). It was next held by their son Ralph (d. 1277), who was succeeded by his son John, (fn. 34) who held it as ½ fee in 1284. By 1289 he had sold the manor to Sir John Lovetot...

31        V.C.H. Cambs., v. 6; cf. Liber de Bernewelle, 255–6.

32        Ex. e Rot. Fin. (Rec. Com.), i. 46.

33        Ibid. 133, 137; Cal. Pat. 1232–47, 301.

34        Ex. e Rot. Fin. ii. 303–4; Cal. Inq. p.m. ii, pp. 129–30.

= = =

Vol. 9, Girton, p. 118--

That manor, called ENDERBYS or PIGOTTS, derived from the union of two Domesday lordships. One was of 3 3/4; hides held in 1086 by William under Picot the sheriff. (fn. 86) Lordship over it passed after 1100 to Pain Peverel as part of the barony of Bourn, upon whose partition c. 1150 his rights over Girton were assigned to Pain's daughter Asceline. From her that tenancy in-chief descended (fn. 87) to her grandson Roger Torpel (d. 1225). In 1223 he successfully claimed the service of one knight from Roger de Quincy, earl of Winchester (d. s.p. 1264), whose title to it probably derived from his great-uncle Saher de Quincy (d. 1190), Asceline's second husband. (fn. 88)

86 V.C.H. Cambs. i. 395.

87 For the descent, V.C.H. Cambs. v. 6, 242-3.

88 Cur. Reg. R. xi, p. 209; xii, pp. 35-6; cf. VCH. Cambs. v. 19.

##################################

VCH Northamptonshire:

Vol. 1:365--

Northamptonshire Survey--

Hokeslawe--

Twywelle...also of the fee of the abbot of (Peter)borough 1 great virgate (3).

...In Slipton 1 hide and 1 virgate of the fee of William de Corcy. There also Richard Fitz Hugh 2/3 of 1 hide of the fee of (Peter)borough. There also Roger nephew of the Abbot a third part of 1 hide of the same fee (3).

(3) Domesday assigns to the Abbot 1 hide and 1 virgate there, which is exactly equal to the above hide plus the virgate in Twywell.

= = =

Vol. 1, p. 388--

Northamptonshire Survey--

In Cotterstoke (Cotterstock) Richard Fitz Hugh 1 hide (and) a half of the fee of (Peter)borough (2). There also Roger Infans 1 hide (and) a half of the same fee (3).

(2) Countess Judith's in 1086.

(3) Domesday assigns to Peterborough Abbey 3 hides at Cotterstock, held of it by '2 knights.' Here the holdings and names of the knights are given.

= = =

1:390--

Northamptonshire Survey--

...As an example of the precision which we are thus enabled to attain, we may take the Thornhaugh fief, held, in 1086 and under Henry I, by Anschitel de St. Medard...descended, as a whole...from the days of the Conqueror and of Abbot Turold (10).

   From the 'Torpel' (in Ufford) fief also there were due 6 knights. Roger 'Infans', its first holder, held 2 1/2 hides of the Abbot in Pilton, but his full fief of 12 hides included lands in Maxey and Ufford, northwest of Peterborough, and others in Cotterstock and Glapthorne. His descendants took the name of Torpel, and their successors the family of Camois held the fief, with Torpel as its head, by the same service of the abbey. [continues with some mtl. on Ascelin de Waterville]

(10) See Bridges, 2:595-7, for the descent.

= = =

Vol. 2, pp. 83-95--

Houses of Benedictine monks, The abbey of Peterborough--

…Abbot Brand died on 30 November, 1069, and was succeeded by Thorold, a Norman, appointed by the Conqueror. (fn. 22) This appointment was the cause of much disaster to the monastery. Gunton says, 'He, being a stranger, neither loved his monastery, nor his convent him.' (fn. 23) He conferred sixty-two hides of church land on certain stipendiary knights that they might defend him against Hereward the Wake. At this time Osbern, a Danish chief or earl, had taken possession of the Isle of Ely. Hereward, indignant that the abbey had been bestowed upon a Norman, stirred up Osbern's forces to attack the monastery. Thorold was then absent at Stamford, but the monks made a strong resistance, and Hereward, to gain access, set fire to houses adjoining the gateway, with the result that the conventual buildings and all the town save one house were destroyed by fire. The abbey church escaped. The riches and relics, together with Prior Athelwold and some of the older monks, were carried off by the raiders to Ely. Athelwold, however, during a carouse of the Danes, managed to secure some of the principal relics, including the arm of St. Oswald, secreting them in the straw of his bed. A treaty being made between the Conqueror and Sweyn, the Danes left Ely, carrying with them many Peterborough relics. Some of them were lost at sea, but others were eventually recovered by one of the Peterborough monks who visited Denmark for the purpose. (fn. 24)

 

Thorold returned to his monastery with 140 Normans, and strongly fortified it; nevertheless, he was subsequently taken prisoner by Hereward, and only released on payment of a great ransom. (fn. 25) During his thirty-eight years' government of the abbey, Thorold greatly impoverished its resources; he died in 1098. Hugh tells us that, on the death of Thorold, the monks gave the king 300 marks to recover their right of election, and appointed Godric, the brother of Brand, Thorold's predecessor, in 1099. (fn. 26)

. . .

3          Gunton, Hist. 17.

24        Sparke, Hist. Anglicanae Scriptores Varii, pp. 49–51. Freeman, Norman Conquest, iv. 335, 457–461.

25        Sparke, op. cit. p. 63; Gunton, Hist. 17.

26        Sparke, op. cit. pp. 64–5.

== =

Abbots of Peterborough (fn. 100)

...Brand, 1066-1069

Thorold de Fécamp, 1069-1098...

= = =

p. 95--

33. THE HOSPITAL OF ST. LEONARD, PETERBOROUGH

A hospital of St. Leonard for the service of the lepers was established at an early date in connexion with the great monastery of Peterborough. The first mention of it is at the death of Abbot John of Séez in 1125, when, as already stated, there were thirteen lepers and three servants in the lazar house. The next time it is named is in the year 1147, when Robert de Torrell [sic], in his infirmity, came to Peterborough, and there in the chapel of the hospital of St. Leonard before many witnesses gave himself to God, assigning all his lands at Cotterstock and Glapthorn to the monastery, on condition of diet for himself and four servants during his life, and that at his death they should receive him in a monk's habit. (fn. 1)

(1) Swapham, f. 115.

= = =

Vol. 3 (1930), Pilton--

PILTON or PILKETON may probably be included amongst the pre-conquest possessions of the Abbey of Peterborough, but the first mention of it seems to be in Domesday Book, when the Abbey held 2½ hides of land of the King in chief. (fn. 11) The whole of this land was subinfeudated, and the Abbey retained the overlordship till its dissolution, the last actual mention of the overlordship of the manor being in 1534. (fn. 12)

 

The sub-tenant in 1086 was Roger, (fn. 13) ancestor of the Torpel family, who held 12 hides of the Abbey in Northamptonshire, for the service due from 6 knights' fees. (fn. 14) Later documents show that their manor in Pilton was held for the service of 1½ knights' fees, (fn. 15) with castle-guard at Rockingham. It seems possible that these fees also included 1½ virgates of land, which in Domesday Book were held by Roger in Wadenhoe. (fn. 16) In the 12th century Survey of Northamptonshire, Roger Infans, his successor, held 2 small virgates under the heading of Wadenhoe, but the entry is confused, and it seems probable that the land was in Pilton, which with Wadenhoe and Stoke formed one township. (fn. 17) The Torpels held Pilton till the first half of the 13th century. (fn. 18) Robert de Torpel, who succeeded Roger Infans, was tenant in 1130. (fn. 19) He was apparently succeeded by Roger de Torpel, who granted land to St. Michael's of Stamford for the soul of his wife Mary, (fn. 20) and died about 1178. (fn. 21) His son Roger, a minor at his father's death, married Ascelina, daughter of Saher de Quinci. (fn. 22) It was probably their son Roger who in 1225 brought an action against his aunt Maud regarding the lands of his mother. (fn. 23) He died in that year, when the custody of the lands of his heir, held of Peterborough, was granted to the Abbot of Peterborough, (fn. 24) and the lands held in chief, to Ralph Bishop of Chichester. (fn. 25) The last Roger died in 1229, apparently a minor, before having livery of his inheritance. (fn. 26) He had married in his father's lifetime, and was survived by his widow Mabel. (fn. 27) The wardship and marriage of their son Roger was granted in 1229 to L. Dean of St. Martin'sle-Grand, later Archbishop of Dublin. (fn. 28) The lastnamed Roger probably died a minor and unmarried, as Ascelina de Torpel, the wife of Ralph de Camoys, (fn. 29) obtained seisin of his lands between 1242 and 1251. (fn. 30) As the Torpel fees were still apparently held in wardship, at the earlier date, Ascelina must have been the sister of the last Roger de Torpel. Her husband is said to have been that Ralph de Camoys who died in 1259, but none of the Torpel fees is mentioned in the inquisition taken after his death, (fn. 31) and it seems impossible that Ascelina could have been the mother of his son and heir Ralph, who was over 40 years old at his father's death. (fn. 32) It seems clear that she was the wife of the younger Ralph, who died seised of the 6 fees of the Torpel inheritance in 1277. (fn. 33) His son and heir John was then over 25 and of a suitable age to be Ascelina's son. (fn. 34) John was also the heir of Mabel de Torpel, probably the widow of the last Roger de Torpel, who died the same year seised of a Kentish manor. (fn. 35) She also held certain assarts in Pilton, presumably as part of her dower. (fn. 36)

. . .

The advowson of the church was presumably always appurtenant to the manor, the first recorded presentation being in 1221 by Roger de Torpel. (fn. 79)

12         Chron. Petrob. (Camden Soc.), p. 170; Red Book of Excheq. (Rolls Ser.), p. 618; Egerton MS. 2733 (B.M.), ff. 135b, 137; Cott. MS. Vesp. E xxi, f. 81; Feud. Aids, iv, pp. 48, 448; Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. ii), dcxcvi, 2.

13        V.C.H. Northants. i, 316a.

14        Chron. Petrob. (Camden Soc.), pp. 169, 170; Pilton followed the same descent as the manor of Torpel until 1280; cf. V.C.H. Northants. ii, p. 466.

15        Egerton MS. (B.M.), 2733, f. 135b; Cott. MS. Cleop. C i, ff. 136–7.

16        V.C.H. Northants. i, 316. The service of 1½ knights' fees was very heavy, according to the custom of the Abbey, to be due from 2 hides and 1 virgate of land.

17        Ibid. 366; Egerton MS. (B.M.), 2733, f. 154 d.

18        Sparke, Hist. Angl. Script. pp. 54, 80, 83; Cal. Chart. 1226–57, p. 20; Gunton, Hist. Ch. of Peterborough, 296; Rot. Litt. Claus. (Rec. Com.), i, p. 287b; Cott. MS. Cleop. C i, f. 136.

19        Pytchley, Bk. of Fees (Northants Rec. Soc.), 34n.

20        Ibid. 33.

21        Ibid. 34n.

22        Ibid.

23        Maitland, Bracton's Note Bk. iii, no. 1045.

24        Excerpt. e Rot. Fin. (Rec. Com.), i, 133; Rot. Litt. Claus. (Rec. Com.), ii, 50.

25        Excerpt. e Rot. Fin. (Rec. Com), i, 187.

26        Cal. Close, 1227–31, pp. 145, 197.

27        Ibid.

28        Ibid. 198, 330.

29        Rot. Rob. Grosseteste (Cant. and York Soc.), 244.

30        Ibid.; Egerton MS. (B.M.), 2733, f. 137.

31        Complete Peerage (new ed.); Cal. Inq. i, no. 443.

32        Ibid.

33        Cal. Inq. ii, no. 212.

34        Cal. Inq. ii, no. 212; Chron. Petrob. (Camden Soc.), p. 23.

35        Cal. Inq. ii, no. 178; Cal. Fine, i, p. 76.

36        Cott. MS. Cleop. C i, f. 59.

79         Rot. Hug. de Welles (Cant. and York Soc.), iii, p. 111.

= = =

Vol. 3, 1930, Slipton--

The third of a hide held by Roger, nephew of the abbot of Peterborough, ancestor of the Torpel family, has not been identified. It may have become the small mesne fee held by the Fauvel family of Peterborough Abbey.

= = =

Vol. 3 (1930), Stoke Doyle--

In 1086, the Abbey of Peterborough had a second holding in Stoke. The under tenants were two knights, two serjeants, with one sokman, who held 2 hides and 3 virgates of land. (fn. 52)

 

One of the knights may be identified with Geoffrey Infans, said to have been nephew of Abbot Thorold (1069–98), and tenant of 8 hides in Gunthorp, Southorp, Stoke and Hemington. (fn. 53) Geoffrey Infans or de Gunthorpe seems to have had three sons, Ive, Richard and Ralph. Ive apparently left no issue. Richard, who succeeded him, had a son Geoffrey whose son Geoffrey is mentioned in 1189.

52         V.C.H. Northants. i, 316a.

53        Chron. Petrob. (Camden Soc.), 168; Cott. MS. Cleop. C i, 137.

= = =

Vol. 3, 1930, Wadenhoe--

Another holding in Wadenhoe, consisting of 1½ virgates, was in 1086 held of the Abbey of Peterborough, by Roger, (fn. 7) who may be identified as the ancestor of the Torpel family, since in the early 12th century Roger Infans held 2 small virgates. (fn. 8) Later the Torpels do not appear to have held any land in Wadenhoe, and it is possible that this holding afterwards was accounted a part of Pilton (q.v.).

7           V.C.H. Northants. i, 316a.

8          Ibid. 366a.

= = =

Vol. 3 (1930), Warmington--

From a very early time the whole of WARMINGTON belonged to the abbey of Peterborough, possibly from its foundation....

Later than Domesday the abbots appear to have made further grants to free tenants. Thus one portion, ¼ hide, was joined with the manor of Churchfield in Oundle; another with Stoke Doyley, and a third with Torpel in Ufford...

 

The nuns of Stamford had an estate here, (fn. 97) called Blofield...

97         Roger de Torpel gave them lands for the health of the soul of his wife Mary in the 12th century, Pytchley, Bk. of Fees, 33.

#################################

VCH Wiltshire:

Vol. 3, British History online:

Beorhtric's notable abbacy seems to have come to a sudden end in the closing month of 1066 or early in 1067, when he was transferred by the Conqueror to Burton (Staffs.) (fn. 114) to make way for Turold, a monk of Fécamp (Seine-Inférieure). (fn. 115) Turold appears to have been tactless and overbearing (fn. 116) and was soon at loggerheads with his community, whereupon the Conqueror translated him to Peterborough with the remark that as the abbot had acted more like a knight than an abbot he would find there battles in plenty to fight. (fn. 117) This was in the early months of 1070. (fn. 118)

114 Leofric, Abbot of Peterborough and Burton, died 1 Nov. 1066: Peterborough Chron. of Hugh Candidus, ed. C. Mellows (Peterborough Nat. Hist. Scient. and Arch. Soc.), 75; Two Sax. Chrons. ed. Earle and Plummer, i, 198. Ann. Mon. (Rolls Ser.), i, 185 and Dugd. Mon. iii, 47 are in error here. It is, however, impossible to date the change of abbacy at Malmesbury with any certainty.

115 Chron. Hugh Candidus, ed. C. Mellows, 161. Here erroneously termed the Conqueror's nephew.

116 Though Wm. of Malm. accuses him of toadying to the Conqueror (Gest. Pont. 420) he is called swiðe styrne in the Anglo-Saxon Chron. sub anno 1070.

117 Gest. Pont. 420.

118 Chron. Hugh Candidus, ed. Mellows, 161. His predecessor at Peterborough had died at end of Nov. 1069: ibid. 77.

#################################

Feudal Cambridgeshire, William S. Farrer, 1920:

p. 10, Tadlow, Armingford Hundred--

1236 Fulk Fitz Warin holds 2 1/2 h. in Tadelow for 1 fee of the heirs of Roger de Torpell of the fee of Peverel...

= = =

p. 238, Orwell and Malton, Wetherly Hundred--

1201 Ascelina de Watervill and Matilda de Dive [heirs of Geoffrey Watervill and his wife Asceline Peverell] give 6m. for scutage of two fees held of the honor of Gloucester.

1202 William de Orewell ackn. that the advowson of the church of Orewell is the right of Ascelina de Waitervill...

1212 Ascelina de Watervill holds 1 fee in Orewell of the honor of Gloucester; Red Bk. 529...

1216 Ascelina de Watervill and Matilda de Dive hold land in Hieton and Elleswrd, Northants, of Robert de Nevill...

1220--The heir of Ascelina de Watervill. See Hinxton.

1232--The dower of Mabel, who was the wife of Robert de Thorpel (d. 1225), in Orewell. See Hinxton; Close R. 1232, p. 56. CF. Cal. of Chart. R. 1:99.

1236--William Torpel (footnote died 1242, Cal. Pat. R. 1242, p. 301) holds in Orewell 1 fee of the earl of Gloucester; Robert de Orewell holds 1 h. by socage of Henry de Bokeswrth...

   ...1254--Grant to Ralph de Cammoys, the younger, of makret and fair at his manor of Orewell, Camb., and free warren in his lands in Northants, Lincs, Cambs, and Berks...

[Pedigree chart, beginning with Roger de Torpel d. 1220, m. Ascelina de Watervill.

Son Roger held 6 fees in Thorpel, Uffworth, Pilketon, Makes, Codestoke and Glapthorn of the fee of Peterborough, d. 1225, m. Mabel ___.

Other Torpel mentions also, but none earlier than this Roger.]

= = =

p. 261, Hinxton, Whittlesford Hundred--

1220 Roger de Torpel made fine to have the land of Ascelina de Wauterville, his mother, in Henxton, namely the sixth part of the barony which belongs to him, as Ascelina held it in chief; Excerpt. e R. Fin. 1:46.

1225 The land of Robert Torpel in Henxton and the service of the knights etc. to be delivered to Luk the chaplain; R. Litt. Claus. 2:43b.

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The Battle Abbey roll : with some account of the Norman lineages, Cleveland, 1889, Heritage Quest:

p. 270--

   ...Three De Watevilles are entered in Domesday: William, who held of the King in Essex and Suffolk, and Percinges (Perching) of William de Warenne, with two other manors--one of which was Brighton; Robert, who held de capite in Surrey, with five manors in other counties, under Richard de Tonbridge; and Richard, an under-tenant in Surrey.

   William de Wateville--in all probability the same William who was a benefactor of Jumièges, and the head of the family, held High Rodinges and Hanningfield in Essex; and some of his descendants, "from their abode at Hanningfield, took their denomination from thence, being in old evidences written promiscuously De Hanningfield and De Wateville. Robert was probably either brother or son of that William."--Morant's Essex. According to the same authority, he was the progenitor of the Essex family. He appears as a witness to two deeds in the Bishopric of Durham in the time of Ralph Flambard (1099-1133); and has left his name to the manor of Biddic-Watervile, or South Biddic', in the parish of Houghton-le-Spring; but this would appear to have been his only connection with the North of England. His posterity was seated at Hempstead, one of the two Essex manors that he held of the Honour of Tunbridge, in which Henry III granted Sir William de Wateville a charter of free warren in 1253. This can scarcely had been the Sir William de Waterville mentioned by Thomas of Gloucester, who, 62 years before, went with Coeur de Lion to the Holy Land, and was one of the six knights through whom he sent his challenge to the Soudan. (See Brande)...

   Of the same family were no less than three Knights Bannerets, all living at the same time in this county in the reign of Edward I, bearing these arms: Sir John de Wateville, Argent three chevrons Gules; Sir Robert de Wateville, the same, within a bordure indented Sable; Sir Roger de Wateville, the same, with a marlet Sable."--Morant's Essex. Sir Roger and Sir Robert were among the famous tilters at the great tournament at Stebenhithe (Stepney) in 1308, with another of the name, Sir Geoffrey Wauteville, who bore for arms: Sable semee of cross crosslets a lion rampant Argent langued Gules.

   ..."Thorp Watervile Castelle upon Avon, sumwhat lower than Wndale," as Leland describes it, in Northamptonshire, was most probably built by Azelin de Wateville, "who," says Bridges, "first possessed the lordship." No traces of it are now remaining. It passed in the time of H3 to the sisters of Richard de Wateville, who, in 1234, had obtained a grant of free warren in Thorp and Marham. Richard's widow held Marham in dower, and it was transferred by purchase to Reginalde de Wateville in 1240. Reginald, again, had no son, and left three co-heiresses, Joan, married to Robert de Vere; Elizabeth, or Petronella, married to John Wykham; and Margaret, married to Henry de Tichmarsh. In 17E2 Marham belonged to Robert de Wateville." -- Bridge's Northamptonshire. Was this--as seems likely--the same Robert who received license of pardon for having been concerned in the death of Piers Gaveston, "the Ganymede of E2," and was a commissioner of array in Hampshire in 1324?..."In the 32E1 (if he be the same person) he had a charter for free-warren at Overton-Waterville, co. Huntingdon: and in 9E2 fined 40s. for license, to give certain lands at Overton-Waterville, and Ashele, in Huntingdonshire, to found a chantry at St. Mary's, at Ashele."--Banks. Nothing is said of his posterity...Several other members of it are incidentally mentioned:--such as Berenger, "one of those great men on the part of the rebel barons, who were taken prisoners by the Royal Army at Northampton;" and Geoffrey, who in the previous century married Ascelina, the youngest co-heiress of William Peverell of Brune and Dover. He died in 1162, and was, according to Banks, the father of Roger, of Thorp, who had issue. Bridges, on the other hand, declares that his son was Ralph de Wateville, who died s.p. 1185, leaving as his heirs two sisters, Ascelina, married to ___Torpel, and Maud, the wife of William de Divâ. In Warwickshire Dugdale speaks of a Roger de Wateville, who held Bramcote under the Earl of Leicester that founded a monastery at Leicester, and bestowed some lands there on the new Abbey. His grant was confirmed by H2.

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http://www.winshop.com.au/merv/:

Thorald the Priest would be the Abbott of Peterborough (appointed 1070)., formerly of Malmsbury (appointed 1069). From 1097 to 1098 he was Bishop of Bayeux. He died in 1099. refer-:

http://members.tripod.co.uk/ctthogan/peterborough/psources.htm

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Hereward, the Last of the English, Charles Kingsley, Project Gutenberg:

..."He is dying,--dying of a broken heart, like me. And the Frenchman has

given his abbey to one Thorold, the tyrant of Malmesbury,--a Frenchman

like himself.

 

...And old Brand lay back in his great arm-chair, his legs all muffled up in

furs, for he could get no heat; and by him stood Herluin the prior, and

wondered when he would die, and Thorold take his place, and they should

drive out the old Gregorian chants from the choir, and have the new Norman

chants of Robert of Fécamp, and bring in French-Roman customs in all

things, and rule the English boors with a rod of iron.

 

...They tell me that one Thorold of

Malmesbury,--Thorold of Fécamp, the minstrel, he that made the song of

Rowland,--that he desires this abbey."

 

...For when Ivo returned home, ere yet Sir Robert and his family were well

clothed and fed, there galloped into Spalding from, the north Sir Ascelin,

nephew and man of Thorold, would-be Abbot of Peterborough, and one of the

garrison of Lincoln, which was then held by Hereward's old friend, Gilbert

of Ghent.

 

"Not bad news, I hope," cried Ivo, as Ascelin clanked into the hall. "We

have enough of our own. Here is all Kesteven, as the barbarians call it,

risen, and they are murdering us right and left."

 

"Worse news than that, Ivo Taillebois," ("Sir," or "Sieur," Ascelin was

loath to call him, being himself a man of family and fashion; and holding

the _nouveaux venus_ in deep contempt,)--"worse news than that: the

North has risen again, and proclaimed Prince Edgar King."

 

...A week after came news that Thorold of Malmesbury was coming to take the

Abbey of Peterborough, and had got as far as Stamford, with a right royal

train.

Then Hereward sent Abbot Thorold word, that if he or his Frenchmen put

foot into Peterborough, he, Hereward, would burn it over their heads. And

that if he rode a mile beyond Stamford town, he should walk back into it

barefoot in his shirt.

Whereon Thorold abode at Stamford, and kept up his spirits by singing the

songs of Roland,--which some say he himself composed.

[Much more, of how Hereward the Wake captured Thorold, set his ransom, and Thorold and his Norman knights...illustrates last efforts of Saxons against Normans taking over]

[Could Hereward the Wake be a nephew of Brand, prev. abbot of Peterborough?]

...Thorold, Abbot of Malmesbury...

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Chronicles of the Armstrongs, 1902, Heritage Quest:

p. 50--

...Another account relates that the same year (1069-1070) came King Sweyn from Denmark into the Humber, and the people of those parts came to meet him and made alliance with him, for they believed that he would conquer the land. Then the Danish bishop Christien and earl Osbern (earl Osbiorn, brother of King Sweyn of Denmark, F. of W., 1069) and their Danish retainers, came into Ely, and all the people of the fens joined them, for they believed that they should conquer the whole country; "because they had heard that the king had given the abbacy to a French abbot name Turold," "and that he was come into Stamford with all his French followers." So Hereward and his friends pillaged the monastery of Peterborough and took off to Denmark immense booty in gold and silver ornaments...

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http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~debbie/stories/esuffolk.html:

Tedric, or Theodoric, a Saxon, held the manor of Coggeshall Hall at the time of the Domesday survey in the year 1086. Tedric was likely either the father or Grandfather of Sir Thomas de Coggeshall.

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Cameos from English History, from Rollo to Edward II, C. M. Yonge, 1873, Proj. Gutenberg online:


Thorold, the new Norman Abbot of Malmesbury, kept a body of archers in

his pay, and whenever his monks resisted any of his improper measures,

he used to call out, "Here, my men-at-arms!" At length the Conqueror

heard of his proceedings. "I'll find him his match!" cried William. "I

will send him to Peterborough, 'where Hereward will give him as much

fighting as he likes."

 

To Peterborough, then, Thorold was appointed on the death of Hereward's

uncle, Abbot Brand, while the poor monks of Malmesbury received for

their new superior a certain Guerin de Lire, who disinterred and threw

away the bones of his Saxon predecessors, and took all the treasure in

the coffers of the convent, in order that he might display his riches in

the eyes of those who had seen him poor.

 

...As soon as the news arrived at the Camp of Refuge that the warlike

Thorold had been appointed to Peterborough, Hereward and his band

hastened to the Abbey, and, probably with the consent of the Saxon

monks, carried off all the treasures into the midst of the fens.

Thorold, with one hundred and sixty men-at-arms, soon made his

appearance, was installed as Abbot, and quickly made friends with his

Norman neighbor, Ivo Taillebois.

 

They agreed to make an expedition against the robber Saxons, and united

their forces, but Thorold appears to have been not quite as willing to

face Hereward as to threaten his monks, and let Ivo advance into the

midst of an extensive wood of alders, while he remained in the rear with

some other Normans of distinction. Ivo sought through the whole wood

without meeting a Saxon, and returning to the spot where he had left

the Abbot, found no one there, for Hereward had quitted the wood on the

opposite side, made a circuit, and falling suddenly on Thorold and his

party, carried them off to the fens, and kept them there till they had

paid a heavy ransom.

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Handbook to the Cathedrals of England, Richard John King, 1862, transcribed at

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Great_Britain/England/_Topics/churches/_Texts/KINCAT*/Peterborough/2.html:

Leofric, a relative of the Confessor — by whose favour he held five monasteries at once — Burton, Coventry, Crowland, Thorney, and Peterborough — joined the army of Harold at the time of the Norman invasion, but was not present in the great battle. He returned to Peterborough, where he died in 1066. His successor, Brand, was the abbot who knighted the Saxon hero Hereward. Peterborough, like Ely and the other monasteries of the fen country, had been a stronghold of Saxon feeling, and had at first supported the claims of Edgar Atheling. Accordingly, on the death of Brand in 1069, a Norman named Thorold was appointed abbot by the King. Hereward, however, who had joined the Danes under Sweyn in the Isle of Ely, attacked Peterborough and plundered its church, some of the relics in which were carried off to Denmark. On another occasion, the Abbot was made prisoner by Hereward, and compelled to pay thirty marks for his ransom. On his death in 1100, the monks, who had paid three hundred marks to the King for the privilege, elected Godric, a brother of Brand, to the abbacy… [So Thorold was abbot 1069-1100]

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Song of Roland:

p. 14--

...There was a Thorold who was the son or nephew of William the Conqueror's half-brother, Odo, Bishop of Bayeux. After the battle of Hastings William made him Abbot of Malmesbury and he later became Annot of Buront-on-Trent and then in 1069 of Peterborough. This Thorold died in 1098...

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English Cathedrals..., S. Van Rensselaer, 1902:

p. 62--

   This Norman abbot, Thorold, chastised Peterborough asa vigorously as William had expected. He ruled for 28 years, "a master of the goods of the abbey and a scandal to the Church." And, "being a soldier by choice and a monk for convenience and emolumnet," and knowing himself well hated within his own walls, he brought in a troop of men-at-arms and built them a castle close by the church's side...

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http://www.ukvillages.com/ukvillages.nsf/b?open&v=easton+on+the+hill-northamptonshire&selected=notice+board&&body=noticelist_top&s=UKVwrapper:

[Torpel name exists, not too far from original manor]

CROFT FARM Near UFFINGTON [Lincolnshire, near Rutland border; With Northants, the three counties come together in an area that today is part of Peterborough Regional Govt., Rutland to west, Lincs. to North, and Northants to SW]

A circular walk can be made by using an existing public footpath (the Torpel Way) and new permissive paths, including the bank of the River Welland…

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