‘Nicholaa, not thinking about anything womanly, defended … [Lincoln] castle manfully’[1]
Nicholaa de la Haye was a medieval noblewoman who defied the social expectations of her day. She held the office of castellan[2] of Lincoln Castle, successfully defending it during the Battle of Lincoln in 1217, and jointly held the office of sheriff of Lincoln with Philip Marc, the notorious Sheriff of Nottingham.
Nicholaa inherited her fortune at the death of her father in c.1169, making her a desirable heiress with estates in Lincolnshire and a claim to the office of castellan of Lincoln, an office held by both her father and grandfather. She was married twice, firstly to William FitzErneis and then to Gerard de Camville, with whom she had two sons.
Nicholaa’s first experience at defending the castle came in 1191. Gerard left her in charge of Lincoln’s defences when a violent dispute broke out between the royal chancellor and Prince John when King Richard was away on the Third Crusade. Gerard helped John secure castles at Nottingham and Tickhill, whilst Nicholaa held Lincoln Castle against the royal forces which besieged it for forty days.
Gerard died in 1216 in the midst of the fallout from the failure of the peace treaty sealed at Runnymede in June 1215, Magna Carta. His death meant that Nicholaa could regain full control of her inheritance as a widow and she resumed her position as castellan of Lincoln. In the summer of 1216 Nicholaa successfully defended the castle against the rebel barons and negotiated a truce with the rebel army, led by Gilbert de Gant. Later in 1216 King John visited Lincoln and the events that followed were recorded some sixty years later. Nicolaa is said to have approached the king, offering him the keys to the castle, explaining that she was too old and unable to maintain the burden of the office any longer. John responded by entreating her to keep the castle, she was clearly a trusted and effective ally.
On 18th October 1216, Nicholaa was jointly appointed to the office of sheriff of Lincolnshire, alongside Philip Marc. However, Marc was removed from office not long after his appointment, leaving Nicholaa to take control of the county, much of which was in open rebellion. During her time as sheriff, Nicholaa managed to add to her own personal wealth with lands confiscated from rebels. This led to a legal dispute with William of Huntingfield after the civil war was over, when he tried to sue her for £270 worth of goods. During her time as sheriff, Nicholaa also successfully defended Lincoln Castle against further attacks when Gilbert de Gant and then Prince Louis of France occupied the city and besieged the castle.
In the spring of 1217, Lincoln Castle was once again under threat, this time from a rebel army led by the earl of Winchester and the count of Perche. In response, William Marshal, regent of England sent commands for a royalist army to gather at Newark and march on Lincoln. The result of this was the Battle of Lincoln, which was a resounding victory for royal forces and ultimately ended Prince Louis’ ambitions for the English throne.
Professor Louise Wilkinson notes:
‘Nicholaa’s personal role in defending Lincoln castle and receiving royalist reinforcements attracted contemporary comment. While royalist writers praised Nicholaa for being ‘a worthy lady’ deserving of God’s protection ‘in body and soul’, the rebels and the French portrayed her as ‘a very cunning, bad-hearted and vigorous old woman’.[3]
But despite Nicholaa’s enduring service to the crown, just four days after the victory at Lincoln, she was removed from her office as sheriff of Lincolnshire and replaced by Henry III’s uncle, the earl of Salisbury. Nicholaa did not take this lying down, she travelled to London to petition the king herself and the young King Henry publically proclaimed that his uncle should restore Nicholaa to her position.[4]
The dispute between Nicholaa and the earl of Salisbury did not end there and the latter years of their lives were consumed by a power struggle, particularly after the earl of Salisbury’s son had married Idonea, Nicholaa’s granddaughter and heiress to her estates. The earl made repeated attempts to take Lincoln castle from Nicholaa, but time and time again she succeeded in defending it. Finally, in June 1226 Nicholaa gave up Lincoln Castle once and for all. She died in 1230 at her manor in Swaton, outliving the earl of Salisbury who had died four years earlier.[5]
By Claire Kennan.
Claire is a Citizens 800 Project Officer and PhD researcher at Royal Holloway, University of London.
[1] The Chronicle of Richard of Devizes of the time of King Richard the First, ed. J. T. Appleby (London, 1963), p. 31
[2] The governor of the castle.
[3] History of William Marshal, ed. A. J. Holden, trans. S. Gregory and notes by D. Crouch (Anglo-Norman Text Society, 2002-6), ii, pp. 326-7; C. Petit-Dutaillis, Étude sur la vie et le règne de Louis VIII, 1187-1226 (Paris, 1894), p. 148; P. Coss, The Lady in Medieval England, 1000-1500 (Stroud, 1998), p. 33. For the full article by Louise Wilkinson, see http://magnacarta800th.com/schools/biographies/women-of-magna-carta/lady-nicholaa-de-la-haye/
[4] http://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/blog/battles-dynasties-collaborative-exhibition/
[5] For more information on Nicholaa de la Haye see L. J. Wilkinson, Women in Thirteenth-Century Lincolnshire (Woodbridge, 2007), ch. 1.
