Hugh de Morville, Lord of Cunningham and Lauderdale
Encyclopedia
Hugh de Morville was a Norman
knight who made his fortune in the service of David fitz Malcolm
, Prince of the Cumbrians
(1113–24) and King of Scots (1124–53).
His parentage is said by some to be unclear, but G. W. S. Barrow
, in his Anglo-Norman era states:
Hugh came from Morville
in the Cotentin Peninsula
, territory controlled by David since it had been given to him by King Henry I of England
some time after 1106. It must have been sometime soon after 1106 that Hugh joined David's small French household followers and military retinue. In 1113 David became Earl of Huntingdon-Northampton
(by marriage) and Prince of the Cumbrians, after forcing his brother Alexander
, King of Scots, to hand over territory in southern "Scotland". David achieved this with his French followers
David endowed Hugh with the estates of Bozeat
and Whissendine
from his Huntingdon
earldom, (which, since they are attested as his wife Beatrice's dowry, David presumably arranged by granting Hugh the wife who was herself inheriting them - this is a usual pattern of medieval rewards to lords: the reard comes in form of inheritance of an heiress whom the favored knight marries) and the baronies of Lauderdale
and (perhaps later) Cunningham in Scotland. During David's take-over of northern England after 1136, Hugh was also given the lordship of Appleby
- essentially northern Westmorland
. After the death of Edward, Constable of Scotland, almost certainly in 1138 at the Battle of the Standard
, Hugh was given this position.
In 1150 Hugh made a further mark on the history of southern Scotland by founding Dryburgh Abbey
for Premonstratensian
canons regular. Hugh eventually retired there as a canon, soon before his death in 1162. An ancient memorial to him in the South wall is said to mark his burial-place.
Hugh married Beatrice, the heiress of Houghton Conquest
, and daughter of Robert de Beauchamp, a son of Hugh de Beauchamp of Bedford
. They had at least two sons and two daughters. Hugh de Morville, Lord of Westmorland
, inherited his estates of north England. He was a principal player in the assassination of Thomas Becket
, Archbishop of Canterbury
. He subsequently fell out of favour with the king and was forfeited (1174) when the Lordship of Westmorland (which he had inherited from his father who had received it from David I
) was granted to his sister, Maud, whose husband was William de Vieuxpont
. Richard de Morville
, possibly the second son, inherited the Scottish estates along with his father's lands in the honour of Huntingdon. He also successed in the constableship of Scotland. It has been proposed that Simon de Moreville (d. 1167), of Kirkoswald in Cumbria
, who married Ada de Engaine, heiress of Burgh-by-Sands in Cumbria, was a son of Hugh and Beatrice. Before 1157, Hugh II's other sister, Ada married Roger Bertram, lord of Mitford, Northumberland.
It has been suggested that Grace, wife of the Cumbrian magnate Sir Hubert de Vaux, of Gilsland
, was yet another daughter of Hugh and Beatrice.
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
knight who made his fortune in the service of David fitz Malcolm
David I of Scotland
David I or Dabíd mac Maíl Choluim was a 12th-century ruler who was Prince of the Cumbrians and later King of the Scots...
, Prince of the Cumbrians
Kingdom of Strathclyde
Strathclyde , originally Brythonic Ystrad Clud, was one of the early medieval kingdoms of the celtic people called the Britons in the Hen Ogledd, the Brythonic-speaking parts of what is now southern Scotland and northern England. The kingdom developed during the post-Roman period...
(1113–24) and King of Scots (1124–53).
His parentage is said by some to be unclear, but G. W. S. Barrow
G. W. S. Barrow
Geoffrey Wallis Steuart Barrow DLitt FBA FRSE is a British historian and academic. He is Professor Emeritus at the University of Edinburgh, and arguably the most prominent Scottish medievalist of the last century....
, in his Anglo-Norman era states:
"it seems probable that the father of William, and the first Hugh de Morville, was the Richard de Morville who witnessed charters by Richard de Redvers for MontebourgOn the other hand, it is thought to be pretty well established that Hugh came to David's service when (and because) David held Cotentin in north France, which in turn indicates that Hugh was personally from Normandy and therefore unlikely to be son of a Morville who already had settled to England.MontebourgMontebourg is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France.-Heraldry:...
and the church of St. Mary in the castle of NéhouNéhouNéhou is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France....
in the early twelfth century."
Hugh came from Morville
Morville, Manche
Morville is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France....
in the Cotentin Peninsula
Cotentin Peninsula
The Cotentin Peninsula, also known as the Cherbourg Peninsula, is a peninsula in Normandy, forming part of the north-western coast of France. It juts out north-westwards into the English Channel, towards Great Britain...
, territory controlled by David since it had been given to him by King Henry I of England
Henry I of England
Henry I was the fourth son of William I of England. He succeeded his elder brother William II as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106...
some time after 1106. It must have been sometime soon after 1106 that Hugh joined David's small French household followers and military retinue. In 1113 David became Earl of Huntingdon-Northampton
Earl of Huntingdon
Earl of Huntingdon is a title which has been created several times in the Peerage of England. The title is associated with the ruling house of Scotland, and latterly with the Hastings family.-Early history:...
(by marriage) and Prince of the Cumbrians, after forcing his brother Alexander
Alexander I of Scotland
Alexander I , also called Alaxandair mac Maíl Coluim and nicknamed "The Fierce", was King of the Scots from 1107 to his death.-Life:...
, King of Scots, to hand over territory in southern "Scotland". David achieved this with his French followers
David endowed Hugh with the estates of Bozeat
Bozeat
Bozeat is a village and civil parish in the Wellingborough borough of Northamptonshire, England, about south of Wellingborough on the A509 road, near Wollaston...
and Whissendine
Whissendine
Whissendine is a village and civil parish in the county of Rutland, England lying north west of the county town, Oakham.It has two pubs , a church, a former Methodist chapel, and a windmill. The Methodist chapel closed in 2009, the last service being held on 30 August.Whissendine Windmill, built in...
from his Huntingdon
Huntingdon
Huntingdon is a market town in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was chartered by King John in 1205. It is the traditional county town of Huntingdonshire, and is currently the seat of the Huntingdonshire district council. It is known as the birthplace in 1599 of Oliver Cromwell.-History:Huntingdon...
earldom, (which, since they are attested as his wife Beatrice's dowry, David presumably arranged by granting Hugh the wife who was herself inheriting them - this is a usual pattern of medieval rewards to lords: the reard comes in form of inheritance of an heiress whom the favored knight marries) and the baronies of Lauderdale
Lauderdale
Lauderdale, denoting "dale of the river Leader", is the dale and region around that river in south-eastern Scotland.It can also refer to:-People:*Earls of Lauderdale*Lord Lauderdale, member of The Cabal of Charles II of England-Place names:Australia...
and (perhaps later) Cunningham in Scotland. During David's take-over of northern England after 1136, Hugh was also given the lordship of Appleby
Appleby-in-Westmorland
Appleby-in-Westmorland is a town and civil parish in Cumbria, in North West England. It is situated within a loop of the River Eden and has a population of approximately 2,500. It is in the historic county of Westmorland, of which it was the county town. The town's name was simply Appleby, until...
- essentially northern Westmorland
Westmorland
Westmorland is an area of North West England and one of the 39 historic counties of England. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974, after which the entirety of the county was absorbed into the new county of Cumbria.-Early history:...
. After the death of Edward, Constable of Scotland, almost certainly in 1138 at the Battle of the Standard
Battle of the Standard
The Battle of the Standard, sometimes called the Battle of Northallerton, in which English forces repelled a Scottish army, took place on 22 August 1138 on Cowton Moor near Northallerton in Yorkshire. The Scottish forces were led by King David I of Scotland...
, Hugh was given this position.
In 1150 Hugh made a further mark on the history of southern Scotland by founding Dryburgh Abbey
Dryburgh Abbey
Dryburgh Abbey, near Dryburgh on the banks of the River Tweed in the Scottish Borders, was nominally founded on 10 November 1150 in an agreement between Hugh de Morville, Lord of Lauderdale and Constable of Scotland, and the Premonstratensian canons regular from Alnwick Abbey in Northumberland...
for Premonstratensian
Premonstratensian
The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré, also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines, or in Britain and Ireland as the White Canons , are a Catholic religious order of canons regular founded at Prémontré near Laon in 1120 by Saint Norbert, who later became Archbishop of Magdeburg...
canons regular. Hugh eventually retired there as a canon, soon before his death in 1162. An ancient memorial to him in the South wall is said to mark his burial-place.
Hugh married Beatrice, the heiress of Houghton Conquest
Houghton Conquest
Houghton Conquest is a village and civil parish located in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England. The parish also includes the hamlet of How End.-History:...
, and daughter of Robert de Beauchamp, a son of Hugh de Beauchamp of Bedford
Bedford
Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire, in the East of England. It is a large town and the administrative centre for the wider Borough of Bedford. According to the former Bedfordshire County Council's estimates, the town had a population of 79,190 in mid 2005, with 19,720 in the adjacent town...
. They had at least two sons and two daughters. Hugh de Morville, Lord of Westmorland
Hugh de Morville, Lord of Westmorland
Sir Hugh de Morville was an Anglo-Norman knight who served King Henry II of England in the late 12th century. He is chiefly famous as one of the assassins of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury in 1170...
, inherited his estates of north England. He was a principal player in the assassination of Thomas Becket
Thomas Becket
Thomas Becket was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his murder in 1170. He is venerated as a saint and martyr by both the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion...
, Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
. He subsequently fell out of favour with the king and was forfeited (1174) when the Lordship of Westmorland (which he had inherited from his father who had received it from David I
David I of Scotland
David I or Dabíd mac Maíl Choluim was a 12th-century ruler who was Prince of the Cumbrians and later King of the Scots...
) was granted to his sister, Maud, whose husband was William de Vieuxpont
Vieuxpont
Vieuxpont is the name of a significant family in the history of Westmorland. According to Thomas the name originated in France on or about 1066 as Vieuxpont - alternative spellings include Vieuxpont, Veteripont Vezpont, Veepon, Vexpont, Vipont, Vypont, Vispont, Vypunt, Vespont, Vipond, Vypond,...
. Richard de Morville
Richard de Morville
Richard de Morville , succeeded his father Hugh de Morville as Constable of Scotland and in his Scottish estates and English lands at Bozeat in Northamptonshire, and Rutland, as well as a number of feus of the Honour of Huntingdon....
, possibly the second son, inherited the Scottish estates along with his father's lands in the honour of Huntingdon. He also successed in the constableship of Scotland. It has been proposed that Simon de Moreville (d. 1167), of Kirkoswald in Cumbria
Kirkoswald, Cumbria
The village, civil parish and former market town of Kirkoswald lies in the Lower Eden Valley of Cumbria, formerly Cumberland, about from Penrith. The village is usually referred to locally as KO....
, who married Ada de Engaine, heiress of Burgh-by-Sands in Cumbria, was a son of Hugh and Beatrice. Before 1157, Hugh II's other sister, Ada married Roger Bertram, lord of Mitford, Northumberland.
It has been suggested that Grace, wife of the Cumbrian magnate Sir Hubert de Vaux, of Gilsland
Gilsland
Gilsland is a village in northern England about west of Hexham, and about east of Carlisle, which straddles the border between Cumbria and Northumberland...
, was yet another daughter of Hugh and Beatrice.