Richard de Southchurch
Encyclopedia
Sir Richard de Southchurch (Suthchirche, Suthcherch) (died 1294) was a knight
and part of the landowning aristocracy of Essex
in the thirteenth century. He was High Sheriff of Essex
and of Hertfordshire
in the years 1265–67, and as such became involved in the Second Barons' War
(1264–1267). Southchurch has earned a special place in the historiography
of the period due to an episode during the war where he allegedly planned to attack London
with incendiary cocks
.
Little is known of Southchurch's background, but his family came from the manor of Southchurch
, now part of Southend-on-Sea
. Richard de Southchurch held this manor of the Prior and Convent of Christ's Church, Canterbury
. He also held other land in the county of Essex, including Prittlewell
, which he held in fee
of the king. He served as sheriff of the combined shrievalties of Essex and Hertfordshire from 27 October 1265 to 12 June 1267. In 1279, he received a pardon and was acquitted of a fine of 100 shilling
for being present at the theft of a hart
at the king's forest of Chelmsford
. In 1289 he was also acquitted of the great sum of 1000 pounds for perjury, in return for releasing the manor of Hatfield Peverel
to the king. Southchurch was dead by 2 April 1294, when the escheat
or was ordered to deliver his lands to his son and heir, Peter de Southchurch.
between king Henry III
and members of his aristocracy, a conflict known as the Second Barons' War. In April 1267, Gilbert de Clare entered London with the baronial forces. The city welcomed him, and king Henry III had to set up camp at Stratford
, besieging the capital. Orders were sent out to the sheriffs of Kent
and Essex to procure supplies for the royal army. It was in this situation that Southchurch, in his capacity as sheriff, levied requisitions on Chafford Hundred of;
The story survives through the Hundred Rolls
, the great survey of the English hundreds made by Edward I
, in 1274-5, on returning to his new kingdom from crusade
. The scheme, impractical as it might seem, was supposedly based on contemporary sagas of Viking
heroes. But the complaints of the local community were based on the fact that Southchurch had taken all the supplies home to his own manor of Southchurch, received 200 marks
from the exchequer
, yet never paid out any of what the owners of the goods were entitled to.
. Cam was responsible for groundbreaking work on the Hundred Rolls, and their relevance to English local government, through her Studies in the Hundred Rolls (1921) and The Hundred and the Hundred Rolls (1930). In both of these she made mention of what she calls '...the most picturesque series of extortions recorded in the Essex returns.' It was, however, in a paper published in the English Historical Review as early as 1916 that she gave the most detailed account of Southchurch's plot. Here she traced the dissemination of the Viking legend through Geoffrey of Monmouth
, and speculated that Southchurch could have been acquainted with a later version by Gaimar
, Wace
or Layamon
, or through a local, popular legend.
The story was later retold by Sir Maurice Powicke in his King Henry III and the Lord Edward (1947). Yet even though both Cam and Powicke had included the tale as a humorous anecdote, it was not until Michael Prestwich
wrote his monograph of Edward I in 1988 that anyone considered the possibility that the story of the incendiary roosters was simply a 'confidence trick
' on Southchurch's part. Powicke, in Prestwich's words; 'is to be counted among those who fell for the sheriff’s ruse.'
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
and part of the landowning aristocracy of Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
in the thirteenth century. He was High Sheriff of Essex
High Sheriff of Essex
The High Sheriff of Essex was an ancient High Sheriff title originating in the time of the Angles, not long after the invasion of the Kingdom of England, which was in existence for around a thousand years...
and of Hertfordshire
High Sheriff of Hertfordshire
The High Sheriff of Hertfordshire was an ancient High Sheriff title originating in the time of the Angles, not long after the invasion of the Kingdom of England, which was in existence for around a thousand years...
in the years 1265–67, and as such became involved in the Second Barons' War
Second Barons' War
The Second Barons' War was a civil war in England between the forces of a number of barons led by Simon de Montfort, against the Royalist forces led by Prince Edward , in the name of Henry III.-Causes:...
(1264–1267). Southchurch has earned a special place in the historiography
Historiography
Historiography refers either to the study of the history and methodology of history as a discipline, or to a body of historical work on a specialized topic...
of the period due to an episode during the war where he allegedly planned to attack London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
with incendiary cocks
Rooster
A rooster, also known as a cockerel, cock or chanticleer, is a male chicken with the female being called a hen. Immature male chickens of less than a year's age are called cockerels...
.
Biography
Southchurch
Southchurch is now part of Southend-on-Sea in Essex, England. However, it was an independent parish until 1894 and has a documented history going back to the ninth century AD....
, now part of Southend-on-Sea
Southend-on-Sea
Southend-on-Sea is a unitary authority area, town, and seaside resort in Essex, England. The district has Borough status, and comprises the towns of Chalkwell, Eastwood, Leigh-on-Sea, North Shoebury, Prittlewell, Shoeburyness, Southchurch, Thorpe Bay, and Westcliff-on-Sea. The district is situated...
. Richard de Southchurch held this manor of the Prior and Convent of Christ's Church, Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
. He also held other land in the county of Essex, including Prittlewell
Prittlewell
Prittlewell is an area of Southend-on-Sea in Essex. Historically, Prittlewell is the original town, Southend being the south end of Prittlewell.Originally a Saxon village, Prittlewell is centred on St...
, which he held in fee
Fiefdom
A fee was the central element of feudalism and consisted of heritable lands granted under one of several varieties of feudal tenure by an overlord to a vassal who held it in fealty in return for a form of feudal allegiance and service, usually given by the...
of the king. He served as sheriff of the combined shrievalties of Essex and Hertfordshire from 27 October 1265 to 12 June 1267. In 1279, he received a pardon and was acquitted of a fine of 100 shilling
Shilling
The shilling is a unit of currency used in some current and former British Commonwealth countries. The word shilling comes from scilling, an accounting term that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times where it was deemed to be the value of a cow in Kent or a sheep elsewhere. The word is thought to derive...
for being present at the theft of a hart
Red Deer
The red deer is one of the largest deer species. Depending on taxonomy, the red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Asia Minor, parts of western Asia, and central Asia. It also inhabits the Atlas Mountains region between Morocco and Tunisia in northwestern Africa, being...
at the king's forest of Chelmsford
Chelmsford
Chelmsford is the county town of Essex, England and the principal settlement of the borough of Chelmsford. It is located in the London commuter belt, approximately northeast of Charing Cross, London, and approximately the same distance from the once provincial Roman capital at Colchester...
. In 1289 he was also acquitted of the great sum of 1000 pounds for perjury, in return for releasing the manor of Hatfield Peverel
Hatfield Peverel
Hatfield Peverel is a large urban village and civil parish in the centre of Essex, England. Its population, including the hamlet of Nounsley, is approximately 5,500 . Hatfield means a 'heathery space in the forest'; Peverel refers to William Peverel, the Norman knight granted lands in the area by...
to the king. Southchurch was dead by 2 April 1294, when the escheat
Escheat
Escheat is a common law doctrine which transfers the property of a person who dies without heirs to the crown or state. It serves to ensure that property is not left in limbo without recognised ownership...
or was ordered to deliver his lands to his son and heir, Peter de Southchurch.
Involvement in Barons’ War
In the mid-1260s, England found herself in a state of civil warCivil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....
between king Henry III
Henry III of England
Henry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...
and members of his aristocracy, a conflict known as the Second Barons' War. In April 1267, Gilbert de Clare entered London with the baronial forces. The city welcomed him, and king Henry III had to set up camp at Stratford
Stratford, London
Stratford is a place in the London Borough of Newham, England. It is located east northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major centres identified in the London Plan. It was historically an agrarian settlement in the ancient parish of West Ham, which transformed into an industrial suburb...
, besieging the capital. Orders were sent out to the sheriffs of Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
and Essex to procure supplies for the royal army. It was in this situation that Southchurch, in his capacity as sheriff, levied requisitions on Chafford Hundred of;
...oats and wheat, of bacon, beef, cheese and pease, 'pur sustenir le ost au Rey'; of chickens to feed the wounded and tow and eggs to make dressings for their wounds and linen for bandages, of chord to make ropes for the catapults, of picks and calthrops and spades to lay low the walls of London, and finally of cocks, forty and more, to whose feet he declared he would tie fire, and send them flying into London to burn it down.
The story survives through the Hundred Rolls
Hundred Rolls
The Hundred Rolls are a census of England and parts of what is now Wales taken in the late thirteenth century. Often considered an attempt to produce a second Domesday Book, they are named for the hundreds by which most returns were recorded....
, the great survey of the English hundreds made by Edward I
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
, in 1274-5, on returning to his new kingdom from crusade
Ninth Crusade
The Ninth Crusade, which is sometimes grouped with the Eighth Crusade, is commonly considered to be the last major medieval Crusade to the Holy Land. It took place in 1271–1272....
. The scheme, impractical as it might seem, was supposedly based on contemporary sagas of Viking
Viking
The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
heroes. But the complaints of the local community were based on the fact that Southchurch had taken all the supplies home to his own manor of Southchurch, received 200 marks
Mark (money)
Mark was a measure of weight mainly for gold and silver, commonly used throughout western Europe and often equivalent to 8 ounces. Considerable variations, however, occurred throughout the Middle Ages Mark (from a merging of three Teutonic/Germanic languages words, Latinized in 9th century...
from the exchequer
Exchequer
The Exchequer is a government department of the United Kingdom responsible for the management and collection of taxation and other government revenues. The historical Exchequer developed judicial roles...
, yet never paid out any of what the owners of the goods were entitled to.
Historical transmission
The account of Southchurch's provisioning was first made available to a wider audience through the writings of the English historian Helen CamHelen Cam
Helen Maud Cam was an English historian of the Middle Ages, born at Abingdon, Berkshire ....
. Cam was responsible for groundbreaking work on the Hundred Rolls, and their relevance to English local government, through her Studies in the Hundred Rolls (1921) and The Hundred and the Hundred Rolls (1930). In both of these she made mention of what she calls '...the most picturesque series of extortions recorded in the Essex returns.' It was, however, in a paper published in the English Historical Review as early as 1916 that she gave the most detailed account of Southchurch's plot. Here she traced the dissemination of the Viking legend through Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth was a cleric and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography and the popularity of tales of King Arthur...
, and speculated that Southchurch could have been acquainted with a later version by Gaimar
Geoffrey Gaimar
Geoffrey Gaimar , was an Anglo-Norman chronicler. Gaimar's most significant contribution to medieval literature and history is as a translator from Old English to Anglo-Norman. His L'Estoire des Engles translates extensive portions of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as well as using Latin and French...
, Wace
Wace
Wace was a Norman poet, who was born in Jersey and brought up in mainland Normandy , ending his career as Canon of Bayeux.-Life:...
or Layamon
Layamon
Layamon or Laghamon (ˈlaɣamon; in American English often modernised as ; ), occasionally written Lawman, was a poet of the early 13th century and author of the Brut, a notable English poem of the 12th century that was the first English language work to discuss the legends of Arthur and the...
, or through a local, popular legend.
The story was later retold by Sir Maurice Powicke in his King Henry III and the Lord Edward (1947). Yet even though both Cam and Powicke had included the tale as a humorous anecdote, it was not until Michael Prestwich
Michael Prestwich
Michael Charles Prestwich OBE is an English historian, specialising on the history of medieval England, in particular the reign of Edward I. He is retired, having been Professor of History at Durham University, and Head of the Department of History until 2007.-Early life:Prestwich is the son of...
wrote his monograph of Edward I in 1988 that anyone considered the possibility that the story of the incendiary roosters was simply a 'confidence trick
Confidence trick
A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group by gaining their confidence. A confidence artist is an individual working alone or in concert with others who exploits characteristics of the human psyche such as dishonesty and honesty, vanity, compassion, credulity, irresponsibility,...
' on Southchurch's part. Powicke, in Prestwich's words; 'is to be counted among those who fell for the sheriff’s ruse.'