My lord Ferrers (7)

In spring 1264 the estates of Robert de Ferrers went up in flames. His castle at Tutbury was stormed by Lord Edward, who discovered the ‘archa’ - the chest containing bonds of Jewish debts - which Ferrers had taken from the Jewry at Worcester. Edward broke open the chest and sent the charters for safe-keeping to Bristol. At the king’s order, they were returned to Worcester.

Tutbury was then razed to the ground, followed by more devastating raids across Staffordshire and Derbyshire. The only exception was the hundred of Wirksworth, where Edward took protection money of £200 to help finance the campaign.

Robert was in a dire position. His brother, William, had been captured at Northampton; his lands were being reduced to ash; his chief caput at Tutbury had been captured and destroyed. This was the situation when Earl Simon summoned him to join the campaign that resulted in the battle of Lewes in April.

Instead of joining Simon, Robert chose to shore up his position in the north. This has been taken to mean he was fickle and unreliable, but that was not Simon’s view; despite Robert’s absence from Lewes, he was still regarded as a faithful ally as late as May.

That was because Robert continued to act in Simon’s interest. While the Lewes campaign was underway, he set about attacking royalist castles. By the end of summer 1264 he had taken Alton in Staffordshire, Tickhill in Yorkshire, and Harestan, Bolsover and the Peak in Derbyshire. He also took part in the capture of Fotheringhay castle in Northants alongside the Montfortian baron, Baldwin Wake.

This summer campaign has been taken as part of Robert’s tit-for-tat personal vendetta with Edward. Yet only two of the castles, Peak and Bolsover, belonged to Edward. It is true that Peak, Bolsover and Tickhill had once been Ferrers possessions, so there was a degree of self-interest. All the named castles, however, were royalist strongholds. Whatever his motive, Robert’s campaign benefited the wider baronial cause.

Attached is one of my pics of the Peak (Peveril) castle, from a recent visit.