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1. The lady is not for turning: Margaret de Redvers’ fine not to be compelled to marry

Dr. Michael Ray, a leading authority on alien courtiers and their families in thirteenth century England, examines the fine made by a prominent widow, Margaret de Redvers, so that she need not marry again should she wish, assessing her motivations for wanting to remain single and bringing into focus some of the difficulties and opportunities presented to rich widows in Henry’s reign.

1.1. The Extract

⁋1On the 30 September 1229 a royal clerk noted in the fine rolls that ‘Margaret de Redvers has made fine with the king by 200 marks, so that she is to be quit of sending knights with the king at his passage in this, the thirteenth, year, and for having her scutage from the knights’ fees that she holds of the king in chief, namely 3 marks per shield for the king’s army at the aforesaid passage, and so that she shall not be compelled to marry for as long as she will live without a husband, and if she will wish to marry, she is to marry by her will on condition that she does not marry enemies of the king.’ ¹

⁋2At Westminster, a day later, a writ was recorded by a royal clerk in the patent rolls, addressed to everyone that Margaret should not be distrained by the King or any of his men to marry again ‘according to the term of her fine.’ ²

1.2. Who was Margaret de Redvers?

⁋1It is not known when Margaret was born but she was probably born near the cusp of the thirteenth century. She was the only child of Warin FitzGerold, hereditary joint Chamberlain to the English throne and an able servant of King John. ³ He had married Alice de Curcy, widow of the great City of London man, Henry of Cornhill. More importantly, Alice was the heiress of the Curcy family. ⁴ Warin himself held lands in at least ten counties ⁵ and, through Alice, he gained interests in the barony of Stogursey with lands in Somerset, Devon, Dorset, Norfolk, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire. ⁶ Alice already had a daughter by Henry of Cornhill who had married Hugh, the son of the rising curialis, Hugh de Nevill but Margaret would inherit half the Curcy and all the FitzGerold lands.

1.3. Why was Margaret concerned about remarrying?

⁋1Margaret had bad experiences of marriage. It was in about 1215 that she was married to Baldwin I, the sole male heir of William de Redvers, Earl of Devon. Baldwin cannot have been born earlier than 1200. ⁷ Although the rule of the church that a bride needed to give her consent to marry was well established, we can assume that at such an early age it is likely that Margaret had no real choice as to whom she might marry. However, marriage to Baldwin would eventually lead to her being one of only a handful of countesses in England.

⁋2Margaret must have been pregnant soon after her marriage as her son, Baldwin II, was born in 1216. But her husband died later in the year and it has even been suggested that her son might have been born posthumously. ⁸ In July 1216 the King had ordered that Warin’s lands should be taken into the King’s hands, ⁹ an indication that, along with other long-serving members of John’s inner circle, Warin had lost patience and joined the rebellion against the King. ¹⁰

⁋3On Baldwin I’s death, Margaret was a young widow in a land riven by war. Baldwin had been the heir to extensive lands especially in Devon and Hampshire including the Isle of Wight. ¹¹ Margaret was entitled to a dower from the estate and her young son, Baldwin II, was poised to inherit the vast Redvers’ patrimony including three castles ¹² when his elderly grandfather died. She would also be able to control her Curcy and FitzGerold inheritance when her father died. She was one of the greatest catches on the marriage market.

⁋4Baldwin I died on 1 September 1216. ¹³ A writ confirms that, within ten weeks, Margaret was married again to Falkes de Bréauté ¹⁴ but it is possible that the marriage might actually have taken place even earlier as the writ says the marriage was given to Falkes as a gift of the King who died on October 19 1216. Falkes was a much disliked, if effective, Norman soldier of uncertain origins.

⁋5 In 1224, after Falkes held Bedford castle against the King, he was brought to heal and exiled. It was at this darkest hour that Margaret came to the King and Archbishop of Canterbury and said that she never gave her consent to the marriage and asked for a divorce. ¹⁵ It is clear that she was not successful ¹⁶ but two enforced marriages had put her on her guard.

1.4. What does the fine show?

⁋1Why did not Margaret not rely on Magna Carta protect her? Chapter 8 of Magna Carta? This guaranteed that no widow should be ‘compelled to marry so long as she wishes to live without a husband, provided that she gives security that she will not marry without our consent if she holds of us.’ ¹⁷ But the Charter was not in place at the time of her first marriage and was annulled when John arranged her re-marriage. Although by 1229 it had been reissued on several occasions, perhaps she wanted a more specific and individual protection.

⁋2Was Margaret concerned that a possible suitor had been lined up by the King or his advisers? This was not impossible. In 1242-3, Henry III bullied the widowed Countess of Warwick into marrying another Norman of obscure origins, John de Plessis. ¹⁸

⁋3There are fourteen other offers for freedom to marry recorded in the Fine Rolls from 1218 to 1234, ¹⁹ so it shows that this was not a unique procedure. Ten of the women concerned were described as widows and at least one other, Phillippa, countess of Warwick, is known to have been a widow. ²⁰ The only offer from a woman who was noted as a wife, Sibyl, wife of Roger de Clifford, was a throwback to the reign of King John and before Magna Carta when she had offered 800 marks to marry at her pleasure. ²¹ Of the other thirteen the amount offered varied from 5 to 300 marks and in one case two palfreys. But in five cases the amount to be paid also bought wardships, dower and lands. The status of the finees varied from Phillippa, countess of Warwick, who offered 100 marks only a few months after Margaret FitzGerold, to Amy de Messing who promised 5 marks. ²² Joan Ferrers (100 marks) ²³ , Matilda de Mowbray (300 marks) ²⁴ and Alice de Neville (100 marks) ²⁵ were of all of baronial families. Ironically the last offer studied was made by Christina de Braybrooke ²⁶ whose husband had been the nemesis of Falkes de Bréauté. As a justice, Henry had presided over 14 cases which went against Falkes. In the aftermath, William de Bréauté had kidnapped Henry and this lead to the siege of Bedford and Falkes’ fall.

⁋4 Did Margaret get more freedom than guaranteed by the Charter? Perhaps the writ bought by the fine was intended to go further than the Charter. Instead of having to get consent to remarry she would be free to choose who she liked providing that her groom was not an enemy of the King. However, the analysis of the fifteen cases in all shows that even women with a less troubled marital track record than Margaret felt that it was advisable to pay for freedom to marry, although it was often as a package of attaining other rights. But Margaret was the only one acute enough to do a profitable deal on scutage.

1.5. What does it tell us of Margaret’s character?

⁋1Above all it shows that she wanted to control her own destiny. It is unlikely that she was planning to remarry and she remained a widow until her death in 1252; Falkes had died in Rome in 1226. But it was also a canny bargain. For 200 marks, she obtained not only her freedom to remarry as she wished but as she held over eighty fees, ²⁷ she would have made a profit was she could levy the scutage on her tenants and keep the money for herself. And she did not pay it all at once; she was in no hurry to pay the whole amount. In 1230 she still owed £96. ²⁸

2.1. C 60/28 Fine Roll 13 Henry III (28 October 1228–27 October 1229), membrane 4

2.1.1. 325

⁋1 For Margaret de Redvers. Margaret de Redvers has made fine with the king by 200 m., so that she is to be quit of sending knights with the king at his passage in this, the thirteenth, year, and for having her scutage from the knights’ fees that she holds of the king in chief, namely 3 m. per shield for the king’s army at the aforesaid passage, and lest she be compelled to marry for as long as she wishes to live without a husband, and if she will wish to marry, she is to marry by her will on condition that she does not marry enemies of the king. [London, 30 September 1229].