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In 1200 April 10, Bishop Geoffrey Muschamp was granted, by John, (In year 1 of his reign) a Royal licence to crenellate Eccleshal (Eccleshall Castle)
Scan of page 60 of Rotuli Chartarum

Granted at Worcester.

Comments

A licence was granted by King John circa 1200 for the former moated site to become a castle.

Original source is;

(In fact, the original source given is usually a transcription/translation of what are precious medieval documents not readily availably. It should be noted that these transcription/translations often date to the nineteenth or early twentieth centuries and that unwitting bias of transcribers may affect the translation. Care should also be taken to avoid giving modern meaning to the medieval use of certain stock words and terms. Licentia is best translated as 'freedom to' not 'permission'.)

Significant later sources are;

Muschamp, Geoffrey de (d. 1208)
Muschamp, Geoffrey de (d. 1208), made bishop of Coventry in 1198 and was present at King John's coronation in 1199. Was an assiduous if not very note worthy bishop and does not seem to have held political office. He got the see through 'virtue of royal power' (Franklin) but the relationship with the king is obscure, although he was a protégé of Geoffrey, archbishop of York, the illegitimate son of Henry II.

Biographical source include;

More information about licences to crenellate can be found here.

Please do inform Gatehouse if you see any errors, can add information or can otherwise help to improve this resource. Please contact Gatehouse.

Record created by Philip Davis. This record last updated on Sunday, October 4, 2015.


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