The Gatehouse website record of a licence to crenellate for Old Wardour Castle granted on 1393 Feb 27

Comments

A soldier with long royal service and marriage to a wealthy heiress. Wardour castle was a new build with all the flourish one would expect from such a wealthy and powerful baron including the cachet of royal licence. Later alterations have made the castle look even less military but it was never a fortress.

Original source is;

Lyte, H.C. Maxwell (ed), 1905, Calendar of Patent Rolls (1392-96) p. 261 online copy

(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;

Emery, Anthony, 2006, Greater Medieval Houses Vol. 3 (Cambridge) p. 695
Coulson, Charles, 1993 Aug, 'Specimens of Freedom to Crenellate by Licence' Fortress: The castles and fortifications quarterly Vol. 18 p. 3-15
King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 504n34
Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol. 3 part 2 p. 420 online copy

Lovell (Lovel), John, fifth Baron Lovell (c.1342–1408)

Lovell (Lovel), John, fifth Baron Lovell (c.1342–1408), courtier and royal councillor... he is described as a ‘knight of the king's house’ when assisting Henry Percy, first earl of Northumberland, at the recapture of Berwick Castle in November 1378. Appointed master of the king's hounds in December 1377, Lovell was a king's knight by 1383 and served as one of a group of ten bannerets attached to the royal household between 1385 and 1387. It was in this capacity that he had joint command of a force of 300 men within the king's ‘battle’ during the Scottish campaign in 1385. Although the appellant lords used Sir John as an intermediary between themselves and the king in the early stages of the political crisis of 1387–8, his close links with Richard's household rendered him suspect and he was among a group of courtiers whom the appellants banished from the king's presence. Lovell's rehabilitation was swift once Richard resumed power, however, for he was certainly present at meetings of the royal council by September 1389, and for the next decade he acted as one of the king's regular advisers: present at most of the more important council meetings; a consistent witness of royal charters. (Walker)

Biographical source include;

Simon Walker, Sept 2004, ‘Lovell , John, fifth Baron Lovell (c.1342–1408)’ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press) online edn, Jan 2008 online copy (subscription may be needed)