Lucy
The de Lucy (of Luce) family were of Norman French origin and took their surname from Luce, Maine in France, but their ancestors could well have been of Viking origin (The Vikings invaded Normandy before they invaded England). They became one of the most powerful families in the north of England in 13th and 14th centuries.
William the Conquerer invaded England from Normandy in France in 1066 and in 1067 appointed Gospatric as Earl of Northumberland He led the northern nobles in a revolt against King William and in 1069, the King laid waste to the northeast of England Gospatric was ousted as Earl of Northumberland in 1072 and was given lands in Dunbar in Scotland by the King of Scotland. He was also Lord of Allerdale in Cumberland in England
It was the start of over 500 years of fighting between the Scots and the English.
King Henry of England died in 1135 and in 1138, William Fitz Duncan, (William , son of Duncan, grandson of Duncan II, King of Scotland, and Great Great Grandson of Gospatric, Earl of Northumberland) fighting on behalf of his uncle David, King of Scotland, was at the head of an expedition which marched through his own inheritance in Cumberland, and that of his wife in Cumberland to Craven in Yorkshire, then in possession of the English;
“They ravaged Craven with sword and fire, sparing no rank, no age, no condition, and neither sex. They first slew children and kindred in the sight of their relations, lords in the sight of their serfs and the opposite, and husbands in the sight of their wives; then oh, most shameful! They led away noble matrons, chaste virgins, mixed alike with other women, and the booty, driving before them naked, in troops, tied and coupled with ropes and thongs, tormenting them with their lances and pikes. This had been done previously, but never to such an outrageous extent” Source: Richard of Hexham, a chronicler of that age.
As a result, King Stephen of England ceded Cumberland, Westmoreland and part of Northumberland to Scotland.
In 1155, Alice de Lucy who was born in France married Odonel de Umphraville, of the Barony of Prudhoe in Northumberland. The Umphravilles were knights who had invaded with William the Conquerer and controlled the strategically important Baronies of Redesdale and Prudhoe in England, just below the Scottish border.
In 1174 Reginald (Reynold) de Lucy (b.1137-1189), son of Sir William de Lucy (1089-1179), a kinsman of Richard de Lucy, Chief Justiciar of England, married Amabil (Annabelle, b 1150), daughter of William fitz Duncan (William, son of Duncan). She was descended from Gospatric I, the Earl of Northumberland (1067-1072). Her grandfather was Duncan II, King of Scots, and her father was William Fitz Duncan, Lord of the Barony of Allerdale. She was from the “House of Gospatric” which was founded by Crinan the Abbot of Dunkeld, and Bethune the heiress of Scotland (c.1000 A.D.).who were also the ancestors of the Washington family of whom, George Washington, First President of the United States of America is the most famous descendent
The brother of Annabelle , William fitz William, “the boy of egremont” who held Egremont Castle and Cockermouth Castle in Cumberland, died young, and with his untimely death, Annabelle and her two sisters, Cicily and Alice inherited his estates when their mother died. Cecily inherited Skipton in Craven, Yorkshire
Annabel and therefore, Reginald de Lucy inherited Allerdale-above Derwent, including Egremont Castle, and Alice inherited, Allerdale below.Derwent. These were vast estates covering most Cumberland and Westmoreland and part of North Yorkshire.
Richard de Lucy, the son of Reginald and Annabelle, was born in 1179, and in 1180. the building of the tower and much of the surrounding wall of Egremont Castle commenced. It must have been completed by 1200 because Richard decreed in that year; “those who held burage tenure in Egremont should find armed men for the defence of the fortress, hold watch and ward and be bound to and in his redemption in case of capture”
Richard de Lucy died in 1215, and Thomas de Multon paid a thousand marks to the king for the wardship of the deceased baron’s two daughters, Annabell and Alice, and married them off to his sons.
Lambert de Moulton, son of Thomas de Moulton, married Annabel and she took his name. Alice married Alan de Moulton, but he adopted his wife’s name, took that part of her aunt’s estate (Alice de Romelli , wife of William Fitz Duncan) which came to the family upon her death without children, and established himself at Cockermouth Castle.
A son, Thomas, was born to Alan de Lucy and Alice, in 1250 and he became Sir Thomas de Lucy , first Baron Lucy of Cockermouth Castle in 1288. Their son, also called Thomas died within his father’s lifetime. Their daughter Alice married Sir Guischard de Charron, Knight, Constable of Bowes Castle in Durham, (Durham was a separate Palatinate, ruled by the Prince Bishops) who had the manor of Horton settled on him in 1279 and Dalton-Gales in 1280. He was Sheriff of Northumberland from 1308-1310, and was a knight of the shire in 1311. He was slain at the Battle of Bannockburn 24th June 1314. when the English were beaten by the Scots and Scotland gained it’s independence.
In 1318, Anthony de Lucy, was given a Mandate to keep the Castle and city of Carlisle, against the attacks of the Scots. He is recorded as Constable of Carlisle Castle then appointed Governor of the Castle of Carlisle in 1323. He was appointed Warden of the counties of Cumberland and Westmoreland during the king’s absence in Aquitaine to resist all those that come by land and sea. Anthony died in 1343.
Thomas de Lucy erected the great hall of Cockermouth Castle between 1343-1365, and was appointed as one of the Wardens of the Marsh of Scotland. He accompanied King Edward III of England to Normandy and took part in the battle of Cressy. He died in 1365, and was succeeded by his son Anthony who proceeded to the Holy Land, where he died?. The poem by Wordsworth “The horn of Egremont Castle” is believed to refer to him.
He was succeeded by his sister Maud de Lucy, who married Gilbert de Umphraville III (m.1369) who was Earl of Angus in Scotland, and Baron of Redesdale and Prudhoe in Northumberland. With influence on both sides of the border, he was one of the most important men in the north of England. When Gilbert de Umphraville died (1381), she inherited the Barony of Prudhoe where Prudhoe Castle now stands..
Aristocratic women in Medieval times ran the domestic household affairs, staff and provisioning and was also expected to manage the estates, and even defend them if her husband was abroad or dead. Black Agnes, for example, countess of March, successfully defended Dunbar Castle against King Edward III in 1368.
Maud de Lucy re-married Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland of Alnwick Castle in 1384. He had been involved in the French Wars in 1359 and 1363. In 1368 he was in Calais in France with King Edward where he commanded an army in Poitiers. He returned to England sick in 1369, but served abroad again until a truce was concluded in 1376. In 1377, he was Commander-in-Chief of the forces sent to garrison the French Towns in English occupation. He had fought with other local knights including the Hyltons of Hylton Castle, the Wessyngtons (Washingtons) on behalf of Edward Prince of Wales, known as the Black prince, son of King Edward III of England
Maud de Lucy (d.1398), was beyond
child bearing age when she married Henry de Percy. As a result of the marriage
agreement, the Percy Coat of Arms (a lion rampant)
were quartered with the
Lucy Coat of Arms.(three luces), with the agreement that “the honour of
Cockermouth, and the arms of Lucy” would pass to her stepson,
Henry Percy,
who became known as
“
Hotspur”
and
led the northern rebellion against King Henry IV in 1403. "Hotspur"
is famous for his part in the Battle of Otterburn in 1388.
After 1398, Hotspur quartered his arms
with those of Lucy in recognition of receipt of the honour of Cockermouth on his
mothers death. He retained the label as a sign of his cadency
This union between the Lucy Family and the Percy family with all their lands and castles in Northumberland, Yorkshire, Cumberland, Westmoreland made them the most powerful and richest family in the north of England. Situated just below the border with Scotland, they were responsible for defending the border against the Scots. They literally held the balance of power between the two nations.
Their lands surrounded the Palatinate of Durham, ruled by the powerful Bishops of Durham, the Prince Bishops. “The king’s writ did not run in these domains, but the Bishops; the King’s peace was not kept or threatened here, but the Bishops. He had his own judges, his own Council and courts, his own army, his own vassals, his own mint. He had rights of Admiralty over his shores. Forfeitures for treason were paid to him, not to the Crown”. The Bishops of Durham created their own barons, amongst them the Hyltons of Hylton Castle, The Wessyngtons (Washingtons) and the Lambtons, who were responsible for defending the Palatinate.
The northern knights had spent decades fighting abroad to retain the possessions in France of the Norman line of Plantagenet kings, whilst their lands and properties in England were under continuous threat of invasion by the Scots
Hotspur
An alliance was formed between the Earl of Percy family and the Bishop and Barons of the Bishoprick of Durham, who aided and abetted Henry, son of John o Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster to depose King Richard II to become King Henry IV of England. The new king rewarded “Hotspur”, son of Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland and stepson of Maud de Lucy (deceased), with Roxburgh Castle, Berwick Castle and Bamborough Castles to add to his own Warkworth Castle. He was also made Constable of Flint Castle, Conway Castle, Chester Castle, Caenarvon Castle and Denbigh Castle, appointed justiciar of North Wales, and presented with the island of Anglesey with Beaumaris Castle.
In 1403, Hotspur joined his brother-in-law, Edmund Mortimer and Owen Glendower of Wales in revolt against the king and Hotspur, wearing the arms of Percy and Lucy quartered, was killed by the kings forces in a small fierce battle at Shrewbury on July 21st, 1403. Fighting by his side was Archibald "The Tyneman"Douglas, 4th Earl of Douglas in Scotland. Scotland, the North, and Wales had united in their fight against the king.
Two years later, his father the Earl of Northumberland, widower of Maud de Lucy, tried to avenge his son’s death in the northern rebellion of 1405, when he and his northern followers joined forces with with Archbishop Scrope of York and Thomas Mowbray, Earl of Nottingham, in another rebellion against the King Henry IV. The rebellion failed and the Earl of Northumberland fled into Scotland.
The Lucy family played a major part in the history of the north of England in 13th and 14th centuries. With the death of Maud de Lucy in 1398, the Lucy family line in the north died out, but the coat of arms of a long line of forgotten Lucy family heroes and heroines lived on in the Percy Coat of Arms. George Percy, brother of the 9th Earl of Northumberland was on the ship "Discovery" in 1607. A Richard Lucy arrived in Jamestown in 1615 and today descendents of the family of Lucy are spread across America.
Copyright; E.W.Lamberton, All rights reserved. 15th June 2003
For more Lucy Information, See; www.lucey.net
Links; The Percy Family of Alnwick; http://www.geocities.com/percyfamilyhistory/thepercy.html