A.D. 1219.
In the succeeding reign, viz. that of Henry III., Fitz-Gwarine procured a grant of his estates, to him and his heirs for ever; for which he gave the king two coursers, and two hundred and sixty-two pounds, an enormous sum in that age, and which gives us an idea of the wealth of Fitz-Gwarine. The same monarch also granted him the liberty of a fair on St. Luke’s day, and a market on Wednesday, at Whittington; but on account of its proximity to Oswestry and Ellesmere, both market and fair are now quite lost. There were, however, fairs on the last Thursdays in April, July, and November, in the memory of several of the present inhabitants; but in want of sufficient attendance, they were discontinued. They consisted chiefly of horses, oxen, sheep and swine, that were, in a great measure, furnished from the extensive common of Babin’s wood: upon the inclosure of which, great part of the land that before had reared cattle, sheep, &c. was converted to arable purposes, and consequently the fairs were but ill supplied with those useful animals, which defect was the principal cause of the putting a stop to the fairs.
Strange, lord of Knockin, and possessor of the castle there, had several conflicts or wars with Fitz-Gwarine, during the agitated reign of John. In some of these skirmishes they threw down, or considerably damaged each others castle; for we find grants given by Henry III. to each of these Barons to repair and fortify them. Whittington castle was so completely fortified by Fitz-Gwarine, that we never after hear of its being taken from its possessors. Out of the refuse materials Fitz-Gwarine built a chapel that soon became the parish church, and of which, I shall say more hereafter.
In a tower in the gateway was till very lately a figure on horseback, representing Fitz-Gwarine painted in a course manner, under which were the following lines, alluding to his fortifying the castle:
“This was Sir Foulke Fitz-Warine late a great and valiant knight,
Who kept the Britons still in awe and oft times put to flight;
He of this castle owner was, and kept it by command,
Of Henry late surnam’d the Third, then king of all this land.His grandfather, a Lorrainer, by fame was much befriended,
Who Peverley’s daughter took to wife, from whom this Fulk descended;
His ancient acts of chivalry in annals are recorded,
Our king of England afterwards him baron made and lorded.”
Fulk Fitz-Gwarine had the misfortune to be stricken with blindness in his old age. Upon his death, he was buried in the porch of Whittington church; and his remains were found there in an oak coffin three inches thick, by digging a grave in the year, 1796.
He had a daughter named Eva, who was second wife to Llewelyn, king of Wales; and it was through her that Fitz-Gwarine came to know of John’s private message to Llewelyn, which I omitted to mention in its right place.
I state from very good authority, that this Fulk, or to avoid confusion Fulk the second, was married to Clarice of Abbourville, but of what family she was, or when they were married, I have not been able to discover. Fitz-Gwarine, it is stated, went generally by the appellation of Proudhome, as a mark of respect to his nobility.
He left behind him a son, who enjoyed his father’s estates and titles, but for no considerable time. He followed king Henry III. through all that prince’s adverse fortune, and righting in his behalf at the battle of Lewes, had the irreparable misfortune of being drowned in the act of crossing a river; leaving behind him a young son, the fourth Fitz-Gwarine.
Dugdale states, that it was Fitz-Gwarine the second who was drowned at Lewes; but though, a most excellent historian, he is certainly wrong in this particular, for the following reasons: When Fitz-Gwarine the second was appointed Lieutenant of the Marches in the first year of Richard I. he at least must have been of age; and from that time to the battle of Lewes was 75 years, consequently he must have been near 100 years old; an age, at which it is highly improbable he could have been found in the field of battle. Besides, we are informed, that the Fulk who fell at Lewes, left a son in his minority, which is very unlikely to have been the case with Fulk the second at such an advanced age. Another, though not so strong as the two preceding proofs, is the certainty of Fitz-Gwarine the second being buried at Whittington; a circumstance that could hardly have taken place, if Dugdale’s statement had been correct. Though this might have happened, yet the other two are sufficient arguments to prove that the son is the person whom that author has mistaken for the father.
Immediately after the battle, (the events of which must be known to every person who has read the English history) the earl of Leicester created Peter de Montford, one of his chief accomplices, governor of Whittington castle. Leicester also obliged the captive king to deliver Whittington with several other bordering castles, into the hands of Llewelyn ap Gryffydd, king of Wales, by a writ dated from Hereford, June 22, 1265. That cruel earl likewise, in Henry’s name, gave Llewelyn the entire sovereignity of Wales, and homage of all the barons under him. Henry, after he regained his liberty, confirmed those grants, but for what reason I have not been able to make apparent, unless money was his object, as it was done in consideration of Llewelyn giving him 30,000 marks as a recompense.