The Stately Homes of England

by Llewellynn Frederick William Jewitt; S. C. Hall

Arms of De Todeni, De Albini, and De Ros.

The history of Belvoir Castle dates back to very early times, and is invested with more than ordinary interest. Leaving the question as to its site having originally been a Celtic stronghold taken possession of and formed into a station, or something of the kind, by the Romans, to be discussed elsewhere, it is sufficient for our present purpose to say that at the Norman Conquest, Belvoir, with some fourscore manors, was given by William the Conqueror to his faithful standard-bearer, Robert de Todeni, who here built a castle and founded a monastery. This monastery, situated at the foot of the castle hill, and on whose site many interesting remains have in late years been exhumed, was established in 1077, and was endowed with large estates; its founder, Robert Belvidir or De Todeni, agreeing to give to it for ever a tenth part of all the lands he might acquire by the help of God or the grant of the King. This priory was established for four monks of the Benedictine Order (and afterwards became a cell of the Abbey of St. Albans), who were to pray for the souls of the King, of the Earl of Cornwall, of Robert de Todeni, and Adelais, his wife, and of their parents and children. Robert de Todeni died in 1088, and, with his wife, who predeceased him, was buried in the priory at Belvoir which he had founded. He was succeeded by his son William, who took the surname of De Albini Brito, by whom the grants to the priory were confirmed and increased, and he obtained for the monks a grant of a fair for eight days in the year on the feast of St. John the Baptist. He married Maud de St. Liz, widow of Robert de Tonebrigg, daughter of Simon, Earl of Northampton and Huntingdon, and, dying in 1155, he, too, was buried at Belvoir, and was succeeded by his son, William de Albini, or Meschines (also buried here), who in turn was succeeded by his son, the third William de Albini, whose name, in connection with King John and Magna Charta, is matter of history. During his imprisonment at Corfe Castle by his unforgiving king, Belvoir Castle was, at the summons of the sovereign, surrendered into his hands. Under Henry III., Albini, being reinstated in favour, had a chief command at the battle of Lincoln, and took part in most of the stirring events of the period. Besides adding to the endowments of Belvoir Priory, he founded the Hospital of Our Lady at Newstead, for the health of the souls of himself and his two wives, and there his body was buried in 1236, while his heart was placed under the wall opposite the high altar at Belvoir. He married Agatha Trusbut, for the privilege of marrying whom he gave the King 600 marks (about £6,000 of our money). He was succeeded by his son, the fourth William de Albini, or, as he was called, William de Belvoir, who left no male issue, but, by his wife Albreda Biset, had an only child, a daughter Isabel, who married Robert de Ros, Lord of Hamlake, fifth in regular descent from Peter de Ros, who, by marriage with Adeline, daughter of Walter Espec, became the inheritor of two princely fortunes. Thus by the marriage of Isabel de Albini with Robert de Ros the estates of Espec, Ros, and Albini became united.

This Robert de Ros, after his accession to the Belvoir estates, obtained a grant of free warren and a weekly market there from Henry III. Later on, as one of the insurgent barons, he was imprisoned and fined. In 1267 he raised a new embattled and fortified wall at Belvoir Castle. He died in 1285; his body being buried at Kirkham, his bowels before the high altar at Belvoir, and his heart at Croxton Abbey. At the suppression of the monasteries part of the monument which had been placed over his heart at Croxton was removed to Bottesford Church, where it still remains in the chancel wall. His widow, Isabel, died in 1301, and was buried at Newstead. He was succeeded by his son, William de Ros, who became an unsuccessful competitor for the crown of Scotland, founding his claim on his descent from his great-grandmother Isabel, daughter to William the Lion, King of Scotland. By his marriage with Matilda de Vaux he added to the family estates and ecclesiastical patronage; and on his death, in 1317, was succeeded by his son, William de Ros, who was created Lord Ros of Werke; became Baron Ros of Hamlake, Werke, Belvoir, and Trusbut; was summoned to Parliament, second Edward II. to sixteenth Edward III.; was made Lord High Admiral, and one of the Commissioners to treat for peace with Robert Bruce. He died in 1342, and was succeeded by his son, William de Ros, who, after a busy military life, fighting against the Scots, at the siege of Calais, and against the Saracens, died on his way to the Holy Land, and was buried abroad. He married Margaret, daughter of Ralph, Lord Nevill, who survived him, and afterwards married Sir Henry de Percy.

Dying without issue he was succeeded by his brother, Thomas de Ros; who, having married, in 1359, Beatrice, daughter of the Earl of Strafford and widow of the Earl of Desmond, was in turn followed by his son, John de Ros, who dying without issue, was succeeded by his brother, Sir William de Ros. Sir William was, with Walter, Bishop of Durham, and the Earl of Northumberland, sent by King Henry IV. to arrange a treaty of peace with Scotland. He was a favourite with the King, who gave him many important offices; made him a K.G.; and granted him the town of Chingford, in Essex. By his wife, Margaret, of the family of the Earl of Arundel, Sir William had issue five sons and four daughters. He died at Belvoir Castle in 1414, and was buried in the choir of that priory, his monument being now at Bottesford. The next in succession was John de Ros, son of the last named, who came to the title and estates when only seventeen years of age. He was killed along with the Duke of Clarence and others in 1421; and, dying without issue, had for successor his brother, Sir Thomas de Ros, who married Eleanor, daughter of Richard de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, by whom he had issue three sons, of whom his successor, Thomas, Lord Ros, was the eldest, and who, at his father’s death in 1431, was only four years of age.

This nobleman, Thomas, Baron Ros of Hamlake, Trusbut, and Belvoir, was by the King put into full possession of his father’s estates when only eighteen years of age. He married Philippa, eldest daughter of John de Tiptoft, by whom he had issue one son and four daughters. For his fidelity to the House of Lancaster in the Wars of the Roses, he was, with his adherents, attainted in Parliament in 1461, and is said by Rapin to have been beheaded. His estates were confiscated, and given to various adherents of the House of York; Lord Hastings receiving Belvoir and its members. By him Belvoir Castle was utterly despoiled, he carrying away the lead from the roofs to Ashby-de-la-Zouch, to use in his own castle there, and rendering the place no better than a ruin.

The next in succession, Edmund, Lord Ros, was by Henry VII. (who had united the rival houses) restored to his father’s state and dignity; the attainder was removed; and the Belvoir and other estates returned to him. He died in 1508, at his house of Elsinges, at Enfield (in the church at which, place is a noble monument erected to his memory), without issue, and his estates were divided between his sisters and co-heiresses—viz. Eleanor, married to Sir Robert Manners, Knight; and Isabel, married to Sir Thomas Lovel. Belvoir, with Hamlake in Yorkshire, and Orston in Nottinghamshire, being the portion of the elder sister, Eleanor, thus passed into the hands of the family of Manners, in whom it has remained in unbroken succession to the present hour. The manor of Elsinges, which had passed to Sir Thomas Lovel, as part of his wife’s portion, was bequeathed by him to the Earl of Rutland.

Ancient Arms
of Manners.

This Sir Robert Manners, who, as we have said, acquired Belvoir through his marriage with one of the co-heiresses of the last Lord de Ros, was descended from a long line of Manners’ of Northumberland. The earliest of these of whom there is direct evidence was Sir Robert Manners, lord of the manor of Ethale, in Northumberland, from whom descended another Sir Robert, who married Philippa, daughter of Sir Bartholomew de Mont Bouchier, by whom he had issue a son, also named Robert, who married Hawise, daughter of Robert, Baron de Muschamp, in the reign of Henry I. Their great-grandson, another Sir Robert Manners, married Agnes, daughter of Sir David Coupland. Their son, Sir Robert, had issue by his wife, Joan de Heton, four sons, three of whom dying without issue, the second son, William Manners, inherited the estates. He married Ellen, or Janetta, daughter of David Bagster, of Derby, by whom he had a son, Sir Robert Manners.