Honour of Lancaster facts for kids
The Honour of Lancaster was a very large area of land in medieval England. It was like a huge estate or property that belonged to powerful lords or the king. This important area was mostly in the north-west of England and existed from 1066 until the 1400s.
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What Was the Honour of Lancaster?
An "Honour" in medieval times was a special name for a very large collection of lands and castles. These lands were all held by one powerful person, usually a noble or the king. The Honour of Lancaster was one of these big land holdings. It played a key role in the history of England, especially in the north-west.
How the Honour Began
The Honour of Lancaster started after the Norman conquest of England in 1066. This was when William the Conqueror and his Norman army took control of England. William gave a huge amount of land to one of his trusted Norman lords, Roger the Poitevin. This land included the areas between the River Ribble and the River Mersey.
The famous Domesday Book, which was a big survey of England made by William the Conqueror, doesn't clearly say Roger owned Lancaster itself. Instead, Lancaster was listed as part of a smaller land unit called a "manor" within Halton. However, it's believed Roger started building Lancaster Castle around this time.
Roger's lands in the north-west were quite independent, almost like a mini-kingdom called a "palatinate." But these lands were also connected to other properties he owned further south, all together forming the Honour of Lancaster.
Changes in Ownership
Roger the Poitevin later sided with another powerful lord against King Henry I. Because of this, Roger was sent out of England, but the Honour of Lancaster stayed together as one large property.
King Henry I then gave the Honour to his nephew, Stephen of Blois. Stephen later became King of England himself! During a civil war known as the Anarchy, there was a lot of fighting over who controlled the northern parts of the Honour.
After Stephen, King Henry II took control of the Honour. Then, in the late 1150s, it passed to Stephen's son, William. After William died, his wife held the Honour for a while. But in 1164, it went back to the "Crown," meaning it belonged to the king again.
In 1189, King Richard I gave the Honour to his brother, Prince John. At that time, the lands were earning a lot of money, about £200 a year!
Becoming Part of the Duchy
By the end of the 1100s, people started talking more and more about a "County of Lancaster." This was a way to describe the area where the Honour was located. It became common to say if parts of the Honour were inside or outside the Lyme area, which helped define the county's borders.
Since 1194, the Honour had been held by the king. But in 1267, it was given to Edmund Crouchback. Edmund was the son of King Henry III and was made the first Earl of Lancaster. From then on, the Honour of Lancaster became a key part of the Duchy of Lancaster. The Duchy of Lancaster is still a special estate that belongs to the British monarch today.
