Getting ahead (1)

#OTD in 1283 a string of cases were heard before the king and council at Rhuddlan in Wales. Edward I was still embroiled with the war against Prince Dafydd, but - much like his ancestor, Henry II - he was in the habit of doing umpteen things at once. I have wondered how many of their scribes had nervous breakdowns, being dragged along in the wake of these frenzied Angevins and their endless to-do lists. 

We don't know the order in which the cases were heard, so I'll make it up. First, a certain Sir Thomas Mandeville came before the king and presented him with the head of an Irishman named 'O'Donald'. He was in fact Domnhall O Donnell, King of Tír Connaill. 

This was related to a very long-running war in Ireland, in which the Mandeville and Fitz Warin factions had fought like rats for control of territory. The various Irish kings and lords had been drawn into it, and in 1281 Mandeville and his Irish ally, Hugh 'Boy' O'Neill, wiped out their enemies at Disert-dá-chrích (Desertcreaght, County Tyrone). 

Although Edward never went to Ireland, he kept his finger on the pulse. He ordered Mandeville to be paid a fee for the head of O'Donnell, while Hugh and 'other Irishmen of Ulster' received bounties amounting to £18. Another payment went out to a certain O'Hanlon and his men-at-arms, along with a robe of the king's gift to him. 

The reference to 'men-at-arms' is interesting; in an English context, it usually referred to heavy armoured cavalry, and implies the O'Hanlon had mailed horsemen as well as kern and gallowglass. 

The gift of a robe is not just a mere detail. O'Hanlon was now currying the favour of the king, and dealt direct with him and his ministers. By doing so he bypassed the Red Earl, Richard de Burgh, who saw himself as the greatest power in Ireland. 

So much for the first order of business. Mandeville and his grisly trophy were dismissed, and Edward turned to the next item.