Adam and the prince

On Ascension Day (30 May) 1266, Adam Gurdun and his gang descended upon Shortgrave, a grange in Bedfordshire belonging to Dunstable priory. They stayed all day, looting the manor and eating up the stores, and then rode off taking all they could carry.

The outlaws rode back to their hideout in the forests of Alton in Hampshire, via Kimble and the Chiltern Hills. Adam’s men were in the habit of lying in wait for travellers between the town of Alton and Farnham Castle:

“Which was then in a valley rendered tortuous by well-wooded promontories, and because of this advantageous for robbers…” (William Rishanger)

The outlaws didn’t know it, but they were being tracked. Robert Chadd, a deserter, had told the Lord Edward of the location of Adam’s hideout. Guided by Chadd, the prince set off with his knights and discovered the outlaw camp at dusk, ‘about the setting of the sun’. There are several versions of what happened next. One account says that Edward challenged Adam to ‘take his arms and defend himself like a brave man’, after which the two engaged in single combat. Another says that Edward went berserk and charged at Adam without waiting for his men; the prince ended up stranded on the wrong side of a ditch and had to fight the outlaws all by himself until help arrived.

This might sound unlikely, but armoured princes with all the best gear and training were capable of doing some serious damage. Take the account of King Louis VII of France, when he found himself in a tight spot in Asia Minor:

“During the fighting the king lost his small and famous royal guard, but he remained in good heart and nimbly and courageously scaled the side of the mountain by gripping the tree roots that God had provided for his safety. The enemy climbed after him, hoping to capture him, and the archers in the distance continued to shoot arrows at him. But God willed that his cuirass should protect him from the arrows, and to prevent himself from being captured he defended the crag with his bloody sword, cutting off many heads and hands.”

It seems Edward and the outlaw knight fought for a while, until Adam suffered a ‘savage wound’ and had to yield. His life was spared, but Edward ordered all his followers to be hanged on the trees of the wood. This was the fate of penniless thieves, who could not afford to pay ransoms. One later account says that Edward promised Adam life and fortune if he surrendered.

The harsher reality was that Adam was sent off to Windsor as a prisoner. Edward cheerfully quipped he could provide company for Robert Ferrers, Earl of Derby, recently captured by royalist forces at Chesterfield. Adam was given to the queen, Eleanor of Provence, but was later able to buy back his estates at a stiff price. Meanwhile his men rotted on the trees of Alton wood.

The battle of Llandeilo Fawr

Membrane 2 of the 1282 payroll for the royal army in West Wales. This covers the period of the Battle of Llandeilo Fawr, fought on 16 June, and ought to give some useful insight away from chronicle accounts.

The relevant section of the membrane is as follows:

"[m. 2][ It is unclear whether the present m 2 originally followed the present m 1, but the damage pattern across the join would suggest that it probably did.] [Payments made by] Walter de Notingham, clerk, to bannerets, knights, esquires and foot-soldiers staying in the lord king’s garrisons at Carmarthen, Dinefwr, [...] [and Card]igan from [Monday], the morrow of the translation of St Wulfstan, namely 8 June in the [tenth] year of the reign of king Edward, with covered and uncovered horses [...][ This and the following missing headings were presumably just the names of the recipients.] [The same] Walter accounts for payment to lord John de Bello Campo, himself the third knight, with 13 covered horses, from Monday on the morrow of St Wulfstan, namely 8 June, until Tuesday in the vigil of St John the Baptist, for 16 days, each day counted, £14 8s. And know that a banneret takes 4s per day, a knight 2s, and each of the other covered horses 12d. [...] Item, payment to lord Hugh de Corten’, himself the fourth knight, with 12 covered horses, from 8 June until Tuesday in the vigil of St John the Baptist, for 16 days, each day counted, £14 8s. [...] Item, payment to H. de Monte Forti, himself the other knight, with 8 covered horses, from 8 June until Saturday next after the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed John the Baptist, namely 27 June, for 20 days, each day counted, £10. [Si]mon de Monte Acuto Item, payment to lord Simon de Monte Acuto, with 4 covered horses, from 8 June until Saturday next after the feast of the Nativity of St John the Baptist, namely for 20 days, each day counted, 100s. Hugh Poinz Item, payment to lord Hugh Poinz, with 4 covered horses, from 8 June until Saturday next after the feast of the Nativity of St John the Baptist, for 20 days, each day counted, 100s. William de Moun Item, payment to lord William de Moun, himself the other knight, with 8 covered horses, who came from England on Thursday next after the feast of St Augustine, namely 28 May, until Thursday in the feast of St Botulph, 17 June, for 21 days, each day counted, £10 10s. And therefore he received payment for the 11 days of the time for which the said knights received payment from the king’s wardrobe because the same lord William received no payment in the same wardrobe. And know that all the said bannerets and knights at that time were in the army which lord G. de Clare led into ‘Estratewy’.”

Much of our understanding of the battle comes from John Morris and his book The Welsh Wars of Edward I, published in 1901. Unfortunately Morris made mistakes. Of the aftermath of the battle, he wrote:

“The English in the south seem to have been completely paralyzed for the next six weeks. The paid cavalry, suspiciously reduced in number since the battle of Llandeilo, were divided into two bodies of about thirty-five lances each, one sent to garrison Cardigan under Philip Daubeney, the other remaining under Alan Plukenet to hold Dynevor, while John de Beauchamp and his troops were probably at Carmarthen”.

Morris failed to notice the header of the membrane, which shows the English were already in garrison at these places from 8 June, eight days before the battle. Wages were paid out as normal, with no sign of panic or disruption or a break in accounting, which one might expect after a heavy defeat. There is, in fact, no sign of an engagement at all.

All the accounts, English and Welsh, agree the most important casualty of the battle was William de Valence junior, heir to the earldom of Pembroke. The only other named casualty is Richard Argentine, an English knight. Neither of these men are mentioned anywhere on Clare’s payroll. Therefore the assumption must be that Valence was in charge of a separate division of the army, for which a payroll has not survived. This division was ambushed and mauled by the Welsh in a narrow wooded pass somewhere near Llandeilo. The main host under Clare was untouched.

Since Clare was in overall command, this can only mean he had split his forces in the middle of enemy territory: an apt comparison would be Lord Chelmsford before Isandlwana, with similar results. He paid for his incompetence and was stripped of command by King Edward, who replaced him with William de Valence senior as ‘captain of the army of West Wales’.

The fall of Adam

Adam’s downfall.

Adam Gurdun’s time in the sun was very brief. After the battle of Evesham the Montfortian regime crumbled into dust, and the late earl’s garrisons went down like ninepins. Soon after the battle Roger Mortimer, Adam’s former captain, stormed into the southwest to crush the rebels in Somerset before rejoining Henry III at Winchester. By 22 August he was in possession of Adam’s stronghold at Dunster. There is no hint of a siege or assault, and it seems Adam simply abandoned the castle and fled. This was standard tactics: nobody with any sense wanted to be bottled up inside four walls with no hope of relief. It may be that Adam struck a deal with Mortimer, since they were old mates, and was allowed to depart unmolested.

That was not the end. Adam now turned outlaw and charged off into Buckinghamshire at the head of a company of ‘free lances’. The sheriff of Bucks, Geoffrey le Rus, later complained that Adam’s men had prevented him from holding tourns (a bi-annual inspection of the hundreds of the shire) and collecting rents. Rus alleged he was:

“Impeded by Adam Gurdon, David de Uffington, John Russell, and others of the island [Ely]. Could not hold tourns in the two magni comitatus in Bucks. Damages estimated at 10 marks”.

This shows that Adam was now in cahoots with the rebels of Ely, who came down from the north and garrisoned Hereward the Wake’s old stronghold in the spring of 1266. In proper tragic style, Adam was about to be shafted by one of his own. Shortly before Ascension Day (30 May) one of his men, Robert Chadd, stole away from the outlaw camp and told the Lord Edward where he might find Adam’s hideout. The sneak.

Adam's time in the sun

In July 1265, as his short-lived government crumbled about his ears, Simon de Montfort finally turned to Adam Gurdun. On 16 June, at Hereford, Simon made Adam keeper of the Isle of Lundy, with the promise that he would be enfeoffed with Lundy and its castle if he ‘kept it safe’. This appointment was made in the hope that Adam would prevent William de Valence, recently landed in Pembroke, from raising ships to sail across the Bristol Channel and link up with the Lord Edward.

Adam had no time to worry about Valence. On 1 August, even as Edward’s forces closed in on Simon, a royalist army landed at Minehead on the coast of north Somerset. They were composed of Welshmen, probably raised in Glamorgan, and led by a knight of ‘evil reputation’ named Sir William Berkeley. This was probably part of a wider royalist strategy to outflank Montfort and pin down his supporters in the West Country.

The raiders set about pillaging the countryside. They were surprised and driven back into the sea by Adam and his men, who had ridden out from Dunster to face the threat:

“Of the slaughter of the Welsh. In this year, on the Sunday before the battle of Evesham, a host of Welshmen, under the command of William Berkeley, a noble knight, though notorious for his evil deeds, landed at Minehead, near the castle of Dunster, for the purpose of pillaging Somersetshire. They were, however, met by the governor of that castle, Adam Gordon, who slew great numbers of them, and put the rest of them to flight, together with their chief, a great many being drowned in their flight.” - William Rishanger

This battle was an interesting example of Welshmen fighting on both sides: Earl Simon also had large numbers of Welsh troops in his army. Adam had won a pyrrhic victory. Three days later Simon’s host was exterminated at Evesham.

More sheepskin

Membrane two of the payroll. Some of you may notice this looks rather like membrane one: this is because I forgot to take photos of the detached fragments of the first two membranes, so I'm using membrane three of the main roll as a substitute. Clear? Clear as a bell.

The below includes Professor Mackman's notes.

C 47/2/1/15

 [The top of this fragment is also badly damaged, and only fragments survive of the first few lines of text. The fragment actually comprises the foot of one membrane and the head of the next, stitched together, and there is a gap of 2-3cm of blank parchment across the join.]

[m.1] [...] covered horses [...] days, £11 12s 4d. [...] for the said [...] days, £10 [...]s 4d. [...] foot-soldiers of W[...], for 3 days, £14 ?10s. [...] covered horse and 100 foot-soldiers and charcoal-burners from the forest of Dean, for 2 days, 51s. And each of the said charcoal-burners took 3d per day. [...] constables with 2 covered horses and ?12 uncovered horses, 2 standard-bearers and 1200 foot-soldiers from Brecon, for payment for the aforesaid Saturday, who then came [...] Landenf[...] 4s 8d. Sum of the covered horses – 29. Sum of the uncovered horses – 43. Sum of the foot-soldiers, [...], standard-bearers and other foot – 8,026 foot coming with the earl [...]. Payment of the aforesaid for the said 4 days - £250 [...]. [m. 2] [...] constables [...] uncovered horses and foot-soldiers for the aforesaid earl, in the presence of [...] days of Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday next following the feast of St Barnabas the Apostle in the abovesaid year. [...] accounts for payment to David ?ap Adam, constable, with 1 covered horse, for himself with 1 standard-bearer and 240 foot-soldiers from ‘Machen’, for the aforesaid 4 days,£8 13s 4d, as appears above by the particulars. [..] accounts for payment to Howel ap Ivor, constable, with 1 uncovered horse, and Ihewan ap Dun, with 1 covered horse, and Dun Vachan, constable, with [...] covered horse, and 1 standard-bearer and 606 foot-soldiers from ‘Meynghenith’, for the aforesaid 4 days, £21 13s 4s, as appears above by the particulars. [...] accounts for payment to Meurik G[och?], constable, with 1 uncovered horse and 161 foot-soldiers from Kibbor, for the aforesaid 4 days, 114s 8d. [...] accounts for payment to Adam Berkerol, constable, with [?1] uncovered [horse], and Adam ap Walter, constable, with 1 uncovered horse, and 105 foot-soldiers from ‘?Dempn’’,[ Initial capital unclear – could be D, B, K or another letter. Abbreviated ending may be ‘-er’?] for the aforesaid 4 days, [...] 2d. [...] [...]ynon ap [...]enew[...], constable, with 1 uncovered horse, and Adam Vachan, constable, with 1 uncovered horse, and the bailiff of the same place [...] 283 foot-soldiers of Wentloog, for the said 4 days, [...].

Bits of old sheepskin

Part one of a potentially very dull series, in which I post a membrane from a surviving medieval document and the accompanying translation.

The document is C 47/2/4, the payroll for the royal army of West Wales in 1282/3. Parts of it are in very bad condition, but the translator (Professor Jonathan Mackman) did what he could by placing the fragments under ultraviolet. It may look like a mouldy bit of old sheepskin, and indeed it is, but this is primary source material; the closest we can possibly get to actual events.

The first two fragments are separated from the bulk of the roll. Membrane 1 is below. The text is an account roll for wages of troops raised by the Earl of Gloucester, Gilbert de Clare, to campaign against the supporters of Prince Llywelyn ap Gruffudd in the west.

 [The top of this fragment is badly damaged, and only small sections of the text remain there.]

 [...] [...] for himself, 2 standard-bearers and ?672 foot-soldiers of [...]sk for the said 3 days. [...] days, £14 5s. [...] of ‘Mach’, for the said 3 days, £6 10s. [...] foot-soldiers of [...]ntloogh[ Possibly Wentloog?] for the said 3 days, £7 12s [...][ Large gap, possibly room for two or three lines of text. One may have been a heading?] [...] covered and 2 uncovered horses, and 220 foot-soldiers of ‘Tha[...]’, [...] £6 18d. [...] covered horse and 3 uncovered horses, for himself, 1 standard-bearer and 360 foot-soldiers of ‘Lang[...], for the aforesaid 3 days, £9 17s 6d. Item, for one constable with ?1 uncovered horse, for himself, 1 standard-bearer and 282 foot-soldiers from Neath, for the said 3 days, £7 10s 6d. [...]th. Item, 10 ?covered horses and 20 foot-soldiers of ‘Th’, 40s 6d. Ruthin Item, 1 constable with 1 un-armoured (‘nudo’) horse, for himself and 77 foot-soldiers from Ruthin, for the said 3 days, 42s. ‘Landevoddoc’ Item, 2 constables with 2 un-armoured horses, for themselves and 76 foot-soldiers from ‘Landevoddi’, for the said 3 days, 43s. Kibbor Item, 1 constable with 1 uncovered horse, for himself, 1 standard-bearer and 157 foot-soldiers from Kibbor, for the said 3 days, £4 4s 6d. Caldicot Item, 1 constable with 1 uncovered horse, for himself and 20 foot-soldiers from Caldicot, for the said 3 days, 12s. Forest of Dean Item, 12 men from the forest, for 5 days, 15s, namely for each 3d per day. ‘Aven’’ Item, 2 standard-bearers and 160 foot-soldiers from ‘Aven’’ for the said 3 days, £4 6s. ‘Koytif’ Item, 1 constable with 1 un-armoured (‘nudo’) horse, for himself, 1 standard-bearer and 369 foot-soldiers from ‘Coytif’, for the said 3 days, £9 16s.

Adam's merry men

Throughout 1263-4 Adam Gurdun continues his rampage across Dorset. The royalists can do nothing with him: he pops up all over the place, seizes some loot and vanishes into the forests. He raids Crewkerne to steal weapons, and then embarks on a string of large-scale robberies aimed at royalist knights. At Cheddar he breaks into the manor of Sir Ralph Bakepuz, battering down the door and smashing windows, and steals £100 for his war-chest; he attacks the lands of another wealthy royalist, Thomas Audenham, at Chiselborough and Norton, cuts down the woods and takes goods to the value of 200 marks.



Adam’s followers hail from all over Dorset and Somerset, and include a great crowd of peasants as well as local gentry. There is something remarkable about these men. Other Montfortian captains in Dorset, such as Sir John de la Warr and Sir Robert Verdun, were later accused of forcing men into their service. No charges of coercion were ever laid against Adam, and the peasants who joined him appear to have been volunteers, drawn by Adam’s charisma and (perhaps) their own political convictions. His company included two priests who were accused of ‘abetting him’; they probably acted as preachers, making a form of crusade out of Adam’s revolt and the reform movement in England. At Chiselborough and Norton his band also included ‘Robert le Clerc of Norton’, the local priest.