Charles Lethbridge Kingsford

“ Giraldus describes Lacy as a swarthy man, with small black sunken eyes, a flat nose, and an ugly scar on his cheek; muscular in body, but small and ill-made. He was a man of resolute character; for temperance a very Frenchman, careful in private affairs, and vigilant in public business. Despite his experience in military matters he sustained many reverses in his campaigns. He was lax in his morality, and avaricious, but eager beyond measure for honour and renown (Opera, v. 354) . Hugh was a benefactor of Lanthony Abbey, and also of many churches in Ireland, including the abbey of Trim. ”

“ The negotiations lasted till December, by which time the condition of Rouen had become desperate. As a last resource, twelve thousand useless mouths—probably refugees who had fled to Rouen on the English approach—were expelled from the city. Henry refused them a passage through his lines; the besieged refused them re-entry to the city; and the poor creatures, with only such shelter or food as they obtained from the mercy of the English soldiers, were left to endure all the hardships of winter and famine beneath the walls of Rouen. ”

“ Under pressure from his followers, Edmund then went to Lisbon to remonstrate with the king, and obtained from him a promise to take the field. But Ferdinand was now, as previously, intriguing with the Spaniards, and presently, before any fighting took place, made peace without reference to his English allies. Edmund would have attacked the king of Portugal if he had felt strong enough, but as it was he had no choice except to return to England, where he arrived in October 1382 (Fœdera, iv. 156, Record ed.) . The king of Portugal soon after remarried his daughter to the infant of Castile. ”

“ Josceline's title to fame rests on the work which he did at Wells. He may be called the creator of the cathedral as it now stands. His work includes the nave, the choir proper, and the lower portion of the three towers, including the west front. He may or may not have been his own architect. He also built the oldest part of the palace, and the manor-house at Wookey; and joined with his brother Hugh in founding the hospital of St. John at Wells. Josceline was hardly less memorable with regard to the constitution of the church. ”

“ Higden's fame rests on his ‘Polychronicon.’ This is a universal history down to his own times, and is so called ‘quia præsens chronica multorum temporum continet gesta.’ Only a part of the last of the seven books into which it is divided is strictly contemporary, and even then the work is of no great value as an original authority. The ‘Polychronicon’ owes its interest to the light which it throws on the historical, geographical, and scientific knowledge of the age. ”

“ The English army could occupy the whole width of the field with advantage; in the centre was the king, on the right the Duke of York, on the left Lord Camoys; the archers, provided with stakes to form a palisade, were placed on the wings, while the flanks were protected by woods. When all was ready Henry made a speech to his soldiers; according to one account he declared that ‘for me this day shall England never ransom pay’ (Pol. Songs, ii. 124) . For some time neither army made any movement, and several hours were spent to no purpose in negotiations. ”

“ In 1364 Loryng went out to Aquitaine in the train of the Prince of Wales. He was one of the four knights whom the prince sent to England in 1366 to obtain the king's opinion on the Spanish expedition, but returned to France in time to join the army at the beginning of the following year. At the battle of Najara on 3 April he fought in the prince's division. Loryng was one of the knights whom the prince despatched at the end of June from Valladolid to Seville in order to urge Dom Pedro to send the assistance he had promised. ”

“ The 'Annals of Loch Cé' call Hugh the 'most generous king and very best man that had come of the men of Erinn for a long time.' Hugh O'Neill is spoken of as 'worthy future arch-king of Ireland' (Annals of Ulter, ii. 285) ; and in a solitary reference to him in the English records, he is said to have styled himself king of all the Irish of Ireland (Calendar of Documents relating to Ireland, i. No. 1840) . In the same place reference is made to his having been brought into the English king's peace. ”

“ KETTERICH or CATRIK, JOHN (d. 1419) , successively bishop of St. Davids, Lichfield and Coventry, and Exeter, was probably educated at one of the universities, since he is described as LL.B., and as a licentiate in decretals (Nicolas, Proc. Privy Council, iii. 5, 20) . From his later career it may be conjectured that he became a clerk in the royal service, but the first mention of him is on 1 Jan. 1402, when he obtained the prebend of Brampton at Lincoln. ”

“ GURDON or GORDON, Sir ADAM de (d. 1305) , warrior, was son of Adam de Gurdon, one of the bailiffs of Alton in Hampshire. He sided with de Montfort in the barons' war; but on 28 July 1265 repulsed the Welsh who were plundering in Somerset, at Dunster. He was one of the disinherited in 1266, and with others of his party formed a band which ravaged Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Hampshire. ”

“ He was one of the ecclesiastics who at the convention of Falaise in 1175 conceded that ‘the English church may have that right in the church of Scotland which it ought to have by right;’ a cautious method of saying that the church of Scotland was and always had been independent of England. This would harmonise with Dempster's statement that he was a vigorous defender of the independence of the church of Scotland, and wrote ‘pro exemptione ecclesiæ Scoticæ’ (vii. 611) . ”

“ On the outbreak of the seven years' war in 1756, Hensey opened a correspondence with an old fellow-student who was then engaged in the French foreign office. As a result he entered the French service as a spy, and in return for a salary of a hundred guineas a year supplied information as to the movements and equipment of the English fleet. He warned the French of the intended expedition to Rochefort in 1757, and his warning seems to have contributed to the failure of that enterprise. Hensey conducted his correspondence through a brother who was chaplain to the Spanish ambassador at the Hague. ”

“ From 1834 to 1838 Hislop studied in the arts faculty at Edinburgh University, and afterwards spent a year at Glasgow, but returned to Edinburgh to study divinity under Thomas Chalmers. During these years he supported himself by acting as a tutor in the summer, and kept up his keen interest in nature. Hislop had joined the established church, but took part in the secession in 1843. He was attracted to mission work by acting as secretary to a Ladies' Society for Female Education in India, and in January 1844 was accepted by the foreign missions of the Free church as a missionary for India. ”

“ Mr. Wright thinks the prophet a mere invention, and the true authorship of the prophecy and the accompanying commentary unknown. In any case, it is improbable that the prophecy, which, since it is dedicated to Humphrey de Bohun, seventh earl of Hereford, must have been written between 1361 and 1372, should have been ascribed to a living and dignified ecclesiastic. The prophecies were, however, well known, and accepted at Bridlington Priory within a few years of John's death, and are largely used in the Chronicle of the Monk of Bridlington printed in 'Chronicles of Edward I and II' (Rolls Ser.) ”

“ Hastings claimed to inherit as representing his grandmother Ada, third daughter of David, earl of Huntingdon [see under Hastings, Henry, first baron] ; his claim was, according to modern principles of inheritance, inferior to those of John Baliol or Robert Bruce, but he based it on the principle that the kingdom was partible, in the same way as an ordinary estate, between the descendants of the three daughters. Along with the other claimants, Hastings submitted to Edward's decision and acknowledged his rights in Scotland until the question was settled. ”

“ Matthew Paris calls Kilkenny ‘cancellarius,’ but Foss says that he had only found two instances in which he is called by that title, both in 37 Hen. III, 1253–4 (Fœdera, i. 238; Abbrev. Placit. p. 133) ; while in the quittance granted to him at the close of his service he is described as ‘Custos sigilli nostri in Anglia’ (Madox, Exchequer, i. 71) . It therefore seems probable that he was simply keeper, and not chancellor. Matthew Paris describes him as ‘a truly modest, faithful, and well-read man, skilled in the canon and civil law, handsome in person, and eloquent and prudent’ (v. 130, 464) . ”

“ After a good religious and secular education, Gilbert became archdeacon of Moray, in which capacity his name occurs in several charters dated between 1203 and 1221 (given with facsimiles in Registrum de Moravia) . He was elected bishop of Caithness by the assent of all the clergy and people in 1223. It does not appear that he was ever, as has been asserted, chamberlain of Scotland, for he is never mentioned with that title in the charters which he granted or witnessed, nor does any chamberlain named Gilbert appear in any authentic document till long after St. Gilbert's death. ”

“ He is probably the ‘frater Thomas de Hales’ whom Adam de Marisco mentions as a friend (Mon. Franciscana, i. 395, in Rolls Series) . The date thus arrived at is corroborated by allusions in his love song to ‘Henri our king,’ i.e. Henry III (l. 82; cf. l. 101) , and by the dates of some of the manuscripts of his works which belong to the thirteenth century. Hales is said to have been a doctor of theology at the Sorbonne, and famous for his learning as well in France and Italy as in England; but nothing further is known as to his life. ”