Talk:Eye Castle

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Bigod ownership[edit]

I think there may be some confusion over whether the Bigods owned Eye Castle. I don't have the 1962 version Allen Brown's English Castles but I do have the 2004 edition, Allen Brown's English Castles. Assuming it's similar, on page 167 (the only mention of Eye Castle according to the index) he notes that "As early as 1157 the king, upon some pretext now unknown, was able to seize all four Bigod castles, as well as Eye in Suffolk and Norwich, the administrative centre of the two counties." My understanding from that is that Eye was not a Bigod castle.

Warren, W. L. (1973), Henry II, Eyre Methuen, page 129 has a distribution map of some castles active during the 1173 revolt and Eye is marked as a "royal castle put in a state of readiness".

On page 251 of Brown, R. Allen (1959), "A List of Castles, 1154–1216", The English Historical Review, 74, he says "In that year [1157], despite his own solemn charter, by whose terms his claim to the throne were recognized, Henry took from William, count of Boulogne, King Stephen's son, all his castles, including Norwich and Pevensey, Eye and Lancaster, Lewes, Reigate, Castle Acre, Conisborough and Sandal." So instead it seems to have belonged to William I, Count of Boulogne. Nev1 (talk) 23:03, 13 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Hmm... Yep, I agree, I've screwed up on the wording from Brown, and assumed that the seizure was then from the Bigods. My copy says the same as yours. I've done some more digging, and there's also a suggestion that the Royal Steward, William Martel, controlled it for the king whilst William of Boulogne was young.

The sequence therefore should presumably go William Malet; Robert Malet; Crown; (William Martel on William's behalf); William of Boulogne; Crown again; Castle destroyed.

I'll make some changes tomorrow! Hchc2009 (talk) 23:20, 13 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

See if that looks better! Hchc2009 (talk) 09:35, 14 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Looks good to me. Nev1 (talk) 21:46, 17 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]