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Sir Henry Le Scrope, Chief Justice of The Kings Bench, Chief Justice of The Common Pleas.
Father of Richard Le Scrope, First Lord of Bolton. He served in the retinue of The Earl of Warwick in France and later with John of Gaunt. First action at The battle of Crecy, knighted at The Battle of Durham. He fought in every major campaign between 1346 and 1384, when he challenged Robert Grosvenor to his right to bear the Arms 'Azure, a Bend d'Or'.In 1385, a General Proclamation was made throughout the host that all who were interested in the dispute should appear on 20 th. August at Newcastle on Tyne. The case took four years to be determined and judgement was given in Westminster Hall, in favour of Scrope. Many of the most interesting and powerful persons of the land gave evidence, including John of Gaunt and Owen Glendower. 1371 to 1375 He served as Lord Treasurer. In 1375 he obtained the wardship of the three heiress daughters of Robert, Lord Tiptoft.
Tiptoft had sprung to prominence, from relative obscurity with immense wealth with few clues to its origin. It has been claimed that he salvaged King John's Treasure from The Wash. The three girls were betrothed to Scropes' sons. They are all left legacies in Scrope's will and he refers to them as 'His dearest daughters'.
Scrope was made Lord Chancellor in 1378, which post he held until 1380, but he then served again from 1381-82. The following explanation was given for his having The Great Seal taken from him; "After the death of Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March, and of some other tenants in captive, numerous applications were made to The King for their lands, which fell to The Crown in consequence of the minority of their heirs. His Majesty, regardless of his own pecuniary necessities, having commanded The Chancellor to comply with those requests, Scrope ventured to remonstrate, and urged the propriety of keeping the lands in The King's own hands for the supply of exigencies. Incensed at this behaviour, Richard sent messenger after messenger to Scrope, desiring him forthwith to return The Great Seal, but he refused to deliver it up to any person other than The King himself."
There is considerable mystery as to the origins of the major Scrope wealth. Henry and Geoffrey Le Scrope reputedly founded the family fortune. There is a problem with this. They undoubtedly acquired some land holdings, but on a minor scale. Henry also applied for a licence to embattle his manor house at Kirby Fleetham, but his declared remuneration from gifts and fees, never amounted to more than about £80 per annum (Brigette Vale). Richard Le Scrope spent a reputed 18000 Marks on building Bolton Castle between 1378 and 1399, he also bought the Kingdom of The Isle of Man for his son William for a further £10000. This represents about £90 million at today's prices. He acquired some of his properties by lending money on the security of land. When people were unable to pay back these funds these lands and manors became forfeit to him. (He obtained the second half of the Wensley Manor by these means.) The licence to crenellate Bolton Castle was granted in July 1379. The contract with Johan Lewyn, mason was made in September 1378. Leland describes in his 'Itinerary' how Bolton was 18 years in building and cost 1000 Marks per annum and was completed in 1399. He also describes 'An Astronomical Clock' in the courtyard and the way the smoke was conveyed from the hearth in the hall, through tunnils through the walls and no other louvres. Sir Francis Knollys describes Bolton as having 'The highest walls of any house he had seen'.
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At least one literary historian has claimed that Geoffrey Chaucer based his Knights Tale on the lives of the Scropes and that he dedicated this Tale to Richard Le Scrope, 'Who was a very gentil knight'. Scrope survived the disgrace of his son's (William) execution. He implored his sovereign 'that the proceedings against William Scrope, Earl of Wilts', should not affect the inheritance of himself or his other children. Richard, Lord Scrope died in 1403, his second son Roger only surviving him for three months. |
William Scrope, eldest son of Richard, 1 St Lord Scrope is first mentioned while accompanying a company of 'The Teutonic Knights' of Prussia against 'The Infidels' of Lithuania. He then moved on to Venice, where he served with The Duke of Duras in The Genoese assault on that city. He served in France with John of Gaunt 1369-73. He was created Seneschal of Aquitaine in 1383 and then Governor of Cherbourg. He committed some crime against the Bishop of Durham. The King ordered him to offer a jewel to the Bishop, which should be of a value of more than £500. He became Vice-Chamberlain of the Royal Household, became King of The Isle of Man (purchased from The Earl of Salisbury by his father. He was granted the Castle town of Marlboro in Wiltshire. He was created The Earl of Wilts in 1397. In 1398 he became Treasurer of England. William took a prominent part in repealing the patent granted to The Duke of Hereford, John of Gaunt's son, securing his succession to his fathers titles, money and holdings, should his father die while he was still in exile. The Earl of Wilts, Sir John Bussy, Sir Henry Grene and Sir William Bagot were charged with the defense of the realm when Hereford invaded England in 1399. Shakespeare commented that 'The Earl of Wilts hath The Realm in Farm'. The Earl of Wilts, Bussy and Grene took shelter in the city of Bristol, when their adherents deserted them. All three were surrendered by the populace, to The Duke of Hereford, who had them beheaded on the spot, without benefit of a trial. Following Hereford's accession to the throne as Henry IV, he had these sentences confirmed by parliament, they were attainted and all their possessions and titles were forfeit to the crown.
The Arch-Bishop Richard Scrope was son to Lord Scrope of Masham. He took great exception to Henry IV's charges on the church. There is no evidence available at the moment to indicate that he was anti-Lancastrian, though he is mentioned in Shakespeare's Henry IV as saying 'I shall have to write to my brother Lord Scrope of Bolton, to warn him that The Battle of Shrewsbury has been lost'. The Arch-Bishop was a leader though not the instigator of an armed up-rising against The King. He was arrested, while discussing terms, on 19 th May 1405 and was executed on 10 th June.
Henry, 3 rd Lord Scrope of Masham was the third member of the family to be executed on the eve of the Battle of Agincourt. He had fought for Henry IV at Shrewsbury in 1403, created Lord Treasurer in 1410 and married Joan, widow of The Duke of York in 1411, when he possibly changed his allegiance. He was charged with being involved in The Earl of Cambridge's plot. He admitted knowledge of it all, but said that he had been gathering evidence for The King and had been about to make a full disclosure. He was executed in a brutal fashion outside the City of Southampton and his head sent north to be placed on a spike over Micklegate Bar in York, and there left to rot. Shakespeare describes him as being 'The Bedfellow of Henry V and had obviously been a trusted confidant. Henry was beside himself with fury at this betrayal.
Sir Stephen Scrope, 3 rd son of Richard, 1 St Lord Scrope, was charged with imprisoning The Earl of Warwick on the Isle of Man. In 1401 he accompanied Thomas of Lancaster, The King's son, to Ireland as his deputy. It is said that his wife, having heard the complaints made about him whilst he was Justice of Munster, Leinster and Uriell, his maladministration of justice, 'except that he would make a solemn oath on The Bible, that willingly he would wrong no 'Christian creature' in that land, that truly and duly, see payment made for all expenses. She finally did consent to go with him. Thomas of Lancaster gives him a glowing reference in a letter written from Drogheda on 18 th Feb 1401. Scrope himself wrote at about the same time, asking for the monies owed to him, if not for 'A Grant of The Isle of Man, forfeited by my brother'. He died in Ireland in 1408. Millicent, his widow, married Sir John Fastolph (Falstaff in Shakespeare.) Millicent's son Stephen became Fastolph's ward. Fastolph enjoyed Stephen's inheritance for 51 years before he finally died.
Roger, 2 nd Lord Scrope married Margaret daughter of Lord Tiptoft. He only survived his father by three months.
Henry, Lord Scrope of Masham, received many honours from Henry V and served as Lord Treasurer. He was Henry V's 'bedfellow', whatever that meant! He was accused of conspiracy with The Earl of Cambridge and executed at Southampton in 1415. His dismembered body was despatched to various parts of the country, his head placed on a spike above Micklegate Bar in York.
Richard, 3 rd Lord Scrope was born in 1393. He was only 10 years old when his father died. He became a ward of Ralph Neville, 1 St Earl of Westmoreland. He fought at Agincourt in 1415, married Margaret Neville in 1418 and was killed at The Siege of Rouen in 1420. Margaret Neville was the sister of Cecily Neville, 'The Rose of Raby', who married The Duke of York, father to Edward IV, The Duke of Clarence and Richard 111.
Sir Henry Scrope, 4th Lord Scrope (b.1418) was only two years old on his father's death. He, like his father before him, became a ward of The Nevilles. He was first summoned to parliament in 1441, during the reign of Henry VI. He married Elizabeth, daughter of John, 4 th Lord Scrope of Masham. He died in 1459.
Sir John Scrope, 4 th Lord Scrope of Masham, had his Barony restored in 1426. He bought back The Scrope lands confiscated following his predecessor's execution. Ambassador to The King of Spain and then to The King of The Romans. Served in The Wars in France after 1429. He became Treasurer in 1432. Died 1455.
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John, 5th Lord Scrope of Bolton (b. 1435) was seriously wounded at The Battle of Towton. Henry VI is reputed to have come to Bolton after losing The Battle of Hexham. Scrope looked after him well for two days before he departed. Within 4 miles of Bolton The King was apprehended by The Earl of Warwick, who conveyed him to The Tower of London, where he was murdered, probably on the orders of Edward IV. Scrope subsequently supported The Earl of Warwick when he rebelled against Edward IV. Scrope was pardoned by Edward and was named as an executor, The Duke of Clarence, executed by being drowned in a butt of Malmsey wine. Scrope subsequently supported Richard III, closely related to both Catesby and Lovell, (The Rat and The Cat and Lovell his dog, rule all of England under The Hog) fighting at The Battle of Bosworth Field. Pardoned again by Henry VII, he then supported Lambert Simnel's Revolt. Thomas Lord Scrope of Masham, with John, Lord Scrope of Bolton besieged York, thinking that the citizens of York would support The Yorkist Pretender. |
They received no support and were defeated. Both were heavily fined. Scrope of Bolton was ordered to remain within 22 miles of London.
Sir Henry, 6 th Lord Scrope of Bolton married Elizabeth, daughter of The Earl of Northumberland. Little known about him other than they had six children, died in 1506.
Sir Henry Scrope, 7 th Lord Scrope of Bolton, knight of the Bath at the coronation of Henry VIII. He fought at the Battle of Flodden in 1513, with a company of Wensleydale Archers. A contemporary poem was written about him:
Lord Scroop of Bolton,
stern and stout
On horseback, who had not his peer
No Englishman Scots more did doubt,
With him did wend all Wensleydale'
From Morton unto Moisdale Moor;
All they that dwelt by the banks of the Swale,
With him were bent in harness stour,
From Weresdale warlike wights did wend,
From Bishopsdale went bowmen bold;
From Coverdale to Cotter-end,
And all to Kidton causeway cold,
From Mallerstang and Middleham,
And all from Mask and Midleconby;
And all that climb the mountains cam,
Whose crown from frost is seldom free,
With lusty lads and large of length,
which dwelt at Semerwater side,
All Richmondshire, its total length,
The lusty Scroop did lead and guide.