The Impoverished Knight
Picture: Horse rider on Loxley Common
Continuing in chronological order and keeping it short we read in the Geste about the impoverished knight who had his fair share of bad luck. His friends stole his money, and later his son killed two knights of Lancaster while jousting. As a result, he had to borrow £400 from the Abbot of Saint Mary’s in York to release him from jail. When he met Robin, he was going to York intending to plead for more time in which to repay the loan; otherwise, the abbot would seize his property. Robin, who disliked churchmen loaned him the money on condition he paid it back the same day the following year. No longer worried about the abbot, but still in debt to Robin, the knight set sail to the Holy Land* and returned with £400 perhaps from bounty gained in the Battle of Auray?*
A year later Robin waited at the Saylis for the knight to pay back the loan as arranged. Soon the High Cellarer came with seventy monks from St. Mary’s Abbey. He told Robin they only had enough money to pay for their dinner, Little John could not believe his eyes when he found £800 in their bags. Robin concluded the Virgin Mary sent the money to help the poor. After finishing their meal, Robin with their money in his hand because “they only had enough to pay for their dinner,” told them to “give the abbot his regards and be sure to send a monk every day to dine with him.” They galloped away saying: “it was cheaper to dine at Blyth or Doncaster.”
After a long wait, the impoverished knight arrived before it got dark. He offered Robin the money he owed and got the shock of his life when Robin refused it, saying, “nay, for our Lady by her High Cellarer, sent my pay.” After Robin told the knight what happened; the knight laughed and said, “By my pledge, your money is ready here!” “Yes,” said Robin, “Our Dear Lady sent it with £400 interest. The £400 in your hand replaces the money stolen from you; your son is out of jail, and we both have £400 more than this time last year.”
NOTES:
* The men his son killed would have been John O' Gaunt’s men, he was the Duke of Lancaster accounting for the high bail. A similar fatality is recorded: “In 1252, there was a notable Tournament at Walden, wherein Roger de Leiburne encountered with Ernauld de Mounteney, a valiant Knight, and unhappily ran his lance into his throat under his helmet, it wanting a collar; whereupon Mounteney fell from his horse and died instantly, insomuch, as it was then supposed by some, that as his lance had not a socket on the point, he did it purposely in revenge of a broken leg he had received from Mounteney, tilting with him in a former tournament.” The Mounteney family were in Loxley and the Prioress who bled Robin to death was a Mounteney.
* History tells us Sir Richard was licensed by the king to go overseas in 1364. He and the king were at Bestwood together.
* The abbots at St. Mary's were known for their excessive personal fortunes and were "frequently in a position to furnish loans to the sovereign." Licences transferring ownership of property in perpetuity granted to the abbey for the acquisition of various properties were numerous. (British history online.)
* Sir Henry Green. knight, High Justice of England, Lord Chancellor, and Chief Justice of the king's Bench was stripped of his office on charges of corruption in 1365. The Geste tells us the abbot of St, Marys had a hold over the Justice of England. ("The justyce of Englonde, the abbot there dyde holde.")
* The Battle of Auray led by de Montfort in the Hundred-Year War took place in September 1364.
Copyright © 2014, Graham Kirkby. All rights reserved NEXT PAGE
Continuing in chronological order and keeping it short we read in the Geste about the impoverished knight who had his fair share of bad luck. His friends stole his money, and later his son killed two knights of Lancaster while jousting. As a result, he had to borrow £400 from the Abbot of Saint Mary’s in York to release him from jail. When he met Robin, he was going to York intending to plead for more time in which to repay the loan; otherwise, the abbot would seize his property. Robin, who disliked churchmen loaned him the money on condition he paid it back the same day the following year. No longer worried about the abbot, but still in debt to Robin, the knight set sail to the Holy Land* and returned with £400 perhaps from bounty gained in the Battle of Auray?*
A year later Robin waited at the Saylis for the knight to pay back the loan as arranged. Soon the High Cellarer came with seventy monks from St. Mary’s Abbey. He told Robin they only had enough money to pay for their dinner, Little John could not believe his eyes when he found £800 in their bags. Robin concluded the Virgin Mary sent the money to help the poor. After finishing their meal, Robin with their money in his hand because “they only had enough to pay for their dinner,” told them to “give the abbot his regards and be sure to send a monk every day to dine with him.” They galloped away saying: “it was cheaper to dine at Blyth or Doncaster.”
After a long wait, the impoverished knight arrived before it got dark. He offered Robin the money he owed and got the shock of his life when Robin refused it, saying, “nay, for our Lady by her High Cellarer, sent my pay.” After Robin told the knight what happened; the knight laughed and said, “By my pledge, your money is ready here!” “Yes,” said Robin, “Our Dear Lady sent it with £400 interest. The £400 in your hand replaces the money stolen from you; your son is out of jail, and we both have £400 more than this time last year.”
NOTES:
* The men his son killed would have been John O' Gaunt’s men, he was the Duke of Lancaster accounting for the high bail. A similar fatality is recorded: “In 1252, there was a notable Tournament at Walden, wherein Roger de Leiburne encountered with Ernauld de Mounteney, a valiant Knight, and unhappily ran his lance into his throat under his helmet, it wanting a collar; whereupon Mounteney fell from his horse and died instantly, insomuch, as it was then supposed by some, that as his lance had not a socket on the point, he did it purposely in revenge of a broken leg he had received from Mounteney, tilting with him in a former tournament.” The Mounteney family were in Loxley and the Prioress who bled Robin to death was a Mounteney.
* History tells us Sir Richard was licensed by the king to go overseas in 1364. He and the king were at Bestwood together.
* The abbots at St. Mary's were known for their excessive personal fortunes and were "frequently in a position to furnish loans to the sovereign." Licences transferring ownership of property in perpetuity granted to the abbey for the acquisition of various properties were numerous. (British history online.)
* Sir Henry Green. knight, High Justice of England, Lord Chancellor, and Chief Justice of the king's Bench was stripped of his office on charges of corruption in 1365. The Geste tells us the abbot of St, Marys had a hold over the Justice of England. ("The justyce of Englonde, the abbot there dyde holde.")
* The Battle of Auray led by de Montfort in the Hundred-Year War took place in September 1364.
Copyright © 2014, Graham Kirkby. All rights reserved NEXT PAGE
