Biography of Alice Perrers 1348-1401

Rymer's Fœdera Volume 3. For Alice Perrers (age 25), formerly a damsel of Philippa the Queen.

The King, to all to whom, etc., greeting. Know that we have granted to our beloved Alice Perrers, lately one of the ladies of the chamber of our dearest consort Philippa, late Queen of England, all the jewels, goods, and chattels which belonged to us or to our said late consort, and which came into the hands of Euphemia, who was the wife of Walter de Heselarton, knight, and which were afterwards by the said Alice received from the same Euphemia to our use, to have all the aforesaid jewels, goods, and chattels as our gift.

And moreover we acquit and discharge forever both the aforesaid Alice, and her heirs, executors, and tenants whatsoever, of all the aforesaid jewels, goods, and chattels.

In witness whereof, etc.

Witness the King, at Woodstock, the eighth day of August [1373]. By writ of privy seal.

Pro Alicia Perrers, domicellá Philippa nuper Reginæ.

Rex, omnibus ad quos, &c. salutem. Sciatis quod concessimus dilectæ nobis Aliciæ Perrers, nuper uni domicellarum cameræ carissimæ consortis nostræ Philippæ nuper Reginæ Angliæ, omnia jocalia, bona, et catalla quæ nostri vel ipsius nuper consortis nostræ fuerint, et ad manus Eufamiæ, quæ fuit uxor Walteri de Heselarton militis, devenerunt, et postmodum per dictam Aliciam ab eadem Eufamia ad opus nostrum recepta extiterunt, habenda omnia jocalia, bona, et catella prædicta præfatæ Alicia de dono nostro;

Et insuper tam præfatam Aliciam, quam hæredes, executores, et terræ tenentes ejusdem Aliciæ quoscumque, de omnibus jocalibus, bonis, et catallis prædictis acquietamus et exoneramus imperpetuùm.

In cujus, &c.

Teste Rege, apud Wodestok, viii. die Augusti. Per breve de privato sigillo.

Archaeologia Volume 22 Section XVI. [1376] At the sayme tyme, by diligent searche of the knyghtes, she was found to be greatly in love with Syr [her husband] William Wyndsoore (age 51), whoe then remained in Irland, wherfor the sayed knyghtes endevored to dryve her into Irlande, yf fortune would permytt them, least wyth her hoorishe speane she abused any longer the kynges symplycytye; but fyrst they went about to gyve the kynge knowledge how they had proved her to be another man's spouse, and how he had lyved a longe tyme in adulterye, whiche thyngs being harde, & yet he signified to the parlement, that he wolde not in any wise that for her offences she sholde be put to deathe, but that they sholde deale more gently with her for the kynge's love & honoure.^c

Note c. The low origin of Alice Perrers, asserted in the text, is disbelieved by Bishop Lowth, on account of her having been maid of honour to Queen Philippa. Barnes, relying on the king's unblemished reputation, is the chivalrous defender of Alice's chastity. Hist. Edw. III. p. 872. Carte boldly pronounces her to have been "a lady of sense and merit," who, having been of the bedchamber to the late Queen, and a great favourite with her, was, "for that reason, and on account of her agreeable conversation, and many other good qualities, in no little favour with the king." He adds, "there doth not appear the least reason to surmise that there was any amour between them, and she was actually married to an honourable person, William de Windsor, late Lord Lieutenant of Ireland; yet being often with the king she had opportunities of doing offices for many persons, which gave others occasion to repine, and complain of her influence." Hist. Eng. ii. p. 534. Lowth, however, remarks, that Carte mistook the period of her marriage, which did not take place till after Edward's death. But in a petition to Parliament in the second year of Richard the Second, from Sir William Wyndesore and Alice (age 28), then his wife, to reverse the proceedings against her in the preceding year, it is asserted that she had been improperly called upon to answer as a feme sole, being then, and for a long time before, the wife of Wyndesore. Rot. Parl. iii. p. 41. And it may be worthy of remark, that Wyndesore's second commission to govern Ireland appears in the same page of Rymer's Fœdera 3.989 with a grant from King Edward of certain jewels, goods, and chattels, formerly belonging to the late queen, to Alice Perrers, "nuper uni Domicellarum cameræ Consortis nostræ Philippæ." ["recently to one of the ladies of the chamber of our consort Philippa."]

Archaeologia Volume 22 Section XVI. [1376] There was at the sayme tyme in Englande a shameless woman & wanton harlott, called Ales Peres (age 28), of a base kynred, for she was a weavers daughter of the towne of Hunneye;^b but helped by fortune (beynge nether bewtifull nor fayre), she knew how to cover these defects with her flatterynge tonge whom fortune had so exalted, of a poore servant & harlott of a certayne foole that used with hys hands to carrye water from the conduet to mens howses for necessary uses, that she had promoted her to the familiaritye of the kynge more then was convenyent, & the queene yet lyvynge, sholde prefer her in the kynges love before the said queene. This woman, after she was in the kyng's friendshipp, she so bewitched hym, that he permytted the warres & greatest matters of the realme to be defyned by her councell, whoe began to putt all thyngs unjustly from the kynge, to defende false causes every where by unlawfull meanes, to gett possessions for her owne use, and yf in any place she was resysted, then she wente unto the kynge, by whose power beyng presently helped, whether yt were ryght or wronge, she had her desyre. Thys woman had Englande suffered now many yeares, for that they hartely loved the kynge & were lothe to offende hym, for there ys a special grace in them, that they love there kynge more than any other nation, & whom once they have admytted to the kyngly state the alwaies honour, althoughe he greatly offende. Therfor, althoughe because they dyd know the sayed harlott to be loved of the Kynge more than ryght honesty required, yett they sufferred her, (as we have sayed) untell the kynge's fame then was almost loste in all countryes, & untill she had unjustly [wrongfully] disinherited certen Englishemen, & had almost disteined the whoole realme with her shameless wantones. For her dyshonest malapertnes increased so much, and the patience and humilitye of the Englishmen so abounded, that she was not ashamed to sytt in seate of judgment at Westmynster, and there, ether for her selffe, or her frendes, or for the Kynge, as his promotryxe, was not afeard to speake in causes, & presently to aske of the judges dyffynytyve sentences in her maters, whoe fearynge the Kynge's dyspleasure, or rather more truly fearynge the Harlott, durste not oftentymes judge otherwyse than she had defyned.

Note b. "Hunneyie bysyds Excester, as some supose," in margin.

Archaeologia Volume 22 Section XVI. How the Earle of Marshe^l shuned the craftye deceite of the Duke of Lancaster.

[1377]In the meane tyme the kynges sickenes increased, & the phisitians began to dispaire of hys recovery, altho' the forenamed harlot [Alice Perrers (age 29)] together wyth Isabell her daughter dyd lye by hym everye nyght. The duke now whoe determyned all matters of the realme, commanded the Earle of Marshe to goe to the castles of England on the sea costes, affyrmynge it to purteyne to hys offyce to be in the portes beyond the sea, and there to vew the kynges castles, to builde & fortyfye those that were decayed, & to stoore them wyth victuals, & fyrste therfor he commanded hym to goe to Cales, where having set all thynges well in order, he sholde diligently vew all the other castells near there abouts. The earle as he was a man of a good will, considered that yt was a dangerous tyme [& weighed also with hymselffe] that the duke had a great & ould hatred agaynst hym, for the which he supposed this hoony was not drincke unto hym without gaule, besydes he called to remembrance how the duke had unjustly imprysoned Syr Peter de la Mare his steweard, & had oppressed the Byshopp of Wynchester, & desyred to doo the lyke to hym if he colde have any opportunitye for the sayme, fearynge also the daunger that by the duke's anger & meanes myght come unto hym, & what also the great peryls he myght fall into beyonde the seas by fals brethren, he chose rather to loose the rodd then hys lyfe. Wherfor he restored the rodd of hys marshallshipp unto the duke, saynge he wold not for a small commoditye wrapp hymselffe into great daungers. The duke rejosynge that he myght with some honoure rewarde Syr Henrye Percye,^m presently gave unto hym the rodd, maid hym Marshall of England, & by thys meanes yt ys playne that the sayed Syr Henry Percye haith alwayes ioyned fast to the duke & hys councels, wherfor notwithstandynge he haith a long tyme incurred as great hatred of the whoole commonaltieⁿ .... & that whiche he beleived was an inestimable profett & comodyty & sholde be an infynyte glorye unto hym he perceived to be the begynynge of all myscheyfe & evill agaynst hym, & sodenly to brynge hym perpetuall ignomynye, for he lost (as ys sayed) his owne conscyence, & hys good name with the people of the whoole realme.

Note l. This was Edmond Mortimer Earl of March, the husband of Philippa, daughter of Lionel, Duke of Clarence, and the great-great-grandfather of Edward the Fourth.

Note m. Created Earl of Northumberland in the first year of Richard the Second, whom he afterwards conspired with Henry of Bolingbroke to depose; finally, however, taking arms against his patron's son, in favour of the grandson of the Earl of March, to whose office he had been appointed (as stated in the above Chronicle) by Henry's father.

Note n. Some words in the MS. are here illegible. This passage affords a strong additional confirmation of the opinion advanced in the introductory letter, that the writer of the original Chronicle was contemporary with the events which he records.

Archaeologia Volume 22 Section XVI. How Ales Peres (age 29) returned to the Kynge, of the lenitye of the Bishopp, and imprysonment of Peter de la Mare.

[1377] The kynge now whoe had bene longe oppressed with the discomodityes of ould age,^g callynge the statutes of the laste parlement unto hym selffe for the which beynge evill affected he fell sicke, & as ys supposed not of any natural disease that cometh unto oulde men, but of an accidental sickness as ys sayed that afflicteth younge men, that ys of an inordinate luste of the fleshe; but that disease ys much more difficult to be cured in olde men than in younge for sundrye causes in olde men, that ys to say, for the coldnes in oulde men & naturall heate in younge men, wherfor the kynge for that now he was consumed. Wherfor the kynge, for that naturall moysture was now almost consumed in hym, & inwarde heate greatly weakened, hys strength & force began more & more to fail, & truly yt was affirmed by many, that he fell into thys sickness for the desyre of that harlott Ales Perres, because she was seperated from hym, which afterwards was playnly founde to be true, for that he called agayne the sayed Ales to hys oulde frendshipp agaynst the foresayed statute & othe that she made in the parlement. Whereuppon great murmuryng was amongst the people as the kynge hymselffe colde witnes, & the curse of the whoole comonaltye was wyshed to Ales when they proved no remedye to be founde agaynst her wickednes, but beheld her wicked actes to be exalted more than was accustomed above the ceder trees of Libanus, whose fall the common people of the realme so greatly desyred. The archbishopp & hys suffragans, whoe ought to have geven sentence agaynste her if she chaunced to doo any thynge agaynst the decree of the parlement, were mayed like dume dogs not able to barke, for truly to speake the very trueth they were not pastoures, but devourers & hirelyngs, & therfor for fear of the wulf forsaikers of the sheepe; I do not speake of all, for perchance God hath left some unto hymselffe that have not bowed there knee before Baal whos vertue peradventure in due tyme shall be declared, but I speake of those whoe when they had taiken the sworde of Peter to cutt off such diseases, they had rather feel the wounds of a syner than prycke them; & so throughe neglygence of the prelates, the oulde scarrs of woundes do waxe greene agayne in the wandrynge sheepe, & the foresayed Ales returneth to her vanitye, & she ys mayd so familier with the kynge with her companions, that yt ys to say the Lorde Latymer & Syr Rychard Stiry, that att there beck the kynge permytted all matters of the realme to be disposed, & commytted also to the government of hym selffe; but they desyrous to be quyte with like revenge upon there accusers, ceased not untill by the kynges & dukes authoritye they had goten Syr Peter de Lamare to the kynges court, whom without any answeare, agaynst all justice, they sent to the castle of Newercke [Map],^h there to be comytted to pryson, & there were that sayed that the duke gave commandment to behead hym in the nexte wood,& so he shold have been, had not Syr Henry Percye persuaded the duke to the contrary.

Note g. Concerning the "old age" of the king, so repeatedly noticed in the text, it should be observed that he had at this time scarcely completed his sixty-fourth year-a period of life which would not at the present day call forth such an epithet. It may be further remarked that, on reference to Dugdale's Baronage, it will appear that, in the middle ages, the deaths of a great proportion of the English nobility, even when occasioned by natural causes (for war and pestilence had their full share), occurred under the age of forty, and that their eldest sons, though commonly the offspring of very early marriages, very frequently became wards of the Crown, by reason of their minority.

Note h. Walsingham and the Continuator of Murimuth relate, that Sir Peter de la Mare was imprisoned in Nottingham castle, and they are followed in this statement by Holinshed, Speed, and most of our later historians. But Stow, upon the authority (as it would appear) of the present Chronicle, fixes the imprisonment at Newark [Map]. Mr. Godwin supposes that he was first conveyed to Newark, and afterwards to Nottingham. Life of Chaucer, vol. ii. p. 243.

Archaeologia Volume 22 Section XVI. The Bishopp of Winchester^l recovereth his temporalytyes by mediation of Ales Peres (age 29).

[March 1377] In the meane tyme the byshopp of Wynchester, whoo with many losses & iniuryes was afflicted, seynge the lawes of the lande not to be iustly handled, but accordyng to the will of certein persons, & beynge destitute almost of all man's helpe, although he thought the sayme to be unfyttynge for hym, be turned himselffe to the women kynde, that ys to wytt, forced with necessytye he dyd that whiche he ought to doo, providynge not only for hym selffe, but also for the oppressions & losses of hys churche. Therfor knowynge that Ales Peres, the kynge's con- cubyne, cold doo all thynges that she wolde, & that there was not any man that wolde in any thynge resyste her wyll, he requested her helpe, he offered her money, he promysed her greate frendshipp, yf she colde helpe hys bishopricke furth of such troubles. She promysed easely to dispatch his cause, & whoesoever thou be that knowest the manners of harlots, thou will not doubt of this, especiallye for that his cause was greate [harde], hys adversaryes stronge, and she overcovetous; for truly she not refusynge that whiche was offered, & hyred (as ys sayed) for a suffycyent rewarde, went forwardes to trye yf any sparkes of love yett reigned in the kynge, yf the deceites of a harlott myghte now, as in tymes paste, have place with hym. He therfor that long had been taken with her love, mitigated with her speache & prayers, supposed nothynge to be denyed her now that she asked. Therfor agaynst the duke's will, he commanded hys temporalytyes to be gyven unto hym agayne, & so the bishopp by ryght & wronge, maikeynge hymselffe freinds with the ritches of this worlde, he recovered that whiche was loste. The duke, althoughe he greavously tooke that whiche Ales had doone contrarye to hys desyre, yet fearynge the kynge's wrath, he purposed to be silent for a tyme, in deferringe his revengement, & to temper hys wrathe untell he myght more fyttly reward them.

Note 1. Bishop Lowth, anxious to support the reputation of his hero, observes with respect to this statement, that it "has been advanced without any other foundation of proof, or colour of probability than the supposed influence of this lady with the king by some late writers, at a time when, as it could not possibly be verified, so neither could it easily be confuted." But he appears to have forgotten that in his preface he had in effect admitted the antiquity, at least, of the story, by remarking that the work in which it was found appeared to have been written recentibus odiis i.e. "because of recent hostilities". Whether the statement be true or false, it seems to have been propagated in Wykeham's lifetime, and though perhaps a calumny, it cannot now be easily refuted. Towards the conclusion of his work, the Bishop labours with better success to disprove Bohun's assertion that Alice Perrers was Wykeham's niece. The family name of Alice his niece was Chawmpeneys, and she was married to William Perot. On this question, however, as well as on that of the alleged bribe to Alice Perrers, doubts unfavourable to Wykeham appear to have been entertained by Archbishop Parker, who most probably derived his information from the original of the Chronicle before us. De Antiq. Brit. Eccl. p. 386, edit. 1729.

Engravings of Sepulchral Brasses Volume 1. Plate XIII. Sir Nicholas Dagworth, at Blickling [Map], 1401.

Blomefield's Norf. vi. 384. Gough's Sepulch. Monum. ii. 5: At the east end of the south aisle of Blickling Church, is a brass figure, armed cap-a-pie; under his head lie his helmet and crest, a griffin's head erased. About him are four shields; at the first corner, Ermine, on a fess Gules 3 Bezants, Dagworth: at the fourth, Gules, a fess between six martlets or, Rosale; 2 and 3, the same arms impaled. Round the slab was this inscription:

"Here lies Nicholas of Dagworth, knight, formerly lord of Blickling, who died on the [?] day of the month of January, in the year of our Lord 1401. May God be merciful to his soul. Amen."

"Hic jacet Nicholaus de Dagworth, miles, quondam dominus de Blickling, qui obiit die mensis Januarii, anno domini Millessimo cccc. primo, cujus anime propicietur Deus. Amen."

"In 1364, Sir Nicholas Dagworth, Knt. afterwards Lord of Blickling, was commander in Acquitaine; in 1373 he was employed by King Edward III. in a secret negotiation with John Fastolff and others, in France. In 1376 he was sent by the King and council into Ireland, to examine into Sir William de Windsor's carriage there: but, at the motion of Dame Alice Perers, he was stopped, she declaring him Sir William's enemy, and that it was unjust to appoint one enemy to judge another; but the next year he was sent with full commission to reform the state of that kingdom. He was in as great esteem of King Richard II. as he had always been with Edward IIL., for in 1380 he, Sir John Haukewood, and Walter Skirlawe, doctor of the decrees, and dean of St. Martin's le Grand, London, were sent into France to treat with the dukes and lords of Italy; and the same year, being one of the privy chamber to the King, he, with Bernard Vansedles, Simon de Burley the chamberlain, Robert Braybrook, licentiate in the laws, and Walter Skirlawe, had like powers to treat with the German princes; the next year, he and Skirlawe went as ambassadors to Pope Urban VI., and had power to treat with the King of Naples.

In 1384, he, John Baam and Sir John Haukewood, went ambassadors to the Pope, and to treat with Charles, King of Jerusalem and Sicily: and, notwithstanding his being so much in favour, in the 11th of Richard IJ. he was one of those impeached in parliament, and was imprisoned in Rochester castle in Kent; but being honourably discharged, was next year appointed a commissioner to treat with the French King, and with the Earl of Flanders; .in the 13th of Richard II. he was made one of the commissioners to take the oath of the King of Scotland, to the treaty then concluded, and afterwards demanded satisfaction of the Scots for infringing that treaty, and also the money for redemption of Robert Bruce.

He retired to his house at Blickling in Norfolk, and died without issue in January 1401.

[He appears to have made his will in December 1396, wherein, however, he ordered his body to be buried in the church of St. Bennett, near Paul's wharf, London. To Eleanor, his wife, who was the daughter of Walter, and sister and co-heir of Sir John Rosale, of Shropshire, he bequeathed one third part of his goods "to be quiet." (Testamenta Vetusta.) She was only twenty-six years old at his decease (Esch. 5 Hen.IV), and afterwards married John Mortimer, and was living in the 10th Hen. IV. Dugdale says of Sir Nicholas Dagworth that "with thirteen horse he fought with sixty French near to Flaveny; and by the means of certain chariots, which he made use of for his defence, (being placed in a circle whereunto he could enter at pleasure,) utterly vanquished them." Baronage, ii. 148. N.]

[In this brass appears the first approach towards pauldrons, in the overlapping epaulieres, which are considerably extended in front. The plates under the genouillieres occur likewise here, covering the upper edge of the greaves. See Meyrick's Armour, ii.92. The cord which attaches the camail to the bascinet is also covered, a protection rendered necessary, as it was so often hewn down by the cut of the sword, and this is probably the earliest instance. S. R. M.]

Nicholas Dagworth of Blickling: he was born to Nicholas Dagworth. Around 1395 he and Eleanor Rossall were married. On 2nd January 1402 he died without issue. His widow Eleanor Rossall sold the Blickling, Norfolk estates and around 1409 married a second time John Mortimer.