1385-1390 built Bodiam Castle

The impressive towers and broad moat of Bodiam Castle are l ike a scenefrom a fantasy as you gaze at them for the ver y first time. At a quickglance it appears to be the very ep itome of a medieval castle, untilcloser inspection is given . One soon discovers that it was built at anevolutionary st age when the nobility were looking for more comfortable,agr eeable places to live that offered them security, but als o representedan outward show of their wealth and rank. Comp aratively few of its typewere built and it should be more a ccurately described as a CourtyardCastle. The castles buil t in this period were the last true castles to bebuilt in E ngland, they provided security and also separate suites ofr ooms for the Lord, his domestic staff, guests and garrison.

When Edward III signed the treaty of Bretigny in 1360 he re nounced hisclaim to the Crown of France whilst retaining Aq uitaine, Calais and otherimportant provinces. He was unable , and perhaps not too bothered, aboutevacuating his force s from the remainder of France and these men soonbanded tog ether. This was the time of the 'Free Companies' or 'Routie rs',private mercenary armies who would normally be under th e control of theking but who now sold their services to th e highest bidder. They werebasically medieval mercenaries , who indulged in looting and destructionon an appalling sc ale, with many of the men involved gaining great wealthan d notoriety from such expeditions.

At this time in the history of the Hundred Years War, ther e was a rise inthe more professional soldier. The leadershi p in the field was beinghanded down to the lesser nobilit y and many took this opportunity to gaininfluence and grea t wealth. Men such as Bertrand du Guesclin, Sir ThomasDagwo rth, Sir Robert Knolles and Sir Hugh Calveley all became co mmandersof the so called 'Free Companies', acting sometime s with the blessing oftheir King and sometimes without, bu t all the time causing havoc anddestruction wherever they o perated in France.

It was under the command of Robert Knolles that the builde r of BodiamCastle built his reputation and wealth. Sir Edwa rd Dalyngrigge wassomething of a character in his day, he b elonged to an old establishedSussex family who came from pr esent day Dalling Ridge, near EastGrinstead, but returned f rom France in 1377 much more wealthier andpowerful. It wa s after he married Elizabeth Wardeux he came intopossessio n of the manor of Bodiam in 1378.

This manor house was not where the present Castle stands, b ut to theNorth of Bodiam Church in the adjacent valley of t he Kent ditch. The sitewas excavated in the 60's and 70's a nd pottery finds indicated it was inuse from the late 13t h century until the building of the Castle at theend of th e fourteenth century. The Wardeux family had acquired the m anorby marriage to the de Bodeham family, who had held it s ince the conquestwhen it was given to Hugh, Count of Eu , a kinsman of the Conqueror. Hegave it to his son who too k the name de Bodeham from the name of theSaxon settlemen t on the site.

Sir Edward Dalyngrigge was a Knight for the Shire of Susse x for 10Parliments between 1379 and 1388 and was without do ubt one of the mostpowerful men in Sussex at this time alon g with his Patron the Earl ofArundel. In 1384, Richard II' s Uncle, the powerful John of Gaunt, Duke ofLancaster, too k out a lawsuit against Dalyngrigge to try to stop himinter fering with his newly acquired estates in Sussex.

Gaunt was not a popular figure in Sussex and was resented b y many of thecounties gentry. They joined together with Dal yngrigge, who representedthem, and he was not to let them d own. In his appearance at the trial,Dalyngrigge appeared i n full coat armour and conducted his own defence,which at t imes became violent and unruly. It gives us a good idea a s tohis personality and twice during the hearing he threw h is gauntlet downand challenged Gaunt, which seems a littl e over the top for charges oftrespass and illegial hunting . Dalyngrigge saw the case as more a matterfor the court o f chivalry with his honour being at stake than a legalone . However, Gaunt eventually won the hearing, but it appears Dalyngrigge didn't suffer at all as a result.

England at the end of the 14th century was seriously unde r threat ofinvasion from the French; the victories of Crec y and Poitiers were adistant memory as the French slowly cl awed back her possessions. Piracywas rife in the channel an d in 1377 Rye and Winchelsea were both sackedand burned. I n 1380 Dalyngrigge was part of a Kings commission toconside r the state of the country, its possessions and expenses o f theRoyal Household. In the same year he was also appointe d to survey thetown of Winchelsea and consider how it may b e fortified against theFrench. This was of great importanc e to Dalyngrigge as his manor wasabout 14 miles upstream fr om Winchelsea on the River Rother and couldeasily be reache d by more raiding parties. Althouigh he was probably moregu ilty of piracy and pillage in the past than the French raid ers he wascommanded to keep out !!!

Hastings was also attacked soon after and on 21 October 138 5, Dalyngriggewas given licence to ;

"Crenellate his house to protect the inland reaches of th e Rother andhalt the French advances"

At this time many castles and manor houses were either rebu ilt offortified such as Cooling Castle and Scotney Castle t o counter anyinvasion. Dalyngrigge combined the best featur es of these together withthose he had first hand experienc e of in France to build Bodiam. He wasunlikely to have bee n at Bodiam during the initial stages of building, ashe wa s appointed Captain of the French port of Brest between 138 6-87.

By 1390 the threat of invasion had receded and Sir Edward w as appointedto several commissions, one to conclude a truc e with the King of Franceand another to survey the Castle s and fortresses of Calais and Picardy.In the same year h e was one of nine Knights who put their Seal to aletter t o the Pope deploring the excesses of the Church. In 1395 h e wasto further improve his status when appointed by the Ki ng as Keeper of theTower of London and Governor of the City . Dalyngrigge was no doubt livingin his newly built Castl e by this time, but wasn't to enjoy it for long.He died i n 1395 and was succeeded by his son, Sir John Dalyngrigge.

The information we have on the early life of Bodiam is rath er obscure andwhat information we do have is largely thank s to Lord Curzon . He broughttogether all the information f or the first time in his book " BodiamCastle" published i n 1926, and it is thanks to his excellent researchthat we k now what we do of the castle today.

The castle was to remain in the Dalyngrigge family until 14 83 when itcame to another famous Sussex family, the Lewknor s, by marriage. SirThomas Lewknor was a Lancastrian and wa s attainted by Richard III. TheKing issued a commission i n 1483 to the Earl of Surrey and other loyalNobles, authori zing them ;

' To levy the men in the Counties of Kent and Sussex to bes iege theCastle of Bodyham which the rebels have seized.'

The castle was given up without a struggle and no damage wa s done to itswalls. After Bosworth, the castle was again ba ck in the hands of theLewknors and passed to several mino r heirs of the family
[www.castles-abbey.co.uk/Bodiam-Castle.html]
1385-1390 Built Bodiam Castle

• Married:
• Change Date: 31 Mar 2011

1. Walter Dallingridge b: Abt 1372
2. Margaret Dalyngridge b: Abt 1363 in Dallingridge, Sussex, England
3. Philippa Dalyngridge b: Abt 1388 in Bodiam Castle, Sussex, England

1. Abbrev: Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists, 7th Editio n , by Frederick Lewis Weis, additions by Walter Lee Shippa r d Jr., 1999
   Title: Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists, 7th Edition , by Frederick Lewis Weis, additions by Walter Lee Shippar d Jr., 1999
   Date: 2000
   Page: 4-33
   Quality: 3
2. Abbrev: Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists, 7th Edition, by Frederick Lewis Weis, additions by Walter Lee Shippard Jr., 1999
   Title: Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists, 7th Edition , by Frederick Lewis Weis, additions by Walter Lee Shippar d Jr., 1999
   Page: 4-33
   Quality: 3
3. Abbrev: Magna Charta Sureties 1215, Frederick Lewis Weis, additions by Walter Lee Sheppard Jr, 5th Edition, 1999
   Title: Magna Charta Sureties 1215, Frederick Lewis Weis, addition s by Walter Lee Sheppard Jr, 5th Edition, 1999
   Page: 18-10
   Quality: 3
4. Abbrev: Newsgroup: soc.genealogy.medieval, at groups - google.com
   Title: Newsgroup: soc.genealogy.medieval, at groups - google.com
   Page: Adrian Channing, 16 Sep 1999
   Quality: 3
5. Abbrev: Newsgroup: soc.genealogy.medieval, at groups - google.com
   Title: Newsgroup: soc.genealogy.medieval, at groups - google.com
   Page: Adrian Channing, 1 Jul 2001
   Quality: 3
6. Abbrev: Mckinnon-Snuggs, Eileen
   Title: "Our Kingdom Come," supplied by McKinnon-Suggs, 16-4-2009.
   Author: compiled by Eileen McKinnon-Suggs [(E-ADDRESS) FOR PRIVAT E USE\,]
   Repository:
   Name: n/a