In medieval England, Wales and the Channel Islands a licence to crenellate (or licence to fortify) granted the holder permission to fortify his property. Such licences were granted by the king, and by the rulers of the counties palatine within their jurisdictions, i.e. by the Bishops of Durham, the Earls of Chester, and after 1351 by the Dukes of Lancaster.
Licences to crenellate were issued from the 12th to 16th centuries.[1] The earliest licences present a point of contention. For instance although an authority such as John Goodall in his book The English Castle considers a charter of 1127 to be one, it was rejected as such by Philip Davis.[2] In 1199 the administration of the country began to be systematically recorded,[1] and the majority of licences survive in the Patent Rolls.[3] Letters patent were distributed and were a public declaration that the person named within had been granted permission by the king to build a fortification.[4] During periods of conflict, the number of licences granted usually increased.[5] Only in a small number of cases did the Crown levy fees against those applying for licences to crenellate, and then it was only a small amount, a mark or half a mark.[3]
Of those given permission to build fortifications, most were knights rather than the upper members of the aristocracy.[4] Most applicants were individuals; however, towns could also apply and 28 licences relate to town defences. While most people who secured licences were secular, ecclesiastic institutions were also eligible: 44 licences relate to churches, abbeys, and cathedrals.[6][7] While licences were mostly granted to men, eleven women are mentioned in the surviving licences and four licences were granted directly to women.[8]
^ abGoodall (2011), pp.8–9
^Goodall (2011), p.8; Davis (2006–7), p.234; Davis, Philip, Rochester Castle, Gatehouse Gazetteer, retrieved 19 August 2012.
^ abDavis (2006–7), p.228
^ abGoodall (2011), p.9
^Coulson (1982), p.70
^Liddiard (2005), p.43
^Davis (2006–7), pp.228‐229
^Davis (2006–7), p.229
and 26 Related for: Licence to crenellate information
Channel Islands a licencetocrenellate (or licenceto fortify) granted the holder permission to fortify his property. Such licences were granted by the...
medieval England and Wales a licencetocrenellate granted the holder permission to fortify their property. Such licences were granted by the king, and...
The following is a list of licencestocrenellate, surviving in the records, issued from the 12th to 16th centuries, which was compiled by the amateur...
England. The hall was built for Sir Edmund Bedingfeld who obtained a licencetocrenellate in 1482. The Bedingfelds gained the manor of Oxborough through marriage...
William de Courci. Some sources claim that the manor received a licencetocrenellate in 1340 but this is disputed. The manor passed through several hands...
the resistance to our enemies ... In witness of which etc. The King at Westminster 20 October. — Excerpt from the licencetocrenellate allowing Edward...
Kent, England. Originally the site of a fortified manor house with licencetocrenellate in 1332, the manor of Mereworth was inherited by Francis Fane, 1st...
Edward III granted Gilbert de Whitley a licencetocrenellate his manor house at Whitley. Tocrenellate a house was to place battlements on it. Before this...
dates from about 1278. The owner Sir William Heron was granted a licencetocrenellate the castle in 1338. It was captured by the Scots in 1385 and dismantled...
England. Bletsoe Castle was created by John Pateshull, who received a licencetocrenellate an existing manor house on the east side of Bletsoe in 1327. Pateshull...
reflecting the position of their owners as having been worthy to receive royal licencetocrenellate. The Tudor period (16th century) of stability in England...
Sir William and Lady Margaret Asthorpe a licencetocrenellate the Hemyock manor house; meaning the permission to fortify it. Hemyock Castle has many similarities...
original plans for a very grand residence were "well advanced", with a licencetocrenellate being granted in 1508, before the 3rd Duke of Buckingham was beheaded...
was described as a 'strong tower' and was granted a licencetocrenellate by Edward III. This licence is recorded in the Calendar of patent rolls (1343–45)...
royal licencetocrenellate his manor house. The need for the old castle had already ceased to exist by this time and kings were not pleased to see such...
to the licencetocrenellate, Sir Edward was granted a royal licenceto divert a stream from "Dalyngreggesbay", upstream in Salehurst, to Bodiam to power...
granted the monks a licencetocrenellate. In the 15th century the monks built a Tithe Barn which is 180 feet (55 m) long and survives to this day. It is...
indicate that it was built in 1339. A licencetocrenellate the house was granted on 6 May 1340. It was being fortified to help protect the border. County records...
Cambridge University Press. p. 32. ISBN 978-0-521-49723-7. Raby Castle licencetocrenellate, The Gatehouse, retrieved 18 December 2011 McDermott, Roger (2004)...
he received a licencetocrenellate. On his widow's death in 1359, it passed briefly to his son, John, before John quickly passed it to his son, Baldwin...
century, Dunnottar was granted to William de Moravia, 5th Earl of Sutherland (d.1370); in 1346, a licencetocrenellate was issued by David II. Around...
castle construction.[citation needed] The later practice of the licencetocrenellate Slighting (deliberate destruction, partial or complete, of a fortification...
Estate (land) Great house Historic house English landscape garden Licencetocrenellate List of castles in England List of country houses in the United...
licence, and was subsequently granted by the king a licencetocrenellate. On 29 July 1229, King Henry III signed a document allowing the castle to stand...
Sir William and Lady Margaret Asthorpe a licencetocrenellate the Hemyock manor house, meaning the permission to fortify it. Over the centuries, Hemyock...
Global Information