By right as oldest son of John de Lacy (of Magna Charta, signatory), Roger de Lacy, Baron of Pontefract and of Halton, Justicar of Ireland, Constable of Chester and Lord of the Honors of Pontefract, became immortalized in the annals of medieval warfare for his bravery, fortitude and endurance. He married Maud de Clare and left by her two sons, John the Earl of Lincoln and Roger. His mother, Alice de Vere was sister to William de Maudeville, Earl of Essex. John, his father was in charge of Dublin, Ireland, in 1181, during the period that Hugh de Lacy was Governor (Lord Palantine) of Ireland. He died in the crusade of 1190 at Tyre. Prior to his death John de Lacy founded Stanlaw Abbey and the hospital of Castle Denington about 1172. Roger was stated by many accounts to be the most remarkable man of his day and by the Welsh, his inveterate foes, was styled "Roger Hell" for his fierce spirit during his CastleDefiance against the King of Normandy, Philip Augustus. He waged a ruthless war against the Welsh, his very name striking fear into the men of Cambria. Robert II de Lacy had fought by the side of King Henry II and his son, Prince John, in Normandy. For this service, the King forgave a debt of old Henry de Lacy, who had refused to pay for Henry I's tax for his daughter's "wedding". Therefore, when Robert died in 1194, there was nothing to stand in the way of confirming Pontefract to John de Lacy. And thus, after an illustrious career, John then passed on the Honors to his son, soon to be, Roger "Hell". Roger exerted great energies developing the Baronage (Pontefract) and prospered. He ensured that it was well maintained, administered and flourishing. He employed at minimum a steward, general manager, a bailiff, a cook whose name was Ranulf, a dispenser, two chamberlains and a chapel overseer. Although Roger de Lacy obtained Pontefract in 1194 after Robert II de Lacy, his granduncle, and then John de Lacy, his father has passed, it was not until 1204, that Roger de Lacy officially was confirmed with the Honor of Pontefract, after the Normandy Campaign in which Roger held the Castle Gaillard at bay from the Norman army of King Philip of France. Upon the death of his father John, Roger accepted his rightful claims to the honors of Pontefract with great pride and upon this inheritance, the Chancellor of England entrusted him with the custody of castles Thickhill and Nottingham. By this action the Chancellor unwittingly contributed to the deaths of two of the King's knights. The two warriors had conspired against Roger and the Chancellor to surrender the castles back to King John. Roger's fierce de Lacy spirit engaged, he ordered them hanged forthwith. In revenge of this aggressive action by the Baron, John then ordered Roger's lands ransacked and plundered. Afterward, in 1199, Roger warily swore fealty to King John upon his ascension to the throne. From that time forward, Roger and the King remained in high favor, one with the other. In November 1200, Roger was chartered by King John to escort William the Lion of Scotland to Lincoln and was then ordered present in court when William gave tribute and allegiance to King John. Later in 1201, Roger was summoned to command 100 knights alongside of William Marshall, the Earl of Pembroke, to defend Normandy and all of John's Norman possessions against the aggression of the King of France. Intrigue pervaded the court of the King behind the scenes involving the politics of the day, medieval though it was. King John was not very popular among the established Baronies in England, during his reign, partly because of the internal Royal family politics as we have come to know of it, and also because the King did not appear to be overly concerned with whether or not people liked him at all. He did not appear in public as an astute politician and as such seemed to prefer the straight talk of warrior manliness. In private he much preferred the tenderness of the fair maidens a habit which seemed to often interfere with duties of being the warrior King. Therefore, he did not play to peoples favor nor to the typical Kingly role. This then set the stage and provided an opportunity for those of Nobility to potentially offer exceptional support to John in some manly and courageous way, and then to have that support rewarded handsomely. Roger de Lacy seems to have been either quite shrewd and willing to risk it all, or else quite warriorsegue, courageous and strongwilled, or all of the things in his engagement of the circumstances and the politics under King John. For instance, the De Laval family had contested the de Lacy family for years for control and ownership of Pontefract, at least since King John's greatgrandfather, Henry I, had reigned. The de Laval's presided over much of Pontefract, but mistakenly, they turned against King John during his Normandy campaign. It was then, at that pregnant moment in history, in the summer of 1203, that Roger de Lacy as Commander, and other AngloNorman knights, defended the Castle Gaillard against the gates of Hell. In 1203, the King Philip Augustus besieged Roger in castledefiance at the famous Castle Gaillard in Normandy. Roger had defended his position relentlessly for nearly a year, acting in command to near starvation of his men and numerous civilians against an overwhelming King's mercenary army. Getting no help from without, he (Roger de Lacy) was bound to succumb in time; yet the garrison though much reduced by famine, when the outer ward was stormed, still disputed the ground bravely, inch after inch, as they were forced slowly to retire to the middle. Only when they found that the enemy had got inside the fortress in the rear by a sort of escalade, did they give up all for lost. On March 5, 1204, Roger was ultimately taken prisoner with great difficulty by many French knights. The King of France put him into free custody staying an order to "run him through", so much did he admire his fidelity, constancy and bravery. Roger was speedily ransomed by King John of England for a thousand marks and returned to England to his family honors which were preserved, and quickly and handsomely confirmed by King John. Having has his forged will taken to Hell and back at Castle Gaillard against the armies of King Philip of Normandy himself, when everyone else had abandoned King John, and then with no promise of any reward or the sparing of his life, who could then deny Roger the sole rights to all of Pontefract? There is the record still preserved of all of King John's losses to Roger detailed in the royal calendars "in Ludo ad tabulas to Rogerii de Laici". The fact that King John had lost the loyalty of most or all of his Barons, had lost Normandy to King Philip, was the least worthy of all of Queen Eleanor's progeny, this all seemed to pale to the fact that he found a faithful, stern and loyal ironwilled Knight who would not abandon the King even in the face of death and/or Hell. This certainly cannot be said of the great William Marshall who, as Commander of all Anglo forces, abandoned the King in the Normandy campaign because of poor odds and no friends and then he said to King John's face the night before the morning he retreated, "You who are wise, mighty, and illustrious, to whom it has been given to rule over us, you have offended too many, and you lack friends to rally to you now". But that next morning, as those failed AngloNorman forces withdrew with William Marshall, Roger de Lacy engaged in a test of wills which led to an episode of few equals in the history of warfare for sheer horror, the castledefiance. After his return to England, the Earl Randolph de Blundeville, otherwise known as Randle III, the Earl of Chester, while on retreat from the Welsh uprising was cut off in the Castle of Rhuddlan in Flintshire. The confident but concerned Earl would send for no other than Roger de Lacy to hasten with aid to his defense. Roger, nothing loathe, gathered together a tumultuous rout of fiddlers, players, cobblers and debauched persons, men and women, since it was fair time in the city, and then marched off in the dark of night to the Earl's relief. The rugged Welsh vigilantes taking the motley hosts for a wellordered army and then observing the de Lacy banner of the Purple Lion, became wildly panic stricken and fled incontinent! In rightful commemoration of this event Roger duly received "jurisdiction" over these "professionals" and hence the saying "Roger, and by all the fiddlers of Chester". Roger of Hell remained on intimate terms with King John to the end and so due to the great favor of the two, the lasting record of all the King's losses to him preserved. Having died in 1212 Roger was interred at Stanlaw Abbey, of which along with Fountains he was benefactor. Chester was later erected into a Palatine by the King for his kinsman Hugh lupus, like the Earldom of Meath in Ireland had been erected for the great Hugh de Lacy in 1172. Recorded in the Royal calendars are the successors of the Earl Palatine of Chester held in right of the Crown and in recording of those constables is found the epitaph of Roger's gravestone with his name, Roger de Lacy, yclept "Hell"." Sources available some are heavily quoted: English Origins, British Family Names, Origins of AngloNorman Families, Lacy Family of England and Normandy, Roll of the House of Lacy, Dictionary of National Biography, Roger de Horaden Matthew Paris, Annals Monasatici, Dougdales' Baronages, Foss's Judges of England, Herald and Genealogist, Girald Cambrensis, Sir Bernard Burkes Peerages of the British Empire, Order of the Crown of Charlemagne, John Peltier, Harleian Manuscripts by the Harleian Society, London, (History of) The Planagenet Ancestry by Costain, and other such works by name; Order of the Crown of Charlemagne (records of); Encyclopedia of World history by W. Langer; The conquering Family by T. Costain; The Three Edwards by T. Costain; The Lion of Ireland by M Llywelyn; 1066 by D. Howarth; Handbook of British Chronology by the English Parliment; The Doomsday Books, ad 1087; Four Masters, III; Pipe Rolls; Calendar of Ireland State Papers, ca. 11801297; Rolls of Exchequer, Edward II, 1326; Registers of Diocese of Exeter in British Museum; Fairbairn's Book of Crests; The de Lacy Diamonds by Geo. Coulson; Roger de Lacy, a tale of Yorkshire; The betrothed by Sir Walter Scott; Charter of King John to Hugh de Lacy in 1205; Blazons of Gentrie, Lacyes Nobilities by Sir John Fern, 1586; The Romaunt De Rou (Rollo); The Roll of the Battle Abbey; Feudal Studies by Round; The Great De Lacy Inquisition of 1311, vol. LXXIV of the Chatham Society; The History of Pontefract by Fox; Historical Account of the Cistercian Abbey of Selby In Cravens, Yorks by Harland. Father: John DE LACY Mother: Alice FITZROGER Marriage 1 Maud DE CLARE b: ABT. 1178 in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England Married: 1192 Children John DE LACY b: 1192 in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England