Alan de Neville (sometimes Alan de Neuville;Crouch ''Reign of King Stephen'' p. 153 died ) was an English nobleman and administrator who held the office of

chief forester Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boa ...

under King

Henry II of England Henry II (5 March 1133 – 6 July 1189), also known as Henry Curtmantle (french: link=no, Court-manteau), Henry FitzEmpress, or Henry Plantagenet, was King of England from 1154 until his death in 1189, and as such, was the first Angevin king ...

. Before serving the king, Neville was an official of Waleran, Count of Meulan. In 1166, Neville was named chief forester, an office he held until his death. Besides his forest duties, Neville also supported the king during the

Becket controversy The Becket controversy or Becket dispute was the quarrel between Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket and King Henry II of England from 1163 to 1170.Bartlett ''England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings'' pp. 401–402 The controversy culminated ...

, and was

excommunicate Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the Koinonia, communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The ...

d twice by

Thomas Becket Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), was an English nobleman who served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then ...

, the Archbishop of Canterbury. Neville was known for the harshness he displayed in carrying out his forest office, and at least one monastic chronicle claimed that he "most evilly vexed the various provinces throughout England".

Early life

Alan was a descendant of Gilbert de Neville, a minor landholder in

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

after the Norman Conquest of England.

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...

records Gilbert as holding Walcot in Lincolnshire from

Peterborough Abbey Peterborough Cathedral, properly the Cathedral Church of St Peter, St Paul and St Andrew – also known as Saint Peter's Cathedral in the United Kingdom – is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Peterborough, dedicated to Saint Peter, Saint Pau ...

. Gilbert was recorded as holding other lands from the Abbey in 1115 and 1125, still in Lincolnshire.Young ''Making of the Neville Family'' p. 7 Alan had a brother named Gilbert, who witnessed some of his brother's charters. Neville first appears in the historical record as the butler of Count Waleran of Meulan in 1138. Neville may have been in Waleran's service prior to this, but this is the first secure appearance.Crouch ''Beaumont Twins'' p. 36 For serving as butler, Neville received rents from the

market Market is a term used to describe concepts such as: *Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand *Market economy *Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market Geography *Märket, an ...

dues at

Pont-Audemer Pont-Audemer () is a commune in the Eure department in the Normandy region in northern France.shillings annually.Crouch ''Beaumont Twins'' p. 148 He appears as a witness to a charter of Waleran's to the Abbey of Tiron, which is dated sometime before 1141.Crouch ''Beaumont Twins'' p. 32 Neville witnessed ten other of Waleran's charters, ending in the 1150s.Crouch ''Beaumont Twins'' p. 143

Royal service

In 1153, Neville was serving the future King Henry. In 1156, Neville was exempted from paying

danegeld Danegeld (; "Danish tax", literally "Dane yield" or tribute) was a tax raised to pay tribute or protection money to the Viking raiders to save a land from being ravaged. It was called the ''geld'' or ''gafol'' in eleventh-century sources. It ...

on his lands in Lincolnshire, some of which were lands held previously by Gilbert de Neville.Young ''Making of the Neville Family'' p. 8 Henry also granted Neville lands around Marlborough around this time, and he may have later had custody of

Marlborough Castle Marlborough Castle, locally known and recorded in historical documents as ''The Mound'', was an 11th-century royal castle located in the civil parish of Marlborough, a market town in the English county of Wiltshire, on the Old Bath Road, the ol ...

, as his son Ives was in charge of work done on the castle in 1176. By 1163, Neville was in charge of hearing the pleas of the forest in Oxfordshire, and possibly also Buckinghamshire,

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...

, Leicestershire,

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...

Huntingdonshire Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire and a historic county of England. The district council is based in Huntingdon. Other towns include St Ives, Godmanchester, St Neots and Ramsey. The popu ...

, and

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

.Warren ''Henry II'' p. 285 and footnote 5 Neville was present at the Council of Clarendon, where he was among the king's followers.Crouch ''Beaumont Twins'' p. 143 note 35 Neville was one of the witnesses to the

Constitutions of Clarendon The Constitutions of Clarendon were a set of legislative procedures passed by Henry II of England in 1164. The Constitutions were composed of 16 articles and represent an attempt to restrict ecclesiastical privileges and curb the power of the Chu ...

, which came out of the Council.Young ''Making of the Neville Family'' pp. 12–13 In 1166, he was named chief forester of the

royal forest A royal forest, occasionally known as a kingswood (), is an area of land with different definitions in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The term ''forest'' in the ordinary modern understanding refers to an area of wooded land; however, the ...

s,Crook "Neville, Alan de" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' an office that was responsible for the royal officials in charge of administrating the forests as well as the system of royal courts that enforced the forest law.Huscroft ''Ruling England'' p. 168 Neville headed the royal efforts to enforce the forest law, which banned cutting down timber, clearing new farm fields, poaching, or the creation of enclosures within the royal forest. Any offences against the forest law were subject to monetary fines, which were an important source of royal revenue. The royal forest included not only the forests owned by the king, but also many forests on lands held by other persons. After Neville's appointment as chief forester, he was in charge of hearing offences against the forest law and also imposing punishments. His activities were resented by the people subject to forest law.Carpenter ''Struggle for Mastery'' pp. 197–198 Neville supported the king during the

between the king and

, the Archbishop of Canterbury and was

excommunicated Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...

by the archbishop twice. One excommunication occurred when Neville imprisoned one of Becket's chaplains, William of Salisbury, for six months in

Corfe Castle Corfe Castle is a fortification standing above the village of the same name on the Isle of Purbeck peninsula in the English county of Dorset. Built by William the Conqueror, the castle dates to the 11th century and commands a gap in the P ...

in connection with Becket's actions against the king.Barlow ''Thomas Becket'' p. 149 Neville was absolved from this excommunication by

Gilbert Foliot Gilbert Foliot ( c. 1110 – 18 February 1187) was a medieval English monk and prelate, successively Abbot of Gloucester, Bishop of Hereford and Bishop of London. Born to an ecclesiastical family, he became a monk at Cluny Abbey in Fra ...

, the

Bishop of London A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

, after Neville decided to go on crusade. Becket was angered by the bishop's action, even though Foliot made the absolution contingent on Neville getting a penance from the

pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

on his way to the Holy Land.Barlow ''Thomas Becket'' p. 160 During 1166, Neville was in charge of Staffordshire for the general eyre undertaken in that year, and also tried the pleas of the forest for Devonshire and Worcestershire, and perhaps elsewhere.Richardson and Sayles ''Governance of Mediaeval England'' p. 199 The abbot of

Battle Abbey Battle Abbey is a partially ruined Benedictine abbey in Battle, East Sussex, England. The abbey was built on the site of the Battle of Hastings and dedicated to St Martin of Tours. It is a Scheduled Monument. The Grade I listed site is now ...

in 1167 sent a monk to plead with Waleran of Meulan to intervene and stop Neville's exactions on the abbot's manors.Crouch ''Beaumont Twins'' p. 92 After the

Revolt of 1173–74 Rebellion, uprising, or insurrection is a refusal of obedience or order. It refers to the open resistance against the orders of an established authority. A rebellion originates from a sentiment of indignation and disapproval of a situation and ...

, Neville was in charge of a forest eyre held from 1176 to 1178 which resulted in fines totaling 12,000 pounds from breaches of the forest law during the revolt.Carpenter ''Struggle for Mastery'' p. 226 It appears that the king intended this eyre to be a punishment, and used the forest law because it was solely dependent on the king's will rather than being based in customary law.Crook "Earliest Exchequer Estreat" ''Records, Administration and Aristocratic Society'' p. 32

Death and legacy

Married to the daughter of the lord of Pont Audemer, Neville died around 1176. After his death, the monks of Battle Abbey petitioned the king to have Neville's body buried at their monastery, perhaps hoping through this action to secure some of Neville's estate. The king is supposed to have replied "I will have his money, you can have his body, the demons of hell his soul.Quoted in Bartlett ''England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings'' p. 170 Neville had at least four sons – Ives, Thomas, Ralph,Cockayne ''Complete Peerage'' IX pp. 478–479 and Geoffrey. Neville may have been the father of Alan de Neville, who was a royal justice.Young ''Making of the Neville Family'' p. 19 Hugh de Neville, who was chief forest justice under Kings

Richard I Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and was ...

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

, and Henry III, was probably the grandson of the Chief Forester, the son of Ralph. Neville was succeeded in office by Thomas fitzBernard. The '' Chronicle of Battle Abbey'' claimed that Neville "most evilly vexed the various provinces throughout England with countless and unaccustomed persecutions".Quoted in Warren ''Henry II'' p. 390 The ''Chronicle'' also noted that Neville was equally strict in collecting from either clergy or non-clergy.Young ''Making of the Neville Family'' p. 11 According to the historian Robert Bartlett, Neville's exactions earned him a "reputation for harshness verging on extortion".Bartlett ''England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings'' p. 170

Citations

References

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