Sir Geoffrey le Scrope

Sir Geoffrey le Scrope was an English lawyer, and Chief Justice of the King's Bench for four periods between 1324 and 1338. He was the son of Sir William le Scrope, who was bailiff to the earl of Richmond in Richmondshire. Geoffrey’s older brother Henry was also a lawyer, and served as Chief Justice twice, 1317 – 23 and 1329 – 30.

In the baronial conflicts of the reign of Edward II he was a loyal adherent of the crown. He was involved in the proceedings both against Thomas of Lancaster and Andrew Harclay. He was knighted in 1323, and became Chief Justice for the first time the next year. He managed, however, to survive politically the overthrow both of Edward II in 1326 and of Roger Mortimer in 1330.

After retiring as a justice, he campaigned with Edward III in Flanders, and distinguished himself as a soldier. He was also one of the instigators behind the king’s actions against Archbishop Stratford in 1340. He died at Ghent the same year, probably on December 2, and was buried at Coverham Abbey, Yorkshire. Geoffrey and his wife Ivetta had five sons. Their eldest son, Henry, became the first Baron Scrope of Masham.

Sir Henry le Scrope

Henry le Scrope was born the eldest son Geoffrey le Scrope of Masham and Clifton-upon-Yore on 29 September, 1312, in Masham, England. Henry figured prominently in all the wars of Edward the Third, and in 1350, was summoned to parliament as Baron Scrope of Masham. Subsequently this branch of the family became known as the Scropes of Masham, Upsall, and Flaxtead. He was on an expedition to the Holy Land in 1365 when Alexandria was taken.

Richard le Scrope, 1st Baron Scrope of Bolton

Richard was born in 1328 and at the age of seventeen succeeded his brother William in their father's estates. Richard was probably the finest and most capable of all the medieval Scropes. He spent much of his early days in the saddle fighting for his King and was later appointed Chancellor of England. The earliest notice of him is at the Battle of Crecy on 20 August 1346, fighting with Edward III. After Crecy, he returned to England and is remarkably mentioned again at the Battle of Neville's Cross on the 17 October 1346. It was here that he was knighted while in the service of the Lord Percy.

He returned to France almost immediately and joined Edward III and the Black Prince at the siege of Calais in 1346-47. While at the siege his right to bear the family crest of a crab issuing from a ducal coronet was first challenged. Robert de Ufford, earl of Suffolk came to defend Scrope's honour by stating that this was his right as Scrope was descended from an ancient family and had every right to bear arms. Over the next forty years there was hardly a campaign in the Hundred Years War in which Richard le Scrope didn't take part.

In 1350 he is found again with the King and the Black Prince fighting in the earl of Warwick's retinue at the Battle of Winchelsea. This sea battle was really no more than a grand pirate raid against some Spanish ships loaded with treasure heading out of the then great French sea port of Sluys. The sea battle is mentioned in some detail by Jean Froissart in his chronicles. He tells of Edward's Queen and other spectators watching the battle from the sea cliffs at Fairlight in Sussex, near to Winchelsea. In November 1355 he is again back in France with William de Bohun and by Dec/Jan 1356 he is found back in the North of England taking repossession of Berwick-upon-Tweed with the King. On 20 January 1356 he is at the surrender of Edward Balliol at Rokesburgh to King Edward III.

Three years later in October 1359 he is back in France with John of Gaunt. On this occasion he was accompanied by five other members of the Scrope family: Sir Henry, Sir Geoffrey and Sir William along with Stephen and Henry le Scrope, both esquires. The following year in May 1360 he was present at the signing of the Treaty of Bretigny where Edward III renounced his claim to the Crown of France whilst retaining Aquitaine, Calais and other important provinces. He was also in Bordeaux with John of Gaunt in 1366 and fought with his two cousins, William and Stephen le Scrope at the Battle of Najara in 1367 when Edward, Black Prince of Wales tried to restore Don Pedro to the Spanish throne.

By 1371 he was summoned to Parliament as a Baron of the Realm and the same year he was appointed treasurer, an office he held until 1375. In 1378, under Richard II, he was appointed Chancellor of England and held the post for two years before being re-appointed in 1381. It was while he was Chancellor that he was given licence to castellate the manor of Bolton and work began on the building of Bolton Castle.

Over the next couple of years he was constantly in the saddle in his capacity as Warden of the Northern Marches. It was while he was on these duties in 1385 that the infamous challenge was issued by Scrope to Sir Robert Grosvenor over his right to bear the arms, Azure a bend d'or. This famous hearing reads like a Who's Who in the world of chivalry of the 14th century with some of the leading figures of the age appearing in support of Scrope. The hearing was to last a full four years with John of Gaunt, Henry Bolingbroke, Henry 'Hotspur' Percy, Owen Glendower and Geoffrey Chaucer all backing Scrope. Judgement was eventually given in the favour of Richard le Scrope at Westminster Hall in 1389, with the two men being publicly reconciled before the King in Parliament. The full texts of this dispute are available and make remarkable reading, going into heraldry and the wars of Edward III in quite some detail. The study of these texts by some literary academics have led them to come to the conclusion that Chaucer's Knight and some of his other works were written and based on the life of Richard le Scrope and the families of Bolton and Masham.