and
the Cawood name
Johannes De Cawood was born before 1200 in Cawood, England and died about 1260 in Cawood, England
The Name: In the name Cawood, the first syllable CA, means hollow, also a field. The last syllable WOOD is self explanatory. It is a place name of Anglo-Saxon origin, and was first used to describe one who lived in a wooded hollow or field.
Cawood, England, is our starting place. Cawood is about half a mile from the mouth of the Wharfe River. A short distance from Cawood, is a place called Selby, where a Norman Church is built on what had been a marsh. The town of Cawood is on the south bank of the Ouse.
Johannes De Cawood as early as 1201, during the reigh of King John
(1199-1216) is said to have owned one plough of land in Cawood
and was hereditary Custodian of the Kings Forest between the Ouse and Derwent. Since the office was hereditary, we know the Cawood family existed long before that time, perhaps even as farm back as the reign of William the conqueror or earlier. The office was honorable and very lucrative. The obligation held by Johannes DeCawood was directly to the crown, and therefore he was probably not in sympathy with the barons who, in June 1215 at Runnymede, took from King John the infamous instrument known as the Magna Carta.
From Johannes De Cawood the line of descent continues, and according to records, the hereditary position of King's Forester continued in the family for over three centuries. This fact is proof of descent of the later Johannes DeCawood of 1201. The ancient records of the Cawoods were in Latin, and translation of many of them turned into quite a chore requiring many years of patient effort. Many people during that time were unable to read or write and the priests of the parishes were called upon regularly to do this for them. This included property deeds, etc.
The notable family of Cawood remained one of great prominence in the district for over 500 years.
I was told that many with the name of Cawood are buried in this cemetery.
The church also has a pew that belonged to the Cawood family for many generations.
Cawood Castle was the principal palace the Archbishops of York from
the 11th century, two hundred years before the building of the Gatehouse, until its desctruction was ordered by the parliament in 1646. Records earlier than the mid 13th century are slight, but the land at Cawood was given to the Archbishop of York by King Athelstane in thanksgiving for his victory over the Danes at Brunanburg in Dumfriesshire in 937. The
Archbishop probably had a fortified manor here in Norman times.
Cawood seems an unlikely site for a fortified building, flat and difficult to defend, but it stood at an important crossroads. From the earliest times there was a ferry here over the Ouse on the road leading
to York from the south and there was a road running east and west
along the river bank. It may be that the castle was not located
exactly where it is now. The moat shown on the large scale map
points to a site south and west of the present one.
But from the early fourteen hundreds it lays between the Gatehouse
and the river. The remains of the old walls can still be seen south
of the road that runs along the south bank of the Ouse.
In 1271 Archbishop Gifford was given leave to crenelate, and Cawood
became officially a castle. But even before that it was a place where
kings stayed when they came north.
In 1255 King Henry III stayed here on his way to meet his son-in-law,
Alexander III, on the Scottish border.
During the summer of 1300 while Edward I was campaigning in Scotland against William Wallace, Edward's second wife, Queen Margaret, sister of Phillip the Fair of France, stayed at Cawood with her court.
In 1314 Edward II stayed at Cawood with his wife Isabella, daughter of Phillip the Fair of France. Their stormy marriage is one of the themes of Marlow's play, Edward II, which is in the Gatehouse library. The king was on his way north to meet his barons at Berwick before being defeated disastrously by the Scots, led by Robert the Bruce at Bannockburn.
Throughout the 14th century there are records of Cawood Castle being repaired and enlarged. Archbishop Greenfield replaced the old stonework with brick between 1305 and 1315 and built a study. In the 1380's Archbishop Alexander Neville bestowed much cost on his castle in Cawood, building divers towers and other edifices about it.
In 1385 the chapter of York cathedral took an eighty year lease of
Huddleston quarry, five miles west of Cawood, near Sherburn in Elmet.
The family De Cawood in process of time rose to become one of the first of the old Yorkshire families. In 1270 during the reign of King Edward I (1272-1307) David DeCawood, son of the heir of Johannes DeCawood had the Keepership of the Wood of Langwath. In 1304 the same David DeCawood held 600 acres, a wood and a moor in Cawood. In 1312 he held athird part of the town of Cawood in return for his service as Keeper of the Forest of Langwath. During this long tenure of office as Keeper of the Woods, the members of the Cawood family were most liberally rewarded for their service. The fortunes and position of the family were undoubtedly greatly enhanced by David DeCawood.
On the 28th of May 1263, he was confirmed Abbot of Selby by the King, and ruled that monastery for six years. Other Cawood's were prominent in the work of the church: 1279 Thomas DeCawood was Vicar of St Felix in the same year and place Will De Cawood was deacon.
If anyone has a picture of Cawood Castle that they would like to share, please send it to me and I will add it to this page. You will, of course, get credit for sending it.
Thanks.
