all its appurtenances, that they might be chaplains therefore to his Queen Matilda, and serve her in the above capacity, as her own chaplains werė accustomed to. The Church of Pevensey was dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

The history of this ancient castle is exceedingly connected with that of the immediate kindred of the early Norman sovereigns of England; and the particulars of the prosperity, and the adverse fate of its illustrious possessors, must for ever interest the neighbouring inhabitants, and all those who are in the habit of viewing these antique ruins. Duke Beroaldus granted the ports of Hastings and Pevensey to the Abbey of St. Denis, juxta Parisios, in the year 792; the charter of this pious gift is referred to in Dugdale's Monasticon. Being one of the earliest seizures that fell within the grasp of the Normans, and lying but eight miles from the scene of contest, it was granted, with fifty-four manors in Sussex, to Robert, Earl of Mortagne and Cornwall, half-brother of King William I. by the mother's side. Earl Robert married Maud, daughter of the Earl of Shrewsbury, Roger de Montgomery, and had issue, William, who succeeded him. This unfortunate Earl rebelled against Henry I. in 1104, was expelled the kingdom, and being captured at the battle of Tenerchebray, in Normandy, he was carried back to England, where he was punished with the loss of sight, of liberty,

and of his estates. Eugenulf de Aquila was killed at' the Battle of Hastings; his son, Ricker de Aquila, who espoused Judith de Abreneis, sister of Hugh, first Earl of Chester, having been 'slain also in combating the rebellious subjects of the King, in the Duchy of Maine, Pevensey Castle was granted, as a reward, to his son Gislebert, or Gilbert de Aquila. The estate was thenceforward denominated the Honour of Aquila,' or of the Eagle, and Pevensey Castle was the head of the possession. Gilbert's son, Ricker, or Richard de Aquila, forfeiting his possessions by contumacious

* The Honour of Aquila, in Sussex, was named from this family; who, building a castle in Normandy some time previous, an eagle was observed to build her nest in a neighbouring oak, from which noble bird, the Norman castle, town, and family received name; and thus, also, transferred that name to their possessions near Pevensey.

In the reign of Henry III. we repeatedly find the trace of this Latin appellation, altered into the Norman Aguillon; and as we read that Gilbert de Aquila, possessing the Honour of the Eagle, passed into France, without the consent of King John, the father of Henry III., we may to that period fix the variation in the family name; and, accordingly, suppose that a genealogical connection may be traced between this family and the Ducs d'Aiguillon among the French noblesse. As the family of Aquila obtained Pevensey upon the rebellion of the Earl of Mortagne, so upon their discontents and rebellious actions, the Honour of Aquila was granted for a season, by Henry II., to William, son of King Stephen, a descendant of the Earl of Mortagne.

or rebellious conduct, the King granted Pevensey Castle to his grandson, Henry Fitz-Empress, who assigned the town and castle to William of Blois, third and youngest son of King Stephen*; but this Honour is recorded to have become once more the possession of Richard de Aquila, who, 12 Henry II., on collection of the aid for marrying the King's daughter, was certified to hold thirtyfive and a half knight's fees. Richard de Aquila granted to the monks of Grestain in Normandy, the lands and woods lying in the Manor of Willindone, herbage in the forest, the tithes of his Lordship and Castle of Pevenesel, and other lands in Sussex; and he died A. D. 1176. His son, Gilbert de Aquila, paid 217. 78. 6d. for his knight's fees in Sussex; on the scutage collected for the redemption of King Richard I. This Gilbert was succeeded by his son

* William of Blois, son of King Stephen, after the death of his royal father, surrendered to Henry II. the Honour of Pevensey and Norwich, and all his estate in England and Normandy, and received in exchange, from the King, whatsoever his father Stephen had enjoyed before he was King; and Henry II. knighted him in the City of Carlisle.

In Brookes' Discovery of Errors, page 32, he asserts, on the authority of Mr. Watson, that William the Conqueror gave to Stephen Earl of Blois, with Ella his daughter, the Earldom of the Eagle, in Normandy, and the Castle and Honour of Pevensey, which descended to Henry de Blois, his son; and next to Richard, son of Henry, who bestowed the same on this Earl, William de Blois, his cousin-german.

Gilbert de Aquila, who, passing into Normandy without the King's license, Henry III., in the nineteenth year of his reign, granted the Manor and Honour of Pevensey to Gilbert Mareschall, Earl of Pembroke, until the same should be restored to the right heirs thereof. The same King afterwards granted Pevensey to Peter of Savoy, his Queen's uncle.

The Manor of Pevensey, once styled the Honour of Aquila, is in the parishes of Pevensey, Helsham, Westham, and Bexhill; the Saxon name was Peopenrea, latterly Pevensel or Pevensey; and, by contraction, Pemsey.

On an inquisition taken, 6th Henry VI., John Pelham was found to possess the Barony of Aquila, by tenure of two knight's fees. By a patent, dated June 6, 1729, Thomas Holles, Duke of Newcastle, was declared Steward of the Honour of Aquila, during pleasure. In the Rape of Pevensey, there were thirty and a half knight's fees; the fee of this Rape is said, by Camden, to be vested in the Crown, and the government to be in the Sheriff.

The military details which concern the Castle of Pevensey, are also important.

In the time of Edward the Confessor, A. D. 1043, Earl Swayn returned to England, out of Denmark, with eight ships, visited his father, Earl Godwyn, at his house at Pevensey, wishing him, together

with his brothers, Harold and Tostie, to effect his own reconciliation with the King. It is also related, that in the above year, Earl Godwin and his son Harold, burnt Pevensey, and took away many ships. Pevensey was then reckoned a sea-port; Camden asserts Pevensey to be only accessible by little boats.

Eudo, son of Hubert de Rie, was with William I. at Caen, at the time of the Conqueror's decease; and, hastening to England, commanded the Governors of Dover, Pevensey, and Hastings Castles, not to deliver up those important fortresses to any, without further advice of the pleasure of William Rufus; and thus assisted much in the establishing William II. firmly upon the throne of England.

On the death of William I., Odo de Bayeux, Earl of Kent, was released, by William Rufus, from his imprisonment at Rouen, in Normandy, and had his Earldom of Kent restored to him; but finding he had not the chief sway, he attempted to set up Robert Curtose to be King, and marched from Rochester to Pevensey Castle, as a post of great security. William Rufus besieged him therein; and Odo, for want of provisions, delivered up the castle, after a defence of six weeks, obtaining a security for his person, on condition of immediately embarking, and remaining in exile until the King should command his return. Odo also agreed to