- Pontefract Castle 14th Century
- 1317 - In early October 1317, as Edward II passed through Pontefract on his way from York to London, the Earl of Lancaster’s forces jeered at him from the battlements of the castle. This was a ‘treasonous’ charge later levelled at Lancaster at his trial at the castle five years afterwards.
- 1330 - On 1st October 1330, Edward III was at Pontefract and ordered that: ‘To the justices of the Bench. Order not to put John de Insula Vectra,
knight, in default for not appearing on Monday the morrow of three weeks from Easter last in a suit before the justices between him and Walter, abbot of Hyde near Winchester, and Richard le Cornmangere concerning the unjust taking and detinue of John’s cattle, as he was in the king’s service by his order on that day.’
- 1359 - On 1st October 1359, Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster, lord of Pontefract, arrived at Calais with an advance party to meet German mercenaries and raid the Somme. Lancaster was spearheading Edward III’s invasion of France intended to have himself crowned at Rheims after a devastating ‘chevauchee’ of the local regions thereby putting pressure on the Dauphin.
- 1376 - In October 1376, very soon after his son’s (Edward of Woodstock) funeral on the 29th September, Edward III made an entail declaring Woodstock’s son, Richard of Bordeaux (the future Richard II) his heir, excluding his granddaughter Philippa of Clarence, only child of his late second/third son, Lionel of Antwerp, from the succession. In doing this, Edward also declared that his third/fourth son, John of Gaunt, lord of Pontefract, and his male heirs came after Richard in succession, then Edmund of Langley and his male heirs, then Thomas of Woodstock and his male heirs. This declaration effectively excluded Gaunt from the throne, contradicting King John’s means of succession nearly two hundred years before when he had taken precedence over his nephew, Arthur of Brittany. It also heralded a child king (as Edward III was by then old and feeble) with all the likely problems of a minor’s rule; and can, by some, be seen as the beginnings of dynastic turbulence leading to the Wars of the Roses.
- 1397 - On 1st October 1397, on the orders of Richard II, John of Gaunt, lord of Pontefract, led a party to exhume the body of the executed Earl of Arundel and bury it in an unknown location to prevent his grave being used as a site of political martyrdom. Gaunt was awarded some of Arundel’s Norfolk lands in recompense.
- 1399 - On 1st October 1399, Sir Richard of Bordeaux (formerly Richard II) was informed, in
the Tower of London, of the Parliamentary approval of his renunciation of the crown. Sir Richard William Thirning, chief justice, speaking ‘in the name of the estates and the people’, declared the end of their homage and allegiance. Within five months, he would be dead, having reputedly starved (unlike Shakespeare's more gory version) in his prison at Pontefract Castle. - Pontefract Castle 15th Century
- 1419 - On 1st October 1419, Henry V is with his army at Gisors in Normandy where he composes a letter to his chancellor, Thomas Langley, Bishop of Durham, instructing him to ensure that Pontefract Castle’s security is watertight. The castle was not only the place where Richard II ended his life but also a venue for other high-value prisoners, most notably at this time, Charles, Duke of Orléans, (captured at Agincourt) nephew of France’s Charles VI. ‘See and ordain that good heed be taken unto the secure keeping of our French prisoners..for their escaping….might never have been so harmful nor prejudicial to us as it might be now….which God forbid’ Langley must ensure Charles’ gaoler is not so ‘blinded by the said duke that he must be reckless of his keeping’.
- Pontefract Castle 17th Century
- 1674 - On 1st October 1674, Lieutenant-General George FitzRoy, was created Earl of Northumberland, Baron of Pontefract and Viscount Falmouth. He was the third and youngest illegitimate son of Charles II and Barbara Villiers (and Charles’ fifth of eight illegitimate sons).
- Pontefract Castle 21st Century
- 2019 - On 1st November 2019, DigVentures started a five-weeks' archaeological dig to uncover the gatehouse that had protected Pontefract Castle's main entrance in the 1300s.
- Sandal Castle 14th Century
- 1310 - In October 1310, Edward II decided the time was right to deal with the deteriorating military situation in Scotland. In February 1310, the Lords Ordainers had been established: a diverse group of twenty-one elected by an assembly of magnates. They consisted of eight earls, seven bishops and six barons, their natural leader being Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln and Baron of Pontefract. Probably deciding a Scottish battlefield was a safer place for Gaveston than a meeting of English magnates, Edward II headed north. However, hardly any nobles were prepared to support him; the only exceptions being the Earl of Gloucester and John de Warenne, the seventh and last Earl of Surrey and owner of Sandal castle.
- Sandal Castle 17th Century
- 1645 -
On 1st October (some sources say 3rd) 1645, Colonel Bonivant surrendered the Royalist garrison at Sandal at 10 am. The garrison consisted of ten officers and ninety men. They surrendered 100 muskets, 50 pikes, 20 halberds, 150 swords and 2 barrels of gunpowder. No artillery was mentioned in the inventory. The Royalist defenders marched to Welbeck House in north Nottinghamshire.
