- Pontefract Castle 12th Century
- 1110 - On 29th May 1110 (and as far as can be otherwise ascertained, certainly by 1114) it is believed that Robert (1) de Lacy, lord of Pontefract, was banished by Henry I to Normandy, probably for having joined earlier rebellions against the king by his elder brother, Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy. An alternative motive for Henry’s actions was possibly for no other reason than that Robert was by then one of the most powerful barons and a potential threat to the king.
- Pontefract Castle 13th Century
- 1258 - On 29th May 1258, only days before his death and suggestive of a chronic life-threatening illness or injury, Sir Edmund de Lacy, lord of Pontefract, was assured by Henry III (and confirmed by letters patent sought by the queen) that the testament he had made would be honoured, with his executors having free administration, and any debts would be sought from Edmund’s heirs. Edmund died on the 2nd June and was buried at Stanlow Abbey, Cheshire. His wife, Alice, had been told by Henry III, the day before her husband’s death, that the wardship of Edmund’s lands would be sold to her first if agreed at the king’s imminent council at Oxford. Alice was eventually confirmed as possessor of two parts of Edmund’s lands in February 1259 for an annual payment of £362 3s 8d ( £457,000 in today's money) with the remaining lands held by the Crown during her son’s, Henry de Lacy, minority; he was seven years old at the time of his father’s death.
- Pontefract Castle 17th Century
- 1645 - On 29th May 1645, Nathan Drake, Royalist diarist, recorded: ‘ This day Some of our Souldyers went forth to Gett grasse for the Cattell & horses, and one Covetous man, having been 6 times before (and had 4d for every burthen) went out for the 7th time, and would not Come away wth the rest of his Fellowes, and so was shott by the enemy. And after they had taken him & given him quarter, another of the enemyes runne him thorough & so killd him quite out…..’