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John de Courcy

John de Courcy (1160? - 1219) was a colorful knight and Earl of Ulster, Ireland in the 12th Century. He came to Ireland from Stogursey, Somerset, England, around 1177. He invaded Ulster in Northern Ireland, defeated the Irish clans there, and set himself up as Baron, or Earl, of Ulster.

Biography

In early February John de Courcy of Stogursey who had come over with Henry II in 1171, left Dublin with 22 horsemen in chain mail and about 300 soldiers. The expedition marched through Meath and the plain of Muirhevna, where it was joined by Irish allies.

Then de Courcy led his men beyond the furthest limits of Norman territory over the Moyry Pass into Ulster. Turning east from Glen Righe, they reached Lecale in under four days. In front of Down, the capital of the kingdom of Dál Fiatach, they prepared to attack.

The local ruler, Rory MacDunleavy, fled with all his people. MacDunleavy invoked his authority as over-king of the Ulaidh and returned a week after his flight with a great army. He fought a fierce battle with de Courcy's band by the banks of the River Quoile. Amid great slaughter de Courcy held on to Down. An even larger Ulster coalition made another unsuccessful attempt to oust the invaders later in the year but without success.

After conquering Ulster, de Courcy built many castles and forts, of which Dundrum Castle in County Down provides perhaps the best remaining example.

He endowed the Benedictine Abbey circa 1180 in Downpatrick, Ireland. He was created the Earl of Ulster, to which dignity was attached the lordship of Connaught, in 1181. He married Aufrick Godfredsdottir, daughter of Godfred II "the Black" Olafsson, King of the Isle of Man, and Findguala MacLochlainn, in 1182.

Defeat by Hugh de Lacy

In 1199, King John authorized Hugh de Lacy, younger son of the Lord of Meath, to wage war on John de Courcy. Hugh captured John de Courcy in 1203. An account of his capture appears in the Book of Howth. This passage helps explain why John had a reputation as a strong, God-fearing warrior:

"Sir Hugh de Lacy was commanded to do what he might to apprehend and take Sir John de Courcy, and so devised and conferred with certain of Sir John's own men, how this might be done; and they said it were not possible to take him, since he lived ever in his armour, unless it were a Good Friday and they told that his custom was that on that day he would wear no shield, harness nor weapon, but would be in the church, kneeling at his prayers, after he had gone about the church five times bare-footed. And so they came at him upon the sudden, and he had no shift to make but with the cross pole, and defended him until it was broken and slew thirteen of them before he was taken."

In May 1205, King John made Hugh Earl of Ulster, granting him all the land of the province 'as John de Courcy held it on the day when Hugh defeated him'. John de Courcy returned, sailing across the Irish sea from the Isle of Man in July 1205 with Norse soldiers and a hundred boats supplied his brother-in-law, Ragnold, King of Man. John and his army landed at Strangford and laid siege to Dundrum castle in vain, because the defenses he himself had made were too strong.

King John then had John de Courcy imprisoned.

Champion of Britain

Around 1205 AD, Philip Augustus, King of France, proposed to settle disputes between England and France via single combat of two champions. The French King named his champion. King John thought no subject of his had sufficient strength and valour except the imprisoned Earl of Ulster. De Courcy rejected the proposal, however, alleging the ingratitude of the King for his past services; but was at length prevailed on, for the honour of the nation, to take up the Frenchman's gauntlet. The French champion, at the last charge of the trumpets, set spurs to his horse and fled, leaving the victory to John de Courcy. King Philip of France desired some proof of John's reputed strength. He laid a helmet on a block of wood, which John cleft asunder, and with the same blow struck so deep into the wood that no person present but himself could withdraw his sword.

This is an untrue legend, disproven many times. Please provide a credible source:

For his victory and prowess, John de Courcy won the privilege from King John of remaining covered (that is, wearing his hat) in the presence of the King. His heirs, up to an including the current 35th Baron Kingsale maintain this peculiar privilege to this very day. No other family may do this.

Subsequently reconciled with King John, de Courcy accompanied the King to Ireland in 1210, on an expedition to displace Hugh de Lacy, who had fallen out of favour.

Description by contemporaries

"John was a tall, blond man with long bony limbs, a big man, physically very strong, and of exceptional courage. From his youth he had shown himself to be a valiant man of war, always first into action, always grasping the nettle, danger. In battle he fought like a reckless common soldier, rather than a careful commander, conscious of his value to his own troops. Yet in ordinary life he was a moderate and sober minded man, who showed that true reverence which is owed to Christ and his church. He was utterly dedicated to the worship of his God and ready always to give to God the glory, when he had achieved any success."

Literary references

• The story of John de Courcy's defeat of the French champion, and his winning the privilege to remain covered in the presence of the King, appears in Chapter 12 of Mark Twain's The Prince and the Pauper (1) .

• In his book, 'Saint Patrick's Town', Anthony M. Wilson has this to say about John de Courcy:

Giraldus, a contemporary, names John de Courcy as one of the four great men, a hero of his time. Goddard Orpen, the respected historian of the Anglo-Norman conquest of Ireland, clearly admired this remarkable man who first established a power base in Ulster and then dominated the whole country. His conspicuous place in Irish history is secure. The people of modern Ulster can look back to him as a counterpart of William the Conqueror in England, the man who brought Ulster, albeit by force, into the mainstream of European law, religion and culture.

By the inhabitants of Downpatrick he must be regarded and honoured as the founder of their town. He came as an alien Englishman, a foreign invader and, by that process so often effective in the very air of Ireland, he was converted into a true Irishman. He personally fostered and promoted the fame and honour of Saint Patrick and linked the name of the town and Abbey to the name of the patron saint. As well as the Benedictine Abbey on the hill, he founded three other monasteries close to the town and he created on the hills of Down a city, both monastic and mercantile, of which both the medieval and the twentieth century citizens can be proud.