Nicholaa de la Haye is one of those very rare women in English history. She is renowned for her abilities, rather than her family and connections. In a time when men fought and women stayed home, Nicholaa de la Haye held Lincoln Castle against all-comers. Her strength and tenacity saved England at one of its lowest points in history.

The eldest daughter and co-heiress of Richard de la Haye and his wife, Matilda de Vernon, Nicholaa was probably born in the early-to-mid 1150s. Her father was Baron of Brattleby. Richard’s father was a Norman, Robert de la Haye of La Haye du Puits in the Cotentin. His mother, Muriel, was English, a Lincolnshire heiress as the granddaughter of Colswein of Lincoln. In 1166 Richard he was recorded as owing 20 knights’ fees, which had been reduced to 16 by 1172. When he died in 1169, Nicholaa inherited her father’s land in Lincolnshire and his position as hereditary castellan of Lincoln Castle, a position she would hold for over 50 years.

Nicholaa was married twice, her first husband, William Fitz Erneis, died in 1178, leaving Nicholaa a young widow with one daughter, Matilda. Before 1185 she married Gerard de Camville (or Canville), brother of Richard de Camville, admiral of Richard I’s crusading fleet during the Third Crusade. Nicholaa and Gerard had at least 2 children together; Richard and Thomas. Richard was heir to both Nicholaa and Gerard. Nothing is known of Thomas beyond his name. Another daughter may have been Nicholaa d’Eyncourt, who sued Nicholaa’s granddaughter for some de la Haye lands in the 1230s; however, while it seems certain that Nicholaa d’Eyncourt was kin, unfortunately, her exact relation to Nicholaa de la Haye has not been established.

Nicholaa’s husbands each claimed the position of castellan of Lincoln Castle by right of his wife; but Nicholaa seems to have been far from the normal subservient wife. When her husband was not in the castle, she was left in charge rather than an alternative, male deputy.

Nicholaa first comes to the attention of the chroniclers in 1191, when Prince John led the opposition to his brother’s chancellor, William Longchamp. Accusing him of harbouring outlaws, Longchamp demanded that Gerard de Camville relinquish Lincoln Castle to one of his own supporters. Gerard refused, and swore fealty to John, joining him at Nottingham Castle. Leaving Nicholaa to hold Lincoln. He probably assumed that Longchamp would not wage war on a woman. However, Richard I’s Chancellor, William Longchamp, had no such qualms. He headed north and laid siege to Lincoln Castle, probably assuming, wrongly, that Nicholaa would submit easily.

The formidable Nicholaa refused to yield, holding out for 40 days before Longchamp raised the siege, following the fall of the castles at Tickhill and Nottingham to John. Amusingly, Richard of Devizes said of this defence of Lincoln Castle, that she did it ‘without thinking of anything womanly’.

In 1194, on the king’s return, Camville was stripped of his positions as Sheriff of Lincolnshire and Castellan of the castle; only having it returned to him on the accession of King John in 1199.

As we all know, King John’s reign wasn’t exactly smooth sailing. He lost his French lands and was held to account by the barons of England for  numerous examples of maladministration, corruption and  outright murder. In 1215 he had been forced to seal the Great Charter, or Magna Carta, in order to avoid war. Although it eventually came to be considered a fundamental statement of English liberties, as a peace treaty Magna Carta failed miserably. Within months John had written to Pope Innocent III and the charter had been declared null and void; the barons were up in arms.

Gerard de Camville died in December 1214 and, although now a widow, it seems the castle remained in Nicholaa’s hands. On one of King John’s visits to inspect the castle’s defences in 1216, either in February or September there was a rather dramatic display of fealty from Nicholaa :

“And once it happened that after the war King John came to Lincoln and the said Lady Nicholaa went out of the eastern gate of the castle carrying the keys of the castle in her hand and met the king and offered the keys to him as her lord and said she was a woman of great age and was unable to bear such fatigue any longer and he besought her saying, “My beloved Nicholaa, I will that you keep the castle as hitherto until I shall order otherwise”.¹

Whether Nicholaa ever intended to give up Lincoln, or the event was staged so that John could demonstrate his continued trust in Nicholaa, is open to debate. I suspect it was the latter. John was in the midst of civil war and running short of allies. Nicholaa had already demonstrated her abilities at defending Lincoln, and her loyalty to John – he would have been hard put to replace her. However, the event gave John the opportunity to reinforce his trust in Nicholaa in front of his barons.

The rebels invited the king of France to take the throne of England; instead Philip II‘s son, Louis (the future Louis VIII), accepted the offer and was hailed as King of England in London in June 1216. In the same year Nicholaa prevented another siege by paying off a rebel army, led by Gilbert de Gant, who remained in occupation of the city of Lincoln but lifted the siege of the castle. After Nicholaa paid off the 1216 besiegers, John came north and he chased the rebels into the Isle of Axholme ‘with fire and sword’.

As Louis consolidated his position in the south, John then made an inspection of Lincoln castle in September. Moving south, just 2 weeks later, the king’s baggage train was lost as he crossed the Wash estuary and within a few more days John was desperately ill, probably from dysentery. He moved on to the castle at Newark, from where, just hours before his death, John appointed Nicholaa de la Haye as Sheriff of Lincolnshire in her own right:

‘The King to the archbishops, bishops, earls, barons, knights, freeholders and others of the county of Lincoln etc.. Know that we have granted to our trusty and well-beloved, the lady Nicholaa de Haye and Philip Marc, the county of Lincoln with all its appurtenances, to be in their custody for so long as it may please us. We therefore command that you do heed and obey the said Nicholaa and Philip in all things as the bailiffs of the said county. And in testimony etc.. Witness myself, at Newark, the eighteenth day of October, in the eighteenth year of our reign.’

From King John’s Letters and Papers, translated by Rich Price

King John died at Newark on the night of 18/19th October 1216, with half his country occupied by a foreign invader and his throne now occupied by his 9-year-old son, Henry III. The elder statesman and notable soldier William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke was appointed Regent and set out to save the kingdom.

Meanwhile, Gilbert de Gant renewed the siege of Lincoln Castle, receiving reinforcements from Louis’ forces, under the Comte de Perche, in early 1217. Now in her 60s Nicholaa de la Haye took charge of the defences.

When the small force proved insufficient to force a surrender, the French had to send for reinforcements and siege engines. For almost 7 months, Nicholaa was besieged, with the circle tightening from March to mid-May as siege machinery bombarded the south and east walls of the castle. On the 20th May William Marshal arrived, from the north-west, with a relieving force. Attacking from the north of Lincoln, his army fell upon the besieging forces and, after about 6 hours of combat, routed the enemy; the French commander, the Comte de Perche, was killed in the fighting, and the rebel leaders captured.

The city, which had supported the rebels and welcomed the French, was sacked and looted by the victorious army; the battle becoming known as the Lincoln Fair, as a result. The Battle of Lincoln turned the tide of the war. After a further defeat in the naval Battle of Sandwich in the summer, the French were forced to seek peace and returned home. Magna Carta was reissued and Henry III’s regents could set about healing the country.

In a magnificent demonstration of ingratitude, within 4 days of the relief of the Castle, Nicholaa’s position of Sheriff of Lincolnshire was given to the king’s uncle William Longspée, Earl of Salisbury, who took control of the city and promptly seized the castle.

The king’s council should have known that Nicholaa would not give up her castle so easily. She travelled to court to remind the king’s regents of her services, and request her rights be restored to her. And in October 1217, an order was issued in Henry III’s name to

To our beloved and loyal uncle, W. Earl of Salisbury, greetings. Recently, our beloved and loyal lady, Mistress Nicholaa de Haya, came to us in London, begging us to restore her rights, and particularly the custody of Lincoln Castle, which she ought to have and usually possesses. We, considering her faithful service to our lord King J., our father, and our subsequently commended expenses, kindly, as was fitting, heeded her, restoring her rights, namely, the aforementioned custody of Lincoln Castle and others, saving our beloved and loyal R. Earl of Chester, in his matter [rather his right] which he claims to have in the same Castle. Furthermore, we have entrusted the county of Lincoln, along with the city of Lincoln, to the same Nicholaa, to be kept for as long as we please. And therefore we command you that, all delay and occasion postponed, you restore to her the said castle of Lincoln, with its appurtenances, removing from there all those who are on our part. And that you cause her to have without delay full possession of the said county with the city of Lincoln, as is above mentioned. And in testimony of this matter, etc. Witness the count, at Westminster, the 32nd (sic) day of October, in the second year of our reign.²

The settlement was not ideal, however, and some wrangling seems to have continued until Salisbury’s death in 1226.

Nicholaa’s granddaughter and heiress, Idonea – the daughter of Nicholaa’s eldest son Richard – was married to Salisbury’s son, William II Longspée; the couple inherited the de la Haye and Camville lands on Nicholaa’s death. As a result, Salisbury felt it was his right to hold his daughter-in-law’s inheritance, even though Nicholaa was not yet dead. Understandably, Nicholaa felt differently.

On the death of her second husband, Gerard de Camville, Nicholaa had declared herself femme sole, meaning she would be able to control her own lands. A staunchly independent woman, Nicholaa issued some 25 surviving charters in her name. She made grants to various religious houses, including Lincoln Cathedral, and even secured a royal grant for a weekly market for her village of Swaton.

A most able adversary for some of the greatest military minds of the time, and a loyal supporter of King John, Nicholaa de la Haye was unique among her peers. Although praised by the chroniclers, they seemed to find difficulty in describing a woman who acted in such a fashion;  the Dunstable annals refer to her as a ‘noble woman’, saying she acted ‘manfully’. One cannot fail to feel admiration for a woman who managed to hold her own in a man’s world, who fought for her castle and her home in a time when women had so little say over their own lives – and at such an advanced age. Her bravery and tenacity saved Henry III’s throne.

Not surprisingly, both King John and Henry III referred to her as ‘our beloved and faithful Nicholaa de la Haye’.

Nicholaa de la Haye, the woman who saved England, lived well into her 70s. By late 1226 she had retired to her manor at Swaton, dying there on 20 November, 1230. She was buried in St Michael’s Church, Swaton in Lincolnshire, where her tomb can be seen to this day.

*

Footnotes: ¹Irene Gladwin: The Sheriff; The Man and His Office; ² ‘1217, membranes 11, 10, 9, 8’, in Calendar of Patent Rolls, Henry III: Volume 1, 1216-1225, ed. H C Maxwell Lyte (London, 1901), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-pat-rolls/hen3/vol1/pp117-132 [accessed 16 July 2025].

*

Nicholaa’s story was the inspiration behind my third book, Ladies of Magna Carta: Women of Influence in Thirteenth Century England. And my full-length biography of Nicholaa, King John’s Right-Hand Lady: the Story of Nicholaa de la Haye, was published in May, 2023.

*

Image credits:

Photos of Lincoln Castle and Nicholaa’s seal, © Sharon Bennett Connolly 2015. Picture of the Battle of Lincoln and Magna Carta are courtesy of Wikipedia. Image of the land grant from the National Archives.

*

Sources:

The Plantagenet Chronicles edited by Elizabeth Hallam; Brassey’s Battles by John Laffin; 1215 The Year of Magna Carta by Danny Danziger & John Gillingham; The Life and times of King John by Maurice Ashley; The Story of Britain by Roy Strong; The Plantagenets, the Kings Who Made England by Dan Jones; England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings  by Robert Bartlett; lincolnshirelife.co.uk; catherinehanley.co.uk; magnacarta800th.com; lothene.org; lincolncastle.com; The Sheriff: The Man and His Office by Irene Gladwin; Elizabeth Chadwick; Nick Buckingham; swaton.org.uk; Women in Thirteenth Century Lincolnshire by Louise Wilkinson.

*

My Books

Signed, dedicated copies of all my books are available through my online bookshop. or by contacting me.

New releases in 2026:

Hardbacks

Out now: Princesses of the Early Middle Ages: Royal Daughters of the Conquest 

‘My daughter wanted me to treat her more like a princess. So, I married her to a stranger to strengthen the alliance with Poland!’

The medieval princess has often been portrayed as a pawn in the political machinations of her father or brother, married off to distant lands for the sake of peace, or land, or both. Never to be seen or thought of again.

But was that really her fate?

From the daughters of Harold, the last Saxon king, to the sisters of Henry III, Princesses of the Early Middle Ages explores the lives of these young women, how they followed the stereotype, and how they sometimes managed to escape it. It will look at the world they lived in, and how their lives and marriages were affected by political necessity and the events of the time.

Princesses of the Early Middle Ages: Royal Daughters of the Conquest is now available from Pen & Sword and Amazon.

30 August: Princesses of the Later Middle Ages: Royal Daughters of the Plantagenets

Continuing the story, Princesses of the Later Middle Ages: Royal Daughters of the Plantagenets looks at the lives of the princesses, from the treasured daughters of Henry III to the children of Edward IV, whose lives were turned upside down when they were declared illegitimate.

What we see is a very different story, where a foreign marriage does not mean eternal exile, but a purpose in life, where a princess is a diplomat, an ambassador for England in her new country. She is the bond between allies – most of the time.

Princesses of the Later Middle Ages: Royal Daughters of the Plantagenets is now available for pre-order through Pen & Sword and other booksellers.

New Paperbacks:

OUT NOW! The momentous events of 1066, the story of invasion, battle and conquest, are well known. But what of the women? Silk and the Sword: The Women of the Norman Conquest traces the fortunes of the women who had a significant role to play during the Norman Conquest – wives, lovers, sisters, mothers, leaders. These are lives full of drama, pathos and sometimes mystery: Edith and Gytha searching the battlefield of Hastings for the body of Harold, his lover and mother united in their grief for the fallen king. Who was Ælfgyva, the lady of the Bayeux Tapestry, portrayed with a naked man at her feet? Janina Ramirez said its ‘Excellent’!

COMING 15 July 2026: Heroines of the Tudor World focuses on the women who lived through the Renaissance and Reformation, examining the threats and challenges they faced and how they overcame them. These are the women who ruled, the women who founded dynasties, the women who fought for religious freedom, their families and love. These are the women who made a difference, who influenced countries, kings and the Reformation.

Derek Birks: ‘An excellent account of the changing roles of women in Tudor society.’

Annie Whitehead: ‘What a treat this book was to read. Bennett Connolly has an easy, conversation style of writing which welcomes you from the opening pages and draws you into her story.‘

Also by Sharon Bennett Connolly:

Heroines of the Medieval World; Silk and the Sword: The Women of the Norman Conquest; Ladies of Magna Carta: Women of Influence in Thirteenth Century England; Defenders of the Norman Crown: Rise and Fall of the Warenne Earls of Surrey; King John’s Right Hand Lady: The Story of Nicholaa de la Haye; Women of the Anarchy; Heroines of the Tudor World; Scotland’s Medieval Queens: From St Margaret to Margaret of Denmark; Princesses of the Early Middle Ages: Royal Daughters of the Conquest (March 2026); Princesses of the Later Middle Ages; Royal Daughters of the Plantagenets (August 2026)

Alternate Endings: An anthology of historical fiction short stories including Long Live the King… which is my take what might have happened had King John not died in October 1216. Available in paperback and kindle from Amazon.

All my books on Amazon, Bookshop.org . You can also order direct from my publishers, Pen and Sword Books and Amberley Publishing.

*

Podcast:

Have a listen to the A Slice of Medieval podcast, which I co-host with Historical fiction novelist Derek Birks. Derek and I welcome guests, such as Ian Mortimer, Bernard Cornwell, Elizabeth Chadwick and Scott Mariani, and discuss a wide range of topics in medieval history, from significant events to the personalities involved. 

Every episode is also now available on YouTube.

*

Don’t forget! 

Signed and dedicated copies of all my books are available through my online bookshop.

For forthcoming online and in-person talks, please check out my Events Page.

You can be the first to read new articles by clicking the ‘Follow’ button, liking our Facebook page or joining me on Twitter, Threads, Bluesky and Instagram.

©2015 Sharon Bennett Connolly FRHistS