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 A HISTORY OF RUTLAND represent it till 1306." In 131 1 the sheriff reported that there were no knights resident within the county, and accordingly the members were chosen from among ' the more discreet and able men of the shire.' *^ Ralph Beaufoe and Nicholas Burton were the men chosen, and members of both of these families continued to sit in Parliament with great frequency until well on in the 15th century. Another representative family in the 14th century was that of Wittlebury, and members of these families also served frequently as sheriffs. In 1309 Edward II granted Oakham with the shrievalty of Rutland to his favourite. Piers Gaveston, in reversion after the death of Margaret, Countess of Cornwall.'^ Gaveston came to a violent end in 1312, andhis widow, another Margaret, received the profits intended for him, which were confirmed to her on her remarriage with Hugh de Audley, afterwards Earl of Gloucester.™ The troubles of the reign were reflected in the changing fortunes of this property. Audley supported the Earl of Lancaster against the king in 132 1—2, another landholder in Rutland who took the same side being Bartholomew de Badlesmere, and in consequence Ivo de Aldeburgh was in 1321 appointed sheriff of Rutland and constable of Oakham Castle,^^ while in the following year these offices were granted to the king's brother Edmund, Earl of Kent, with other rich endowments." On the deposition of Edward they were restored to Audley and his wife," who held them for twenty years, being represented by deputy-sheriffs. Kent, however, con- tinued to hold Ryhall, which was reserved to his widow on his execution and forfeiture in 1330. Thomas Wake of Liddell was suspected of complicity with Kent, and his estates, including land in Rutland, were escheated, but afterwards restored, while an echo of the overthrow of the party of Roger Mortimer and the queen is found in an order for the resumption of Roger's lands in Rutland into the king's hands.^* Throughout the 14th century there was a constant demand for men for the various campaigns in Scotland and France. Thus in 1322 three successive levies were required for the Scottish war, first 100 men, then one man from every township, then a further number of 200 men, while in October a general levy of all men between sixteen and sixty was ordered. Next summer 100 men were again levied for Scotland," and in 1335 twenty marks were required as payment in lieu of the services of ten hobelars and forty archers." A com- mission of array was ordered in 1330 to resist ' the king's rebels,'" and in 1338 for defence against the French." Three years later 160 archers were levied in Northamptonshire and Rutland for the French war, and the men of Rutland succeeded in getting their quota reduced from forty to twenty, on the plea that Northamptonshire contained twenty-six hundreds, the smallest of which was larger than all Rutland ! " Possibly as regards population this statement was less remote from the truth than it appears, as there was still a •' Ret. of Memb. of Pari. " ' De discretioribus et ad laborandum potentioribus ' ; Pari, irrits (Rcc. Com.), ii (2), 5 1. " Cal. Chse, 1307-13, p. 225. '" Cal. Pat. 1313-17, p. 664; Cal. Close, 1318-23, p. 3. " Cal. Close, 1318-23, pp. 303, 517, 519. '» Cal. Pat. 1321-4, p. 144. " Cal. Close, 1327-30, p. 76. '* Ibid. 1330-3, pp. 66, 77, 201, 205. "C<j/. Pat. 1321-4, pp. 97, 124, 132, 213 ; Cal. Close, 1318-23, p. 645. " CaL Pat. 1334-8, p. 132. " Ibid. 1327-30, p. 571. " Cal. Close, 1338-40, p. 135. " Ibid. 1341-3, p. 190.