Battlefields›Revolt of 1173 — Ranulf de Glanvill Captures Earl of Leicester
Medieval

Revolt of 1173 — Ranulf de Glanvill Captures Earl of Leicester

1173
Leicestershire, England
Era
Medieval
Battle Type
Pitched Battle
Location
Leicestershire, England
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
Robert de Beaumont, Earl of Leicester, and his rebel force of Flemish mercenaries
VS
Victor
Royal forces led by Richard de Lucy, Chief Justiciar, with Humphrey de Bohun, Reginald de Dunstanville (Earl of Cornwall), William of Gloucester (Earl of Gloucester) and William d'Aubigny (Earl of Arundel)
Forces involved

Rebels: reported as around 3,000 Flemish mercenaries; Royalists: at least 300 knights plus local levies and the retinues of several earls (exact totals not precisely recorded in surviving sources)

Outcome
Decisive royal victory; the rebel invasion collapsed. Robert de Beaumont, Earl of Leicester, and his wife Petronilla de Grandmesnil (who had armed herself) were captured, along with the Flemish knight Hugh des Chateaux; Leicester remained imprisoned until January 1177.
The Battle

History & Significance

Revolt of 1173 — Ranulf de Glanvill Captures Earl of Leicester was a medieval pitched battle between opposing field armies, fought at Leicestershire, England in 1173. Royal forces led by Richard de Lucy, Chief Justiciar, with Humphrey de Bohun, Reginald de Dunstanville (Earl of Cornwall), William of Gloucester (Earl of Gloucester) and William d'Aubigny (Earl of Arundel) prevailed over Robert de Beaumont, Earl of Leicester, and his rebel force of Flemish mercenaries. Decisive royal victory; the rebel invasion collapsed. Robert de Beaumont, Earl of Leicester, and his wife Petronilla de Grandmesnil (who had armed herself) were captured, along with the Flemish knight Hugh des Chateaux; Leicester remained imprisoned until January 1177.

Confirmed battlefield location
The ground

The ground they fought on

The site of Revolt of 1173 — Ranulf de Glanvill Captures Earl of Leicester lies on White Chalk Subgroup, bedrock that formed in the Maastrichtian. The rock here is chalk.

Questions & Answers

Frequently Asked Questions

Unlimited access

Everything a full report reveals about Revolt of 1173 — Ranulf de Glanvill Captures Earl of Leicester

This page covers Revolt of 1173 — Ranulf de Glanvill Captures Earl of Leicester. A full Aubrey report for the area pulls together this battle alongside scheduled monuments and everything else the record holds within a few miles:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Domesday
The settlement's entry in the 1086 Domesday Book: who held it, what it was worth, and the people who worked the land.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
LiDAR
Laser-scanned terrain that reveals earthworks hidden under fields and woodland, with likely features flagged.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
First month just £4.99, then £9.99 a month. Unlimited locations, cancel anytime.

Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.

Start your Revolt of 1173 — Ranulf de Glanvill Captures Earl of Leicester report
Or see a real report first
Protected heritage nearby

Scheduled Monuments near Revolt of 1173 — Ranulf de Glanvill Captures Earl of Leicester

Bowl barrow known as Hill of Health, Brockley Corner
Bowl barrow known as Hill of Health, Brockley Corner
Scheduled monument · ~2.3 mi

The Hill of Health is a bowl barrow located near Brockley Corner in Suffolk, England. Bowl barrows are small, dome-shaped burial mounds dating from the Bronze Age, typically constructed to cover single inhumation graves. This example sits on chalk bedrock of the White Chalk Subgroup, which underl…

Qazwsx777 / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Bury St Edmund's Abbey: including the monks' cemetery and outer precinct and vineyard walls
Bury St Edmund's Abbey: including the monks' cemetery and outer precinct and vineyard walls
Scheduled monument · ~2.3 mi

Bury St Edmunds Abbey is a substantial Benedictine monastery founded in the eleventh century in Suffolk, England, which became one of the most important religious houses in medieval England. The abbey church, begun in the late eleventh century and developed through the medieval period, was accomp…

Smb1001 / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons
The Chapel of the Charnel
The Chapel of the Charnel
Scheduled monument · ~2.4 mi

The Chapel of the Charnel is a medieval mortuary chapel located in Suffolk, England. It dates from the medieval period and served as a repository for human remains, reflecting the religious and burial practices of its time. The structure represents an important example of medieval funerary archit…

Evelyn Simak / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Cavenham Bridge
Cavenham Bridge
Scheduled monument · ~5.1 mi

Cavenham Bridge is a medieval stone bridge located in Suffolk, England. The structure dates from the medieval period and represents an example of medieval bridge engineering in East Anglia. Built to cross the River Lark, the bridge originally served as an important crossing point for local traffi…

Keith Evans / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Motte and bailey at Denham Castle
Motte and bailey at Denham Castle
Scheduled monument · ~6.9 mi

Denham Castle is a motte and bailey castle situated in Suffolk, England, representing a typical Norman fortification of the eleventh or twelfth century. The monument comprises an earthen mound, or motte, accompanied by an attached or adjacent bailey, or defended enclosure, characteristic of early…

Keith Evans / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Bowl barrow known as How Hill, east of Heronfield Belt
Bowl barrow known as How Hill, east of Heronfield Belt
Scheduled monument · ~7.6 mi

How Hill is a bowl barrow situated east of Heronfield Belt in Suffolk, England. The monument dates to the Bronze Age and represents a common form of burial mound constructed during the second millennium BCE. Bowl barrows of this type typically consist of a central burial chamber covered by an ear…

Bob Jones / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Sites NW and SE of Fornham All Saints
Scheduled monument · ~0.6 miles
Babwell Friary (remains of)
Scheduled monument · ~1.1 miles
More from this era

Other Medieval Battles

Battle site (Shivey)
1068
northern_ireland
Siege of Exeter (1068)
1068
England
Eustace II's Attack on Dover Castle
1067
Kent, England
Launceston Castle Norman Establishment and Resistance
1067
England
In the same landscape

Battles near Revolt of 1173 — Ranulf de Glanvill Captures Earl of Leicester

Battle of Fornham
1173
~0.7 miles away
Edward the Elder Campaigns in East Anglia 906
906
~2 miles away
Thetford Viking Sack 1004
1004
~9.3 miles away
Great Heathen Army Arrives in East Anglia (865)
865
~9.6 miles away
Explore the history of Leicestershire
Aubrey Research

Explore the landscape around Leicestershire

Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any location in the UK — drawing on Domesday records, scheduled monuments, Victorian OS maps, geological data and archaeological archives to tell the full story of a place.

Research a location near LeicestershireView a sample report
All Battlefields