HELEN ANTROBUS: It's the beginning of the 13th Century.

And a daring rescue mission is underway.

A disguised figure ventures deep into France to track down a

young woman hidden away in secrecy.

A stealthy and successful mission. But unknown to rescuer

and rescuee at the time, this act would change the course of

history. And enable one of the most successful and formidable

women in medieval England.

This is the tale of Ela, Sheriff of Wiltshire.

Have you ever imagined being a fly on the wall of history? Join

me for an inside view of the stories of people, places and

moments that made us.

I'm historian Helen Antrobus. Lean in for a tale from time.

Back When.

EMMA ZADEH : Ela of Salisbury is one of the most important people

for Lacock's story.

HELEN ANTROBUS: This is Emma, part of the team at Lacock in

Wiltshire. Where Ela founded its abbey and set about growing the

village surrounding it.

EMMA ZADEH : She was born around 838 years ago now in Aylesbury.

But she was the only child of William Fitzpatrick, who was the

second Earl of Salisbury. And an immensely powerful man.

HELEN ANTROBUS: In 1187, The year IEa was born. England was

still in the early stages of establishing its monarchy, its

nobility, and establishing who was and wasn't in power.

England had its king. And then a series of counties in which a

representative of the Crown would hold office. In Wiltshire,

this was William Fitzpatrick, who took on the role of Sheriff

of Wiltshire when Ela turned three.

EMMA ZADEH : So she grew up at... Old Sarum in Salisbury and

that was... basically the centre of power, in Wiltshire. And she

inherited all his. His power and wealth essentially when he died.

When she was only nine years old. Because her father was so

wealthy, and important and powerful, she then became a real

target for fortune hunters, in a sense, to use the more modern

phrase.

So her uncle was said to have been really interested in taking

that power and wealth himself. So the story goes that she was

kidnapped. Thank you and taken to Normandy and imprisoned in a

castle. So that he could eventually keep her sort of long

enough and usurp the power.

HELEN ANTROBUS: However, upon her father's death, Ela had

become the king's ward, meaning that her power and her land was

being held until she came of age.

EMMA ZADEH : King Richard essentially sent a knight over

to Normandy to try and find her. And the story goes that this

knight... William Talbot. Went from castle to castle around

Normandy just singing under the windows.

And trying to essentially get her to sing. With him so that

she could like he could locate where she was and then rescue

her. He did manage to find her. And that he then brought her

back to England and resented her to King Richard.

HELEN ANTROBUS: While this rescue took place, battles were

happening across England and Europe as the nobility jostled

for power. A knight in these battles and one of the king's

best warriors was a man named William Longspee.

EMMA ZADEH : William Longspee was the illegitimate son of

Henry II. And therefore half-brother to Richard the

Lionheart. Who was king at the time. And also Bad King John.

Also his half-brother, so it was quite common to marry off the

offspring of royalty to heiresses.

So Richard The Lionheart decided to reward William for all his

hard work in battle and loyalty by essentially giving him... the

country's greatest heiress. So, I mean, he was in his 20s and

she was nine. That doesn't feel terribly comfortable these days,

but... they wouldn't have consummated that marriage for

quite a while afterwards, but they did essentially get

married.

HELEN ANTROBUS: For Ela, The return to England must have been

incredibly daunting and overwhelming.

EMMA ZADEH : I try and think what would a nine-year-old have

felt when you're told you're going to marry. This man. And

William Longspee, his name, the name Longspee comes from long

sword. Because he was supposed to have been an incredibly tall

man who had used oversized weapons. And so known as really

fearsome in battle.

I think she must have felt really... really quite scared

potentially. But... it does seem... On the surface as if

they could have had a happy marriage. They had eight

children. Four boys and for girls. They hide relatively long

marriage for the times. It was probably sort of 20 plus years.

HELEN ANTROBUS: Because because of their marriage. The title and

power of Sheriff of Wiltshire, and the Earlship. Was inherited

by William Longspee from Ela. But bad deeds and plans were

afoot to try and usurp this prestigious position. If William

was removed from the picture... And Ela could remarry. Then

there could be a new sheriff in town. But Ela had plans of her

own.

EMMA ZADEH : When William went off to battle one time, he ended

up being shipwrecked. And the rumor got back to England that

he died. And somebody else, another nobleman, came along to

EIa and said, can I marry you? You know, William's gone. Can I

marry you now? And she said, absolutely not. I don't believe

his dad. No, go away. Leave me alone.

HELEN ANTROBUS: William did return. But died shortly after.

So once again, Ela was standing up for herself. Boldly. In a

man's world.

EMMA ZADEH : It would have been really quite unusual for a

noblewoman at that time with that kind of wealth and status

to not get married again. She would have had to argue that

point really quite strongly. The chances are that she made a plan

that she definitely wasn't going to. So through her, William had

become the third Earl of Salisbury.

But with his death, the title went back to IEa. So had Ela

married again, the chances are her husband would have taken

that title. So by not marrying, she's protecting that title for

her son. Which is one reason she potentially chose to, but

also... This is a woman who ended up being sheriff of

Wiltshire. A very powerful woman.

She's used to being in charge of her own life and if she got

married again and had married somebody perhaps not as nice or

as... Maybe she didn't get on with as well as William, then

she could have found herself in a very different situation. So

by not marrying she remained sort of master of her own life.

And I wonder if that's what she chose to do plan to do by by

founding Lacock.

HELEN ANTROBUS: Over the next few years, Ela would take

control of the county and see off numerous challenges to her

right as sheriff.

EMMA ZADEH : They had to make sure they kept fighting for that

position. And the fact that she had it and held it for a few

years is... really, really impressive. So she would have

been essentially running the county. Collecting all the

debts, she would have looked after all the royal land.

She would have been able to raise the'hue and cry' which is

sort of effectively... getting everyone together to find felons

and people who had done things they shouldn't have done. She

would have been able to gather people together had there been a

war, so she would have been able to call everyone to arms in her

part of the country.

And she would answer to the king. Be his representative in

that part of the country. I just think that's a fantastic thing

for a woman in the 13th Century to be doing. Especially as other

people were trying to take it out of her hands all the time.

You know, there's a woman doing this really... important role

that should really be in the hands of a man. But they... she

kept it. So. she... very impressive lady.

HELEN ANTROBUS: One reason she may have been able to see off

any potential suitors was because she and her now deceased

husband held a copy of Magna Carta.

EMMA ZADEH : Her husband William was present at the signing of

Magna Carta, which is one hell of an event in British history.

And when the Magna Cartas were signed, they went off to the

Oldhams all over the country. So there were several copies of

Magna Carta.

And William and Ela, when they were living in Old Sarum, the

castle there presiding over Wiltshire, they had their own

copy of Magna Carta. That really should have carried on to the

next sheriff. However, Ela decided to bring it to Lacock.

Ela would have really struggled to resist getting married when

she didn't want to after William's death. But there is a

potential that she would have used Clause 8 of Magna Carta,

which specifically says no widow is to be strained to marry while

she wishes to live without a husband.

I love the thought that she actually had that document in

her keeping, so she may have been able to say here. Here's

the reasoning you can't make me do this. And she obviously did

manage to avoid marriage. It worked.

HELEN ANTROBUS: After becoming sheriff, Ela turned her

attention to the community. And set about creating a long and

lasting legacy. Founding two religious houses, and growing

the villages around them. Lacock Abbey, and Hinton Priory. For

which she laid both foundation stones over 16 miles apart. In a

single day.

EMMA ZADEH : Ela was absolutely instrumental in setting up.

Lacock as we know it now. Without her choosing this site

and doing the things like...

getting getting a charter so that they could have a weekly

market here. That kind of thing meant that they could really

build up trade and make this area self-sufficient again. The

village that she helped build is still here today.

So people come round and look at this absolutely stunning place.

And that's all because of the work she did to get land, to

build up the trades in the local area. Make sure that everybody

in this community was being looked after.

HELEN ANTROBUS: After founding the Abbey. Ela was then elected

as its first abbess.

EMMA ZADEH : So originally, the convent there was no abbess.

They had a woman who was in charge. But it wasn't at that

point known as an abess. However, I think Ela probably

always intended to retire to the abbey. She spent the first sort

of seven, eight years of...

the life of the convent. Getting more land for it, doing

everything that she could sort of outside of... the monastic

order to build the status and provide all she could sort of on

the outside, so to speak. But then she decided to join

herself.

She was there for less than a couple of years before she was

then elected as abess herself. So you've got to think that.

That would have been relatively democratic, but I think the

other nuns must have seen her as quite... a really important. A

powerful respected person.

And then she was abess here for around 15 years or so and it was

only in the last five years of her life when she started to get

older and unwell that she decided to give up being an

abess and just become a sort of one of the regular order. And

end her days here. I can't imagine... what life must have

been like for Ela, but from age nine to become a countess in her

own right.

To be married off before the age of 10, to then be wife to the

Sheriff of Wiltshire and then become sheriff herself, as a

woman in a man's world to such an extreme. And to manage that

situation really well and then to found not one but two

religious institutions and then be elected abbess of the second

one. I mean... she is a rather awe-inspiring lady to me.

HELEN ANTROBUS: Thank you for joining me for this episode of

Back When. When And do follow, rate and review us on your

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