The year 1336 was also significant for Parliament's very magnanimous offers of revenue to assist with Edward III's military demands. Edward had been seeking funds to begin a campaign in France to reassert his lineal claim to French territories. Calais became the only major prize of these campaigns which ultimately led to Calais becoming Edward III's offshore Wool Staple. Edward's funds were finally granted by Parliament in 1345 the year before Crecy.

THE THREE NEDS-William appears to have lived in the latter part of Edward I's reign, throughout Edward II's reign and the first half of Edward III's reign. As a lawyer, Sir William is likely to have invested heavily in the profitable wool trade, this may explain why the name Midgley, recorded in 1319 was one of 17 most prominent names in Yorkshire. 

William De Miggeley is mentioned in the Chartulary of Monkbretton Priory:
1. William Miggeley on Friday before the Feast of the Annunciation, 1320, where he is a witness to a quitclaim with others - Edmund De Percy, Henry De Ledes,         Hugh Pycorde & John Taillour of Cotheworth.¹⁷
2. William de Miggelay is mentioned as a witness with others to a charter dated at Calthorn [Cawthorne, S. Yorks.] after the Feast of St. Dunstan, Archbishop,
     in 6 Ed III [1332/3].¹⁸
3. William son of William De Migelay is also mentioned as a witness in the release of a quitclaim for William De Notton ¹⁹

Early in his reign, Edward III staffed the Offices of State with laymen who were paid in cash and lands instead of benefices. Edward quickly abandoned this youthful attempt at benevolence for it could not continue indefinitely, thus it may have been in this early time of his reign, sometime after 1327 that William de Miggeley was granted the manor lands near Wakefield.

The likely manor mentioned above was that of New Hall, Midgley on the S.W. side of Wakefield  and Stanley [formerly Midgley Hall] Hall  N.E. of Wakefield.. The residence near Midgley was a moated manor house. The moat is still extant. The name "New" indicates that William or one of his predecessors was granted  new land by Edward III. The term "New" indicates a rebuilding at some stage. The nearby manor of Thornhill was built in 1236 in the time of Sir John de Thornhill which was rebuilt as 'Newhall" at Thornhill by Nicholas Saville in 1490.
William appears to be a descendant of  Thomas de Midgley who brought his family from Normandy in the reign of Henry II. If this is the case then William would have been about the fourth generation from the original Norman migrant.

Both New Hall at Midgley and Midgley Hall at Stanley appear to be part of The Honour of Pontefract bordering the lands of the Manor of Wakefield.
 The place-name Midgley follows a pattern for naming villages particularly popular in West Yorkshire. The suffix -ley is one of the commonest Anglian terms of Airedale but much rarer in Wharfedale and Calderdale¹. "A 'manor' was so called a manendo, as being the usual residence of the owner. William the Conqueror had divided such parts of England as did not belong to the Church and were not reserved for himself into seven hundred baronies or great fiefs, which he bestowed upon his particular friends and those who had most assisted him in his work of conquest. These baronies were subdivided into upwards of sixty thousand knight's fees, which usually consisted of about two carucates of land [120-240acres], and which were held from the King's immediate tenants on specified conditions of homage, fealty, &c."¹³

During Edward III's reign, the English language gained greater general use in the courts (1362), although Latin continued to be used for legal work, the first speech in English was used to open Parliament by the Chancellor in Edward III's reign. It was not until the reign of Henry IV [of Bolingbroke] that Englisg was used in official documents of the crown. In tandem with these changes, the ruling classes were no longer exclusively Norman-French.

In Edward I's reign there were mentioned an  Adam de Miggele in 1275 and an  Adam Migge in 1296 both recorded in the Court Rolls of the Manor of Wakefield. There is also a John de Miggeley mentioned five times in the 1274-94 W.C.R. and a Michael de Miggeley the son of Robert de Miggeley this might concievably be William's father, and in the "Feet of Fines" a William de Miggelay 1305 is recorded, this could possibly be the same William.
 

                                                                          
                                                                                                     Time line for the period:

It is likely that  Brearley Old Hall was a seat of the early Midgley Manor lordship as was Kirkshaugh (Kershaw House in Luddenden).
The lordship of the Manor would have entered Norman hands either by intermarriage (much favoured) or forcibly taken by the Normans.
This subordinate manor  near Halifax was controlled by Earl Warrene of Sussex who had in turn been given the Wakefield Manor by William I after the defeat of the English army at Hastings. By 1326 Brearley old Hall was in the French-Norman family Sotehill/Suithill/Soothill, this passed through marriage to the Laci/Lacy family and then again through marriage in 1632 to Henry Murgatroyd until through marriage once again to Henry Farrer of Ewood. The date 1326 for the ownership of Brearley Old Hall  by the Suitille's may signify a move for the Midgley ownership of lands furthwer east. It was at this time that Queen Isabella and Sir Roger de Mortimer returned from France to seize power from Edward II.

How is William likely to have attained his knighthood?
Edward III's reign opened with the "Hundred Years War", the great war with France. Edward had a claim to the French crown and exercised this claim through warfare. This war did not go on continuously, there were several intervals when all fighting ceased for years on end. The Scots were supported by the French in their efforts to throw off the claims of England to their alliegance.

William de Miggeley could have been involved with the following:

i)28th March 1296 The battle of Dunbar. Here The Countess, wife of Patrick "Blackbeard Earl of March" held the sea girt Dunbar castle against the forces of  Edward I¹². The Scottish campigns of Edward I were led by a Yorkshire noble, John de Warrene, Earl of Surrey¹⁰  [Schama erroneously says this was William Warrene¹¹] This is the Warren who had his seat in Yorkshire at Sandal Castle and held the lands of the Manor of Wakefield. Sandal Castle is the closest fortress to the Midgley Manor lands even though these lands may have come under the Lordship of Delaci, the "Honour of Pontefract" whose seat was at Pontefract Castle.

ii) 11th September 1297 The battle of Stirling in which John 7th Earl de Warrene was defeated at the Bridge of Stirling.
iii) 22nd July 1299 The battle of Falkirk where Edward I having returned from France and Flanders, met with John de Warrene and a large army to defeat the Scots.
iii) 1322 The battle of Boroughbridge where Edward II's army under Sir Andrew de Harcla [Harclay] defeated  Thomas [Anjou]  Earl of Lancaster's army.

iv) A stand-off between the forces of Robert de Bruce and the English army at Stanhope Park, Northumberland in 1327¹⁰  before Edward III's crowning at Westminster on 24th January 1328.
At this time Bruce had recognised the instability in the crown and despite the existing truce was marauding and burning Cumberland and Durham. The Scots army could not be easily located and so Edward offered a knighthood and 100 pounds annuity for anyone who could locate the army. Thomas de Rokeby , a Yorkshireman, [later made sheriff of Yorkshire] who had been captured by the Scots and released claimed the reward and described to the king how the army was encamped on a high hill on the North side of the River Wear.
The English army moved and encamped on the south side. The Scots were outnumbered and did not accept that they or the English should cross the Wear. The Scots moved to an even steeper hill on the north side of the Wear [possibly Collier Law] after making a bold attack on the English camp the Scots left during the night¹⁰.

v) Edward III  in 1333, marched north  and defeated the Scottish nationalists at Halidon Hill. Here Edward pitted for the first time, longbow men against armoured knights. David Bruce, the Scottish "little king" fled to France.
William may have provided his duty at this battle, which as a land owner or son of a land owner, would have been his due to the king. If he had distinguished himself in some way he would have shared in the spoils of war. There was much land owned by lords in the North who if they had not supported Edward III,  would have forfeited their lands. Back in 1138, David of Scotland after the Battle of The Standard, had gained almost the whole of Northumberland in negotiations, no doubt many of these lands in Yorkshire were still owned by Scottish nobles.
The profession of arms was considered a noble one, and for a young blood, a campaign was an event of high excitement and offered a chance to mark his entry into the ranks of knighthood with some heroic deed⁵. However it is likely from his appointment to Parliament in 1335 that he would have been a senior perhaps in his late forties and may  therefore have been called upon for military services for Edward I, Edward II, [Isabella and Mortimer?] and Edward III.

Sir Richard de Thornhill
Sir Richard was a contemporary of  Sir William de Miggeley and they held adjacent manors. Their coats of arms were very similar only varying in their tinctures.The manor of Thornhill at Thornhill Lees is a moated one, much enlarged later by the Saville family. There are a number of references to Sir Richard in the earliest entry of the Wakefield Court Rolls in 1274  Here he is accused of taking Lord Warrene's [John 7th Earl] deer from the Sowerby Forest with others. This might indicate that, although he does not appear to be outlawed, he was not a supporter of Earl Warrene, and therefore Edward I at this time. Indeed, like WilliamDe Miggeley his manor was situated on the de Laci estate of  the honour of Pontefract. Later in the year of 1274, Sir Richard was pardoned by the court.
 

vi) Edward III supported the citizens of the Flemish cloth-weaving towns of Ghent and Bruges, against the Count of Flanders. If the Scots could play the French card then England could play the Flemish card. The Count appealed to his overlord the King of France, war quickly followed. Many of these Flemish weavers were brought to England by Edward III to expand the wool trade, hence the surname "Fleming" entered the English surnames. They usually settled at centres where water power was available as fulling became more mechanised.

THE PARLIAMENTARIAN
From 1335-6  William is known to have served in the Parliament² which was then centred at York and in September 1336 at Nottingham. This was done to more efficiently in order to continue the Scottish campaigns. It was normal to appoint knights who were more elderly to parliament. Thus William is likely to have been in his early 50's. These were the beginnings of "The House of Commons". They would often stand behind other members of the Anglo-Norman nobility who were seated and held the floor. The knights were elected by peers to parliament and were expected to vote on important issues.

THE START OF THE HUNDRED YEARS WAR.
In September 1336, Parliament at Nottingham denounced the King of France's movements in Scotland and voted Edward III money. Subsidies were granted to carry on the war in Scotland and on the Continent:
"Then the administration left the northern provinces, where it had stayed for four years, returned to Westminster, zealously began military preparations, put the coasts in a state of alert, sent war material to Aquitaine, and concentrated troops and a fleet on the shores of the English Channel."¹⁵
Thus we have here the start of the Hundred Years War for which money was voted to take the fight to France, Sir William de Miggeley would have been part of this vote.

The Model Parliament had been established by Edward I in 1295. This created a pattern for the House of Commons with two knights from each county and two burgesses from each chartered town. In Edward III's time there was no actual physical separation of the "House of Lords" and the "House of Commons". The Commons were absent from only 4 of 25 parliaments held in the decade 1327-1337.¹⁴
In 1338, the Parliament, now at Northampton, authorised expenditure on the War – there were only to be two more of the King’s Parliaments to be held there. Here the "Treaty of Northampton" was drawn up. The terms were very favourable to Scotland, for the English had lost at Stanhope and Weardale, an invasion of Ulster had occurred and Norham Castle had been taken by Bruce. Isabella and Mortimer did not have sufficient time to raise another force. Joanna, the sister of Edward III was married to David [later David II of Scotland] and Isabella and Mortimer "renounced all pretentions to sovereignity" over Scotland.

vii) 1338-1341- A sea battle off the Flemish port of Sluys (1340). This was the first great victory of the English Navy under Edward III.

viii) A truce lasted for six years.

ix) 1346 Crecy -A glorious victory for the English Army. Again the longbow had the advantage. It is  said that the English "two fingered salute" came from this time. This derived from the alleged habit of the French cutting off the two bow fingers of any captured English bowman. In defiance the English bowmen would wave their two fingers at the defeated enemy to show their distain and for the successful retention of the most dreaded parts of their anatomy.

x) About 1348 the "Black Death" appeared in England, entering Yorkshire through York, the epidemic continued into1349 by which time it is estimated 1/3 of the population was wiped out (some sources estimate 1/2 the population). It is thought that John 8th Earl of Warrene may have succumbed to the disease in 1347. It would appear that the 8th earl established St. Swithen's priory north of Wakefield near Midgley [Stanley] Hall so that those who had contracted the disease could attend chuch without passing on the disease. Others who died in this year were Stephen II Le Waleys of Burgh Wallis and according to Joseph Hunter, the non-historical character Robyn Hode at Kirklees priory. Some villages were completely decimated, these became "deserted villages". It took another two centuries for the population to reach the pre-1348 numbers.
What effect this had on the local communities we might well guess, and would raise the question, did William die at this time? An entry in Rev. Watson's book The History and Antiquities of Halifax tells us that Wiliam De Midgley who also held a tenement in Shelf between Halifax and Bradford had recently died prior to  1339 [12 Edward III], this would indicate that he died about ten years before the Black Death:

Certainly the Black Death had a huge impact on the manorial system, by removing most of the labour for the estates, finally leading to decay of the manorial system:

In the mid 1300's Edward III's Court became a model for Europe and it was here that the popular cult of polite chivalry became paramount.
Chivalry was the ideal by which a man achieved knighthood and by which he was supposed to live in honour and virtue.
Heraldry was the symbolic element of chivalry which was an invention of the noble and knightly classes, heraldry evolved for the practical needs of combat and for a desire to display⁷.
Feudal ties began to weaken and were replaced by the gentleman's code. King Edward III founded the noble Order of the Garter which is still a high award today in Britain. The Order of the Bath was another title which resulted from a ceremonial bathing the candidate was given to cleanse him of sin⁷. It was Edward III who had St. George's Hall at Windsor Castle built in 1363 with an Arthurian "Round Table" for 26 of his most loyal knights.( The hall was completely altered in 1682), it is here that the Garter Feasts are still held. Indeed, Edward III "re-invented" the Arthurian mystique which is where the Romano-British warrior of the 500's Artorius, was confused with chivalric knighthood.

Possibly as a contemporary of William's, in 1359, Geoffrey Chaucer at the age of 19 joined the English forces into Europe⁶. Chaucer was captured, Edward III having to pay a ransom, as was customary for prisoners.
Chaucer's picture of the franklin could easily be applied to a knight of the shire, who wrote:
 

The normal type of man to be chosen for shire representation in parliament was a knight of middle age, no longer particularly active in war, but knowledgeable in administration.
As an example-26 July: Westminster. Payment to Adam de Branscombe, Knight of the Shire of Devon, for attending a Parliament at Westminster. 24 days at 4/- a day. [attends again in 1348]
Knights were originally high ranking cavalry officers honoured by the king for service in battle.
In the 1300's knights were small landowners whose estates and titles were inherited. Any additions to the knightly classes were endorsed by the king himself and were usually granted for political rather than military considerations. See: The Knights hierarchy in the social order

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