Pontefract Lacy in 1348. King Richard II was murdered at the castle in 1400. Little is known of the precise nature of his demise; in particular Shakespeare may have "adjusted" the facts for his own purposes. There are at least three theories which attempt to explain his death: He was starved to death by his keepers, he starved himself to death or he was murdered by Sir Piers (Peter) Exton on 14 February 1399 or 1400. Fifteenth century Robin Hood ballads place the outlaw's activities in the forest of Barnsdale, the southern edge of which borders Pontefract. In particular, the medieval
Edmund de Lacy, Baron of Pontefract his mother Margaret de Quincy and on her death would have inherited the Earldom of Lincoln that vested in her. (His father had only been Earl by rights of his wife.) As he predeceased his mother he never became the Earl of Lincoln. He was an important landholder in northern England, with a strategic manor at Stanbury which was important for east-west communication, and as Lord of the Honour of Pontefract he possessed Pontefract Castle. He was brought up at the royal court of Henry III of England and Eleanor of Provence, and made a 'Savoyard' marriage to one of