e aspired to the Papacy, the
highest ecclesiastical office in Christendom, and was about to start for
Rome, with the view of securing it through his wealth, when he was
arrested and imprisoned by his royal kinsman, and his estates
confiscated.

The portion of Thimbleby granted to this Odo comprised 250 acres of
cultivated land, with 12 acres of meadow and 30 acres of underwood. This
was worked for him by three free tenants and five bondmen. {166a} On the
attainder of Odo, this land passed again into the King's hands, to be
bestowed doubtless upon some other favourite follower. Accordingly we
find that, shortly after this, the powerful Flemish noble, Drogo de
Bevere, who had distinguished himself greatly at the battle of Hastings,
along with many other manors in Lincolnshire, held that of Thimbleby. He
was, by Royal Charter, Lord of all Holderness, and took his title de
Bevere from Beverley, the chief town in that division. As is also
related elsewhere, {166b} the Conqueror gave him his niece in marriage;
but, being of a violent temperament, Drogo got rid of her by poison, and
then, having thus incurred the anger of William, he fled the country.
His estates, in turn, were probably confiscated, for we find that a few
years later Stephen, Earl of Ambemarle, {166c} had five carucates (_i.e._
600 acres) of land between Thimbleby, Langton and Coningsby.

This noble was distinguished for his piety, as well as his other great
qualities. The chronicler describes him as "praeclarus comes, et eximius
monasteriorum fundator," an illustrious earl and distinguished founder of
monasteries. Among other such institutions he founded, on the feast of
St. Hilary, A.D. 1139, the Priory of Thornton, in North Lincolnshire.
This Stephen also received the lordship of Holderness, which had been
held by Drogo. He was succeeded by his son William, who was surnamed
Crassus, or "The Gross," from his unwieldy frame. His
great-granddaughter, Avelin, succeeding to the property in her turn,
married Edmund, Earl of Lancaster, surnamed Gibbosus, or humpback. But
they had no issue, and so, as the "Book of Meux Abbey" says, "for want of
heirs the Earldom of Albemarle and the Honour of Holderness were seized
(once again) into the King's hands." What became of the demesne of
Thimbleby is not specified; but we find from the survey, already quoted,
that in the same century Walter de Gaunt, son of Gilbert de Gaunt, {166d}
held Thimbleby and other nei