Notwithstanding the proviso made by Henry III. to prevent its being separated from the Crown, yet when John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, and fourth son of King Edward III. married Constance, the sole heir of Don Pedro, King of Castile, in whose right he assumed the title of King of Castile, he, upon surrendering the Earldom of Richmond, and all the estates and lands thereunto belonging, had a grant general in tail of the Castle and Luecate of Pevensey, as also of the free Chapel with in the said Castle ; which, upon his death, , returned to the Crown, by the accession of his son and heir, Henry IV., who succeeded King Richard II. soon after his father's death. Some part of this honour of the Eagle, fays Camden, King Henry IV. gave to the family of the Pelhams for their loyalty and valour, which they still enjoy.
Before the reign of James I. this Castle was a parcel of the possessions of the Dutchy of Lancaster ; for that King, in the twenty-second year of his reign, did, by his letters patent, under the seal of that Dutchy, dated the -
