 In 1217 Maurice de Gant lost the Leeds estate by figuring on the wrong side at the battle of Lincoln.His holding passed from him to Ranulf, Earl of Chester, and through him reverted to the de Lacy family; when the de Lacy estates became merged by marriage in the Duchy of Lancaster they passed to the royal family, and, on the accession of Henry IV, were absorbed into the possessions of the Crown.For four centuries after the Norman invasion, the growth of Leeds was slow.