John of Monmouth

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_of_Monmouth

• John of Monmouth
• Born c 1182, Monmouth
• Died 1248, Monmouth
• Nationality Anglo-Norman with Breton ancestry
• Occupation nobleman
• Known for Lord of Monmouth
• John of Monmouth
• John of Monmouth was an Anglo-Norman feudal lord of Breton ancestry,
• who was lord of Monmouth between 1190 and 1248. He was a favourite of both King John and his son, Henry III, and one of the most powerful royal allies in the Welsh Marches. Wikipedia
• Born: 1182, Monmouth, England
• Died: 1248, Monmouth, England
• Parents: Gilbert fitzBaderon
• Grandparents: Baderon of Monmouth, Rohese de Clare
• Great-grandparents: Gilbert Fitz Richard, William fitzBaderon, Alice de Clermont, Hawise of Monmouth

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John of Monmouth (c. 1182 – 1248) was an Anglo-Norman feudal lord of Breton ancestry, who was lord of Monmouth between 1190 and 1248. He was a favourite of both King John and his son, Henry III, and one of the most powerful royal allies in the Welsh Marches.

Life

He was born in Monmouth, the son of Gilbert fitzBaderon, and the great-grandson of William fitzBaderon who had been lord of Monmouth at the time of the Domesday Book in 1086. John's father died in about 1189, and, being under age, he was made the ward of his uncle, William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber, Sheriff of Herefordshire and a court favourite. He was still a ward of de Braose at the time of King John's accession to the throne of England in 1199, but, by 1201, he had married Cecilia de Waleran and paid the king 120 marks and two Norway hawks for his share of her father's property.[1] Like William de Braose, he had a close relationship with the king, who visited Monmouth in 1213 on a hunting expedition. When the king died in 1216, John of Monmouth was present at his bedside, and was one of the executors of his will. He was also involved in the coronation of John's son and successor, Henry III.[1]

He was appointed as Constable of St Briavels, and as a Justice in Eyre with responsibility for the law in royal forests. He became one of the most powerful figures in the southern Marches, serving as an advisor to the king on Anglo-Welsh affairs.[2] In 1226, he established the Abbey of Grace Dieu, a few miles outside Monmouth, but the abbey faced constant attacks from the Welsh who claimed that John had seized Welsh land unlawfully; it was forced to relocate several times. John was also one of King Henry's allies in fighting the rebellions by the Welsh prince Llywelyn ab Iorwerth and Richard Marshal, Earl of Pembroke. However, he reportedly fled the Battle of Monmouth in 1233, when Richard Marshal's forces defeated the defenders of the town led by Baldwin III, Count of Guînes, and thereafter devastated the surrounding countryside.[3] John returned to Monmouth afterwards, and over the next few years increased the extent of his control. He was made chief bailiff of South Wales in 1242, and at one point had control of Chepstow, Usk, Caerleon, Carmarthen, Builth and Cardigan as well as Monmouth.[1]

Marriages and issue

John's first marriage, in 1201, was to Cecily, the daughter of Walter de Waleran (c. 1143-1200), of Shaftesbury, Dorset. They had three daughters and a son, William. Cecily died in 1222.[4] His second marriage, in about 1223/24, was to Agnes, the daughter of Walter de Muscegros. They had three sons: John, who became lord of Monmouth upon his father's death, Walter and Richard.[1]

Death and aftermath

He died in 1247[4] or 1248,[1] and was buried at Monmouth. His tomb was destroyed in the rebuilding of the Priory Church of St Mary in 1737.[1]

His son John, who had been born in about 1225, became heavily in debt and surrendered his estates, including the lordship of Monmouth, to the crown in 1256. He died in 1274.[1][5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Kissack, Keith (1974). Mediaeval Monmouth. The Monmouth Historical and Educational Trust. pp. 24–27.
2. ^ Monastic Wales: John of Monmouth. Accessed 19 January 2012
3. ^ Edward Foss, The judges of England: with sketches of their lives..., Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1848, p.411
4. ^ a b Thomas Wakeman, On the Priory of Monmouth, in Collectanea archæologica, British Archaeological Association, 1862, pp.285-292
5. ^ John Duncumb et al., Collections Towards the History and Antiquities of the County of Hereford: pt. 1., E.G. Wright, 1812, pp.368-369

• Reference
• Archaeology: Found that this site was a Medieval settlement/fields, historic associations.
• The earliest evidence of activity here is medieval in date; the area is closely associated with Monmouth Priory and with John of Monmouth (1190-1248).
• There was a hermitage known as 'The Garth', granted in 1229 by John of Monmouth to the hospital he had founded in Monmouthshire Wales.
• I believe it is this John de Monmouth who is referenced in this article: http://www.ggat.org.uk/cadw/historic_landscape/wye_valley/english/w...

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David Williams, The History of Monmouthshire (1796) https://books.google.com/books?id=veg-AQAAMAAJ

regarding town of Monmouth:

p 77 Two hospitals were founded by John de Monmouth in about 1240.

p. 78 The castle is supposed to have been built by John of Monmouth, who was deprived of his estate by Henry III for his adherence to the rebellious barons, and it passed into the House of Lancaster.

p. 88 [re the first John of Monmouth:] In the 17th of K. John,, this John was made Governor of St. Briavels Bremble (Sussex) and Grosmont in Monmouthshire; in 18th of K. John, he had livery of the castles of Grosmont, Skinefrith and Lanteliock. He founded Gracedieu. He gave to the monks of St . Florence at Salmure the hospital of St. John at Monmouth, with divers lands and rents thereto belonging. In the 17th of Henry III was defeated by Richard Earl Marshall. In the 25th of Henry III, on the death of Gilbert Marshall, Earl Pembroke, he was made Governor of Striguil, but in 31 Henry III, being dead, his son, and heir had livery of his lands.

son John of Monmouth: This John, in 35th of Henry III, was constituted governor of Penros in Wales, and shortly after, made warden of New Forrest in Hants. But having no issue male, in consideration of certain lands which Prince Edward granted him for life, he gave to the said prince and his heirs forever, his castle and honour of Monmouth, as also his other lands and tenements, which grant was confirmed by the King 13th Sept 40th Henry III; and departing this life in 41st Henry III, left Albreda and Joan, his daughters [PW: now known not to have been his daughters##], heirs, and being then of full age.

1. # CURATOR NOTE [Pam Wilson, 1/2/2019]: His supposed daughters/heirs Albreda de Boteray and Joan de Neville were in fact his co-heirs by marriage. John's first wife was Cecily de Waleran, daughter of Walter de Waleran, lord of the manor of Steeple Langford, who died c. 1200–1. According to Crowley et al, Walter's heirs were his daughters Cecily, Aubrey, and Isabel. Cecily married John of Monmouth, Aubrey married first Sir John de Ingham (d. c. 1203) and secondly William de Botreaux (d. c. 1209), and Isabel married William de Neville with whom she had a daughter named Joan. The husbands of Walter's daughters held the manor jointly in the early 13th century, but by 1242-3 it was held jointly and in chief by John of Monmouth, Aubrey de Botreaux, and Isabel's daughter Joan de Neville (d. c. 1263), who married Jordan de St. Martin (d. c. 1223). [See D. A. Crowley (editor), A. P. Baggs, Jane Freeman and Janet H. Stevenson (1995). "Parishes: Steeple Langford". A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 15: Amesbury hundred, Branch and Dole hundred. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 12 May 2012. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=115439]

--yet there was a John of Monmouth slain in 4th of Edw III with Sir Hen. Twysliton, on St. Luke's Day. Wm. Mortimer was taken. Leland, Col. I. 687.

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• JOHN DE MONMOUTH senior built two hospitals in Monmouth in 1240

( 1) - Hospital of St John not sure of the site

( 2) - Hospital of Holy Trinity built into Monmouth priory

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CURATOR NOTE [Pam Wilson, June 2018]

Apparently John FitzGilbert of Monmouth had two sons named John, one from each marriage. The elder son John of Monmouth (born of his first wife Cecily de Waleran, probably in the 1190s) was custos of the castle of Penrhos and died in 1257 without issue, leaving Monmouth Castle to Prince Edward.

That elder son John is to be distinguished from his younger half-brother John, born to his father's second wife Agnes de Muscegros around 1225. According to an article by Crowley et al., citing Rotulae Parliamentariae i, 185, the elder John left property to his younger half-brother, but the younger John de Monmouth was hanged for murder. Another report was that he became heavily in debt and surrendered his estates, including the lordship of Monmouth, to the crown in 1256. [from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_of_Monmouth] He died in 1274, or according to Crowley et al, in 1281 However, this conflicts with the account that his brother had left Monmouth Castle to Prince Edward, so it seems that historians may have often confused the two Johns.

Crowley et al. only discuss the dispensation of the parish of Steeple Langford, but through their discussion it appears that the older brother John apparently left his estates to the younger brother (and perhaps to a number of siblings), and that it was not that he left his estates to the crown but that they were seized by the crown and later returned to the family after petitions from various heirs:

"Osulf held Steeple Langford in 1066; Waleran the huntsman held it as 10 hides in 1086. (fn. 57) The manor of STEEPLE LANGFORD descended to Waleran's heirs, possibly in the direct male line and presumably to William son of Waleran, Waleran (fl. 1131) son of William, Walter Waleran (fl. 1166), and Walter Waleran (d. 1200–1). (fn. 58) The second Walter's heirs were his daughters Cecily, Aubrey, and Isabel; Cecily married John of Monmouth, Aubrey Sir John de Ingham (d. c. 1203) and William de Botreaux (d. c. 1209), and Isabel William de Neville. The husbands held the manor jointly in the early 13 th century, (fn. 59) and John of Monmouth, Aubrey de Botreaux, and Isabel's daughter Joan de Neville (d. c. 1263), who married Jordan de St. Martin (d. c. 1223), held it jointly and in chief in 1242–3. (fn. 60) John of Monmouth (d. c. 1248) and Cecily were succeeded by their son John (d. 1257) who settled the manor or his right in it on his brother, evidently half-brother, John of Monmouth. (fn. 61) The brother was hanged for murder in 1281. (fn. 62) Aubrey (d. c. 1270) had a son Walter de Ingham (d. c. 1253) and a grandson and heir Oliver de Ingham (d. 1282), (fn. 63) and Joan had a son William de St. Martin (d. c. 1291). (fn. 64) Oliver and William claimed the manor but Edward I took it as an escheat, asserting that John of Monmouth (d. 1281) held it in chief, (fn. 65) and in 1299 settled it as dower on Queen Margaret. (fn. 66) In 1304 Oliver's son Sir John de Ingham and William's son Reynold de St. Martin petitioned parliament for the manor, acknowledging the king's right to have held, it for a year and a day but claiming it as their escheat on the grounds that John of Monmouth (d. 1281) held it not in chief but of the heirs of his brother John as coparceners. (fn. 67) In 1306 they recovered seisin, (fn. 68) and by 1310 had partitioned the manor, (fn. 69) which thereafter descended in moieties until 1588."

Footnotes/references for this last quote:

• 57 V.C.H. Wilts. ii, p. 151.
• 58 V.C.H. Hants, iv. 351, 521; I. J. Sanders, Eng. Baronies, 96, where Walter (d. 1200–1) is said to be the son of Waleran (fl. 1131); Hoare, Mod. Wilts. Cawden, 73; Red Bk. Exch. (Rolls Ser.), i. 241.
• 59 Red Bk. Exch. (Rolls Ser.), i. 153–4; ii. 483; V.C.H. Hants, iv. 521; Sanders, Eng. Baronies, 96–7, which this acct. of Walter Waleran's successors corrects at several points.
• 60 Cal. Inq. p.m. i, p. 166; Ex. e Rot. Fin. i. 100; Bk. of Fees, ii. 716; P.R.O., CP 40/355, rot. 89 and d.
• 61 Sanders, Eng. Baronies, 96; Cal. Inq. p.m. i, p. 101; Close R. 1256–9, 63; P.R.O., CP 40/355, rot. 89 and d.
• 62 Rot. Parl. i. 185.
• 63 Cal. Inq. p.m. i, p. 232; Complete Peerage, vii. 65 n.
• 64 Cal. Inq. p.m. i, p. 166; Cal. Fine R. 1272–1307, 295; P.R.O., CP 40/355, rot. 89 and d.
• 65 Cal. Fine R. 1272–1307, 185; P.R.O., CP 40/60, rot. 3; CP 40/355, rot. 89 and d.
• 66 Cal. Pat. 1292–1301, 452.
• 67 Rot. Parl. i. 168, 184–7.
• 68 Cal. Pat. 1301–7, 505.

References

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_of_Monmouth
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_of_Monmouth_(died_1257)
• Kissack, Keith (1974). Mediaeval Monmouth. The Monmouth Historical and Educational Trust. pp. 24–27.
• John Duncumb et al., Collections Towards the History and Antiquities of the County of Hereford: pt. 1., E.G. Wright, 1812, pp.368-369
• D. A. Crowley (editor), A. P. Baggs, Jane Freeman and Janet H. Stevenson (1995). "Parishes: Steeple Langford". A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 15: Amesbury hundred, Branch and Dole hundred. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 12 May 2012. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=115439

From https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Monmouth-4

===John de Monemuth[1] aka of Monmouth[2]===

John of Monmouth was the father of: John of Monmouth, son, living in 1250;[3]

On 15 May, 1218, at Westminster, an order was sent to the sheriff of Hampshire to take into the king’s hand the custody of the New Forest until it has been discussed between John of Monmouth and William de Neville as to which of them the custody of the forest pertains.[2]

Death of John of Monmouth

On 26 September, 1248, at Windsor, the king, Henry III, had taken the homage of John of Monmouth, son and heir of John of Monmouth, for all lands and tenements formerly of his father and ordered H. of Wingham and his co-escheator in Herefordshire to cause John to have full seisin of all the lands and tenements formerly of his father in Herefordshire, the sheriff of Gloucestershire to cause John to have seisin of his father's lands and tenements in his bailiwick, and the same to the constable of St. Briavels, concerning the woods of Hewelsfield and Hudnalls, formerly of John's father in his bailiwick. John of Monmouth owed £100 to the king for his relief.[4]

On 3 September, 1250, because John of Monmouth made fine with the king, Henry III, for 3,000 marks for the debts that John his father owed to the king, so that he shall pay 100 marks annually at the Exchequer until the debt has been paid in full, order to the sheriff of Gloucestershire not to distrain the aforesaid John before the quindene of Michaelmas forthcoming by reason of the aforesaid fine.[3]

Death of John son of John of Monmouth

On 26 October, 1257, for the executors of John de Monmouth, because John Mansel treasurer of York and Robert Walerand have mainprised before the king, Henry III, for 200 marks to be paid to king, namely one moiety at next Christmas and the other moiety at Easter [next] following, by which the same and their co-executors of the testament of John of Monmouth, deceased, had made fine with the king for having free administration of the goods and moveable chattels [...] of the same deceased, so that the said 200 marks are to be allowed in the debts which the same deceased owed to the king. And concerning the remainder of the debts which the same deceased owed to the king, the king has taken [...]. Order to the queen and Edward the king's son, to permit the said executors to have free administration of the goods and moveable chattels formerly of the same deceased and formerly in the hand of the same queen.[5]

Death of John son of John of Monmouth and Agnes de Muscegros

An Inquisition taken in 9 Edward I [1281], at Gloucester, by the oath of Nicholas de Gamages, knight, Elias de Heydone, William Geraud and others of county Gloucester, found that John de Monemuth, who was hanged for felony, held the manors of Lassindon and Bolleye, in co Gloucester, of his mother, Agnes de Muscegros, and his sisters, Matilda de Muscegros, Joan and Amabilla, who enfeoffed him.[1]

Sources

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sidney J Madge, ed, Abstracts of Inquisitiones Post Mortem for Gloucestershire, Returned Into the Court of Chancery During the Plantagenet Period. Part IV. 20 Henry III. to 29 Edward I. 1236-1300, (Germany: Kraus reprint, 1968, of The Index Library, XXX,1903), 119-20, Digital Image Internet Archive (https://archive.org/stream/abstractsofglouc00grea#page/118/mode/2up).
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Calendar of the Fine Rolls of the Reign of Henry III [CFR] 1217–8, Calendar of the Fine Rolls of the Reign of Henry III, Volume I, 1216–1224, ed. P. Dryburgh and B. Hartland, technical ed. A. Ciula and J.M. Vieira (Woodbridge, 2007), Henry III Fine Rolls Project's website, no 78, (https://finerollshenry3.org.uk/content/calendar/roll_009.html#it078... : accessed 5 November, 2018).
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Calendar of the Fine Rolls of the Reign of Henry III [CFR] 1249–50, ed. P. Dryburgh and B. Hartland, technical ed. A. Ciula and J.M. Vieira, Henry III Fine Rolls Project's website, no 649, (https://finerollshenry3.org.uk/content/calendar/roll_047.html#it649... : accessed 6 November, 2018).
4. ↑ Calendar of the Fine Rolls of the Reign of Henry III [CFR] 1247–48, ed. P. Dryburgh and B. Hartland, technical ed. A. Ciula and J.M. Vieira, Henry III Fine Rolls Project's website, no 565, 566a, 566b and 567, (https://finerollshenry3.org.uk/content/calendar/roll_045.html#it565... : accessed 12 November, 2018).
5. ↑ Calendar of the Fine Rolls of the Reign of Henry III [CFR] 1256–57, ed. P. Dryburgh and B. Hartland, technical ed. A. Ciula and J.M. Vieira, Henry III Fine Rolls Project's website, no 1022 and 1023, (https://finerollshenry3.org.uk/content/calendar/roll_054.html#it102... : accessed 6 November, 2018).

See also:

• https://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=jweber&id=I38647
• Ivor John Sanders, English Baronies, a Study of their Origin and Descent, 1086-1327, (1960), 65, Digital Image Google Books.

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