John De Bohun, Lord of Midhurst, Ford, Sussex, Rustington was born about 1242 and died 28 Sept 1284. He was the son of Franco De Bohun and Sibyl De Ferrers. He married Joan De La Chappelle, the daughter of Bartholomew De La Chappelle and his wife Nichola. She was born December of 1256.
Children of John and Joan:
1. Elizabeth De Bohun married John Lesley
2.John De Bohun died 1296
3.Jame De Bohun born 3 February 1279/80 died May 1304 married Joan De Broase/Braose.
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=56949
Manors
The earliest mention of NEWTIMBER is in 960, when lands there were restored to Wulfric the thegn by King Edgar. (fn. 5) It was held by Aelfech of King Edward the Confessor, and in 1086 Ralph de Chesney held Newtimber as 10 hides of Earl Warenne. (fn. 6) This formed part of the 14 knights' fees held by his descendants, the family of Say, owners of Hamsey and Streat (q.v.). The overlordship descended with the rape, but in 1439 7 of the fees went to Edmund Lenthall and the other 7 to the Duke of Norfolk. (fn. 7) Eventually the overlordship of this manor came into the hands of the Dukes of Norfolk. (fn. 8)
The mesne tenancy was long retained by the Say family and by 1284, at least, Newtimber was held of William de Say as half a knight's fee. (fn. 9) In 1367 the manor was held as of the manor of Hamsey, (fn. 10) and in 1395–6 7¼ knights' fees, in Newtimber among other places, were settled on Elizabeth de Say and her husband Sir William Heron. (fn. 11) Of these Sir William died seised in 1404, (fn. 12) after which time nothing further appears to be heard of these knights' fees. (fn. 13)
Bartholomew de Capella was holding land in Newtimber in 1248 (fn. 14) and this may have been the manor later held by his daughter Joan and her husband John de Bohun of Midhurst who in 1281–2 leased it to John de Bocking and his wife Alice for the term of their lives. (fn. 15) John de Bocking appears still to have been in occupation of the manor in 1296. (fn. 16)
Meanwhile, John de Bohun had settled his Sussex lands on Anthony Bec, Bishop of Durham, for life. (fn. 17) John died in 1284, (fn. 18) his sons John and James in 1295 and 1306, (fn. 19) and finally the Bishop of Durham in 1311, (fn. 20) after which the manor reverted to the Bohuns, being held in 1316 by Joan widow of the elder John de Bohun. (fn. 21) Her grandson John son of James de Bohun was holding Newtimber at his death in 1367, (fn. 22) and his son John, (fn. 23) who in 1428 was holding the manor as half a knight's fee, (fn. 24) died in 1433, leaving as heir his son Humphrey. (fn. 25) Humphrey died in 1468, (fn. 26) and his son John was dead by 1494, leaving two daughters, Mary wife of Sir David Owen and Ursula wife of Sir Robert Southwell. (fn. 27)
The Magna Charta Sureties, 1215: The Barons Named in the Magna Charta, 1215 ... - Page 182
by Frederick Lewis Weis, Walter Lee Sheppard, William R. Beall - Reference - 1999
gives Joans fathers name
Sussex archaeological collections relating to the history and antiquities of ...
By Sussex Archaeological Society
Shows a tree with Joans surname given as de Capella an alternate spelling of her fathers name.
July 22, 1275 John de Bohun and Joan his wife certify that they have sold to the king thesergean cy of the chapel royal and the office of spigurnel
Syllabus (in English) of the documents relating to England and other ... - Page 84
by Great Britain. Public Record Office, Thomas Duffus Hardy, Thomas Rymer -1869
The Magna Charta sureties, 1215: the barons named in the Magna Charta, 1215 ... - Page 182
by Frederick Lewis Weis, Walter Lee Sheppard, William Ryland Beall - Reference - 1999 gives John and Joan's marriage and says she was the only daughter of Bartholomew de la Chapelle of Waltham, Lincoln
Memoirs illustrative of the history and antiquities of the county ... - Google Books Result
by Royal Archaeological Institute - 1847
Henry de Capella held of the soke of Waltham, thirty librates of annual rent of the gift of King Henry III. (A charter of the fifteenth year of the reign of King Henry III, 1231, in favour of Henry de Capella specifies these librates to be issuing frm the vills of Beelsby, Hatcliffe, Fenby, Waith and Waltham). After the death of Henry they descended hereditarily to Bartholomew, his son and heir. (Henry de Capella was deceased before the 3rd day of April, 32nd Henry III. 1248, on which day the king took the homage of Bartholomew de Capella of all the tenements of his father, which he had held of the king in chief in the county of Lincoln). And now John de Bohun, who married the daughter and heir of the said Bartholomew (deceased before 10th March, 43rd Henry III 1259, seized of the above lands and tenements and of the serjeantry of the king's chapel) holds through his wife (Joan) twenty librates of rent a year, by what service they know not."
The same book goes on to say that John deBohun of Midhurst was deceased in 1284 and his son John was age nine. The younger John died before he came of age and his brother James inherited. Joan their mother was living in 1316. The book also corroborates James De Bohun's wife as being Joan de Braose, daughter of William de Braose of Bramber, Sussex Co.
Henry de Capella held the manor of Otterbourne and passed it to his son Bartholomew who received a license from the king in 1254 to inclose the wood of Otterbourne
History of Otterbourne, http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=42023
Calendar of the close rolls preserved in the Public Record Office, Volume 15 - Page 349
Great Britain. Public Record Office - 1900
Memoirs illustrative of the history and antiquities of the county and city of York - Page 185
Royal Archaeological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland - History - 1848
1276 Membrane 7d--Schedules--cont.
The dowers, escheats, and knights' fees aforesaid ought not to be extended nor exchange made for them.
Membrane 6d
Enrolment of grant by John de Bohun, knight, son of the late Sir Frank (Franconis) de Bohun, and Joan, wife of the said John, to the king of their serjeanty of his chapel and of the office of spigurnels pertaining to them, which they hold of him in chief, to have from the Purification for two years, saving to John and Joan all their lands pertaining to the said serjeanty and any lands that may pertain to the said office. For this grant the king paid them 100 marks beforehand. It is provided that, if the king wish to buy the serjeanty and office aforesaid in the form previously spoken of, he shall have them in the same form, and he shall satisfy John and Joan for them according to that form. For the observance of the premisses they bind themselves and their heirs and their goods, and they have acknowledged the premises in chancery and have caused them to be enrolled in chancery. Dated at London, the day of St. Mary Magdalene 4 Edward [Faedera.]
On the Hundred rolls of the third year of Edward the First 1330, is record of an inquisition before Sirs William de St.Omer and Warine de Chaucomb, justiciaries, deputed to enquire as to the chapters underwritten by twelve jurors of the wapentake of Hawardhou, of which one was what manors were wont to be in the hands of the kings, predecessors of the king. "They say that the whole soke of Waltham was wont to be in the hand of the lord king, Henry, father of the king, who now is, by escheat after the decease of Alan, son of the count of Brittany of England in the time of the war moved between John, king of England, predecessor of the king, who now is, and his barons. And afterwards Henry de Capella held of the same soke thirty liberates of annual rent of the gift of King Henry the Third. (A charter of the fifteenth year of the reign of King Henry the Third, 1231, in favour of Henry de Capella specified these liberates to be issuing from the vills of Beelsby, Hatcliffe, Fenby, Waithe and Waltham.) And after the death of Henry they descended hereditarily to Bartholomew, his son and heir. (Henry de Capella was deceased before the 3rd day of April, 32nd Henry III 1248, on which day the king took the homage of Bartholomew de Capella of all the tenements of his father, which he had held of the king in chief in the county of Lincoln). And now John de Bohun, who married the daughter and heir of the said Bartholomew (deceased before 10 March, 43rd Henry III 1259, seized of the above lands and tenements and of the serjeantry of the king's chapel) holds through his wife (Joan) twenty librates of annual rent of the king; and Nicholaa, wife of the said Bartholomew, in the name of dower ten librates of rent a year, by what service they know not." John de Bohun of Midhurst, com. Sussex, was deceased in the twelfth year of the reign of King Edward the First, 1284, leaving a son and heir John, nine years of age, and his wife surviving, who was living in the ninth year of the reign of Edward the Second, 1316, and lady of the vill of Newtimber, com. Sussex, in right of dower. John de Bohun died in his minority, and was succeeded by James de Bohun, his brother, who married Joan, one of the two daughters of William de Braose of Bramber, com. Sussex. He died in 1306, leaving a son and heir, John de Bohun, whose borough of Midhurst was in the custody of Edmund earl of Arundel in 1316 by reason of his minority. Upon this John de Bohun the lands of his grandmother devolved, and after his decease in the forty-first year of the reign of King Edward the Third, 1367, the following writ occurs on the rolls, called Originalia, of the following regnal year. "Lincolnshire. The king to Walter de Kelby, escheator of the king in the county of Lincoln. When by the inquisition &c. we have learnt that John de Bohun of Midhurst, chevaler, deceased, had held formerly a manor and a bovate and the fourth part of a bovate of land with the appurtenances in the county aforesaid and thirty librates of rent to be annually received from divers free tenants in Waltham, Beelsby, Hatcliff, Fenby, and Waithe of the king in chief by the service of the fourth part of one fief of a knight, and that all the tenants of the manor aforesaid owe suit to the court of the same John de Bohun in Waltham from three weeks to three weeks, and that the aforesaid John for five pounds gave to John Gogh, clerk, and to John Seys the aforesaid manor and lands with the appurtenances, and twenty eight librates of annual rent of the aforesaid thirty pounds of rent, and the service of Sir William de Belesby, chivaler, who had held of the said John de Bohun one messuage and two bovates of land with the appurtenances in Beelsby, as of the said manor of Waltham, by fealty and the service of suit of court of the aforesaid John de Bohun of Waltham from three weeks to three weeks and by the service of eight shillings a year; as well as the service of Robert Maundevill, who had held of the same John de Bohun one messuage and two carucates of land with the appurtenances, &c.. And therefore it is enjoined him to cause Philippa who had been the wife of Edward, son and heir of John de Bohun, having received her fealty, to have seizin of the same."
On the death of Franco de Bohun in 1273, he left a second wife, Nichola de Capella (not mentioned by Dugdale), as his widow: and to her, on 5th October in that year, by patent dated at St. Martin's-le-Grand, the King granted the manor of Midhurst, then worth £50 a year5, or from £600 to £700 of our money ; for the calculation of Professor Rogers that this increase in value has been only eight fold is manifestly too little by one third or upwards.
John, the son, died at Michaelmas, 1284; and we may learn something of the state of this manor by the extent taken on his death.
Extent of the manor of Midhurste, which was Sir John de Bonn's, made Wednesday next before the feast of 8' Edmund the archbishop [16th Nov.], anno 12 Edw. I. [1284], before Robert de Fairer, sub- escheator in the co. of Sussex, by Robert Trottemann, Josep de Stede- ham, William Ywon, Jordan de La Ho, Robert Aufre, Richard de Rude, Henry de Beureford, John de Grenette, Stephen de Grype, John de Asewode, Henry de eadem, and William Capperoun, jurors, who say, upon their oath, that the sd Ld John do Bonn held the said manor of Midhurste, Forde, and Rustyntone, of the Lords of the Castle of Arun- del, by service of three knights' fees. Also they say that a capital messuage, with the fruit of the garden there, is worth, per annum, 4s. [where the site of the castle is still pointed out]. Also they say that there are at Midhurste in demesne 14 acres of arable land, of the which the 3d. part can be sown every year, value every acre fid.; sum 7s. Also there are in demesne 66 acres of arable land, of the which the 3d. part can be sown every year, value per acre 3d.; sum 16s. 6d. Also there are there in demesne, 30 acres of arable land, of the which the 3d. part can be sown every year, sum 10s. Also there are there two and a half acres and a rood of land, of the which one acre can be sown every year, every acre worth 8d.; sum 2s. Also there are there 15 acres of meadow, every acre worth 2s.; sum 30s.; also 15 acres of worse meadow, every acre worth 12d.; sum 15s Also the great park, and is worth, the pasture of the same, per annum 30s., that is to say, from Hogeday day to S' Martin in the winter's day, 80s. ; also another park, and is worth the pasture for the same time as above, 13s. 4d., sum 13s. 4d. Also there are there of rents of Assise of free tenants, that is to say, of John Portar, to the feast of St. Thomas the Apostle 12d., and to the feast of Nativity of S. John the Baptist 12d.; rent of assise of Wm Norman, &c., rent of John le Merk, &c., also rents of assise of Burgesses of Midhurste, who are called potteresgavel, 36s. 8d., &c. ; rents of assise within the Borough of Midhurste, 34s. per ann., &c.; sum of the rents of free tenants per ann. iiij" xvd. Also customary rents without the vill, 79s. 7d.; sum total of rent per ann. £8 lOd. Also of rent per ann. of one plough share, and is worth 6d. Also of rent per ann. of one pound and a half of pepper, worth 8d the pound, sum 12d. Also of rent at Lady-day of 60 red herrings, and are worth 3d. Also rent of 25 hens per ann., each hen worth Id., &c. Also rent of two capons, worth 4d., &c. Also one northern water-mill, worth 40s.; also one southern water-mill'' worth 6s. 8d., and no more on account of the reprisals beyond, the mills, 46s. 8d. Also there are there 8 customary tenants, who ought to plough at seed time the 40th part of an acre of land, and is worth the ploughings of every acre 2d., and no more, on account of the reprisals. And there are there as well 11 customary tenants, as cottars, who ought to mow in autumn for one day, and the work of each is worth Id., and no more, on account of reprisals. And the jurors aforesaid say that John de Bonn died on the vigil of St. Michael, A° 12 Edw. [1], and that the son of the said John is his next heir, and was of the age of 9 years at the feast of Pentecost, a° 12°-
He was, therefore, born 6th June, 1275. We have thus the messuage, two parks, and two water-mills.
And now comes the only break which we have in the inheritance of the Bohuns. Just before his death, this John and his wife made a grant to Anthony de Beck, the great Bishop of Durham [1283].
Know all men 8 present and future that I, John de Bohun, son of tho Lord Franco de Bohun, Lord of Midhurst, have given and granted, and by this, my present charter, have confirmed, to the Venerable Father in Christ, the Lord Antony, by the Grace of God Bishop of Durham, my manors of Midhurst, Fordes, and Kustinton, in the county of Sussex, with all rents, services,' mills, &c., with all other things to the said manors belonging, to hold to the said Lord Antony and his heirs and assigns of the chief Lords of the Fees, &c., yielding, nevertheless, to me and my heirs yearly, for the said manor of Fordes, £230 sterling, half-yearly at Christmas and Midsummer, for all services, &c. And moreover I, the said John, and Johanna, my wife, grant, for us and our heirs, to the aforesaid Lord Antony and his heirs, the manor of New- timbre, in the county of Sussex, &c., which John de Bock . . . and Alice, his wife, hold of the inheritance of the said Johanna, for their lives ; and also 50 librates of land and rents, with the appurtenances in Wal- tham, Boldeby, and Uaddelyne, in Lyndesey, in the county of Lincoln, which Benedict de Blakenhain holds of the same inheritance for his life, and which, after the deaths of the said John and Alice and Benedict, ought to revert to the said Johanna, and should remain to the said Lord Antony and his heirs and assigns, to hold by the services, &c., thereto belonging. Warranty by the said John de Bohun, for himself and his heirs of Midhurst, Fordes, and Kustington, and for himself and wife and their heirs, of the residue of the land. Sealed by John de Bohun and Johanna, his wife, in the presence of John de Warren, Earl of Surrey, Lord Henry de Sey, Earl of Lincoln, Lord John Bok, Lord William de Saham, Lord John de Metingham, Master . . . de Dudynton, Lord William de Alta Ripa, Lord John de Percy, Lord Luca de Viana, Lord Robert de Hotel, and others.
Ultimately he claimed only two parts in three of Mid- hurst, a moiety of Forde, and all Rustington. This was the bishop who took such a large retinue to support Edward I. in his wars in Scotland, and who, having possessed himself of the De Vesci property, at Alnwick, in Northumberland, sold it, in 1309, to his Sussex neighbours, the Percys. Whether his interest in Midhurst was acquired in some more straightforward way we know not; but when Franco de Bohun's son, John, died, on 28th Sept., 1284, and the king's escheator, in pursuance of his writ, seized Midhurst and dealt with it, the heir being, as we have seen, under age, the Bishop made formal complaint against him for seizing the Bishop's share, cutting his timber, &c.
Inquisition taken at Midhurst,* Friday next before Ramos palmarum, 1285 [13 Edw. I], before, &c., appointed to enquire what goods the servants of Master Henry de Bray, escheator of the Lord the King on this side Trent, unjustly had taken in the manors of the venerable father, Lord Antony de Beck, Bishop of Durham, &c., &c.
They say that in the manor of Midherst the aforesaid Robert caused to overthrow fourscore and seven oaks, beeches, and " arables,"10 in the park of the said Bishop, which is called llyenok, aud sold them for 27s., damage laid at 30s.; also the said Robert sold wood, in the wood of the said Bishop, which is called "La Codray," for lid.; also the said Robert took of the villans [the highest class of tenants, who held land, but had to perform the Lord's services at his courts, &c.], of the said Bishop at Midherst, of rent of assise, at Michaelmas, A" xij. of the now king, 19s. 8^d.; also he took of Matilda, wife of Le Frankelyn, 7s. of relief; also the sd Robert took 7 capons, price 14d., and 22 hens, value 22d.; also of rent of assise of the borough ol Midhurst, of the term of the nativity of our Lord, 9s.; also he took of Henry le Yqual 6d., of a certain ainerciament; also the said Robert took of the Bishop's little Mitts at Midhurst, 3 quarters 1 bnsshel of corn, price 4s. a quarter; he also took three quarters and one bushel of malt, price 2s. the quarter; he also took 2 quarters 2 bushels of mixed corn, price 40d. the quarter.
These mills were of some importance at this time. Engil- gerius de Bohun had granted a mark a year out of the mill here to the church of the Blessed Virgin of Waverley, for a monk to pray for him and his ancestors, Savaric de Bohun being one of the witnesses11; and this rent the Bishop, on St. James's day (25th July), 1289, re-purchased of Philip, then Abbot."
Midhurst Castle
Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; St Anns Hill; Tan Hill
In the civil parish of Midhurst. In the historic county of Sussex (Modern Authority of West Sussex, 1974 county of West Sussex).
This site has been described as a;
Timber Castle
Masonry Castle. Confidence: This site was certainly a medieval fortification or palace. Earthworks remains.
Motte and bailey with some stonework. Once surrounded by 15ft thick wall. The foundations of medieval buildings including a curtain wall, hall, chapel and possibly a keep were excavated in 1913. The site was probably abandoned circa 1280, though the chapel was still in use in 1291.
This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.
The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SU88882146
http://www.midhurst.org/midhurst-castle.shtml
St Ann's Hill and Midhurst Castle
It’s hard to be completely sure when Midhurst Castle was built because the Domesday Book – William the Conqueror’s great catalogue of the lands of England – rather steered clear of Midhurst.
What is highly likely is that Midhurst Castle, like those in Chichester, Bramber and Pulborough, was built to safeguard the Normans' stronghold in Sussex immediately after the Norman Conquest of 1066.
Like Pulborough Castle, which was built at the same time near the confluence of the River Rother and the Arun, Midhurst Castle was built on a high place overlooking the river. The River Rother was a key strategic transport route for both trade and military items as the roads in the Weald were so poor at that time. St Ann’s Hill was an obvious location for such an important building.
At first the Castle consisted of wood and earthwork defences, with an inner bailey on top of St Ann’s Hill and a further bailey on the westward slopes of the hill. Later stone walls and buildings were incorporated to beef up the castle’s defences.
The Castle became the main catalyst in the growth of Midhurst into a sizeable town. The oldest parts of Midhurst are the attractive area around Sheep Lane, Church Hill and Edinburgh Square where trade started to take place to support the life of the Castle. In time this developed into the more formal market that underpinned much of Midhurst’s wealth in the Middle Ages.
Only the foundation stones of the Castle remain today, of course, but it doesn’t take much imagination to take yourself back to the eleventh century when it was a fully functioning part of the Norman military machinery.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midhurst
http://www.violetdesigns.co.uk/cowdray_castle_ruins.htm
Cowdray House
Cowdray: the History of a Great English House. By Mrs. C. Roundell (Bickers)
Mrs. Roundell could scarcely have chosen a more charming subject, for the park which surrounds the ivy-clad ruins of Cowdray, with its sunny glades and stately avenues of limes and Spanish chestnuts, is the very type of English sylvan beauty, while the heirs of the fair scene have been dogged by a fate so melancholy and mysterious that the story of their lives is as interesting as a romance.
Cowdreay was the name given to the crenellated mansion built by the lords of Midhurst for their residence in the thirteenth century, when the Norman keep on St. Anne's Hill which their ancestors were contented to inhabit was found incommodious. It is quite likely that the old castle was ruined in the Civil Wars between Henry III and his barons, vor, although the date of the fabric is commonly attributed to the reign of Edward III, it is certain that Cowdray was the family residence when John de Bohun, who died in 1284, mortgaged his estates to the Bishop of Durham. This, however is one of the points on which Mrs. Roundell was misled by the historian of Western Sussex, for the true history of the Bohuns of Midhurst has still to be written. The story of Midhurst and its owners prior to the reign of Henry VIII is dismissed with a single page of scanty notice, and this brief account is disfigured by several errors. For example, Savaric, to whom Henry I granted in 1102 the castle and manor of Midhurst on the forfeiture of Robert de Belesme, was not Savaric de Bohun, but Savaric fitz Cana, a cadet of the Beaumonts, Vicomtes of le Mans, who married the heiress of the Norman barony of Bohun. Again, Camden was wrong in saying that the Bohuns of Midhurst were "hereditary sealers of the King's briefs and sergeants of the Chapel Royal," because these offices were the inheritance of Joan de Capella, wife of John de Bohun, and her husband lost no time in resigning them to the hands of Edward I. Again, there is ample proof that Sir David Owen, who married Mary Bohun the heiress of Cowdray, was a natural son of Owen Tudor, the grandfather of Henry VII; but it is equally certain that he was not his son by Queen Catherine, because she died in 1437, and we have Sir David's sworn statement that he was born in Pembrokeshire in 1459. His wife Anne, the sister of Lord Ferrers of Chartley, who survived him, was his third wife, and not his second wife, as Mrs. Roundell has it. It is an error of more importance to say that Sir David had no children by Mary Bohun, because if she had not borne issue her husband's interest in her lands of inheritance would have determined on her death, and neither he nor his after-born son could have made a good title to a purchaser. The fact is that it was Mary Bohun's son and heir, Sir Henry Owen, who sold Cowdray, subject to his father's life estate, to Sir Wm. FitzWilliam.
The mansion, which is the subject of this volume, was built by the Earl of Southampton, and completed by his half-brother and heir, Sir Anthony Browne, the standard bearer of England. It was a bad omen that one of the first inmates of the new house was the stouthearted Countess of Salisbury, who was Lord Southampton's prisoner there until the relics found her in her chamber at Cowdray were made the pretext for her cruel execution. The next owner, Sir Anthony Browne, married Anne of Cleves as proxy for Henry VIII; and his portrait in the dress which he wore at the marriage was one of the glories of the picture gallery, which perished in the great fire of 1793. He was enriched out of the spoils of the Church; and among the suppressed houses of religion, which the King lavished on his favourite was Battle Abbey, in Sussex, which Sir Anthony made his chief residence. He was solemnly warned that "a curse of fire and water" would pursue from generation to generation the plunderers of the church. But the knight, who had no scruples in demolishing the great cathedral church at Battle to make a pleasure garden and a bowling alley, would take little heed of such predictions. Time, however, has prove the truth of the old saying that the Church is never robbed with impunity, and that the day of retribution for sacrilege comes sooner or later; so that when the mansion of the Brownes was burnt down, and two generations of the heirs of Cowdray were drowned, it was believed by more than the vulgar that the old curse of fire and water was at last being fulfilled. It may well be believed that its fulfillment had been retarded for several generations by the piety of Sir Anthony Browne's immediate descendants. His son and heir who was created Viscount Montacute by Queen Mary, was one of the two peers who had the courage to oppose in Parliament the Act to separate England from the communion of Catholic Christendom. He wa as loyal to his Sovereign as to his religion and in his old age was conspicuous among the host assembled at Tilbury Fort to repel the Spanish invasion. He retained Queen Elizabeth's favour, notwithstanding his refusal to acknowledge her as head of the Church, and the Queen stayed with him at Cowdray on a visit of six days in 1591. She was feasted right royally, and at breakfast each day three oxen and 140 geese were consumed. His grandson, the second Viscount, was wise and discreet beyond his years, for he was only twenty-three years old when he compiled his famous book of regulations for the government of his family and household, which enables us to realise the splendid housekeeping and well orderede magnificence of the greater nobility in the olden time....
The Academy and literature - Page 217
Language Arts & Disciplines - 1884
A history of the castles, mansions, and manors of western Sussex, by D.G.C ... - Page 152
Dudley George C. Elwes - 1876
"There was certainly some sort of mansion at Cowdray as early as the reign of Edward III, for, in the Proof of Age of John, son of John de Insolade Gatcombe, taken at Midhurst on the 7th of Nov., 1363, the despondents stated that he was born at la Cowdray, in the par. of Easebourne, and bapt. in the church of St. Mary there, 6 Nov., twenty one years ago."
"The derivation of the name Cowdray has been much disputed, the vulgar notion being that the place was a cow-dairy attached to the Castle at Easebourne: It is probably a Norman word, signifying a hazel wood, and we find, in an Inq., dated 1283, mention is made of the wood called Le Coudray, and of wood there being sold to the damage of Anthony Beck, the lord of the manor."
A history of the castles, mansions, and manors of western Sussex -
by Dudley George Cary Elwes, Charles John Robinson - 1876
Ford
The history of this parish is almost identical with that of Climping. Given to Earl Roger at the Conquest, it was granted by him to Lynminster Nunnery, a cell to the alien priory of Almeneches in the diocese of Seez. But, says Ordericus Vitalis, "the King of England (Henry I) was so much incensed against the whole kindred and race of Montgomery, that the nuns of Almeneches were cruelly stripped of all the lands in England with which Earl Roger had endowed them because their Abbess, Emma, was the sister of Robert de Belesme, and the King granted them to Savaric Fitz Cana to hold by knight's service." The lands thus transferred consisted of the manors of Climping, Ford, Lyminster, Poling, Warningcamp, Rustington, and Preston, and a moity of Ilesham, and the date of their transfer was about the year 1102. Ford was the chief estate, and there can be no doubt that its castle (built probably by Savaric fitz Cana) was occupied not only by Savaric Fitzsavaric, 2nd son of the grantee and heir of Ford, on the death of his brother Ralph, but also by his nephew Franco de Bohun. The latter was in disfavour with Henry II and his rights were for a time unjustly withholden, but Richard I reinstated him and by charter dated 31 March, 1190, confirmed to Franco de Bohun and his heirs Ford, Climping, Rustington, Preston and Lavington.
The manor was in the hands of the Bohuns of Midhurst in the 15th century and descended, as Easebourne, to Mary dau. and co-heir of John de Bohun and wife of Sir David Owen. He sold Easebourne, Ford, and Climping in 1528 to Sir William Fitzwilliam, and soon afterwards we find the latter manors in the possession of the Crown.
Calendar of Documents, Relating to Ireland: 1285-1292
By Great Britain. Public Record Office
RELATING TO IRELAND
1289
The justices sent the record, herein recited at length.
VIEW. Joan who was the wife of John de Bohun, by her attorney demands as her dower against John de Saunford 1/3 of the manor of Balymadan, 1/3 of a messuage, 34 librates of rent in Combre, and 1/3 of the advowson of the church there. John de Saunford aforesaid appears, and as to the 1/3 of the manr of Balymaden vouches to warranty Master John de Saunford. To appear in Dublin in the quinsaine of Hilary by aid of court. Ad as to the 1/3 of the aforesaid messuage and 34 librates of rent in le Combre he says that he only holds 1 messuage, 6 librates of rent, and the advowson of the church of that vill, whereof he vouches Master John aforesaid to warranty. To appear on the same day. And as to the residue of the rent he says that he holds nothing, which Joan by her attorney cannot deny. Wherefore the said Joan takes nothing by this writ, and is amerced for a false claim.
Essoins and continuances until Easter, a.r. 16.
Master John de Saunford whom John de Saunford vouches to warranty appears, &c., and vouches to warranty John son and heir of John de Bohun who is under age and in custody of the K. To appear at Dublin in the quinzaine of St. John the Baptist by aid of court.
The K.'s writ to the Justices of Common Pleas, Dublin, commanding them as before to render justice to Joan in her plea of dower, and in case of difficulty to send the record and process of the plaint before the K. Witness, Edmund Earl of Cornwall, the K.'s cousin. Westminster. Oct. 8, a.r. 1 [1287]
By reason of this mandate the record and process were sent before the K. in England principally because John son and heir of John de Bohun, whom Master John de Saunford vouches to warranty, has only a falcon gentle or 1 mark a year of rent in Ireland, for which reason he cannot render to Joan to the value of her dower when judgement shall have been given in Ireland. Wherefore Master John is without day at present. Afterwards the justiciary of Ireland was commanded to summon him. The justiciary returns that he has done so, wherfore let it be proceeded to judgement. As it appears that John son of John de Bohun has nothing in Ireland save a falcon gentle or l mark of rent a year, nor in England as is said, It is Considered that Joan aforesaid recover her dower against the said Master John de Saunford and that he recover against John son of John de Bohun when he has land. And it is testified that the heir aforesaid has lands in the county of Sussex the sheriff is ordered to cause them to be extended, and to send, the extent before the K. [Coram Rege, Edw. 1, No. 119, Rot. 40 dors.; and No. 120, Rot. 6]
Month of Easter 481.
Further writ as before to the justices of the Common Pleas, Dublin, regarding the plea of dower of Joan who was the wife of John de Bohun, with further pleadings. [Coram Rege, Edw. 1, No. 119, Rot. 43]
FMG on William de Ferrers, 5th Earl Derby
* Complete Peerage
* Sanders, I.J. English Baronies: A Study of Their Origin and Descent, 1086-1327, 1960
* Weis, Frederick. The Magna Carta Sureties, 1215, 1997
1. ^ Bland, W., 1887 Duffield Castle: A lecture at the Temperance Hall, Wirksworth Derbyshire Advertiser
2. ^ http://groups.google.com/group/soc.genealogy.medieval/browse_thread/thread/52b858d7cc86c0ed#
The ancestry of Chamberlin and Grant - Page 131
June G. Henderson - 2000
The Academy - Page 326 1883
Portraits of medieval women: family, marriage, and politics in England, 1255 ... - Page 15
Linda Elizabeth Mitchell - 2003
A history of the castles, mansions, and manors of western Sussex - Page 152
Dudley George Cary Elwes, Charles John Robinson - 1876
The publications of the Harleian Society, Volume 80 - Page 105
Harleian Society - 1929
Calendar of the Fine Rolls Preserved in the Public Record Office: Edward I ... - Page 627
Great Britain. Public Record Office, H. C. Maxwell Lyte (Sir.) - 1971
Women, art, and patronage from Henry III to Edward III: 1216-1377 - Page 170
Loveday Lewes Gee - 2002
Children of John and Joan:
1. Elizabeth De Bohun married John Lesley
2.John De Bohun died 1296
3.Jame De Bohun born 3 February 1279/80 died May 1304 married Joan De Broase/Braose.
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=56949
Manors
The earliest mention of NEWTIMBER is in 960, when lands there were restored to Wulfric the thegn by King Edgar. (fn. 5) It was held by Aelfech of King Edward the Confessor, and in 1086 Ralph de Chesney held Newtimber as 10 hides of Earl Warenne. (fn. 6) This formed part of the 14 knights' fees held by his descendants, the family of Say, owners of Hamsey and Streat (q.v.). The overlordship descended with the rape, but in 1439 7 of the fees went to Edmund Lenthall and the other 7 to the Duke of Norfolk. (fn. 7) Eventually the overlordship of this manor came into the hands of the Dukes of Norfolk. (fn. 8)
The mesne tenancy was long retained by the Say family and by 1284, at least, Newtimber was held of William de Say as half a knight's fee. (fn. 9) In 1367 the manor was held as of the manor of Hamsey, (fn. 10) and in 1395–6 7¼ knights' fees, in Newtimber among other places, were settled on Elizabeth de Say and her husband Sir William Heron. (fn. 11) Of these Sir William died seised in 1404, (fn. 12) after which time nothing further appears to be heard of these knights' fees. (fn. 13)
Bartholomew de Capella was holding land in Newtimber in 1248 (fn. 14) and this may have been the manor later held by his daughter Joan and her husband John de Bohun of Midhurst who in 1281–2 leased it to John de Bocking and his wife Alice for the term of their lives. (fn. 15) John de Bocking appears still to have been in occupation of the manor in 1296. (fn. 16)
Meanwhile, John de Bohun had settled his Sussex lands on Anthony Bec, Bishop of Durham, for life. (fn. 17) John died in 1284, (fn. 18) his sons John and James in 1295 and 1306, (fn. 19) and finally the Bishop of Durham in 1311, (fn. 20) after which the manor reverted to the Bohuns, being held in 1316 by Joan widow of the elder John de Bohun. (fn. 21) Her grandson John son of James de Bohun was holding Newtimber at his death in 1367, (fn. 22) and his son John, (fn. 23) who in 1428 was holding the manor as half a knight's fee, (fn. 24) died in 1433, leaving as heir his son Humphrey. (fn. 25) Humphrey died in 1468, (fn. 26) and his son John was dead by 1494, leaving two daughters, Mary wife of Sir David Owen and Ursula wife of Sir Robert Southwell. (fn. 27)
The Magna Charta Sureties, 1215: The Barons Named in the Magna Charta, 1215 ... - Page 182
by Frederick Lewis Weis, Walter Lee Sheppard, William R. Beall - Reference - 1999
gives Joans fathers name
Sussex archaeological collections relating to the history and antiquities of ...
By Sussex Archaeological Society
Shows a tree with Joans surname given as de Capella an alternate spelling of her fathers name.
July 22, 1275 John de Bohun and Joan his wife certify that they have sold to the king thesergean cy of the chapel royal and the office of spigurnel
Syllabus (in English) of the documents relating to England and other ... - Page 84
by Great Britain. Public Record Office, Thomas Duffus Hardy, Thomas Rymer -1869
The Magna Charta sureties, 1215: the barons named in the Magna Charta, 1215 ... - Page 182
by Frederick Lewis Weis, Walter Lee Sheppard, William Ryland Beall - Reference - 1999 gives John and Joan's marriage and says she was the only daughter of Bartholomew de la Chapelle of Waltham, Lincoln
Memoirs illustrative of the history and antiquities of the county ... - Google Books Result
by Royal Archaeological Institute - 1847
Henry de Capella held of the soke of Waltham, thirty librates of annual rent of the gift of King Henry III. (A charter of the fifteenth year of the reign of King Henry III, 1231, in favour of Henry de Capella specifies these librates to be issuing frm the vills of Beelsby, Hatcliffe, Fenby, Waith and Waltham). After the death of Henry they descended hereditarily to Bartholomew, his son and heir. (Henry de Capella was deceased before the 3rd day of April, 32nd Henry III. 1248, on which day the king took the homage of Bartholomew de Capella of all the tenements of his father, which he had held of the king in chief in the county of Lincoln). And now John de Bohun, who married the daughter and heir of the said Bartholomew (deceased before 10th March, 43rd Henry III 1259, seized of the above lands and tenements and of the serjeantry of the king's chapel) holds through his wife (Joan) twenty librates of rent a year, by what service they know not."
The same book goes on to say that John deBohun of Midhurst was deceased in 1284 and his son John was age nine. The younger John died before he came of age and his brother James inherited. Joan their mother was living in 1316. The book also corroborates James De Bohun's wife as being Joan de Braose, daughter of William de Braose of Bramber, Sussex Co.
Henry de Capella held the manor of Otterbourne and passed it to his son Bartholomew who received a license from the king in 1254 to inclose the wood of Otterbourne
History of Otterbourne, http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=42023
Calendar of the close rolls preserved in the Public Record Office, Volume 15 - Page 349
Great Britain. Public Record Office - 1900
Memoirs illustrative of the history and antiquities of the county and city of York - Page 185
Royal Archaeological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland - History - 1848
1276 Membrane 7d--Schedules--cont.
The dowers, escheats, and knights' fees aforesaid ought not to be extended nor exchange made for them.
Membrane 6d
Enrolment of grant by John de Bohun, knight, son of the late Sir Frank (Franconis) de Bohun, and Joan, wife of the said John, to the king of their serjeanty of his chapel and of the office of spigurnels pertaining to them, which they hold of him in chief, to have from the Purification for two years, saving to John and Joan all their lands pertaining to the said serjeanty and any lands that may pertain to the said office. For this grant the king paid them 100 marks beforehand. It is provided that, if the king wish to buy the serjeanty and office aforesaid in the form previously spoken of, he shall have them in the same form, and he shall satisfy John and Joan for them according to that form. For the observance of the premisses they bind themselves and their heirs and their goods, and they have acknowledged the premises in chancery and have caused them to be enrolled in chancery. Dated at London, the day of St. Mary Magdalene 4 Edward [Faedera.]
On the Hundred rolls of the third year of Edward the First 1330, is record of an inquisition before Sirs William de St.Omer and Warine de Chaucomb, justiciaries, deputed to enquire as to the chapters underwritten by twelve jurors of the wapentake of Hawardhou, of which one was what manors were wont to be in the hands of the kings, predecessors of the king. "They say that the whole soke of Waltham was wont to be in the hand of the lord king, Henry, father of the king, who now is, by escheat after the decease of Alan, son of the count of Brittany of England in the time of the war moved between John, king of England, predecessor of the king, who now is, and his barons. And afterwards Henry de Capella held of the same soke thirty liberates of annual rent of the gift of King Henry the Third. (A charter of the fifteenth year of the reign of King Henry the Third, 1231, in favour of Henry de Capella specified these liberates to be issuing from the vills of Beelsby, Hatcliffe, Fenby, Waithe and Waltham.) And after the death of Henry they descended hereditarily to Bartholomew, his son and heir. (Henry de Capella was deceased before the 3rd day of April, 32nd Henry III 1248, on which day the king took the homage of Bartholomew de Capella of all the tenements of his father, which he had held of the king in chief in the county of Lincoln). And now John de Bohun, who married the daughter and heir of the said Bartholomew (deceased before 10 March, 43rd Henry III 1259, seized of the above lands and tenements and of the serjeantry of the king's chapel) holds through his wife (Joan) twenty librates of annual rent of the king; and Nicholaa, wife of the said Bartholomew, in the name of dower ten librates of rent a year, by what service they know not." John de Bohun of Midhurst, com. Sussex, was deceased in the twelfth year of the reign of King Edward the First, 1284, leaving a son and heir John, nine years of age, and his wife surviving, who was living in the ninth year of the reign of Edward the Second, 1316, and lady of the vill of Newtimber, com. Sussex, in right of dower. John de Bohun died in his minority, and was succeeded by James de Bohun, his brother, who married Joan, one of the two daughters of William de Braose of Bramber, com. Sussex. He died in 1306, leaving a son and heir, John de Bohun, whose borough of Midhurst was in the custody of Edmund earl of Arundel in 1316 by reason of his minority. Upon this John de Bohun the lands of his grandmother devolved, and after his decease in the forty-first year of the reign of King Edward the Third, 1367, the following writ occurs on the rolls, called Originalia, of the following regnal year. "Lincolnshire. The king to Walter de Kelby, escheator of the king in the county of Lincoln. When by the inquisition &c. we have learnt that John de Bohun of Midhurst, chevaler, deceased, had held formerly a manor and a bovate and the fourth part of a bovate of land with the appurtenances in the county aforesaid and thirty librates of rent to be annually received from divers free tenants in Waltham, Beelsby, Hatcliff, Fenby, and Waithe of the king in chief by the service of the fourth part of one fief of a knight, and that all the tenants of the manor aforesaid owe suit to the court of the same John de Bohun in Waltham from three weeks to three weeks, and that the aforesaid John for five pounds gave to John Gogh, clerk, and to John Seys the aforesaid manor and lands with the appurtenances, and twenty eight librates of annual rent of the aforesaid thirty pounds of rent, and the service of Sir William de Belesby, chivaler, who had held of the said John de Bohun one messuage and two bovates of land with the appurtenances in Beelsby, as of the said manor of Waltham, by fealty and the service of suit of court of the aforesaid John de Bohun of Waltham from three weeks to three weeks and by the service of eight shillings a year; as well as the service of Robert Maundevill, who had held of the same John de Bohun one messuage and two carucates of land with the appurtenances, &c.. And therefore it is enjoined him to cause Philippa who had been the wife of Edward, son and heir of John de Bohun, having received her fealty, to have seizin of the same."
On the death of Franco de Bohun in 1273, he left a second wife, Nichola de Capella (not mentioned by Dugdale), as his widow: and to her, on 5th October in that year, by patent dated at St. Martin's-le-Grand, the King granted the manor of Midhurst, then worth £50 a year5, or from £600 to £700 of our money ; for the calculation of Professor Rogers that this increase in value has been only eight fold is manifestly too little by one third or upwards.
John, the son, died at Michaelmas, 1284; and we may learn something of the state of this manor by the extent taken on his death.
Extent of the manor of Midhurste, which was Sir John de Bonn's, made Wednesday next before the feast of 8' Edmund the archbishop [16th Nov.], anno 12 Edw. I. [1284], before Robert de Fairer, sub- escheator in the co. of Sussex, by Robert Trottemann, Josep de Stede- ham, William Ywon, Jordan de La Ho, Robert Aufre, Richard de Rude, Henry de Beureford, John de Grenette, Stephen de Grype, John de Asewode, Henry de eadem, and William Capperoun, jurors, who say, upon their oath, that the sd Ld John do Bonn held the said manor of Midhurste, Forde, and Rustyntone, of the Lords of the Castle of Arun- del, by service of three knights' fees. Also they say that a capital messuage, with the fruit of the garden there, is worth, per annum, 4s. [where the site of the castle is still pointed out]. Also they say that there are at Midhurste in demesne 14 acres of arable land, of the which the 3d. part can be sown every year, value every acre fid.; sum 7s. Also there are in demesne 66 acres of arable land, of the which the 3d. part can be sown every year, value per acre 3d.; sum 16s. 6d. Also there are there in demesne, 30 acres of arable land, of the which the 3d. part can be sown every year, sum 10s. Also there are there two and a half acres and a rood of land, of the which one acre can be sown every year, every acre worth 8d.; sum 2s. Also there are there 15 acres of meadow, every acre worth 2s.; sum 30s.; also 15 acres of worse meadow, every acre worth 12d.; sum 15s Also the great park, and is worth, the pasture of the same, per annum 30s., that is to say, from Hogeday day to S' Martin in the winter's day, 80s. ; also another park, and is worth the pasture for the same time as above, 13s. 4d., sum 13s. 4d. Also there are there of rents of Assise of free tenants, that is to say, of John Portar, to the feast of St. Thomas the Apostle 12d., and to the feast of Nativity of S. John the Baptist 12d.; rent of assise of Wm Norman, &c., rent of John le Merk, &c., also rents of assise of Burgesses of Midhurste, who are called potteresgavel, 36s. 8d., &c. ; rents of assise within the Borough of Midhurste, 34s. per ann., &c.; sum of the rents of free tenants per ann. iiij" xvd. Also customary rents without the vill, 79s. 7d.; sum total of rent per ann. £8 lOd. Also of rent per ann. of one plough share, and is worth 6d. Also of rent per ann. of one pound and a half of pepper, worth 8d the pound, sum 12d. Also of rent at Lady-day of 60 red herrings, and are worth 3d. Also rent of 25 hens per ann., each hen worth Id., &c. Also rent of two capons, worth 4d., &c. Also one northern water-mill, worth 40s.; also one southern water-mill'' worth 6s. 8d., and no more on account of the reprisals beyond, the mills, 46s. 8d. Also there are there 8 customary tenants, who ought to plough at seed time the 40th part of an acre of land, and is worth the ploughings of every acre 2d., and no more, on account of the reprisals. And there are there as well 11 customary tenants, as cottars, who ought to mow in autumn for one day, and the work of each is worth Id., and no more, on account of reprisals. And the jurors aforesaid say that John de Bonn died on the vigil of St. Michael, A° 12 Edw. [1], and that the son of the said John is his next heir, and was of the age of 9 years at the feast of Pentecost, a° 12°-
He was, therefore, born 6th June, 1275. We have thus the messuage, two parks, and two water-mills.
And now comes the only break which we have in the inheritance of the Bohuns. Just before his death, this John and his wife made a grant to Anthony de Beck, the great Bishop of Durham [1283].
Know all men 8 present and future that I, John de Bohun, son of tho Lord Franco de Bohun, Lord of Midhurst, have given and granted, and by this, my present charter, have confirmed, to the Venerable Father in Christ, the Lord Antony, by the Grace of God Bishop of Durham, my manors of Midhurst, Fordes, and Kustinton, in the county of Sussex, with all rents, services,' mills, &c., with all other things to the said manors belonging, to hold to the said Lord Antony and his heirs and assigns of the chief Lords of the Fees, &c., yielding, nevertheless, to me and my heirs yearly, for the said manor of Fordes, £230 sterling, half-yearly at Christmas and Midsummer, for all services, &c. And moreover I, the said John, and Johanna, my wife, grant, for us and our heirs, to the aforesaid Lord Antony and his heirs, the manor of New- timbre, in the county of Sussex, &c., which John de Bock . . . and Alice, his wife, hold of the inheritance of the said Johanna, for their lives ; and also 50 librates of land and rents, with the appurtenances in Wal- tham, Boldeby, and Uaddelyne, in Lyndesey, in the county of Lincoln, which Benedict de Blakenhain holds of the same inheritance for his life, and which, after the deaths of the said John and Alice and Benedict, ought to revert to the said Johanna, and should remain to the said Lord Antony and his heirs and assigns, to hold by the services, &c., thereto belonging. Warranty by the said John de Bohun, for himself and his heirs of Midhurst, Fordes, and Kustington, and for himself and wife and their heirs, of the residue of the land. Sealed by John de Bohun and Johanna, his wife, in the presence of John de Warren, Earl of Surrey, Lord Henry de Sey, Earl of Lincoln, Lord John Bok, Lord William de Saham, Lord John de Metingham, Master . . . de Dudynton, Lord William de Alta Ripa, Lord John de Percy, Lord Luca de Viana, Lord Robert de Hotel, and others.
Ultimately he claimed only two parts in three of Mid- hurst, a moiety of Forde, and all Rustington. This was the bishop who took such a large retinue to support Edward I. in his wars in Scotland, and who, having possessed himself of the De Vesci property, at Alnwick, in Northumberland, sold it, in 1309, to his Sussex neighbours, the Percys. Whether his interest in Midhurst was acquired in some more straightforward way we know not; but when Franco de Bohun's son, John, died, on 28th Sept., 1284, and the king's escheator, in pursuance of his writ, seized Midhurst and dealt with it, the heir being, as we have seen, under age, the Bishop made formal complaint against him for seizing the Bishop's share, cutting his timber, &c.
Inquisition taken at Midhurst,* Friday next before Ramos palmarum, 1285 [13 Edw. I], before, &c., appointed to enquire what goods the servants of Master Henry de Bray, escheator of the Lord the King on this side Trent, unjustly had taken in the manors of the venerable father, Lord Antony de Beck, Bishop of Durham, &c., &c.
They say that in the manor of Midherst the aforesaid Robert caused to overthrow fourscore and seven oaks, beeches, and " arables,"10 in the park of the said Bishop, which is called llyenok, aud sold them for 27s., damage laid at 30s.; also the said Robert sold wood, in the wood of the said Bishop, which is called "La Codray," for lid.; also the said Robert took of the villans [the highest class of tenants, who held land, but had to perform the Lord's services at his courts, &c.], of the said Bishop at Midherst, of rent of assise, at Michaelmas, A" xij. of the now king, 19s. 8^d.; also he took of Matilda, wife of Le Frankelyn, 7s. of relief; also the sd Robert took 7 capons, price 14d., and 22 hens, value 22d.; also of rent of assise of the borough ol Midhurst, of the term of the nativity of our Lord, 9s.; also he took of Henry le Yqual 6d., of a certain ainerciament; also the said Robert took of the Bishop's little Mitts at Midhurst, 3 quarters 1 bnsshel of corn, price 4s. a quarter; he also took three quarters and one bushel of malt, price 2s. the quarter; he also took 2 quarters 2 bushels of mixed corn, price 40d. the quarter.
These mills were of some importance at this time. Engil- gerius de Bohun had granted a mark a year out of the mill here to the church of the Blessed Virgin of Waverley, for a monk to pray for him and his ancestors, Savaric de Bohun being one of the witnesses11; and this rent the Bishop, on St. James's day (25th July), 1289, re-purchased of Philip, then Abbot."
Midhurst Castle
Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; St Anns Hill; Tan Hill
In the civil parish of Midhurst. In the historic county of Sussex (Modern Authority of West Sussex, 1974 county of West Sussex).
This site has been described as a;
Timber Castle
Masonry Castle. Confidence: This site was certainly a medieval fortification or palace. Earthworks remains.
Motte and bailey with some stonework. Once surrounded by 15ft thick wall. The foundations of medieval buildings including a curtain wall, hall, chapel and possibly a keep were excavated in 1913. The site was probably abandoned circa 1280, though the chapel was still in use in 1291.
This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.
The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SU88882146
http://www.midhurst.org/midhurst-castle.shtml
St Ann's Hill and Midhurst Castle
It’s hard to be completely sure when Midhurst Castle was built because the Domesday Book – William the Conqueror’s great catalogue of the lands of England – rather steered clear of Midhurst.
What is highly likely is that Midhurst Castle, like those in Chichester, Bramber and Pulborough, was built to safeguard the Normans' stronghold in Sussex immediately after the Norman Conquest of 1066.
Like Pulborough Castle, which was built at the same time near the confluence of the River Rother and the Arun, Midhurst Castle was built on a high place overlooking the river. The River Rother was a key strategic transport route for both trade and military items as the roads in the Weald were so poor at that time. St Ann’s Hill was an obvious location for such an important building.
At first the Castle consisted of wood and earthwork defences, with an inner bailey on top of St Ann’s Hill and a further bailey on the westward slopes of the hill. Later stone walls and buildings were incorporated to beef up the castle’s defences.
The Castle became the main catalyst in the growth of Midhurst into a sizeable town. The oldest parts of Midhurst are the attractive area around Sheep Lane, Church Hill and Edinburgh Square where trade started to take place to support the life of the Castle. In time this developed into the more formal market that underpinned much of Midhurst’s wealth in the Middle Ages.
Only the foundation stones of the Castle remain today, of course, but it doesn’t take much imagination to take yourself back to the eleventh century when it was a fully functioning part of the Norman military machinery.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midhurst
http://www.violetdesigns.co.uk/cowdray_castle_ruins.htm
Cowdray House
Cowdray: the History of a Great English House. By Mrs. C. Roundell (Bickers)
Mrs. Roundell could scarcely have chosen a more charming subject, for the park which surrounds the ivy-clad ruins of Cowdray, with its sunny glades and stately avenues of limes and Spanish chestnuts, is the very type of English sylvan beauty, while the heirs of the fair scene have been dogged by a fate so melancholy and mysterious that the story of their lives is as interesting as a romance.
Cowdreay was the name given to the crenellated mansion built by the lords of Midhurst for their residence in the thirteenth century, when the Norman keep on St. Anne's Hill which their ancestors were contented to inhabit was found incommodious. It is quite likely that the old castle was ruined in the Civil Wars between Henry III and his barons, vor, although the date of the fabric is commonly attributed to the reign of Edward III, it is certain that Cowdray was the family residence when John de Bohun, who died in 1284, mortgaged his estates to the Bishop of Durham. This, however is one of the points on which Mrs. Roundell was misled by the historian of Western Sussex, for the true history of the Bohuns of Midhurst has still to be written. The story of Midhurst and its owners prior to the reign of Henry VIII is dismissed with a single page of scanty notice, and this brief account is disfigured by several errors. For example, Savaric, to whom Henry I granted in 1102 the castle and manor of Midhurst on the forfeiture of Robert de Belesme, was not Savaric de Bohun, but Savaric fitz Cana, a cadet of the Beaumonts, Vicomtes of le Mans, who married the heiress of the Norman barony of Bohun. Again, Camden was wrong in saying that the Bohuns of Midhurst were "hereditary sealers of the King's briefs and sergeants of the Chapel Royal," because these offices were the inheritance of Joan de Capella, wife of John de Bohun, and her husband lost no time in resigning them to the hands of Edward I. Again, there is ample proof that Sir David Owen, who married Mary Bohun the heiress of Cowdray, was a natural son of Owen Tudor, the grandfather of Henry VII; but it is equally certain that he was not his son by Queen Catherine, because she died in 1437, and we have Sir David's sworn statement that he was born in Pembrokeshire in 1459. His wife Anne, the sister of Lord Ferrers of Chartley, who survived him, was his third wife, and not his second wife, as Mrs. Roundell has it. It is an error of more importance to say that Sir David had no children by Mary Bohun, because if she had not borne issue her husband's interest in her lands of inheritance would have determined on her death, and neither he nor his after-born son could have made a good title to a purchaser. The fact is that it was Mary Bohun's son and heir, Sir Henry Owen, who sold Cowdray, subject to his father's life estate, to Sir Wm. FitzWilliam.
The mansion, which is the subject of this volume, was built by the Earl of Southampton, and completed by his half-brother and heir, Sir Anthony Browne, the standard bearer of England. It was a bad omen that one of the first inmates of the new house was the stouthearted Countess of Salisbury, who was Lord Southampton's prisoner there until the relics found her in her chamber at Cowdray were made the pretext for her cruel execution. The next owner, Sir Anthony Browne, married Anne of Cleves as proxy for Henry VIII; and his portrait in the dress which he wore at the marriage was one of the glories of the picture gallery, which perished in the great fire of 1793. He was enriched out of the spoils of the Church; and among the suppressed houses of religion, which the King lavished on his favourite was Battle Abbey, in Sussex, which Sir Anthony made his chief residence. He was solemnly warned that "a curse of fire and water" would pursue from generation to generation the plunderers of the church. But the knight, who had no scruples in demolishing the great cathedral church at Battle to make a pleasure garden and a bowling alley, would take little heed of such predictions. Time, however, has prove the truth of the old saying that the Church is never robbed with impunity, and that the day of retribution for sacrilege comes sooner or later; so that when the mansion of the Brownes was burnt down, and two generations of the heirs of Cowdray were drowned, it was believed by more than the vulgar that the old curse of fire and water was at last being fulfilled. It may well be believed that its fulfillment had been retarded for several generations by the piety of Sir Anthony Browne's immediate descendants. His son and heir who was created Viscount Montacute by Queen Mary, was one of the two peers who had the courage to oppose in Parliament the Act to separate England from the communion of Catholic Christendom. He wa as loyal to his Sovereign as to his religion and in his old age was conspicuous among the host assembled at Tilbury Fort to repel the Spanish invasion. He retained Queen Elizabeth's favour, notwithstanding his refusal to acknowledge her as head of the Church, and the Queen stayed with him at Cowdray on a visit of six days in 1591. She was feasted right royally, and at breakfast each day three oxen and 140 geese were consumed. His grandson, the second Viscount, was wise and discreet beyond his years, for he was only twenty-three years old when he compiled his famous book of regulations for the government of his family and household, which enables us to realise the splendid housekeeping and well orderede magnificence of the greater nobility in the olden time....
The Academy and literature - Page 217
Language Arts & Disciplines - 1884
A history of the castles, mansions, and manors of western Sussex, by D.G.C ... - Page 152
Dudley George C. Elwes - 1876
"There was certainly some sort of mansion at Cowdray as early as the reign of Edward III, for, in the Proof of Age of John, son of John de Insolade Gatcombe, taken at Midhurst on the 7th of Nov., 1363, the despondents stated that he was born at la Cowdray, in the par. of Easebourne, and bapt. in the church of St. Mary there, 6 Nov., twenty one years ago."
"The derivation of the name Cowdray has been much disputed, the vulgar notion being that the place was a cow-dairy attached to the Castle at Easebourne: It is probably a Norman word, signifying a hazel wood, and we find, in an Inq., dated 1283, mention is made of the wood called Le Coudray, and of wood there being sold to the damage of Anthony Beck, the lord of the manor."
A history of the castles, mansions, and manors of western Sussex -
by Dudley George Cary Elwes, Charles John Robinson - 1876
Ford
The history of this parish is almost identical with that of Climping. Given to Earl Roger at the Conquest, it was granted by him to Lynminster Nunnery, a cell to the alien priory of Almeneches in the diocese of Seez. But, says Ordericus Vitalis, "the King of England (Henry I) was so much incensed against the whole kindred and race of Montgomery, that the nuns of Almeneches were cruelly stripped of all the lands in England with which Earl Roger had endowed them because their Abbess, Emma, was the sister of Robert de Belesme, and the King granted them to Savaric Fitz Cana to hold by knight's service." The lands thus transferred consisted of the manors of Climping, Ford, Lyminster, Poling, Warningcamp, Rustington, and Preston, and a moity of Ilesham, and the date of their transfer was about the year 1102. Ford was the chief estate, and there can be no doubt that its castle (built probably by Savaric fitz Cana) was occupied not only by Savaric Fitzsavaric, 2nd son of the grantee and heir of Ford, on the death of his brother Ralph, but also by his nephew Franco de Bohun. The latter was in disfavour with Henry II and his rights were for a time unjustly withholden, but Richard I reinstated him and by charter dated 31 March, 1190, confirmed to Franco de Bohun and his heirs Ford, Climping, Rustington, Preston and Lavington.
The manor was in the hands of the Bohuns of Midhurst in the 15th century and descended, as Easebourne, to Mary dau. and co-heir of John de Bohun and wife of Sir David Owen. He sold Easebourne, Ford, and Climping in 1528 to Sir William Fitzwilliam, and soon afterwards we find the latter manors in the possession of the Crown.
Calendar of Documents, Relating to Ireland: 1285-1292
By Great Britain. Public Record Office
RELATING TO IRELAND
1289
The justices sent the record, herein recited at length.
VIEW. Joan who was the wife of John de Bohun, by her attorney demands as her dower against John de Saunford 1/3 of the manor of Balymadan, 1/3 of a messuage, 34 librates of rent in Combre, and 1/3 of the advowson of the church there. John de Saunford aforesaid appears, and as to the 1/3 of the manr of Balymaden vouches to warranty Master John de Saunford. To appear in Dublin in the quinsaine of Hilary by aid of court. Ad as to the 1/3 of the aforesaid messuage and 34 librates of rent in le Combre he says that he only holds 1 messuage, 6 librates of rent, and the advowson of the church of that vill, whereof he vouches Master John aforesaid to warranty. To appear on the same day. And as to the residue of the rent he says that he holds nothing, which Joan by her attorney cannot deny. Wherefore the said Joan takes nothing by this writ, and is amerced for a false claim.
Essoins and continuances until Easter, a.r. 16.
Master John de Saunford whom John de Saunford vouches to warranty appears, &c., and vouches to warranty John son and heir of John de Bohun who is under age and in custody of the K. To appear at Dublin in the quinzaine of St. John the Baptist by aid of court.
The K.'s writ to the Justices of Common Pleas, Dublin, commanding them as before to render justice to Joan in her plea of dower, and in case of difficulty to send the record and process of the plaint before the K. Witness, Edmund Earl of Cornwall, the K.'s cousin. Westminster. Oct. 8, a.r. 1 [1287]
By reason of this mandate the record and process were sent before the K. in England principally because John son and heir of John de Bohun, whom Master John de Saunford vouches to warranty, has only a falcon gentle or 1 mark a year of rent in Ireland, for which reason he cannot render to Joan to the value of her dower when judgement shall have been given in Ireland. Wherefore Master John is without day at present. Afterwards the justiciary of Ireland was commanded to summon him. The justiciary returns that he has done so, wherfore let it be proceeded to judgement. As it appears that John son of John de Bohun has nothing in Ireland save a falcon gentle or l mark of rent a year, nor in England as is said, It is Considered that Joan aforesaid recover her dower against the said Master John de Saunford and that he recover against John son of John de Bohun when he has land. And it is testified that the heir aforesaid has lands in the county of Sussex the sheriff is ordered to cause them to be extended, and to send, the extent before the K. [Coram Rege, Edw. 1, No. 119, Rot. 40 dors.; and No. 120, Rot. 6]
Month of Easter 481.
Further writ as before to the justices of the Common Pleas, Dublin, regarding the plea of dower of Joan who was the wife of John de Bohun, with further pleadings. [Coram Rege, Edw. 1, No. 119, Rot. 43]
FMG on William de Ferrers, 5th Earl Derby
* Complete Peerage
* Sanders, I.J. English Baronies: A Study of Their Origin and Descent, 1086-1327, 1960
* Weis, Frederick. The Magna Carta Sureties, 1215, 1997
1. ^ Bland, W., 1887 Duffield Castle: A lecture at the Temperance Hall, Wirksworth Derbyshire Advertiser
2. ^ http://groups.google.com/group/soc.genealogy.medieval/browse_thread/thread/52b858d7cc86c0ed#
The ancestry of Chamberlin and Grant - Page 131
June G. Henderson - 2000
The Academy - Page 326 1883
Portraits of medieval women: family, marriage, and politics in England, 1255 ... - Page 15
Linda Elizabeth Mitchell - 2003
A history of the castles, mansions, and manors of western Sussex - Page 152
Dudley George Cary Elwes, Charles John Robinson - 1876
The publications of the Harleian Society, Volume 80 - Page 105
Harleian Society - 1929
Calendar of the Fine Rolls Preserved in the Public Record Office: Edward I ... - Page 627
Great Britain. Public Record Office, H. C. Maxwell Lyte (Sir.) - 1971
Women, art, and patronage from Henry III to Edward III: 1216-1377 - Page 170
Loveday Lewes Gee - 2002
10 comments:
hi hope this may help you de cappella line
james de la chappell johanni de cappella
philip de la chappell
henry de chappell
hugo de la chappell
richard de la chappell
martinus de cappalla cathage north africa happy hunting
fn. 6) His son Walter de Stradleg. 9 Joh. was reckoned to owe a Falcon for havingseisin of the Land which was his fathers at the time of his death. This Walter andHugo de Capella married the heirs of Robert de Sumervill of Oxton: (fn. 7) Philip (brotherI suppose of Walter) de Strelley, had the custody of the heir of this Walter from Galfr.de Mandeville, to whom King John gave it. Cecilia, wife of Walter, had the third partfor Dower: his Land out of which she had it, was then valued at 100s. per annum.—Philip de Stradleg seems to have had some good interest in Geoffrey Fitz-Peter Earl ofEssex, because, 7 Joh. (fn. 8) he was his pledge for the fine, viz. ten Marks, one Palfrey,and one Falcon, which the said Philip gave the King for having the post-humousdaughter of Richard Fitz-Roger to wife, with her Land belonging to her; besides I perceive that G. Fitz-Peter made the fine of twenty Marks, and one good Palfrey, for having the custody of the Land and heir of Walter de Stradleye, which, in 4 H. 3, (fn. 9) Hugh Fitz-Roger the Seneschal or Steward of Philip de Stradly was then making upthe arrears of. From: 'Strelley', Thoroton's History of Nottinghamshire: volume 2: Republished with large additions by John Throsby (1790), pp. 218-222.
Richard de Capella or Richard of the Chapel[1] was a medieval Bishop of Hereford.
Life
Capella was a member of the chancery in charge of the king's seal during the reign of King Henry I of England before being elected bishop.[2] He was elected to the see of Hereford on 7 January[3] or just before 2 February 1121. He was consecrated on 16 January 1121 at Lambeth by Archbishop Ralph d'Escures of Canterbury.[2]
Capella attended the legatine council held by the new Archbishop of Canterbury, William de Corbeil, at London in 1127. At this council, Urban, Bishop of Llandaff brought charges against both Richard and Bernard, Bishop of St David's for intruding into the jurisdiction of Llandaff. However, nothing concrete was decided at the council and Urban appealed to the papacy.[4] Richard also attempted to improve the financial condition of the diocese and obtained Henry I's gift of the right to hold a fair in Hereford. Only a few charters exist from when he was bishop.[5]
Capella died on 15 August 1127[3] at Ledbury.[2] He was buried in Hereford Cathedral.[5]
1588 Thomas Chappell - the second of the Chapell family to be Mayor - he is the (10x) great grandfather of Edwin Chapell, who lives in Exmouth.
Nicole (?) married, secondly, Sir Frank de Bohun.1 She married, firstly, Bartholomew de la Chapelle, son of Henry de Cappella.1
Westminister Abbey. Gules St. Peter's keys crossed and St. Edward's ring in the chief all or.
The title of Martin deCapella, the tenant of theabbey in 1171, (fn. 10) and probablysuccessor of the Robert whoheld in Buckinghamshire asearly as 1158, (fn. 11) was confirmedsome time after 1176. (fn. 12) Martinwas still in possession in 1197, (fn. 13) but was succeededbefore 1227 by Henry de Capella. (fn. 14) On his death,about 1248, Denham passedto his son Bartholomew, (fn. 15) whoacquired a virgate of landhere from Philip de Covelein 1251 (fn. 16) and died about1258. (fn. 17) His daughter andheir Joan married John deBohun of Midhurst, (fn. 18) who in1275 recovered from MasterJohn de File by the manor of Denham of which John de Bohun had tfeoffed him forlife. (fn. 19) In 1281, however,the manor was conveyed toFileby (fn. 20) and his heirs, andby him it was leased in 1284to Robert de Fileby for life. (fn. 21) Robert appears in 1286 tohave transferred his rights tothe aforesaid Joan de Bohun, (fn. 22) but his rent to WestminsterAbbey was said to be 10marks in arrears in the nextyear. (fn. 23) Denham was shortlyafterwards granted to QueenEleanor in fee, and she obtained deeds from the abbotrelinquishing his rights during her lifetime. (fn. 24) Afterher death in 1290 it was bestowed in 1292 on Westminster Abbey in free alms. (fn. 25) By this grant the abbeyof Westminster was bound every week (sic) on theeve of the anniversary of the death of Queen Eleanorto sing placebo and dirige with the nine lessons for thesoul of the said queen, with solemn tolling of bells,and on the day of said anniversary every week tosing a mass with tolling of bells and to provide 1d.each for food for 140 poor men, each of whom, beforeand after the receipt of the money, was to say theLord's Prayer, the Apostles' Creed and the AveMaria. (fn. 26) From: 'Parishes: Denham', A History of the County of Buckingham: Volume 3 (1925), pp. 255-261.
Division of the County into Baronies.
After William the Conqueror had given the county of Cumberland toRanulph de Meschines, who had married his niece, and whom he made Earlof Carlisle, or, as some say, of Cumberland, this Earl divided the countyinto eleven baronies; Copeland, Allerdale below Derwent, Wigton, Burgh,Dalston, Greystock, Gilsland, Crosby, Liddell, and a nameless barony inthe south-east part of the county, under the fells, given to Adam FitzSwein. He reserved in his own hands the forest of Inglewood, whichafterwards became part of the Crown demesne. A part of this was sometime, by royal grant, vested in the Kings of Scotland, afterwards resumedby the Crown, and granted to the Nevils. The whole was granted by KingWilliam III. to the Portland family, and is now vested in the Dukeof Devonshire.
The barony of Copeland was given by Ranulph to William de Meschines,some say his brother, others a younger son, who built the castle of Egremont, and gave that name to the barony, which comprised the whole wardof Allerdale above Derwent except the honour of Cockermouth. Williamde Meschines left an only daughter; and this barony passed by successivefemale heirs to Fitz-Duncan, Lucy, and Multon, who took the name of Lucy.The division between coheiresses in this family will be more particularlyspoken of hereafter. The whole became eventually vested, by gift andpurchase, in the Percy family, whose ancestor married Maud (fn. 1) , heiress ofAnthony Lord Lucy, in the fourteenth century, and is now vested in theEarl of Egremont, by descent from Charles Duke of Somerset, who marriedthe heiress of the noble family of Percy. The honour of Cockermouth, withthe lordship of the five towns, Brigham, Dean, Eaglesfield, Braithwaite, andGreysouthern, was given by William de Meschines to Waldeof or Waldieve,son of Gospatric Earl of Dunbar; and except a temporary possession by theWhartons (fn. 2) , has passed in the same manner as the barony of Egremont, andis now the property of the Earl of Egremont.
The great barony of Allerdale, given also by William de Meschines toWaldieve, has passed in the manner already described under the barony ofEgremont, and is now the property of the Earl of Egremont.
The barony of Wigton (fn. 3) was given by William de Meschines to Waldeof,and by the latter to Odard de Logis, whose posterity took the name ofWigton, and became extinct in the male line about the middle of the fourteenth century, after which the barony of Wigton passed to the family ofLucy, and has descended with Allerdale to the Earl of Egremont.
The barony of Burgh (fn. 4) was given by Earl Ranulph to Robert D'Estrivers,from whose family it passed by successive heirs female to the families ofMorvill, Multon, Dacre, and Howard. In 1684 it was purchased of HenryDuke of Norfolk by the ancestor of the Earl of Lonsdale, who is the presentproprietor.
The barony of Gilsland (fn. 5) was given by Earl Ranulph to his relation Hubertde Vallibus or Vaux. From his family it passed, by successive heirs femaleto the Multons, Dacres, and Howards, and is now the property of CharlesEarl of Carlisle. Naworth Castle has long been the chief seat of this barony;it is supposed to have been at an earlier period at Irthington.
The barony of Dalston was given by Earl Ranulph to a younger brotherof the Vaux family; but having escheated to the Crown, it was granted byKing Henry III. to the Bishops of Carlisle. It comprises only the parish ofDalston: the north part of the barony, which is in the parish of St. MaryCarlisle, was assigned to the Prior, and now forms the manor of John deCapella, belonging to the Dean and Chapter. From: 'General history: Baronies', Magna Britannia: volume 4: Cumberland (1816), pp. LIII-LV.
The earliest known owners of the manor ofWYNYARD (Wyneiard, xiii cent.; Wynhyard, xivcent.), which was held in chief for half a knight'sfee, (fn. 128) were the family of Chapel or Capella. Robertde Capella witnessed a charter of the time of BishopPudsey (1153–95) and answered for half a knight'sfee in the bishopric, 'of new feoffment,' in 1166. (fn. 129) Hugh de Capella and Robert his son witnessed acharter concerning land in Thorpe Thewles in theearly 13th century. (fn. 130) This was perhaps the Hughwho in 1237 was disputing possession of the vill ofWynyard with Randolf de Fishburn. (fn. 131) A later Hugh,who lived in the reign of Edward I, and was perhapsthe Sir Hugh de Chapell living here in 1264, (fn. 132) is saidto have had five daughters and co-heirs, Cecily wife ofRichard Dalden, Laderancia wife of Peter Wykes, andOrfanca, Elizabeth, and Amice. (fn. 133) His widow Joanmarried as a second husband John de Denthorpe, whohad the wardship of two of the daughters and securedfor himself various lands in the manor. (fn. 134) These hegave in 1283 to Sir Henry de Lisle, who also acquiredRedmarshall. (fn. 135) Henry's heir was his brother John, (fn. 136) who had a grant of Laderancia's share of the manorfrom her husband Peter Wykes, and gave all his landhere to his daughter Katherine, wife of Alan deLangton. (fn. 137) Alan was described as lord of Wynyardin 1311, when his wife Katherine was still living. (fn. 138) It appears that she was deadin the next year, for Alan deLangton granted to his sonHenry all the lands in Wynyard which he held for life,receiving in return an annuityof 10 lbs. of silver and anundertaking that Henry wouldsupport him with one servantat Wynyard. (fn. 139) Henry withMargery his wife had a grantof a fourth part of the manorin 1316 from Roger Fulthorpeand Alice his wife. (fn. 140) This,which was evidently one of theshares of the Capella heiresses, Roger and Alice hadacquired from Philip de Cuylly. (fn. 141) In 1328 HenryLangton had a release of the manor from John son ofJohn de Lisle, (fn. 142) whose heir he was found to be in1342. (fn. 143) With his son William de Langton Henryobtained a grant of free warren in Wynyard in 1345. (fn. 144) The manor at that date was held by Henry for lifewith remainder in tail to William, (fn. 145) who, however,came into full possession before his father's death. Hedied seised in or about 1349, his heir apparentlybeing his brother John, who paid a fine for reliefin that year. (fn. 146) John Langton was dead in November1350. (fn. 147) The manor of Wynyard is not mentioned inhis inquisition, but it appears that it reverted onhis death to his father Henry. (fn. 148) In 1351 HenryLangton had licence to grant to another son Simonand Alice his wife land in the vill of Wynyard. (fn. 149) Simon died seised of the manor in or about 1379, (fn. 150) leaving a son Thomas, aged thirteen. (fn. 151) In 1433Thomas Langton granted the manor to John Drawlesand Thomas Tracy for settlement on his wife Sybilfor her life. (fn. 152) She died in possession in 1438, whenthe next heir was Sybil daughter of William Langton,brother of Thomas. (fn. 153) The younger Sybil marriedSir Roger Conyers, a younger son of the Conyers ofHornby, (fn. 154) and had a son and heir William. (fn. 155) Sybil,daughter and heir of William, married Ralph Claxton,who died in 1524 holding the manor in right of hiswife. (fn. 156) He left a son and heir Ralph, (fn. 157) who settledWynyard in January 1542–3 on his son William andMargery his wife and their issue. (fn. 158) William didhomage for the manor in or about 1578, (fn. 159) and died in1597, leaving as his heirs his daughters Alice andAnne, married respectively to William Blakiston andWilliam Jennison, and Cassandra wife of LancelotClaxton, and afterwards of Francis Marley, daughterof an elder daughter Elizabeth, who had marriedJosias Lambert. (fn. 160) The manor had been settled onthese heirs in 1595. (fn.
From: 'Parishes: Grindon', A History of the County of Durham: Volume 3 (1928), pp. 247-254.
Pope Joan allegedly impersonated
a man to lead the Catholic Church
in the ninth century?
In a medieval mystery of the Catholic Church lies evidence of a woman pope, with clues buried in ancient parchment, artwork and writings, even in tarot cards and a bizarre chair once used in a Vatican ritual."
Life was short and brutal for women living in A.D. 800.
In Mainz, Germany, Pope Joan grew up, English missionaries were bringing Christianity to Germany, and they created a monastery called Fulda, which became a center of education, books and conversation for travelers but it was only for boys.
History of Emperors and Popes a monk named Martin Polonus who was a close adviser to the pope wrote about a young woman from Mainz who learned Greek and Latin and became "proficient in a diversity of branches of knowledge."
Cross and other historians say a girl studying at the monastery would have no choice but to disguise herself as a boy.
Polonus wrote that this woman was led to Athens dressed in the clothes of a man Then, according to the 500 accounts, the woman made her way to Rome.
The chronicles say that's how Joan, known as John Anglicus, or English John, became secretary to a curia, a cardinal, and then, as Polonus writes, "the choice of all for pope" in the year A.D. 855
The Renaissance poet Giovanni Boccaccio, best known for writing "The Decameron," also wrote a book on "100 Famous Women. No. 51 is Pope Joan.
Rare book dealers in Rome pull ancient tarot cards from their shelves. The card for hidden knowledge is "La Papessa"the Female Pope.
Siena to the Duomo, where inside the cathedral is a gallery of terra-cotta busts depicting 170 popes, in no particular order. In the 17th century, Cardinal Baronuis, the Vatican librarian, wrote that one of the faces was a female Joan the Female Pope.
Baronius also wrote that the pope at the time decreed that the statue be destroyed, but some say the local archbishop didn't want a good statue go to waste.
The statue was defaced literally, it was scraped off, her name, and written on top of Pope Zachary."
At the Basilica in St. Peter's Square are carvings by Bernini, one of the most famous artists of the 17th century. Among the carvings are eight images of a woman wearing a papal crown, and the images seem to tell the story of a woman giving birth and a baby being born.
Martin Polonus' manuscript
St. Eugenia, for example, became a monk while disguised as a boy, and was so convincing she was brought to court on charges of fathering a local woman's child. She finally proved her innocence only by baring her breasts in public.
Another school argues that it was the fear of female power that led the Church to essentially expunge Pope Joan from history.
But how do historians explain the enormous purple marble chair on which popes once sat as they were crowned. The chair has a strange opening, something like a toilet seat, reportedly used to check "testiculos habet" -- or whether the pope had testicles.
Others say it was a symbol of the pope giving birth to the Mother Church. Either way, newly minted Protestants in the 1500s had a field day making fun of the chair, and so it was hidden from view.
have you found the welsh cappella burgess story interesting similarities
Robert's widowCatherine quitclaimed her dower in 1200 in exchange for 10s. quit rent to Martin de Capella,who may have been Roger's son, (fn. 31) and in 1219 to Henry de Capella (d. c. 1248), to whom she surrendered the rent in 1225. (fn. 32) The estate descended to Henry's son Bartholomew (d. c. 1258)and Bartholomew's daughter Joan, still a minor in 1274, when rents were received by Sir Frankde Bohun, who had married Bartholomew's widow Nicole. For a time during the 1260s the state had been seized by Sir Robert de Bruce andthen by the servants of Lord Edward. (fn. 33)
From: 'West Twyford: Manors', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 7: Acton, Chiswick, Ealing and Brentford, West Twyford, Willesden (1982), pp. 173-175.
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