Notes
Note N1372
Index
Maurice FitzGerald, 3rd Lord of Offaly (1238 - before 10 November 1286)[1] was a Norman-Irish peer, soldier, and Justiciar of Ireland from 1272 to 1273.
He was born in 1238 in Wexford, Ireland, one of the sons of Maurice FitzGerald, 2nd Lord of Offaly and Juliana, whose surname is unknown. He had three brothers, Gerald FitzMaurice FitzGerald (died 1243), Thomas FitzMaurice FitzGerald (died 1271), David FitzMaurice FitzGerald (died without issue). Maurice was known by the nickname of Maurice Mael (in English bald). He succeeded as 3rd Lord of Offaly on 20 May 1257, upon the death of his father at Youghal Monastery, bypassing the rightful heir to the barony, his nephew Maurice (died 1268), son of his elder brother, Gerald FitzMaurice FitzGerald who had died in 1243.[2]
In May 1262, he was among the chief magnates in Ireland summoned to inform King Henry III of England and his son Prince Edward about conditions in the country. He was summoned again in June 1265. Maurice was appointed Justiciar of Ireland on 23 June 1272 following the accidental death of his predecessor, James de Audley on 11 June of that year; his father had served in the same capacity from 1232 to 1245. Maurice himself held the post until September 1273, when he was succeeded by Sir Geoffrey de Geneville, Seigneur de Vaucouleurs.
He held four knight's fees in both Lea and Geashill from Roger Mortimer, 1st Baron Wigmore who had inherited them from his wife, Maud de Braose.[3]
In 1276, he led a force of men from Connacht against the Irish clans of County Wicklow. Maurice's contingent joined the main army of Normans jointly commanded by his son-in-law, Thomas de Clare, Lord of Inchiquin and Youghal who had been made Lord of Thomond earlier that same year, and Sir Geoffrey de Geneville, Maurice's successor as Justiciar of Ireland. The Normans under Lords Thomond and Justiciar de Geneville attacked the Irish at Glenmalure, but were defeated and suffered heavy losses.[4]
Marriages and issue
Sometime between May 1258 and 28 October 1259, he married his first wife, Maud de Prendergast, a daughter of Sir Gerald de Prendergast of Beauvoir and an unnamed daughter of Richard Mor de Burgh. Together he and Maud had two daughters:[5]
Juliana FitzGerald (c.1263 Dublin, Ireland- 24 September 1300), married firstly, Thomas de Clare, Lord of Thomond, by whom she had four children; she married secondly Nicholas Avenel, and thirdly, Adam de Cretynges.
Amabel FitzGerald, married but died childless.
Maurice was Maud's third husband. She died on an unknown date. In 1273, Maurice married his second wife, Emmeline Longespee (1252-1291), daughter of Stephen Longespee and Emmeline de Ridelsford. His marriage to Emmeline was childless, and the latter's property was inherited by Maud La Zouche, Baroness Holland, who was the granddaughter of Emmeline's elder sister, Ela Longespee.
Maurice died sometime before 10 November 1286 at Ross, County Wexford. As he did not have any sons, he was succeeded by his nephew John FitzGerald, who would be created 1st Earl of Kildare on 14 May 1316. John was the son of his brother Thomas by Rohesia de St. Michael.
References
1. ^ www.thePeerage.com
2. ^ Note:Gerald's son, Maurice who drowned in the Irish Channel in July 1268, was the rightful successor to his grandfather, the 2nd Lord of Offaly, and after Maurice, came his own son, Gerald (born February 1265). Gerald himself married Joan de Geneville, daughter of the Justiciar, and died childless in battle on 29 August 1287.
3. ^ Calendar of Documents., Ire. 125-84, p. 467
4. ^ Annette J. Otway-Ruthven, A History of Medieval Ireland, p. 202, Google Books, retrieved on 11-11-2009
5. ^ The Complete Peerage, Volume II, p.200
The Complete Peerage, Volume II, p. 200
Charles Cawley, Medieval Lands, Ireland
Notes
Note N1373
Index
William de Longespée, jure uxoris 3rd Earl of Salisbury (c. 1176 - March 7, 1226)
William de Longespée, jure uxoris 3rd Earl of Salisbury (c. 1176 - March 7, 1226) was an English noble, primarily remembered for his command of the English forces at the Battle of Damme and for remaining loyal to King John.
He was an illegitimate son of Henry II of England. His mother was unknown for many years, until the discovery of a charter of William mentioning "Comitissa Ida, mater mea" [1] [2]
This Ida was further identified as the wife of Roger Bigod, 2nd Earl of Norfolk [3].
King Henry acknowledged William as his son and gave him the Honour of Appleby, Lincolnshire in 1188. Ten years later, his half-brother, King Richard I, married him to a great heiress, Ela, countess of Salisbury in her own right, and daughter of William of Salisbury, 2nd Earl of Salisbury.
During the reign of King John, Salisbury was at court on several important ceremonial occasions, and held various offices: sheriff of Wiltshire, lieutenant of Gascony, constable of Dover and warden of the Cinque Ports, and later warden of the Welsh Marches. He was a commander in the king's Welsh and Irish expeditions of 1210-1212. The king also granted him the honour of Eye.
In 1213, Salisbury led a large fleet to Flanders, where he seized or destroyed a good part of a French invasion fleet anchored at or near Damme. This ended the invasion threat but not the conflicts between England and France. In 1214, Salisbury was sent to help Otto IV of Germany, an English ally, who was invading France. Salisbury commanded the right wing of the army at their disastrous defeat at the Battle of Bouvines, where he was captured.
By the time he returned to England, revolt was brewing amongst the barons. Salisbury was one of the few who remained loyal to John. In the civil war that took place the year after the signing of the Magna Carta, Salisbury was one of the leaders of the king's army in the south. However, after the French prince Louis (later Louis VIII) landed as an ally of the rebels, Salisbury went over to his side. Presumably, he thought John's cause was lost.
After John's death and the departure of Louis, Salisbury, along with many other barons, joined the cause of John's young son, now Henry III of England. He held an influential place in the government during the king's minority and fought in Gascony to help secure the remaining part of the English continental possessions. Salisbury's ship was nearly lost in a storm while returning to England in 1225, and he spent some months in refuge at a monastery on the French island of Ré. He died not long after his return to England at Salisbury Castle. Roger of Wendover alleged that he was poisoned by Hubert de Burgh. He was buried at Salisbury Cathedral in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England.
William de Longespee's tomb was opened in 1791. Bizarrely, the well-preserved corpse of a rat which carried traces of arsenic [4], was found inside his skull. The rat is now on display in a case at the Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum.
Family
By his wife Ela, countess of Salisbury, he had four sons and four daughters [5]:
William II Longespée (1212?-1250), who was sometimes called Earl of Salisbury but was never formally given the title, for reasons that remain unclear;
Richard, a canon of Salisbury;
Stephen (d. 1260), who was seneschal of Gascony;
Nicholas (d. 1297), bishop of Salisbury
Isabella, who married William de Vesey
Ella, married William d'Odingsels
Ela de Longespée, who first married Thomas de Beaumont, 6th Earl of Warwick, and then married Philip Basset
Ida, who first married Ralph de Somery, and then William de Beauchamp
Peerage of EnglandPreceded by
William of SalisburyEarl of Salisbury
(jure uxoris
by Ela of Salisbury)
1198-1226 Succeeded by
Margaret de Lacy
References
^ ed. London, Vera C. M. (1979). Cartulary of Bradenstoke Priory. Devizes: Wiltshire Record Society Publications, xxxv.
^ Reed, Paul C., "Countess Ida, Mother of William Longespée, Illegitimate Son of Henry II", The American Genealogist 77 (2002): 137
^ Phair, Raymond W., "William Longespée, Ralph Bigod, and Countess Ida", The American Genealogist 77 (2002): 279-281
^ Salisbury Cathedral.
^ Weis, Frederick Lewis. Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America Before 1700, Lines 30-26, 31-26, 33A-27, 108-28, 122-28 & 122A-28.
FMG on William Longespée, Earl of Salisbury
William de Longespee, 3rd Earl of Salisbury at Genealogics
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