Alan Basset

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Alan Basset († 1232 ) was an English nobleman who was a loyal vassal of the English kings Richard the Lionheart , Johann Ohneland and Heinrich III. was.

Origin and heritage

Alan Basset was probably the youngest of the three sons of Thomas Basset and his wife Adeliza de Dunstanville. His father died around 1182. Although he and his two brothers Gilbert († 1205) and Thomas shared their father's inheritance, each received property that included enough Knight's fees that they were considered small crown vassals . Alan inherited from his father Compton Bassett in Wiltshire , also inherited from the Dunstanville family, his mother's family Winterbourne in Wiltshire.

Service under Richard the Lionheart

Alan was part of the household of Johann Ohneland , the younger brother of King Richard the Lionheart, from 1193 at the latest . Probably through his grandfather Walter de Dunstanville, who came from Dénestanville in Normandy , Alan came into contact with William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke , overlord of Dénestanville around 1197 . Basset remained his vassal until Marshal's death. In 1197 he traveled with William Marshal on behalf of King Richard the Lionheart to the Counts of Flanders and Boulogne , in order to persuade them to break their alliance with the French King Philip II . Shortly afterwards, he and his older brother Thomas Basset served as a guarantor for King Richard, when the latter made an alliance with Count Baldwin of Flanders against the French king. By 1199 he witnessed six more documents from King Richard in France. Richard rewarded Basset with the estate of Woking in Surrey and the village of Mapledurwell in Hampshire .

Loyal follower of Johann Ohneland

After Richard's death in 1199 and the succession of his brother Johann Ohneland to the throne, Alan soon became part of Johann's suite. Together with his two brothers, he was one of the barons who were in Lincoln on November 22nd, 1200 , where the Scottish King William I paid homage to the English king for his English possessions. Between 1200 and 1215 Basset attested to 25 documents from the king in England, and in 1202 and 1203 ten documents from John in France. This made him one of the king's most loyal barons, who repeatedly waived the shield money due to him in gratitude , and King John gave him High Wycombe as a fief in 1203 . He received this on highly advantageous terms as part of the Royal Honor of Wallingford . This included parts of Wootton Bassett and Broad Town in Wiltshire, which he received as inheritance from his wife. In addition, Johann gave him the goods Berwick Bassett in Wiltshire and Greywell in Hampshire.

Role in the war of the barons and service under Henry III.

In 1215 he was one of the barons who were able to convince the king to accept the Magna Carta in the face of resistance from the nobility . Afterwards he was one of the few followers of the king who were present when the Magna Carta was sealed in Runnymede . When it came to the war of the barons , Basset was part of the king's army, with whom the king led a successful campaign to northern England in the winter of 1215/16. After Johann's death in October 1216, Basset entered the service of his son and successor Heinrich III before December 14th . In May 1217 he fought in the Battle of Lincoln, which was victorious for the royal party . After the Peace of Lambeth in September 1217, he was one of the barons who were supposed to restore peace in the empire after the civil war. In 1220 he was one of the three royal envoys who negotiated a four-year armistice with France. In 1228 he was still in the service of the king. He died in late 1232.

Family and offspring

Basset married Alice de Gray, and Alina de Gai is named as another of his wife. It is unclear whether he married Alina after the death of his first wife or whether it is the same person given the similar name. He had at least seven children:

His two sons Thomas and Warin continued the tradition of their father and belonged to the retinue of William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke , David served as a knight in Ireland. Basset's heir became his eldest surviving son, Gilbert.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Nicholas Vincent: Basset, Gilbert (d. 1241). In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , from the earliest times to the year 2000 (ODNB). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861411-X , ( oxforddnb.com license required ), as of 2004
  2. ^ Henry III Fine Rolls Project: Alan Basset and the men of High Wycombe. Retrieved March 24, 2016 .
personal data
SURNAME Basset, Alan
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English nobleman
DATE OF BIRTH before 1282
DATE OF DEATH between September 1232 and December 1232