Eustace FitzJohn
Eustace FitzJohn (also called Eustace fitz John ) († 1157 ) was an Anglo-Norman nobleman. He came from the lower nobility, but acquired extensive property through two marriages and was a largely independent baron in northern England during the civil war between Empress Matilda and her rival Stephan von Blois .
Life
He was the son of John Fitz Richard, a Norman knight who owned estates in Essex and Norfolk . Who his mother was is unknown, his siblings included Pain and William and the sisters Agnes and Adeliza , who became abbess of Barking Abbey . Eustace inherited the royal fiefs of Knaresborough and Aldborough in Yorkshire from Serlo de Burg , the founder of Knaresborough , who was believed to be his uncle .
Like his brother Pain, as a young knight he belonged to the retinue of King Henry I of England and attested numerous royal documents between 1114 and 1133. The King thanked him by transferring more property in northern England, particularly Yorkshire and Northumberland , including Malton Castle in the North Riding of Yorkshire . Before 1130 Eustace married Beatrice , the daughter and heiress of Ivo de Vescy , through which he acquired Alnwick Castle . In addition to Alnwick and Malton, he lived mainly at Bamburgh Castle , where he was administrator, and at Tickhill Castle . After Beatrice died giving birth to their son William, in 1135 he married Agnes , daughter of William Fitznigel, Baron of Halton and Constable of Chester .
After the death of King Henry I, he first recognized Stephan von Blois as the new king, who appointed him justiciar in northern England. In this capacity he was involved in constant border conflicts with Scotland . His Alnwick Castle was captured by the Scots on February 5, 1136 when the Scottish King David I invaded England in support of his niece Matilda. However, after the Scottish retreat, the castle could be recaptured on March 22, 1136. At the beginning of 1138 Eustace belonged to the English army with which King Stephen invaded Scotland. During the campaign, however, he lost the favor of the king, who suspected him of wanting to switch to the Scots and withdrew the fiefs granted by Heinrich I. Thereupon Eustace actually switched to the Scots when their King David I invaded northern England on Easter 1138 and gave him Malton Castle . On the Scottish side, he took part in the standard battle on August 22, 1138 , in which he was wounded. After the Scottish defeat, he fled to Malton Castle and on to Alnwick Castle, while Malton Castle was besieged by English troops for eight days in vain.
During the civil war he was now one of the supporters of the Empress Matilda. In 1141 he supported the attempt of the Scottish Chancellor William Cumin to become Bishop of Durham . In 1143 he helped broker an armistice between Cumin and his rival Wilhelm von St. Barbara , who eventually became bishop. In 1142 he had received his estates in Northumberland back from Henry of Scotland , a son of the Scottish King David I and the new Earl of Northumbria , as well as further property in Huntingdonshire .
After his brother-in-law William, the only son of his father-in-law William Fitznigel, died childless in 1143 or 1144, Ranulph de Gernon, 2nd Earl of Chester , declared him his heir and appointed him Constable of Chester, making him the most important Baron of Cheshire became. When Constable destroyed around 1151 together with the Earl of York Hunmanby Castle in Yorkshire, a castle of Gilbert de Gant , who made claims to the county of Lincoln . As an old man he took part as Constable of Chester in 1157 in King Henry II's campaign against Wales . He fell while advancing in a Welsh ambush during the action at Coleshill .
Family and offspring
From his marriage to Beatrice de Vescy he had a son, William de Vesci , who became his heir. From his second marriage to Agnes Fitznigel he had another son, Richard Fitzeustace, who became the progenitor of the second line of the Lacys through his marriage to Aubrey de Lacy .
Eustace made generous gifts to the Church. In addition to donations to Rievaulx and Fountains Abbey , he was one of the founders of Newhouse Abbey in 1147 , the first Premonstratensian Abbey in England. He later donated the Premonstratensian Abbey of Alnwick Abbey . He was a friend of Gilbert of Sempringham and donated two Gilbertiner branches at Old Malton and Watton , Yorkshire .
Web links
- TF Tout: Eustace fitz John (d.1157). 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
Individual evidence
- ^ Castle Facts: Malton Castle. Retrieved January 7, 2015 .
- ^ George Tate: The history of the borough, castle, and barony of Alnwick . Blair, Alnwick, 1866, p. 142
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Eustace FitzJohn |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Eustace fitz John |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Anglo-Norman nobleman |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 11th century |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1157 |
| Place of death | Coleshill |