Guy Brian, 1st Baron Brian

Coat of arms of Guy Bryan, 1st Baron Bryan

Guy Brian, 1st Baron Brian (also Sir Guy Bryan or Guy de Bryan ) KG (around 1309 - April 17, 1390 ) was an English nobleman, military man and diplomat.

origin

Guy Brian came from the Anglo-Norman Bryan family. He was the son and heir of his father of the same name, Sir Guy Brian († after 1349) from Torbryan in Devon . His mother's name is unknown. Since he was of legal age in 1330, he was probably born around 1309. In 1349 he inherited Laugharne Castle in South Wales, and before 1357 he inherited Walwyn's Castle in Pembrokeshire . For this Welsh heritage he had to go through a lawsuit with his father, which he won. Over the next few years he had Laugharne Castle converted into a living space.

Advancement as a military

Brian is first mentioned in 1327 during the failed campaign of Roger Mortimer to Scotland when the English were surprisingly attacked by the Scots under James Douglas . Before July 1330, Brian had been promoted to esquire in the royal household. In 1337 he took part in another campaign to Scotland and at the beginning of the Hundred Years War in 1339 in the campaign of Edward III. to Flanders . He rose to a favorite of the king, who in 1341 appointed him in command of St Briavels Castle in Gloucestershire and administrator of the Forest of Dean . His position with the king becomes clear when he summoned him to France in May 1347, where he was supposed to repel with a feared French attack during the siege of Calais . When Chancellor John Offord resigned in 1349 , Bryan served briefly as Keeper of the Great Seal , and in December 1349 he served as a royal standard bearer in Calais , for which the king granted him an annual pension of 200 marks .

Service as envoy and further military service

In 1353 he was a member of the English delegation that negotiated with Count Ludwig von Flanders about compliance with the armistice. He then negotiated in vain as an envoy with France on a peace treaty before he was envoy to Pope Innocent VI. traveled to Avignon. In 1356 he was back in Scotland, where he was involved in the armistice negotiations in May 1357. In 1355 he was promoted to Knight Banneret and obtained the king's permission to buy properties with an annual income of £ 200 so that he could own estates commensurate with his status.

In 1360 he again took part in battles and subsequent negotiations in France. When the king returned to England, he left Brian as one of four administrators in Calais. There he swore in October 1360, together with Edward, Prince of Wales and other barons, to keep the Peace of Brétigny . In 1361 he traveled again as envoy to the papal court. When there was new fighting against France in 1369, Brian was serving in France again. In the next year he was again active in Scotland. After the death of Sir John Chandos , he was accepted into the Order of the Garter in 1370 . From May 1370 to 1371 he served as Admiral of the Western Seas , while in 1371 an English fleet under his command encountered a Flemish fleet on the way to Brittany off the coast of Brittany. After a fierce three-hour battle, the British were victorious and were able to send 25 captured ships with numerous prisoners, including the Flemish commander Jan Peterson, to England. In 1380 Gray accompanied Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March, to Ireland and in 1382 he was commissioned to set up a fleet for Duke John of Brittany .

Courtier and politician

By Writ of Summons Brian was first appointed to Parliament on November 25, 1350 , making him Baron Brian . From 1359 to 1361 he served as Steward of the Royal household , and in 1370 he served as Chamberlain of the Household . From 1367 Brian was less and less at the royal court, but in 1372 he served as the king's spokesman in parliament. In 1373 and 1376 he was one of the barons who negotiated with the representatives of the Commons . In 1376, the Good Parliament named him one of the king's nine advisors. Under Richard II , who in 1377 gave his grandfather Edward III. when the king succeeded, Gray was still one of the knights of the royal household, but was rarely at court. Until his death he held local offices in Devon , Dorset and Somerset .

Brian has been rewarded with numerous possessions and gifts for his services. His main residence was his estate in Slapton , Devon, where he employed four clergymen. Brian was a vassal of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster , but in 1377 Brian informed the citizens of the City of London that Marshal Henry Percy was illegally holding a prisoner in his London home. This led to a revolt against Gaunt and Percy, who tried to extend the authority of the Earl Marshal to the City of London, but then had to flee for their lives.

Family and offspring

Brian died, allegedly 90 years old, and was buried in Tewkesbury Abbey , where his funerary memorial has been preserved. He was married twice. His first marriage was Ann (or Alice), a daughter of William Holway . With her he had a daughter:

• Elizabeth ∞ Robert FitzPayn

In his second marriage, before July 10, 1350, he married Elizabeth († 1359), the widow of Hugh le Despenser, 1st Baron le Despenser and daughter of William Montagu, 1st Earl of Salisbury . With her he had at least four sons and a daughter:

• Guy Brian (1352-1386) ∞ Alice Bures
• William Brian († 1395) ∞ Joan Arundel
• Philip Brian († before 1388)
• Reginald Brian , Bishop of Worcester († 1361)
• Margaret de Brian ∞ Hugh de Courtenay († 1374)

Since his eldest son Guy had died before him, Brian's holdings in South West England were divided between his daughters Philippa and Elizabeth, while the title of Baron Brian fell in Abeyance .

Web links

• James L. Gillespie: Brian, Guy, Baron Brian (c.1310-1390). 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
• Cracroft's Peerage: Bryan, Baron (E, 1350-1390)
• Sir Guy de Bryan, 1st and last Lord Bryan on thepeerage.com , accessed June 22, 2016.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Laugharne Township Community Council: Castle and Town. Archived from the original on June 24, 2016 ; accessed on June 22, 2016 . 
2. ↑ George Frederick Beltz: Memorials of the Order of the Garter from its foundation to the present time; with biographical notices of the knights in the reigns of Edward III and Richard II. William Pickering, London 1841, p. 149

predecessor	Office	successor
New title created	Baron Bryan 1350-1390	Title fell into Abeyance