Henry Audley

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Only a few remains of the Heighley Castle built by Henry Audley have survived

Henry Audley (* around 1175 , † 1246 ) (also Henry of Aldithley ) was an English nobleman.

Origin and heritage

Henry Audley came from the presumably Anglo-Saxon Audley family . He was the second son of Adam de Audley († 1203). First, his older brother Adam, who served Hugh de Lacy, 1st Earl of Ulster as constable , inherited his father's estates, which included estates in Cheshire , Shropshire and Staffordshire . Henry, too, was believed to have been a henchman of Hugh de Lacy, as he also received property in Ulster . His brother died in 1211, and Henry became his heir. About this time Hugh de Lacy was overthrown and Audley transferred to Earl Ranulf of Chester .

Follower of the Earl of Chester and in the service of the Crown

During the First Barons' War, Audley continued to serve the loyal Earl of Chester, who rewarded him with lands in Cheshire and Staffordshire. As deputy to Earl Ranulf, Audley was sheriff of Shropshire and Staffordshire between 1217 and 1220 . On behalf of the king, he strengthened Shrawardine Castle in Shropshire in 1220 . In 1226 he served briefly as administrator of the royal Carmarthen Castle before he was again sheriff of Shropshire and Staffordshire from 1227 to 1232. He was also a constable of Shrewsbury and Bridgnorth Castle . In 1230 he took part in the failed French campaign of King Henry III. · As Constable of Shrewsbury, he strengthened the crew of Shrewsbury Castle in early 1234, but could not prevent the city from being burned by the Welsh during the rebellion of Richard Marshal, 3rd Earl of Pembroke . After the death of Earl John of Chester in 1237, Audley was one of the administrators of the Palatine County of Chester and Constable of Chester and Beeston Castle on behalf of the King . From 1241 to 1242 he strengthened Mold Castle .

Through his offices, Audley was regularly involved in numerous armistice, border disputes, and truce violations with the Welsh princes from 1217 onwards. In 1245 he was still a member of the army that appalled Dyserth Castle , which was besieged by the Welsh .

Ascent to Marcher Lord

Audley managed to expand his possessions, especially in Shropshire and Staffordshire, through gifts and acquisitions. Through his services to the king, he achieved an influential position in the Welsh Marches that went far beyond his modest landed property. In 1227 he received from the king the estates of Edgmond and Newport and in 1230 Ford in Shropshire, with which he himself rose to become Marcher Lord and Crown Vassal . Instead of the old Motte in Audley , he expanded Heighley Castle as the new headquarters from 1233 . To do this, he built the castle of Redcastle in Shropshire, for which he received the king's approval in 1237. In 1219 he founded the Cistercian Abbey of Hulton in Staffordshire.

He died in the fall of 1246 and was buried in its founding at Hulton Abbey.

progeny

In 1217 Audley had married Bertred, a daughter of Judge Ralph Mainwaring of Chester. With her, Audley had at least five sons and two daughters, including:

His heir became his son James Audley . He bequeathed the properties in Ireland, especially the Dunleer estate in County Louth , to a younger son, who was probably also named Henry.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Thelma W. Lancaster: The barons Audley of Heley Castle and Hulton Abbey . In: Transactions of the North Staffordshire Field Club, new ser., 19 (1993/1994), p. 14
  2. ^ British Listed Buildings: Heighley Castle, Madeley. Retrieved April 18, 2016 .
  3. ^ Peter R. Cross: Thirteenth century England. Proceedings of the Newcastle-upon-Tyne conference 1991. Boydell, Woodbridge 1992. ISBN 0851153259 , p. 191
personal data
SURNAME Audley, Henry
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Henry of Aldithley
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English nobleman
DATE OF BIRTH around 1175
DATE OF DEATH before November 1246