Henry de Bohun, 1st Earl of Hereford

Coat of arms of Henry de Bohun, 1st Earl of Hereford

Henry de Bohun, 1st Earl of Hereford (* around 1175 - † June 1, 1220 ) was an English magnate . He was one of the barons who forced King John Ohneland to recognize the Magna Carta .

Origin and youth

Henry de Bohun came from the Anglo-Norman family Bohun . He was a son of Humphrey III. de Bohun († 1181), Lord High Constable, and by Margaret of Huntington († 1201), widow of Conan IV , Duke of Brittany and daughter of Henry of Scotland, Earl of Northumbria . His paternal grandmother was Margaret de Bohun (around 1121–1197 / 97), a daughter of Miles de Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford , one of the most important supporters of Empress Matilda in the anarchy . As Margaret's heir, his father had been made hereditary Royal Constable in 1174 , and he had claimed the title of Earl of Hereford . After the death of his father in 1181, the young Henry became the heir of vast estates, particularly in Essex , but also in the west of England and the Welsh Marches . His grandmother Margaret became his guardian until, despite his minority, he was allowed to take over the management of his property before 1190. After the death of his grandmother in 1197, he inherited her property as well. Despite his youth, Henry served as a witness to a number of documents under King Richard the Lionheart . In 1197 the king held him hostage during negotiations with Count Baldwin of Flanders .

Rise under King Johann

King John Ohneland made him Earl of Hereford on April 28, 1200, but forbade him to lay claim to the lands that King Henry II had given to his predecessor, Roger Fitzmiles, 2nd Earl of Hereford , a brother of his grandmother. His elevation was in part certainly a reparation after the title of Earl of Hereford had been declared extinct by Henry II after Roger's death, and as the great-grandson of King David I of Scotland, he was a nephew of King William I of Scotland. Between 1204 and 1211, Henry led a protracted dispute over the Ryhall rule in Rutland , which included 20 Knight's fees and which had been part of his mother's dowry .

Joins the aristocratic opposition and rebel against the king

The Ryhall litigation was just resolved when Bohun became embroiled in another litigation from 1212. William Longespée, 3rd Earl of Salisbury , the king's half-brother, claimed Henry's reign in Trowbridge in Wiltshire , as he was a descendant of the previous owner, Edward of Salisbury . Bohun had promoted Trowbridge and achieved that the king had granted market rights to the settlement in 1200 , and the construction of its own parish church had begun. Bohun was therefore not ready to give up his claims without further ado. The dispute quickly led to a deterioration in his relationship with the king. As was common with many lawsuits at the time, Bohun initially played for time. Due to alleged illnesses he did not appear at hearings, which the king found inadmissible and took over the administration of the disputed property himself, whereby he allowed his half-brother Longespée to collect shield money from the vassals in Trowbridge . Since the king had occupied the rule without a trial or judgment and preferred his half-brother, Bohun joined the opposition to the king in protest. His family ties to some leaders of the aristocratic opposition favored this step: his wife Maud was a sister of Geoffrey de Mandeville , and he was also related to Robert FitzWalter , one of the most important leaders of the rebels. After recognition of the Magna Carta , he managed to get the rule back, but not Trowbridge Castle . Nevertheless, the dispute with Longespée dragged on until an agreement was finally reached in 1229, according to which Edward of Salisbury's inheritance was divided fairly, so that the castle and reign of Trowbridge fell to Longespée's widow Countess Ela of Salisbury .

After the King's recognition of the Magna Carta in June 1215, Bohun was elected to one of the 25 barons who were to oversee the King's compliance with the Magna Carta. When the barons war against the king in autumn 1215 , Bohun's possessions were confiscated by the king. He himself was excommunicated by the Pope as a rebel . Nevertheless, Bohun continued to be a rebel, even when King John died in October 1216. In May 1217 he and other leading rebels were taken prisoner at the Battle of Lincoln by the supporters of the young King Henry III. to which he submitted after the Peace of Lambeth in September 1217. Except for Trowbridge, he got his possessions back.

In penance for his excommunication, he began a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and died on the sea voyage there. His body was transferred to Llanthony Secunda Priory near Gloucester , his family's traditional burial place, where he was buried in the chapter house.

Marriage and offspring

Before 1199 he had married Matilda (Maud) de Mandeville († 1236), a daughter of Geoffrey fitz Peter, 1st Earl of Essex . Her dowry was the Wheatenhurst estate in Gloucestershire . He had several children with her, including:

• Humphrey de Bohun († 1275)
• Henry de Bohun
• Ralph de Bohun

His son Humphrey became his heir. His widow married Sir Roger de Dauntsey of Wiltshire between 1221 and 1226. She inherited the title Countess of Essex after the death of her brothers in 1227 , which she bequeathed to her son Humphrey.

literature

• Douglas Richardson, Kimball G. Everingham: Magna Carta ancestry: a study in colonial and medieval families , in: Royal ancestry series (2005), p. 99

Web links

• Nigel Saul: Magna Carta 800th: Henry de Bohun
• David Walker: Bohun, Henry de, first earl of Hereford (c.1175-1220). 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

predecessor	Office	successor
Humphrey III. de Bohun	Lord High Constable 1181-1220	Humphrey de Bohun
New title created	Earl of Hereford 1200-1220	Humphrey de Bohun