Henry of Braybrooke

Henry of Braybrooke (also Braybroc ; † before April 13, 1234 ) was an English judge and civil servant.

Origin and marriage

Henry of Braybrooke was the only son of Robert of Braybrooke . His father had been able to acquire significant land holdings , particularly in the Central England region , by buying up properties that overindebted landowners had pledged as security to Jewish moneylenders. In this way his father had also acquired the land of Wischard Ledet and married his son Henry to Ledet's daughter and heiress Christiana .

Sheriff in the service of Johann Ohneland

After his father's death in 1211, Henry of Braybrooke not only inherited his father's estates, but also succeeded him as sheriff of Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire . As a sheriff, he managed to earn even greater income from these counties for King John Ohneland than his father. The chronicler Roger of Wendover therefore counted him among the poor advisers of King John. According to other sources, he is said to have had an affair with Ela of Salisbury , the wife of William of Salisbury , when he was in French captivity, as well as with the wife of Hugh de Neville . In June 1213, the King commissioned Braybrooke to make repairs to Northampton Castle . However, in 1214 he was deposed as sheriff of Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire. When it came to a conflict between the king and a noble opposition in 1215, Braybrooke joined the rebellious barons. In April 1215, the King appointed Geoffrey de Martigny as the new in command of Northampton Castle, while Braybrooke was one of the rebels whose arrest the King ordered in May. Braybrooke, however, had meanwhile joined the barons who had gathered in London. In June, the rebels forced the king to recognize the Magna Carta . When the barons' open war against the king began in September 1215 , the king ordered the confiscation of the lands of Braybrooke and given them to his followers. Even after the death of King John in October 1216, Braybrooke fought against the Regency Council, which was responsible for the underage new King Henry III. led the government and supported the French prince Ludwig , to whom the rebels had offered the English crown. Shortly after Easter 1217, he was a defender of Mountsorrel Castle , and in May 1217 he narrowly escaped capture by royal troops at the Battle of Lincoln . However, when the Peace of Lambeth ended the War of the Barons in September 1217, Braybrooke submitted to the Regency Council and received most of his possessions back over the next few years.

Judge in the service of Heinrich III.

After the Barons' War ended, Braybrooke became a loyal supporter of the government. Although he was no longer appointed sheriff, he often served as a royal judge, particularly in Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire. After the death of his father-in-law Wischard Ledet, he inherited the Honor of Chipping Warden in Northamptonshire in 1222 . In the summer of 1224 he was to investigate allegations against Falkes de Bréauté , who was accused of misappropriating land in Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire. However, he was one of the declared opponents of Falkes, who had deprived him of the administration of Corby at the end of 1220. In addition, he was a vassal of William de Beauchamp , another opponent of Falkes. Because of his rebellion in the War of the Barons, Beauchamp had been deprived of control of Bedford Castle , which was then given to Falkes. Beauchamp had so far tried in vain to get the castle back from the crown. Because of numerous lawsuits against Falkes, he had already been deposed as sheriff of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire in January 1224. As Braybrooke was on his way to Northampton , where the king had called a council, Braybrooke was captured on June 17th by William de Bréauté , the brother of Falkes and his commanding officer of Bedford Castle. The arrest and the alleged brutal treatment of a royal judge aroused unanimous outrage. From June 20, Bedford Castle was besieged by royal troops, with the young king himself in command of the siege forces. On August 14, the castle garrison surrendered the night before Braybrooke had released. The king ordered Walter of Pattishall , Falke's successor as sheriff, and Braybrooke to destroy the castle while hanging the crew as rebels. For the next several years Braybrooke continued to serve as a judge in Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, but also in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire . He was last mentioned as a judge in 1231. He probably died in early 1234. On April 13, 1234, Heinrich III. the homage to his wife Christiana, who, as Braybrooke's widow, had taken over the administration of his estates.

progeny

Braybrooke had three children with his wife Christiana Ledet:

• Wischard Ledet († 1241)
• John of Braybrooke
• Margery ∞ Simon of Pattishall

Braybrooke had requested that he be buried in Bushmead Priory , to which he had made several donations. His wife was second married to Gerard de Furnival , who, like Braybrooke's son Wischard Ledet, died in the Holy Land in 1241 during the Crusade of the Barons .

Web links

• George Garnett: Braybrooke [Braybroc], Henry of (d. 1234). 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

1. ↑ Nicholas Vincent: King John's evil counselors (act. 1208-1214). 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. ^ David Carpenter: The minority of Henry III . University of California Press, Berkeley 1990. ISBN 0-520-07239-1 , p. 269
3. ^ David Carpenter: The minority of Henry III . University of California Press, Berkeley 1990. ISBN 0-520-07239-1 , p. 361