John Gray (nobleman, † 1266)

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Sir John de Gray (also Gray ) († February or March 1266 ) was an English nobleman.

Origin and marriage

John Gray came from the Anglo-Norman family Gray . He was a younger son of Henry de Gray and his wife Isolda Bardolph († 1246). His father was a baron who owned Codnor Castle with lands in Derbyshire and Thurrock in Essex . He died in 1219, after which the majority of the family estates fell to Grey's older brother Richard , while John inherited the estate from Shirland in Derbyshire. Before 1232, Gray married Emma († before 1251), the widow of John, a son of Stephen of Seagrave . His wife was the only daughter of Roger de Caux, from whom she inherited Water Eaton in Buckinghamshire , she also inherited through her mother Nicola of Leigh Turleigh in Bedfordshire .

Knight in the service of the king

John de Gray is first mentioned in 1220 when he received an annual pension of £ 10 as a knight of the royal household. This sum was increased to £ 30 in 1229. Together with his brother Richard he served in Poitou in 1224 during the Franco-English War . In 1229 he was appointed commander of the Channel Islands . After the fall of the Justiciars Hubert de Burgh in 1232, King Heinrich III gave him . the Purleigh estate in Essex , which de Burgh had previously confiscated. From 1238 to 1239, Gray served as sheriff of Bedford and Buckinghamshire. During the Saintonge War in 1242, he served as one of the king's leading commanders in southwestern France. During the Anglo-Welsh War from 1244 , he was justiciar of Chester in 1245 .

In 1251 he fell temporarily out of favor when he married Joan Peivre , the widow of Paulinus Peivre, without royal permission . She brought properties in Devon and other parts of England into the marriage, and after paying a fine of 500 marks the king forgave him in October 1251. In 1253, Gray was part of Henry III's entourage, with whom he set off for Gascony put down a rebellion against his rule. Gray stayed abroad with his brothers Richard and William for the next 18 months. In August 1253 he was appointed Seneschal of Gascony . In October, however, he fell seriously ill, which is why he was temporarily replaced by his brother Richard. After his recovery, he served as Seneschal again until the king's departure in late 1254. He then became the leading representative of Lord Edward , the eldest son of the king, to whom he had handed over Gascony in February 1254. Dissatisfied with the king's reign, Gray resigned from his service in 1255, citing his advanced age. But he still seemed to be in the favor of Lord Eduard, who appointed him defender of the Welsh Marches and constable of Shrewsbury Castle during the war in Wales in 1257 .

Role during the war of the barons

When a noble opposition demanded a reform of the king's government in 1258, Gray was elected one of the twelve representatives of the barons in parliament , and one of the four barons who were to oversee the household of Lord Edward. In 1260 he was appointed judge to investigate abuse of office by royal officials in Dorset , Somerset and Devon. Shortly afterwards he switched back to the king's side, who appointed him administrator of Herefordshire and Hereford Castle . As a supporter of the king, Grey's London townhouse in Ludgate was looted by an angry mob in June 1263 , causing Gray to flee the city. When it came to the open Second War of the Barons against the King in the spring of 1264 , the King appointed Gray as administrator of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire including Nottingham Castle . After the king fell into the power of the rebels in the Battle of Lewes in May 1264 , Gray continued to defend Nottingham Castle before handing the castle over to the new government of the barons in December 1264. After the victory of the king's supporters at the Battle of Evesham in August 1265, he was again administrator of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, which he remained until his death.

Family and offspring

With his first wife Emma, ​​Gray had three daughters and a son, Reginald . This became his heir and the progenitor of the Grays of Wilton and the Grays of Ruthin .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ John Edward Lloyd: History of Wales from the earliest times to the edwardian conquest , Part 2, Longmans, Green, London 1912. p. 705