Miles Stapleton, 1st Baron Stapleton

Miles Stapleton, 1st Baron Stapleton († June 24, 1314 at Bannockburn ) was an English nobleman and courtier.

Family and inheritance

Miles Stapleton came from a knightly family. He was a son of the royal judge Sir Nicholas Stapleton († before 1296) and his wife Margery Basset . Little is known of Stapleton's youth and early years. His younger brother Gilbert Stapleton entered the service of the king as a clergyman; he became archdeacon of Berkshire in 1317 and held a benefice at Salisbury Cathedral . Miles inherited through his mother the property of Miles Basset of Haddlesey , Yorkshire. His first wife, Isabel Belewe , brought part of the property to her mother as a joint heirPeter de Brus into the marriage. After the death of his father, Stapleton managed to expand the family estate in Yorkshire . In 1293 he owned estates in Stapleton , Kirkby Fleetham , Wath , North Duffield , Owstwick and in East and Middle Haddlesey , and in 1297 he owned Wimbleton Yorkshire . From his Yorkshire estates he had an annual income of £ 40 prior to 1300. As a knight and landowner, Stapleton held several public offices in Yorkshire.

Career in the service of King Edward I.

In 1291 Stapleton was part of the retinue of Roger de Mowbray, 1st Baron Mowbray , when he traveled to Scotland on behalf of King Edward I , where there were several aspirants to the Scottish throne during this time . During the Franco-English War from 1294 Stapleton took part in the campaign in Gascony in 1295 . During his absence in France, by order of the king, his wife was housed in Richmond Castle . During the Scottish War of Independence , Stapleton fought at the Battle of Falkirk in 1298 under the command of Henry de Lacy, 3rd Earl of Lincoln . In 1300 he took part in the siege of Caerlaverock Castle . He then accompanied the Earl of Lincoln on his trip to the papal court in Rome. The King rewarded his services with Stapleton being Constable of Knaresborough Castle and steward of Boroughbridge Manor from 1302 to at least 1307 . After September 1303 Stapleton moved from the service of the Earl of Lincoln in the service of the heir to the throne Edward , the Prince of Wales, whom he served as administrator of his household until 1306. When the Earl of Lincoln traveled again to the Pope in 1305, he asked Prince Eduard that Stapleton should also take over the administration of his household during his absence. Prince Eduard refused, as he needed his father's permission to do so.

Service under Edward II.

When Prince Edward became King of England after his father's death in July 1307, Stapleton remained in his service and was appointed Steward of the Royal Household on August 9 . In this office he accompanied the king to Boulogne in January 1308 , where Eduard married a daughter of the French king. 1307 Stapleton was given the management of the estate of Burstwick in Holderness and the city of Kingston upon Hull . As steward of Holderness, Stapleton was to send supplies to Berwick to support the royal troops in Scotland. He was also responsible for the dikes on the Humber and the drinking water supply for Holderness and Hull. In March 1308, however, he was replaced as Steward of the Royal Household. With that he also lost the administration of Burstwick and Kingston upon Hull, which the king gave to his favorite Piers Gaveston . In 1311 and 1312 Stapleton was called up for military service in Scotland. As a henchman to Earl Thomas of Lancaster , he was pardoned by the king after the latter had murdered Piers Gaveston in 1312. In 1313 the king appointed him to parliament , which is why he is considered Baron Stapleton .

Stapleton had been able to expand his possessions even after 1300. In 1309 and 1310 he had received lands in Hovingham as a fiefdom from John Mowbray , the son of his former employer Roger de Mowbray . As a vassal of the Earl of Pembroke he owned the estate of North Morton and other estates in Berkshire, in addition he came into the lifelong possession of Kentmere in Westmorland and other estates in Yorkshire. In 1314 he took part in the king's campaign to Scotland, where he fell in the crushing defeat of the English army at Bannockburn . He was buried in the Dominican Church in York .

Family and offspring

In his first marriage before 1286 Stapleton had married Isabel (also Sybil) Belewe, a daughter of John Belewe and his wife Ladereyna. He had several children with her, including:

• Nicholas Stapleton, 2nd Baron Stapleton (1286 – around 1343)
• Gilbert Stapleton († 1321) ∞ Agnes (or Matilda) Fitzalan
• Elizabeth († after 1333)

After his first wife died before August 1301, Stapleton married Joan Tyndale († before 1316), a daughter of Peter Tyndale, in second marriage . With her he had at least one daughter:

• Joan

His heir became his eldest son Nicholas Stapleton. His wife Joan survived but died before September 1316 and, like Stapleton, was buried in the Dominican Church of York.

Web links

• AJ Musson: Stapleton, Miles, first Lord Stapleton (d. 1314). 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
New title created	Baron Stapleton 1313-1314	Nicholas Stapleton