Nicholas de Moels
Sir Nicholas de Moels (also Nicholas de Meulis or de Molis ; † 1268 or 1269) was an English knight, military officer, civil servant and diplomat. He was a loyal and capable follower of King Henry III. and is one of the few contemporaries whom Matthew Paris praises in his chronicle when he described him as an energetic and prudent knight .
Origin and advancement during the minority of Henry III.
The origin of Moels is unclear, he probably came from Hampshire or another part of South West England, where he later acquired extensive property. Whether he was related to the Molis or Mules family from Devon , who came from Meulles in Normandy, has not been established. Moels is mentioned for the first time in September 1215, presumably as a soldier, in royal service, when goods confiscated by the rebels were handed over to him during the war of the barons . In 1217 he was given the administration of Watlington in Oxfordshire . In 1223 he took part in the king's campaign in Wales and in 1224 in the siege of Bedford Castle . In 1225 he traveled together with Bishop Walter Mauclerk von Carlisle as royal envoy to Cologne. As a knight of the royal household was in August 1226, the Poitou to Richard the king sent his brother, where he remained until 1227th In May 1230 he took part in Henry III's unsuccessful campaign in France. where the king sent him as a messenger to his mother Queen Isabella and her husband Hugo von Lusignan . In 1232 he negotiated as royal envoy with Lord Llywelyn from Iorwerth in Wales, then he became commander of St Briavel's Castle in Gloucestershire . In 1234 Moels became Sheriff of Devon, where he was represented by a deputy, and administrator of the Channel Islands . He held this office for only a few months before he again served as the king's ambassador. His high position at court illustrates his role in the coronation of Henry III. Mrs. Eleanor in January 1236 when he served as a scepter bearer.
Participation in campaigns in France and Wales
From 1239 to 1241 he was Sheriff of Yorkshire , he was administrator of the vacant Diocese of Durham and after the death of the Earl of Lincoln the Earl of Surrey administrator of their lands, since their heirs were minors. In 1241 he served as envoy to Count Hugo von Lusignan in south-west France, where he took part in the king's campaign during the Saintonge War the following year . The king sent him as an envoy to the French King Louis IX. to justify breaking the armistice. After the English defeat, the king appointed him Seneschal of Gascony in the summer of 1243 , where he besieged Gramont near Bidache to put down a revolt in August . He was able to make peace with the rebellious Baron Arnaud-Guillaume von Gramont and in the autumn of 1244 he defeated King Theobald of Navarre, who had invaded Gascony. In July 1245 Moels was replaced as Seneschal and returned to England, where he was Constable of Cardigan and Carmarthen Castle in Wales.
During a war in Wales in 1246, after the death of the Welsh prince Dafydd ap Gruffydd , he succeeded in persuading the Welsh lords Maredudd ap Owain of Ceredigion and Maredudd ap Rhys of Dryslwyn to give up. He then drove from Carmarthen with the help of his Welsh allies in the summer of 1246 the rebellious Lord Maelgwn Fychan from his territory and led his army on to Deganwy Castle in North Wales, thereby proving that the hill country of Wales was not invincible for English troops. He stayed in Wales until 1248 before he returned to Gascony, where he supported the governor Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester . When there were increasing complaints about Montfort's administration, Moels tried to mediate. From 1253 he accompanied the king when he visited Gascony.
Diplomat in the service of the king and later life
In 1254 Moels became Constable of Oxford Castle . 1257 he was back in Wales, where he served mainly as a diplomat and negotiated an alliance with Lord Maredudd ap Rhys against the Welsh prince Llywelyn ap Gruffydd . In January 1258 he became Constable of Dover and Warden of the Cinque Ports and in March 1258 Sheriff of Kent . After the Parliamentary Assembly of Oxford, which decided the Provisions of Oxford , Moels lost his post as Warden of the Cinque Ports and Constable of Dover Castle as a supporter of the King in June 1258, but was in return Constable of the castles of Rochester and Canterbury . In the conflict between the aristocratic opposition under Simon de Montfort, which eventually led to the Second War of the Barons , he remained a supporter of the king. As an old man, however, he no longer took part in the fighting himself and in January 1263 sent his son as a representative for a campaign in the Welsh Marches . In October 1268 he appeared before a court in Gloucester. He must have died shortly afterwards, because on June 24, 1269 his son Roger paid the fee to be able to take over his inheritance.
Family, offspring and aftermath
In 1254 Moels donated a house for the Carmelite Order in Oxford, which was the first settlement of the order in the university town . Around 1230 he married Hawise de Newmarch , the widow of John Boterel . She was a daughter and partial heir of James Newmarket . By marriage he became lord of half the reign of Cadbury , Somerset. At the same time, the king gave him further estates in Devon, and he later received further property in other parts of England. He had several children including:
- James de Molis
- Roger (around 1233-1295)
- Agnes ∞ William de Braose, 1st Baron Braose
- Maud ∞ Richard de Urtiaco of Stoke Trister
His eldest son James, who grew up with the heir to the throne Lord Eduard in Windsor Castle , died early, so that his second son Roger became his heir.
literature
- Charles Lethbridge Kingsford: Moels, Nicholas de , in: Dictionary of National Biography . Volume XXXVIII . Macmillan, Smith, Elder & Co., London and New York 1894, p. 96
Web links
- Henry Summerson: Moels, Sir Nicholas de (d. 1268/9). 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
- Nicholas de Moels on thepeerage.com , accessed September 11, 2016.
Individual evidence
- ^ David A. Carpenter: The struggle for mastery. Britain, 1066-1284. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2003. ISBN 978-0-19-522000-1 , p. 364
- ^ Rees R. Davies: The Age of Conquest. Wales 1063-1415 . Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford 1991. ISBN 0-19-820198-2 , p. 302
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Nicholas de Moels |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Nicholas de Molis; Nicholas de Meulis |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | English knight, military, civil servant and diplomat |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 12th century or 13th century |
| DATE OF DEATH | between November 1268 and June 24, 1269 |