Philip Basset

Philip Basset († October 29, 1271 in North Weald Bassett , Essex ) was an English nobleman. During the Barons' rebellion, he served as the legal advisor to King Henry III from 1261 to 1263 .

Origin and advancement in the service of the king

Philip Basset was a younger son of Alan Basset of Wycombe in Buckinghamshire . His family traditionally served the English kings loyally, and Philip also took part in Henry III's campaign in 1230 . to France . Together with his other brothers, however, he supported their eldest brother Gilbert from 1233 when he had to hand over an estate to Peter de Maulay , a favorite of Roches from abroad, during the reign of Peter des Roches , and thereupon an open rebellion against the Regency Council started. When the leader of the rebellion, Richard Marshal, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, died in April 1234 , the uprising collapsed. However, under pressure from the majority of the bishops, the king had to dismiss Peter des Roches and his followers in May 1234. As a result, Philip Basset was also pardoned. In 1240 Basset took part in the Barons' Crusade under Richard of Cornwall , the king's brother, with whom he remained lifelong. In the 1240s and 1250s, Basset served the king as a judge, administrator, and military man. There is evidence that he often stayed at the royal court and testified to numerous documents. In 1251 Philip Basset supported his brother Fulk , Bishop of London, who was in a heated dispute with the king, among other things because the king had dismissed the judge Henry of Bath , who had married a relative of Basset, on charges of corruption and severely punished him. Still, Philip did not lose the king's favor.

Role during the Barons Rebellion

When in the spring of 1258 the majority of the magnates joined a nobility opposition to the king and in June the Parliament passed the Provisions of Oxford , which meant a reform of the rule of the king, Basset remained as a moderate supporter on the side of the king. However, he also enjoyed the trust of the aristocratic opposition, as he was elected to a 24-member committee that was supposed to set new taxes. In May 1259, Basset's brother, Bishop Fulk of London, died. Philip now inherited the family's estates, including Compton Bassett and Winterbourne in Wiltshire . He now moved up as the successor to the late John Fitz Geoffrey in the 15-man Council of State, which had de facto taken over the government. In the next few years he served several times as a mediator between the king and the aristocratic opposition, whose leader Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester had become. When the king traveled to France in late 1259, Basset was one of those members of the Council of State who remained in England under the leadership of Justiciars Hugh Bigod . Along with Bigod, Basset became head of the administration during the king's absence, and the letters the king sent from France show that Basset increasingly gained the king's confidence. Even when the king returned to England in April 1260, Basset still belonged to the royal administration. He now belonged to a group of barons who advised the king and increasingly replaced the official council of state. The king entrusted him with the administration of several castles, including Bristol Castle . When the King regained power at Pentecost 1261 and declared the Provisions of Oxford to be invalid, he did not abolish the office of Justiciars again, but appointed Basset to succeed Hugh le Despenser , Basset's son-in-law, who in October 1260 succeeded Hugh Bigod Had become justiciar. However, Basset had far less extensive powers than the Provisions of Oxford originally envisaged, and rather served only as chairman of the Curia Regis . There are indications that this led to conflict between the king and Basset, but Basset remained a loyal servant of the king, responsible for both jurisdiction and administration. When the king returned to France in July 1262, Basset stayed behind as leader of the Regency Council. However, the king sent him numerous instructions from France intervening in Basset's exercise of office. Unrest in the Welsh Marches and the temporary return of Simon de Montfort to England weakened Basset's position further. When the king returned to England in late 1262, Montfort tried to regain power. In the following power struggle, the king had to retreat to the Tower of London in July 1263 . Basset was one of the few followers of the king who followed him there. When the king finally had to give in to Montfort's demands again, Basset lost his post as legal advisor between July 15 and 18, which was again taken over by Hugh le Despenser.

Role in the war of the barons

As justiciar, Basset had also become sheriff of four counties and constable of at least five castles. Montfort's government left him in these offices, but Basset increasingly worked against the government of the barons. When the barons waged an open war against the king in early 1264 , the Bassetian possessions were plundered and devastated. He belonged to the royal army that conquered Northampton on April 5, 1264 and captured numerous rebels. On May 14th, however, he was wounded in the Battle of Lewes and captured by the aristocratic opposition. He was ultimately held captive at Dover until he was released after the royal party's victory at the Battle of Evesham in August 1265. Despite his long imprisonment, he now pursued a rather lenient policy towards the remaining rebels, the so-called disinherited , and tried to moderate the king who wanted to take revenge on his opponents. Basset was involved in the formulation of the Dictum of Kenilworth , issued in October 1266 , which enabled the disinherited to reacquire their confiscated property. When the Earl of Gloucester sided with the disinherited in early 1267 and occupied London with an army in April, Basset succeeded in mediating with Richard of Cornwall between Gloucester and the king and thus preventing the civil war from continuing. Basset now enjoyed high esteem among the king's partisans as well as the former rebels and was again frequently at the royal court until his death. When Eduard, the heir to the throne, set out on his crusade for the Holy Land in August 1270 , Basset was one of the five councilors to assist the ailing king in the government of England. He was buried in Stanley , Wiltshire.

Family and offspring

Basset's first marriage was Helewisa de Lovaine , with whom he had a daughter and, according to other sources, two daughters. In his second marriage, Basset married in 1254 or 1255 Ela , the widow of Thomas de Beaumont, 6th Earl of Warwick and daughter of William Longespée, 3rd Earl of Salisbury , who outlived him by many years.

His heiress was his daughter Alina , the second daughter, whom John fitz John married, died childless.

Web links

• R. Malcolm Hogg: Basset, Philip (d.1271). 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. ↑ Reginald F. Treharne: The baronial plan of reform 1258-1263 . University Press, Manchester 1971. ISBN 0-389-04116-5 , p. 157
2. ^ Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California, Berkeley 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3 , p. 59
3. ^ Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California Press, Berkeley 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3 , p. 73
4. ^ DA Carpenter: John, Sir, fitz John (c.1240-1275). 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
Hugh le Despenser	Justiciar of England 1261–1263	Hugh le Despenser