Reginald Gray, 3rd Baron Gray de Ruthin

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Coat of arms of the Barons Gray de Ruthin

Reginald Gray, 3rd Baron Gray of Ruthin (also Reynold Gray or Baron Gray of Ruthyn ) (* around 1362, † September 30, 1440 ) was an English nobleman.

Origin and heritage

Reginald Gray was the eldest son of his father of the same name, Reginald Gray, 2nd Baron Gray of Ruthin and his wife Eleanor Lestrange. When his father died in 1388, Gray inherited his title and extensive estates, which were mainly in Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire , in addition, he became lord of the lordship of Ruthin , the former Dyffryn Clwyd in Denbighshire in Wales. After his mother's death in 1396, he also inherited her Wittum . Grey's paternal grandmother was Elizabeth Hastings , daughter of John Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings . When his great-great-grandson John Hastings, 3rd Earl of Pembroke died childless in 1389, Gray claimed the inheritance of the Hastings family. He was able to enforce this claim to a large extent against the families Strathbogie , Talbot and against the Hastings of Elsing . This legacy allowed Gray to expand his holdings to include estates in East Anglia , Kent , Leicestershire and Lincolnshire until 1400, when the widow of the last Earl of Pembroke died . However , he had to cede essential parts of the inheritance, including the rule of Abergavenny with Abergavenny Castle in the Welsh Marches , to William Beauchamp so that he gave up his claims to the inheritance. The rule of Wexford in Ireland he had to leave Richard Talbot, 4th Baron Talbot , but Gray claimed the title of Lord of Wexford , so that he was finally allowed to use the title of Lord Gray of Wexford, Hastings, and Ruthin with the approval of the king . Ultimately, a number of estates remained in his family's possession which in 1391 gave him an additional £ 334 annual income. This increased his income by about a third. In years of proceedings before the Court of Chivalry , Gray finally won against Edward Hastings the right to use the Hastings coat of arms. Edward Hastings lost the trial and was sentenced to pay the costs. Since he refused to do so, he remained in custody for twenty years, from which he was not released until 1436 when he paid the debt to Gray.

The main residences of Gray became his estates in Wrest in Bedfordshire, Badmondisfield in Suffolk and Ruthin Castle in Wales, in addition he built a new town house in Eastcheap , London.

In the service of Richard II and Henry IV.

Gray had already served as a judge in Bedfordshire in 1382 during his father's lifetime. For over 50 years, Gray remained the head of the Gray of Ruthin family . As Baron Gray de Ruthyn , he took part regularly in parliaments from 1388 and took on numerous offices, especially in Bedfordshire. In the 1390s he campaigned for several petitions from Gascony in the parliaments . In 1394 he took part in Richard II's campaign to Ireland, where he temporarily served as legal advisor in 1398 . When Henry Bolingbroke overthrew Richard II in 1399 and when Henry IV became the new king, Gray was a clear supporter of Bolingbrokes. Under Henry IV he quickly took over other offices in Huntingdonshire , Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire from 1401 . Between 1404 and 1416 he led a long, violent dispute with Alianore , the widow of the 3rd Baron St. Amand , about hunting rights in Ampthill . As the main heir of John Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings , Gray successfully claimed the right to wear the king's spurs at Westminster Abbey at the coronation of Henry IV in 1399 and to be responsible for the tablecloths at the subsequent banquet. In June 1401 he took part in a royal council meeting. In parliament he agreed to the condemnation of opponents of the king, he was one of twelve guarantors who stood for the dowry of Blanca , a daughter of the king, which the German Count Palatine Ludwig III. got married.

Role during the rebellion by Owain Glyndŵr

Gray was best known for his role in the Owain Glyndŵr rebellion in Wales. Gray was Lord of Ruthin in the Welsh Marches, a fertile region in the Vale of Clwyd . In 1394, Gray granted a new charter to the city of Ruthin , a thriving market town . This charter confirmed the city charter, which was over 100 years old, expanded the citizens' right to brew beer and improved their legal position before the local courts. During Grey's reign, cloth manufacturing became an important industry in Ruthin, and Gray himself owned extensive flocks of sheep with over 2,000 animals in the region.

Presumably Gray had a personal dislike of the Welsh landed noble Owain Glyndŵr , whose lands bordered on Grays. There was a dispute between the two over the boundaries of these lands and over the rights to communal areas, and Gray presumably used his position with King Henry IV to enforce his claims. This led to the open rebellion of Owain Glyndŵr, who declared himself Prince of Wales on September 16 and attacked and sacked the city of Ruthin at the beginning of his uprising on September 18. The rebellion found little support among the townspeople, and given the relatively minor damage, Gray found it unnecessary to go to Ruthin himself. However, the rebellion continued to spread in Wales. In 1402 Gray traveled to Ruthin, where he was captured by the rebels near the city in April. The Welsh presumably locked Gray in Dolwyddelan Castle , and the king himself sent negotiators to negotiate Grey's release. When attempts were made to pay the ransom in counterfeit coins, Glyndŵr doubled the ransom to an impressive 10,000 marks (over £ 6,666). Before he was released to raise the ransom, Gray had to hold several hostages, including his eldest son. In order to raise the ransom, he had to sell some of the Hastings inheritance. This enabled him to raise the amount quickly. Despite the land sales, he was nowhere near impoverished, as is sometimes suggested. He had had to swear, however, never to fight Owain Glyndŵr again. In turn, it appears that Ruthin was no longer the target of rebel raids.

Next life

Gray did not take part in Henry V's campaigns in France. Instead, he was a member of the nine-member council in 1415, which should advise the regent, the Duke of Bedford . In 1416 he was one of the barons who welcomed the Roman-German King Sigismund on his visit to England. As an old man, Gray played while Henry VI was a minor . no major role.

Marriage and offspring

Gray was married twice. In his first marriage, shortly after November 25, 1378, he married Margaret de Ros , a daughter of Thomas de Ros, 4th Baron de Ros . He had several children with her, but all of them he survived:

In his second marriage, Gray married between 1404 and February 7, 1414 Joan († 1448), the young widow of Thomas Raleigh . She was the only child and became the sole heir to William de Astley, 4th Baron Astley († around 1430) and his wife Joan de Willoughby . He had seven children with her, including:

His grandson Edmund Gray , the eldest son of his son John Gray, who died in 1439, inherited the property of the Gray family after his death. His sons from his second marriage were able to establish their own branch lines in the family through their mother's inheritance.

Web links

literature

  • R. Ian Jack: The Grays of Ruthin, 1325 to 1490 . University of London, London 1961

Individual evidence

  1. ^ R. Ian Jack: Gray family (per. 1325-1523). 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. ↑ RI Jack: Owain Glyn Dŵr and the lordship of Ruthin . In: Welsh History Review , 2 (1964-5), p. 312
  3. ^ Adrian Pettifer: Welsh Castles: A Guide by Counties . Boydell & Brewer, Woodbridge 2000. ISBN 0-85115-778-5 , p. 35
  4. ^ Rees R. Davies: The Revolt of Owain Glyn Dwr . University Press, Oxford 1995, ISBN 0-19-285336-8 , p. 112
  5. ↑ RI Jack: Owain Glyn Dŵr and the lordship of Ruthin . In: Welsh History Review , 2 (1964-5), p. 322
  6. ^ R. Ian Jack: Gray family (per. 1325-1523). 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
Reginald Gray Baron Gray de Ruthin
1388-1440 		Edmund Gray
personal data
SURNAME Gray, Reginald, 3rd Baron Gray de Ruthin
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gray, Reynold, 3rd Baron Gray of Ruthyn
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English nobleman
DATE OF BIRTH around 1362
DATE OF DEATH September 30, 1440