Thomas Basset († 1220)

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Thomas Basset († before May 1, 1220 ) was an English nobleman, military man and courtier.

Origin and advancement in the service of the English kings

Thomas Basset was a younger, probably the second son of his father of the same name Thomas Basset and his wife Adeliza de Dunstanville. Like his father, who served King Henry II as a judge until his death around 1182, Thomas also entered the king's service. It is first mentioned around 1180. Although he and his two brothers Gilbert († 1205) and Alan shared the inheritance after the death of their father around 1182, each received property that included enough Knight's fees that they were considered small crown vassals . Before 1190 Thomas Basset administered as a favorite of King Richard the Lionheart holdings in Oxfordshire , briefly he also administered holdings in Herefordshire and Shropshire . After Richard the Lionheart set out on the crusade, Basset served as an advisor to his brother Johann Ohneland , who was Count of Mortain at the time. Because of the conflict between Johann and Chancellor William Longchamp for supremacy in England, Basset was excommunicated in 1191 by Longchamp, who was also Bishop of Ely . In 1192, Basset was steward of Cookham and Bray Manor in Berkshire for John . However, he was not further involved in John's rebellion against his brother, so that he could return to the royal court after the king's return. The king gave him the estate of Colyton in Devon as a fief in 1194 , and in 1198 the neighboring estate of Whitford . In 1194 Basset served in the king's army in Normandy . Between 1197 and 1199 he was mentioned several times as a witness in the King's entourage in England and Normandy, and in April 1199 he was one of the few followers who were present at the death of Richard the Lionheart in Châlus .

Loyal supporter of Johann Ohneland

After the death of Richard the Lionheart, Basset returned to the service of Johann, who now succeeded his brother as King. Before 1202, Basset became a constable of Dover . In addition, he was Constable and Sheriff of Oxford from 1202 to 1214 , an office that his father and older brother Gilbert had already held before him. In 1202 he became administrator of Headington in Oxfordshire, which was given to him in 1203 as a fiefdom with a Knight's fee . During the Franco-English War in 1204, Basset became the administrator of numerous estates, the owners of which, after the conquest of Normandy by the French king, swore allegiance to him for their goods in Normandy, for which their English goods were confiscated by the English king. In 1205, for a fee of 500 marks, he received the administration of the lands and the guardianship of the minor Henry de Beaumont , the heir of Waleran de Beaumont, 4th Earl of Warwick . Basset married the young Henry to his daughter Philippa . In the following year Basset acquired the administration of the estates of his uncle Walter de Dunstanville for a fee of 200 marks . This had previously been administered by his brother Gilbert Basset, who had died in 1205. In addition, Thomas Basset inherited the North Stoke estate in Oxfordshire. In 1210 he took part in King John's campaign to Ireland, and during the First Barons' War he remained a loyal vassal of the king. This entrusted him with the administration of Warwick Castle and several confiscated properties of the rebels. The chronicler Roger von Wendover therefore counted him among the poor advisers of King John, and allegedly he was one of the barons who were able to convince King John to confirm the Magna Carta in 1215 . Together with his younger brother Alan Basset, he fought on the side of the royal troops at the Battle of Lincoln in May 1217 . Even after the Peace of Lambeth he was able to keep property of the king, whose administration he had taken over during the Civil War, in his possession. He probably died shortly before May 1, 1220.

Family and offspring

Basset had married Philippa Maubanc, who probably came from Normandy. Since he died without male offspring, his possessions were divided between his three daughters after his death:

  1. ∞ William Malet († 1215)
  2. ∞ John Biset
  1. ∞ Henry de Beaumont, 5th Earl of Warwick
  2. ∞ Richard Siward

Since Philippa and Joan died childless, the possessions of Thomas Basset finally fell to the descendants of Alice Basset.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ WT Reedy: Basset, Alan (d. 1232). 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. ^ Ralph V. Turner: Basset, Thomas (dc 1182). 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
  3. ^ David Carpenter: The minority of Henry III . University of California Press, Berkeley 1990. ISBN 0-520-07239-1 , p. 270
  4. ↑ Ralph V. Turner: Malet, William (c.1175-1215). 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
personal data
SURNAME Basset, Thomas
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English nobleman, military man and courtier
DATE OF BIRTH before 1182
DATE OF DEATH before May 1, 1220