William de Ferrers, 5th Earl of Derby

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Coat of arms of William Ferrers, 5th Earl of Derby

William de Ferrers, 5th Earl of Derby (* around 1200; † March 24, 1254 ) was an English magnate .

Origin and career as a courtier

William de Ferrers came from the Anglo-Norman Ferrers family . He was the eldest son of William de Ferrers, 4th Earl of Derby and his wife Alice of Chartley, daughter of Hugh de Kevelioc, 3rd Earl of Chester . In 1230, like his father, he took part in Henry III's futile campaign in France. part. From 1234 to 1236 he served as constable of Bolsover Castle . In the 1230s he was a leading courtier to King Henry III. , in whose high favor he was. However, he fell ill with gout in the 1240s , after which he could no longer play a major political role.

Inheritance, expansion of his possessions, and death

After his father's death in 1247, he inherited his extensive estates, which were mainly in Derbyshire , Staffordshire and Nottinghamshire , and the title of Earl of Derby . In addition, he inherited from his mother her share of the inheritance of her brother, the Earl of Chester. This included other lands in Staffordshire and Lancashire . Like his father, Derby continued to develop his property by promoting markets and towns as well as opening up and clearing forests. Like all wealthy landowners of the time, he benefited from rising prices and the increasing value of property. He drew an annual income of about £ 1,500 from his estates, making him one of the six richest magnates in England. As a token of the king's favor, Derby was allowed to have his eldest son with a daughter of the French Count Hugo XI. of Lusignan , the king's eldest half-brother. Derby died in 1254 of injuries sustained when he fell from his litter while crossing a bridge near St Neots . He was buried at Merevale Abbey in Warwickshire .

At Merevale Abbey is this funerary monument, which is said to be that of William Ferrers, 5th Earl of Derby. It was likely badly damaged during the English Civil War.

Family and offspring

In his first marriage, before May 14, 1219, Derby married Sibyl Marshal, a daughter of William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke and Isabel de Clare . He had several children with her, including:

  1. Gilbert Basset († 1241)
  2. ⚭ Reynald de Mohun of Dunster († 1258)
  • Maud de Ferrers († 1298 or 1299)
  1. ⚭ Simon Kyme of Kyme, Lincoln († 1248)
  2. ⚭ William Fort of Chewton († 1259)
  3. ⚭ Aimery, Viscount des Rochehouart († after 1284) (Rochechouart House)
  • Sibyl de Ferrers ∞ Frank de Bohun of Midhurst († 1273)
  • Joan de Ferrers († before 1267)
  1. ⚭ John de Mohun († 1254)
  2. ⚭ Robert Aguillon of Addington, Surrey († 1285 or 1286)
  • Agatha de Ferrers († 1306) ⚭ Hugh de Mortimer of Chelmarsh († 1275)
  • Alianore de Ferrers († 1274)
  1. ⚭ William de Vaux († 1252)
  2. Roger de Quincy, 2nd Earl of Winchester († 1264)
  3. Roger of Leybourne († 1271)

When the last of Sibyl Marshal's five brothers died childless in 1246, Ferrers raised inheritance claims for his daughters from their first marriage to part of the extensive estates of the Marshal family. After a lengthy process of division, they finally received parts of the property.

After the death of his first wife, Derby married Margaret de Quincy († 1281), the eldest daughter of Roger de Quincy, 2nd Earl of Winchester († 1264) and his first wife Helen of Galloway, around 1238 . He had several children with her, including:

  1. William Marshal († 1265)
  2. Dafydd ap Gruffydd

His heir became his underage son Robert de Ferrers. According to traditional law, however, a third of Derby's estates fell to his widow Margaret, who did not die until 1281, as a Wittum after his death.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. JR Maddicott: Ferrers, Robert de, sixth earl of Derby (c.1239-1279). 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. JB Smith: Dafydd ap Gruffudd. 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
William de Ferrers Earl of Derby
1247-1254
Robert de Ferrers