William de Vescy of Kildare
Sir William de Vescy of Kildare († June 24, 1314 at Bannockburn ) was an Anglo-Irish nobleman and politician.
William was an illegitimate son of William de Vescy, 1st Baron Vescy . After his only legitimate son John died childless in 1295, his father tried to make William his partial heir. While he gave the Irish Kildare, which gave his son his name, to the king in return for the cancellation of his debts, he made an agreement with Bishop Antony Bek of Durham, to whom he gave Alnwick Castle and other estates in Northumberland . In return, the bishop should return the goods to the younger William.
After his father's death in June 1297, the younger William paid homage to the king for Caythorpe in Lincolnshire on May 22, 1298 . During the Scottish War of Independence he took part in a campaign against Scotland as crown vassal in 1300, but at the beginning of the reign of King Edward II he asked the king to intercede with the Bishop of Durham for the surrender of his inheritance. It was later alleged that the bishop had fraudulently sold Alnwick to Henry Percy , but that charge cannot be substantiated. In 1310 he tried to get the estate of Stapleford in Lincolnshire, which the widow of his half-brother John had received as Wittum, in court. Ultimately, he owned a number of estates in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. He served as a knight of the royal household. In 1313 and 1314 he was called to Parliament by Writ of Summons and thereby conferred the hereditary title Baron Vescy . As a vassal of the Earl of Pembroke , he took part in the English campaign to Scotland in 1314 and fell at the Battle of Bannockburn .
He is said to have been married to Maud, Thomas Neville's widow from Cleatham, Lincolnshire, but this is uncertain. After his childless death, his distant cousin Gilbert Aton inherited the remnants of the Vescy estates. His title of nobility expired.
Web links
- Scott L. Waugh: Vescy, William de, Lord Vescy (d. 1314). 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 | De Vescy of Kildare, William |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | William de Vescy, 1st Baron Vescy |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Anglo-Irish nobleman and politician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 13th Century |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 24, 1314 |
| Place of death | Bannockburn |