Henry Plantagenêt 3rd Earl of Lancaster

  Information about this person:

• Dates & Events. ⁴⁷⁰
Henry was one of the leaders of the great confederacy which overturned the power of the Spencers and deposed King Edward II. He was appointed guardian of the new King Edward III. He was appointed captain-general of all the King's forces in the Marches of Scotland.

• Titles: High Sheriff of Lancashire, 1327-1345.

• Background Information. ⁸²⁴
Henry succeeded his father Edmund as the earl of Lancaster. He married Maud, daughter of Sir Patrick de Cadurcis.

~ The Coucher Book, Or Chartulary, of Whalley Abbey, pedigree of Henry III and Eleanor of Provence, p. 364

• Background Information. ¹⁴¹
Henry, styled "of Lancaster," brother and heir of Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, was born circa 1281. He had livery of Monmouth and lands of his father beyond Severn 20 Mar 1296/7. He served with the King in Flanders, 1297-98, and thereafter served in Scotland nearly every year up to 1323, being from 1310 onwards frequently ordered to send men from his Welsh lordship to serve in the Scottish wars. He was summoned to Parliment v.p., from 6 Feb. 1298/9, by writs directed Henrico de Lancastre nepoti Regis and Henrico de Lancastre, whereby, according to modern doctrine, he is held to have become Lord of Lancaster. He attested a charter at St. Albans 3 Nov. 1299. He took part in the siege of Carlaverock in July 1300. As Henry of Lancaster, Lord of Monmouth, his seal is appended to the Barons' Letter to the Pope, 12 Feb. 1300/1. On 22 Jan. 1307/8 he was commanded to meet Edward II and his Queen at Dover, after their marriage at Boulogne. At the Coronation, 25 Feb. 1307/8, he bore the Rod with the Dove. In Aug. 1309 he joined in the Barons' letter to the Pope about abuses. On 17 Mar. 1309/10 he was one of those who forced the King to agree to the appointment of the Lords Ordainers. He was pardoned, among other adherents of Earl Thomas, 16 Oct. 1313 for participation in the execution of Gavaston. As one of the Lords Marchers, he was involved in the fighting in South Wales, Jan 1315 to Mar 1316, occasioned by the rebellion of Llywelyn Bren. In June 1317 the King wrote to Philippe of France asking him to respite the homage of Henry of Lancaster for his lands in Champagne and Brie as he was needed in England. In 1370 he joined the confederacy of the Marchers against the Despensers, and civil war raged for some time in South Wales, the native Welsh siding with the Marchers; however, he took no part in the rebellion of his brother Thomas in 1322. In 1323 he petitioned the King and Council for the earldoms of Lancaster and Leicester, and received a writ of livery of the earldom and honor of Leicester 29 Mar. 1324 (the castle of Kenilworth excepted), becoming thereby Earl of Leicester, (l397) and possibly Steward of England.

Henry was summoned, 13 Sep 1324, to the Great Council at Salisbury as Earl of Leicester, and as Henry de Lancastria, "now Earl of Leicester," he received the honor of Leicester 8 Nov. 1324. In May 1325, he was accused of treason because he had written a letter of consolation to the Bishop of Hereford (Adam of Orlton), used his brother's arms, and set up a cross near Leicester to induce passers-by to pray for his brother; but no proceedings were taken against him. In Aug. of that year he was in readiness to attend the King with a suite of 8 followers when Edward made a pretence of setting out for France to do homage for Aquitaine and Ponthieu-a journey which was never taken. On the Queen's return to England with Roger de Mortimer in Sep 1326, Henry joined her party against Edward II, which led to a general desertion of the King's cause, and was appointed Keeper of the castles of Abergavenny and Kenilworth. He was present as Earl of Lancaster and Leicester, 26 Oct. 1326, at Bristol, at the extraordinary Council which elected Prince Edward, then Duke of Aquitaine, keeper of the realm during his father's absence, the King having fled to Wales. Henry was sent in pursuit and captured the King at Neath, taking him thence to Llantrisant, co. Glamorgan, 16 Nov 1326. He was appointed to take charge of the King, and was responsible for his custody at Kenilworth till 4 Apr. 1327. As Henry, Earl of Lancaster, he was appointed, 7 Dec. 1326, Keeper of the castle and honor of Lancaster, the castles and honors of Tutbury and Pickering, the Manor of Melbourne, co. Derby, and the manor of Stanford, co. Bucks; and as Henry, Earl of Lancaster and Leicester, Keeper of various manors in cos. Lincoln, Derby, Yorks, Bucks, Rutland and Leicester. He was present, 1 Feb 1326/7, at the Coronation of Edward III whom he knighted, and of whom he was appointed guardian. On 3 Feb his brother Thomas was rehabilitated in Parliament, whereby Henry's right of succession to his brother in the Earldom of Lancaster was recognised. He was also in this year, 1327, appointed Captain General of the King's armies against the Scots. The Queen and Roger de Mortimer, however, usurped the authority with which Henry had been invested by the general consent of the magnates for the better government of the King and of the realm, and Henry was unable to control or to advise his young charge. On 23 Apr. 1327 he had livery of a large number of honors and manors late of Thomas his brother, the King having taken his homage. On 17 Feb. 1327/8, the Exchequer was ordered to search the rolls of the accounts of the sheriffs of co. Lancaster and to allow Henry to receive ferms and issues of the county as had Edmund his father and Thomas his brother. He with Lord Wake and others refused to attend the Parliament summoned to meet at Salisbury on 16 Oct 1328, where Mortimer had assembled a large armed force. Mortimer set the Royal forces in action against them, and the Earl's town of Leicester was ravaged. He marched at the head of his own men and some Londoners, but his chief supporters fell away and he was obliged to make his submission at Bedford. Orders were issued for the seizure of his lands in Jan 1328/9, but rescinded in Feb upon a heavy fine, which was forgiven in Dec 1330. On 12 Sep 1329, he had a protection on going beyond seas, and in that month set out for France with a large retinue. On 3 Dec he was joined with the Bishop of Norwich in the negotiations with King Philippe touching questions still at issue between the two Kings after Edward's act of homage at Amiens on 6 June. On 27 Jan 1330 the Ambassadors had further instructions to negotiate marriages between Jean, eldest son of King Philippe, and Edward's sister Eleanor, and John of Eltham and Princess Marie of France, in which they did not succeed. At about this time he became blind. On 2 Apr 1330 he had license to found a hospital for poor persons and pilgrims in his town of Leicester, to be served by 4 or 5 chaplains, and to appropriate to it Ircester church, of his patronage.

On the fall of Mortimer in October Henry's close personal relations with the young King were renewed. On 1 Feb 1331/2 he had remission of £221 13s. 4d. relief on succeeding to his brother Thomas's lands, because the King had had them in his own hand for six years after the death of Thomas. On 27 Mar. 1332, for the special affection which he bore him, the King granted Henry 500 marks yearly for the better maintenance of his estate. In Dec 1334 Henry made a gift to the nuns of Canons Ashby. In 1335, he was with the King at Newcastle-on-Tyne, where the invasion of Scotland by Edward III and Balliol, from Carlisle and Newcastle respectively, was planned and carried out. He was summoned to attend a Great Council at Northampton 15 Jun 1338, and in Jan 1338/9 he was one of the collectors of wool in co. Lincoln. In June 1339 Henry, as Earl of Lancaster and Leicester, Steward of England, headed the group of Earls who were sureties for the treaty concluded at Brussels between England and Brabant. On 14 Jul 1341 the King granted him and the heirs of his body certain jura regalia-namely, the return of all King's writs and all pleas of withernaam (de vetito namio) in their lands and fees, &c. In Sep 1342 he was summoned to the Great Council to be held the following month. He was appointed, 1 Jul 1345, to the Council of Prince Lionel, Keeper of England during the King's absence.

Henry married, as his 1^st wife, before 2 Mar. 1296/7, Maud, daughter and heir of Sir Patrick de Chaworth of Kidwelly, by Isabella, daughter of William Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick. She was living 19 Feb. 1317, but died before 3 Dec 1322, and was buried at Mottisfont Priory, of which she was patron, as heir of William de Briewere, one of the founders. Henry married, as his 2^nd wife & as her 2^nd husband, Alix, who in 1307 was widow of Jean, Sieur d'Arcies sur Aube et de Chacenay, and daughter of John de Joinville, Seneschal of Charmpagne, historian of St. Louis, by his 2^nd wife, Alix de Risnel, daughter an heir of Gautier, Seigneur de Risnel. Henry died 22 Sep 1345, aged about 64, and was buried, with great state, on the north side of the high altar of Newark Abbey, Leicester.

~ Cokayne's Complete Peerage, 2nd Edition, Vol. VII, (Lancaster), pp. 369-401

• Children. ¹⁰⁷⁶
Children of Henry Plantagenêt and Maud de Chaworth were:

Henry of Grosment, married to Isabel de Beaumont, daughter of Henry de Beaumont and Alice Comyn, daughter of Alexander Comyn.

Blanche, married to thomas Wake, 2^nd lord Wake of Lydell, son of John Wake and his wife Joan, daughter of Joahn Fitz Barnard of Kingsdown.

Maud, married first, William de Burgh, third Earl of Ulster, son of John de Burgh and his wife Elizabeth de Clare, daughter of Gilbert de Clare. Maud married a second time to Ralph de Ufford, Chief Justice of Ireland.

Joan Plantagenêt, married John II de Mowbray, son of Sir John I de Mowbray.

Isabella, Prioress of Amesbury, married Herny de la Dale

Eleanor Plantagenêt, married as her first husband, John de Beaumont, second Baron Beaumont, son of Sir Henry Beaumont, Earl of Buchan and his wife Alice Comyn. Eleanor had a son, Sir Henry Beaumont, who married Margaret de Vere, daughter of John de Vere and his wife Maud de Badlesmere, second daughter of Bartholomew de Badlesmere. Eleanor married as her second husband Richard II "Copped Hat" Fitz Alan, with whom she was a mistress in the life time of her first husband.

Mary Plantagenêt, youngest daughter, married Henry de Percy, eldest son of henry de Percy and his wife Idoine Clifford, daughter of Robert Clifford.

~ Blood Royal, Issue of the Kings and Queens of Medieval England, 1066-1399, pp.82-91

Henry married Maud de Chaworth of Kidwelly, Carmarthenshire, Wales, daughter of Sir Patrick de Chaworth Knight, Lord of Kidwelly and Ogmore in Wales and Lady Isabel de Beauchamp, before 2 Mar 1297 in England ¹⁴¹. (Maud de Chaworth of Kidwelly, Carmarthenshire, Wales was born on 2 Feb 1282 in Kidwelly, Carmarthen, Wales,⁷²¹ died before 3 Dec 1322 in Mottisford Priory, Mottisfont, Hampshire, England ¹⁴¹ and was buried in Mottisford Priory, Mottisfont, Hampshire, England ¹⁴¹.)