Dionisie de Munchensi (born Dionisie de Anesty in the early 13th century; died between 1293 and 1304) was the second wife of landowner Warin de Munchensi, stepmother to Joan de Munchensi (King Henry III's sister-in-law), and addressee of Walter de Bibbesworth's Anglo-Norman language-learning poem The Treatise .
Dionisie de Anesty (her forename is sometimes modernized to Denise) was the daughter and only child of Nicholas de Anesty, a farmer living at Anstey Castle in Hertfordshire. She inherited land from her mother, a descendant of Hamon Peche, Sheriff of Cambridgeshire 1155-1165. Dionisie first married Walter Langton. (This is thought to have been the brother of Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury: if so he fought in the Albigensian Crusade and would have been about 70 by the time of the marriage.) [1] There were no children of the marriage, and Walter was dead by 1234. In that year Dionisie married Warin de Munchensi, lord of Swanscombe, Painswick, and other estates. Warin's first wife, Joan, daughter of William Marshal, had just died leaving two small children, John and Joan. In 1236 Dionisie bore Warin a son, William de Munchensi.
Warin died in 1255. Dionisie married thirdly Robert Butyller: there were no children of that marriage. She outlived her son William, a turbulent politician who died in 1287. She acted as his executrix and as guardian of her granddaughter, named Dionisie after her, who was still a child when William died.
In 1293 Dionisie endowed a nunnery in the order of Poor Clares at Waterbeach in Cambridgeshire; it was active until 1347 and then merged with the nearby Denny Abbey, newly founded by Joan de Munchensi's daughter-in-law Mary, countess of Pembroke. [2]
Walter de Bibbesworth's Treatise, addressed to Madame Dyonise de Mountechensi, is preceded in some manuscripts by a letter of dedication in which he explains: "You have asked me to put in writing for your children a phrase book to teach them French". [3] Since Dionisie bore only one child, the "children" are assumed to include her two stepchildren, John and Joan. [4]
William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, also called William the Marshal, was an Anglo-Norman soldier and statesman. He served five English kings—Henry II, his sons the "Young King" Henry, Richard I, and John, and finally John's son Henry III.
Walter de Gray was an English prelate and statesman who was Archbishop of York from 1215 to 1255 and Lord Chancellor from 1205 to 1214. His uncle was John de Gray, who was a bishop and royal servant to King John of England. After securing the office of chancellor, the younger Gray was a supporter of the king throughout his struggles and was present at the signing of Magna Carta in 1215. After two unsuccessful elections to a bishopric, he became Bishop of Worcester in 1214 but soon after moved to York. During the reign of John's son, King Henry III, Gray continued to serve the king while also being active in his archdiocese. He died in 1255 and was buried at York Minster, where his tomb still survives.
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Joan de Munchensi or Munchensy, Lady of Swanscombe and Countess of Pembroke, was the daughter of Joan Marshal and granddaughter of William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke and Isabel de Clare, 4th Countess of Pembroke suo jure.
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Walter of Bibbesworth (1235–1270) was an English knight and Anglo-Norman poet. Documents confirm that he held land in the parish of Kimpton, Hertfordshire at the farm now called Bibbsworth Hall. About 1250 he served in Gascony under the seneschal Nicholas de Molis in the army of the English king Henry III. In 1270/1271 he is believed to have taken part in the Ninth Crusade on the evidence of a tençon or poetic argument between himself and Henry de Lacy, 3rd Earl of Lincoln. In the poem Walter, about to depart for Palestine, teases Henry for staying at home for the love of a certain woman. In fact the young Henry de Lacy, "recently married and with heavy responsibilities at home", did not take part in the Ninth Crusade. Walter went and returned. He was buried early in Edward I's reign at Little Dunmow in Essex.
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