The feudal barony of Okehampton was a very large feudal barony, the largest mediaeval fiefdom in the county of Devon, England, [1] whose caput was Okehampton Castle and manor. It was one of eight feudal baronies in Devonshire which existed during the mediaeval era. [2]
The first holder of the feudal barony of Okehampton was Baldwin FitzGilbert (dead by Jan 1091) called in the Latin Domesday Book of 1086 Baldvinus Vicecomes, "Baldwin the Viscount" (of Devon), an office which equated to the earlier Saxon office of Sheriff of Devon. As younger son of Gilbert, Count of Brionne, he was cousin of William the Conqueror. [1] His fiefdom listed in Domesday Book comprised 176 land-holdings, mostly manors, but 2 of which, listed first, comprised groups of houses in Barnstaple and Exeter. The third holding listed for his fiefdom is Okehampton: Ipse Balduin ten(et) de rege Ochementone, ibi sedet castellum ("Baldwin himself (i.e. in demesne) holds Okehampton from the king, there sits his castle"). The nature of the feudal land tenure for feudal barons was per baroniam, that is to say they were bound to serve the king as one of his barons, which involved onerous duties not only of attending parliaments to advise the king but also of providing knights and soldiers for military service to the royal army for specified periods each year. The baron himself was frequently present in battle.
The descent of Okehampton in the family of Baldwin fitzGilbert was as follows: [3]
The ownership of Okehampton then becomes obscure for two decades, [3] before it was held by a descendant of Baldwin fitzGilbert.
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The barony comprised originally the following manors held in-chief per baroniam by Baldwin the Sheriff, in order of Domesday Book listing: [11]
| No. | Name of manor | Hundred | Baldwin's tenant | Pre-1066 tenant |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19 houses in Exeter | Hundred | Unknown | Lordship of King Edward the Confessor |
| 2 | 6 destroyed houses in Barnstaple | Hundred | Unknown | Unknown |
| 3 | Okehampton | Lifton | in demesne | Osferth |
| 4 | Chichacott | Lifton | Roger | Brictmer |
| 5 | Bratton Clovelly | Lifton | in demesne | Brictric |
| 6 | Boasley | Lifton | Rolf | Brictric |
| 7 | Bridestowe | Lifton | Ralpf de Pomeroy | Edmer |
| 8 | Germansweek | Lifton | Rainer | Ednoth |
| 9 | Lewtrenchard | Lifton | Roger de Meulles | Brictric |
| 10 | Warson | Lifton | Roger of Meulles | Waddell |
| 11 | Kelly | Lifton | Modbert | Osferth |
| 12 | Dunterton | Lifton | Ralph de Bruyère | Brictmer |
| 13 | Guscott | Lifton | Colwin | Brictric |
| 14 | Sampford Courtenay | Torrington | in demesne | Norman |
| 15 | Belstone | Torrington | Richard | Osferth |
| 16 | Dunsland | Torrington | Cadio | Wulfric |
| 17 | Monkokehampton | Torrington | Baldwin's tenant | re 1066 tenant |
| 18 | Exbourne | Torrington | Roger | Aelmer |
| 19 | Highampton | Torrington | Roger | Brictmer |
| 20 | Lashbrook | Torrington | Roger | Algar Long |
| 21 | Bradford | Torrington | in demesne | Algar Long |
| 22 | Kigbeare | Torrington | Rainer | Saewin |
| 23 | Inwardleigh | Torrington | Otelin | Ingvar |
| 24 | Oak | Torrington | Richard | Osgot |
| 25 | Gorhuish | Torrington | Bernard | Alnoth |
| 26 | Broadwood Kelly | Torrington | Modbert | Leofric |
| 27 | Honeychurch | Torrington | Walter | Alwin Black |
| 28 | Middlecott | Torrington | Ranulf | Alwold |
| 29 | Brixton | Torrington | Richard | Wulfnoth |
| 30 | Middlecott | Torrington | Richard | Alwold |
| 31 | Ashmansworthy | Hartland | Gilbert | Brictmer |
| 32 | Yarnscombe | Hartland | Robert | Godwin |
| 33 | Parkham | Merton | Richard | Algar |
| 34 | Little Torrington | Merton | Baldwin's tenant | Edmer |
| 35 | Heanton Satchville | Merton | Ralph de Bruyere | Edwin |
| 36 | Potheridge | Merton | Aubrey | Ulf |
| 37 | Stockleigh | Merton | Aubrey | Colwin |
| 38 | Woolladon | Merton | Aubrey | Saewin |
| 39 | Meeth | Merton | Bernard | Alnoth |
| 40 | Landcross | Merton | Robert | Aelfeva |
| 41 | Woolleigh | Merton | Colwin | Alsi |
| 42 | Helescane | Merton | William | Edric |
| 43 | Chawleigh | Shebbear | in demesne | Siward |
| 44 | Dolton | Shebbear | William son of Wimund | Ulf |
| Melhuish | Wonford | Hugh de Rennes | Brictmer of Rillaton |
Earl of Devon is a title that has been created several times in the Peerage of England. It was possessed first by the Redvers family, and later by the Courtenay family. It is not to be confused with the title of Earl of Devonshire, which is held by the Duke of Devonshire, although the letters patent for the creation of the latter peerages used the same Latin words, Comes Devon(iae). It was a re-invention, if not an actual continuation, of the pre-Conquest office of Ealdorman of Devon.
Renaud de Courtenay, anglicised to Reginald I de Courtenay, of Sutton, Berkshire, was a French nobleman of the House of Courtenay who took up residence in England and founded the English Courtenay family, who became Earls of Devon in 1335. The title is still held today, by his direct male descendant.
Richard de Vernon seigneur de Redvers, 1st feudal baron of Plympton in Devon, was a Norman nobleman who may have been one of the companions of William the Conqueror during the Norman conquest of England from 1066. His origins are obscure, but after acting as one of the principal supporters of Henry I in his struggle against his brother Robert Curthose for control of the English throne, de Redvers was rewarded with estates that made him one of the richest magnates in the country. He was once thought to have been created the first Earl of Devon, but this theory is now discounted in favour of his son Baldwin.
Baldwin de Redvers, 1st Earl of Devon, feudal baron of Plympton in Devon, was the son of Richard de Redvers and his wife Adeline Peverel.
William de Redvers, 5th Earl of Devon, of Tiverton Castle and Plympton Castle, both in Devon, was feudal baron of Plympton in Devon.
The House of Courtenay is a medieval noble house, with branches in France, England and the Holy Land. One branch of the Courtenays became a royal house of the Capetian dynasty, cousins of the Bourbons and the Valois, and achieved the title of Latin Emperor of Constantinople.
Baldwin FitzGilbert was a Norman magnate and one of the 52 Devon Domesday Book tenants-in-chief of King William the Conqueror, of whom he held the largest fiefdom in Devon, comprising 176 holdings or manors. He was feudal baron of Okehampton, seated at Okehampton Castle in Devon.
Richard Fitz Turold was an eleventh-century Anglo-Norman landowner in Cornwall and Devon, mentioned in the Domesday Book. In the 13th century his estates formed part of the Feudal barony of Cardinham, Cornwall, and in 1166 as recorded in the Cartae Baronum his estates had been held as a separate fiefdom from Reginald, Earl of Cornwall.
Isabel de Forz was the eldest daughter of Baldwin de Redvers, 6th Earl of Devon (1217–1245). On the death of her brother Baldwin de Redvers, 7th Earl of Devon, in 1262, without children, she inherited suo jure the earldom and also the feudal barony of Plympton in Devon, and the lordship of the Isle of Wight. After the early death of her husband and her brother, before she was thirty years old, she inherited their estates and became one of the richest women in England, living mainly in Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight, which she held from the king as tenant-in-chief.
Hugh de Courtenay, 1st/9th Earl of Devon of Tiverton Castle, Okehampton Castle, Plympton Castle and Colcombe Castle, all in Devon, feudal baron of Okehampton and feudal baron of Plympton, was an English nobleman. In 1335, forty-one years after the death of his second cousin once-removed Isabel de Redvers, suo jure 8th Countess of Devon he was officially declared Earl of Devon, although whether as a new creation or in succession to her is unknown, thus alternative ordinal numbers exist for this Courtenay earldom.
Sir Hugh de Courtenay (1251–1292) was the son and heir of John de Courtenay, feudal baron of Okehampton, Devon, by Isabel de Vere, daughter of Hugh de Vere, 4th Earl of Oxford. His son inherited the earldom of Devon.
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