Guy Bryan, 1st Baron Bryan

Last updated

Guy Bryan
Portrait of Sir Guy Brian, died 1391 (4671297).jpg
Guy Bryan, 1st Baron Bryan (portrait from the Welsh Portrait Collection at the National Library of Wales.
Bornabout 1319
Died17 August 1390
Buried
AllegianceFlag of England.svg  England
Years of service1337–1372
Commands held Admiral of the West
Battles/warsBattle of Crécy
Battle off Sluys
Arms of Sir Guy de Bryan, 1st Baron Bryan, KG: Or, three piles conjoined in point azure Sir Guy de Bryan, 1st Baron Bryan, KG.png
Arms of Sir Guy de Bryan, 1st Baron Bryan, KG: Or, three piles conjoined in point azure
Arms of Guy de Bryan on a chest made to hold the Treaty of Calais, signed in 1360 between Edward III of England and John II of France Treaty of Calais Chest.jpg
Arms of Guy de Bryan on a chest made to hold the Treaty of Calais, signed in 1360 between Edward III of England and John II of France

Guy Bryan, 1st Baron Bryan, KG (born before 1319 and died 17 August 1390) was an English landowner, military and naval commander, courtier, diplomat, and administrator. [1] [2]

Contents

Origins

Born sometime before 1319, [1] he was the son of Sir Guy Bryan (died 1349), of Walwyn's Castle in Pembrokeshire and Torbryan in Devon, [2] and his wife Joan Carew (died after 1347), daughter of Sir John Carew (died 1324) and his wife Joan Talbot. [1] His paternal grandparents were Guy Bryan (died about 1307) and his wife Sibyl Sully. [1]

Career

He served on the English side in the Second War of Scottish Independence [1] and in France and Flanders during the Hundred Years' War. [2] [1] In 1339 he was made Steward of “Haveral” Castle in Pembrokeshire, [1] followed in 1341 by appointment as Warden of the Forest of Dean, in Gloucestershire, and Governor of St Briavel's Castle, the seat of the Warden, which offices he held until his death. [2] The year 1341 also saw additional lands in Devon being granted, in particular the port town of Dartmouth, of which he was recognised as lord in 1343. [1] He was also granted rights over the taxation of trade in London. [1]

On 26 August 1346 he was named a Knight Bachelor. [3] In 1349, he was temporarily Keeper of the Great Seal of England, and in 1350 was granted an annuity of 200 marks for bearing the King's Standard against the French at Calais. [2] [1] From 25 November 1350 onwards, he was regularly summoned to Parliament, [1] by which he may be held to have been created Baron Bryan. [2] Also in 1350, he was given free warren over his lands at Torbryan and Slapton. On 1 March 1356 he was appointed Admiral of the West, a post he held till 18 July 1360. [4] In 1359 he acquired the manor of Northam and was also appointed Lord Steward of the Royal Household. [1]

In 1361, he was England's ambassador to Pope Innocent VI. [2] From 1366 onwards he was regularly a justice of the peace for Devon and extended his landholdings into Dorset, acquiring the manor of Woodsford in 1367 and later that of Hazelbury Bryan. [1] Following the death of Sir John Chandos on 31 December 1369, he was made a Knight of the Garter. [2] On 3 May 1370 he was once again appointed Admiral of the West, until 6 October 1372. [5] A further appointment in 1377 saw the failure of a proposed expedition against the French, to which he was to contribute 60 men-at-arms and 60 archers, cancelled when King Edward III died. [1]

He died on 17 August 1390 and his tomb is in Tewkesbury Abbey. [2]

Marriages and children

Before 1344, he may have married Ann (some sources say Alice) Holway, daughter of William Holway who lived at Northlew, [2] [1] and with her may have had two daughters:

Before 10 July 1350, he married Elizabeth Montagu (died 31 May 1359), widow of Hugh Despenser, 4th Baron Despenser and before him of Giles Badlesmere, 2nd Baron Badlesmere. Her parents were William Montagu, 1st Earl of Salisbury and his wife Catherine Grandison. [2] [1] They had four known children:

His executrix was his daughter-in-law Alice and, according to the Complete Peerage, his heiresses were her two children, Philippa and Elizabeth. Any hereditary barony that may be held to have been created by the writ of 1350 fell, according to later doctrine, into abeyance. Sir Thomas Bryan assumed his arms at a later date. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Fitzalan, 3rd Earl of Arundel</span> Earl of Arundel

Richard Fitzalan, 3rd Earl of Arundel, 8th Earl of Surrey was an English nobleman and medieval military leader and distinguished admiral. Arundel was one of the wealthiest nobles, and most loyal noble retainer of the chivalric code that governed the reign of Edward III of England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eleanor of Lancaster</span> Lady Beaumont

Eleanor of Lancaster, Countess of Arundel was the fifth daughter of Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster and Maud Chaworth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hugh de Courtenay, 2nd/10th Earl of Devon</span>

Sir Hugh de Courtenay, 2nd/10th Earl of Devon, 2nd Baron Courtenay, feudal baron of Okehampton and feudal baron of Plympton, played an important role in the Hundred Years War in the service of King Edward III. His chief seats were Tiverton Castle and Okehampton Castle in Devon. The ordinal number given to the early Courtenay Earls of Devon depends on whether the earldom is deemed a new creation by the letters patent granted 22 February 1334/5 or whether it is deemed a restitution of the old dignity of the de Redvers family. Authorities differ in their opinions, and thus alternative ordinal numbers exist, given here.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard de Vere, 11th Earl of Oxford</span>

Richard de Vere, 11th Earl of OxfordKG was the son and heir of Aubrey de Vere, 10th Earl of Oxford. He took part in the trial of Richard, Earl of Cambridge, and Lord Scrope for their part in the Southampton Plot, and was one of the commanders at Agincourt in 1415.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margaret de Bohun, Countess of Devon</span>

Margaret de Bohun, Countess of Devon was the granddaughter of King Edward I and Eleanor of Castile, and the wife of Hugh Courtenay, 10th Earl of Devon (1303–1377). Her seventeen children included an Archbishop of Canterbury and six knights, of whom two were founder knights of the Order of the Garter. Unlike most women of her day, she received a classical education and was a lifelong scholar and collector of books.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margaret de Clare, Baroness Badlesmere</span> Anglo-Norman noblewoman

Margaret de Badlesmere, Baroness Badlesmere was a Anglo-Norman noblewoman, suo jure heiress, and the wife of Bartholomew de Badlesmere, 1st Baron Badlesmere.

Joan FitzAlan, Countess of Hereford, Countess of Essex and Countess of Northampton was the wife of the 7th Earl of Hereford, 6th Earl of Essex and 2nd Earl of Northampton. She was the mother of Mary de Bohun, the first wife of Henry of Bolingbroke who later reigned as King Henry IV, and Eleanor de Bohun, Duchess of Gloucester. She was the maternal grandmother of King Henry V.

Elizabeth de Bohun, Countess of Northampton was the wife of two English noblemen, Sir Edmund Mortimer and William de Bohun, 1st Earl of Northampton. She was a co-heiress of her brother Giles de Badlesmere, 2nd Baron Badlesmere.

Joan de Beauchamp, Baroness Bergavenny was an English noblewoman, and the wife of William de Beauchamp, 1st Baron Bergavenny of the Welsh Marches.

Elizabeth Fitzalan, Countess of Arundel, Countess of Surrey, was a member of the Anglo-Norman Bohun family, which wielded much power in the Welsh Marches and the English government. She was the first wife of Richard FitzAlan, a powerful English nobleman and military commander in the reigns of Edward III and Richard II. She was the mother of seven of his children, and as the wife of one of the most powerful nobles in the realm, enjoyed much prestige and took precedence over most of the other peers' wives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hugh de Courtenay, 1st/9th Earl of Devon</span> English nobleman (1276–1340)

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.

Maud de Badlesmere, Countess of Oxford was an English noblewoman, and the wife of John de Vere, 7th Earl of Oxford. She, along with her three sisters, was a co-heiress of her only brother Giles de Badlesmere, 2nd Baron Badlesmere, who had no male issue.

Margaret Grey was a Cambro-Norman noblewoman, the daughter of Reginald Grey, 3rd Baron Grey de Ruthyn, a powerful Welsh Marcher Lord, who was the implacable enemy of Owain Glyndŵr.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hugh Courtenay (died 1425)</span> English knight (after 1358–1425)

Sir Hugh I Courtenay, of Haccombe in Devon, was Sheriff of Devon for 1418/19 and was thrice elected knight of the shire for Devon in 1395, 1397 and 1421. He was a grandson of Hugh de Courtenay, 2nd/10th Earl of Devon (1303–1377), was the younger brother of Edward de Courtenay, 3rd/11th Earl of Devon (1357–1419), "The Blind Earl", and was the grandfather of Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon (d.1509), KG, created Earl of Devon in 1485 by King Henry VII. He was the link between the senior line of the Courtenay Earls of Devon made extinct following the Battle of Tewkesbury in 1471 and the post-Wars of the Roses creation of a new Earldom for his grandson made in 1485 by King Henry VII.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hugh Courtenay (died 1374)</span> English soldier and heir apparent to the earldom of Devon

Hugh Courtenay was an English soldier and heir apparent to the earldom of Devon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hugh Courtenay (died 1348)</span>

Sir Hugh Courtenay, KG was the eldest son and heir apparent of Hugh Courtenay, 10th Earl of Devon (1303–1377), whom he predeceased, and was a founding member of the Order of the Garter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Feudal barony of Okehampton</span> Barony in medieval Devon, England

The feudal barony of Okehampton was a very large feudal barony, the largest mediaeval fiefdom in the county of Devon, England, whose caput was Okehampton Castle and manor. It was one of eight feudal baronies in Devonshire which existed during the mediaeval era.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Hankford</span> English landowner and soldier

Sir Richard Hankford (1397-1431) was an English landowner and soldier from Devon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Cary (died 1395)</span>

Sir John Cary, of Devon, was a judge who rose to the position of Chief Baron of the Exchequer (1386–88) and served twice as Member of Parliament for Devon, on both occasions together with his brother, Sir William Cary, in 1363/64 and 1368/69.

Sir Robert Chalons was an English courtier, soldier, administrator and politician from Devon.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 J.J. Alexander (1936). "The Early Owners of Torbryan Manor" . Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 "The Complete Peerage" (2nd ed.). pp. 361–2. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  3. Shaw, Wm. A. (1971). The Knights of England: A Complete Record from the Earliest Time to the Present Day of the Knights of All the Orders of Chivalry in England, Scotland, and Ireland, and of the Knights Bachelors. Vol. 2. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company. p. 5. OCLC   247620448.
  4. Connors, Michael (2008). John Hawley, merchant, mayor, and privateer : Chaucer's shipman of Dartmouth. Richard Webb. p. 67. ISBN   9780953636181.
  5. Beatson, Robert (1788). A Political Index to the Histories of Great Britain and Ireland: Or, A Complete Register of the Hereditary Honours, Public Offices, and Persons in Office, from the Earliest Periods to the Present Time. G. G. J. & J. Robinson. pp.  260-262. John de Norwich English Admiral.
  6. "Britannia Biographies: Hugh Courtenay Le Fitz, Lord Courtenay". Archived from the original on 7 April 2001.