Henry of Braybrooke (died 1234) was an English High Sheriff and justice.
He was the son of Robert of Braybrooke, who had served as High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire and Rutland, as well as Master of the Great Wardrobe, [1] and had accumulated large amounts of land in Northamptonshire, Leicestershire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, and Essex, mainly by buying the mortgages of people who could not pay them back. One of the debts he paid off was that of Wischard Ledet, who owned Chipping Warden, and as a result Ledet's daughter and heir Christina married Henry of Braybrooke.
When Robert died in 1211, Henry followed his fathers path, succeeding him as High Sheriff of various counties and raising more money for the king from his shires; Roger of Wendover named him one of John's "evil counsellors". In June 1213 John commissioned him to repair Northampton Castle, but in 1214 he was replaced as High Sheriff of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, and by 1215 he had defected to the baronial faction. By mid–1215 he was among those whose forfeiture was specifically ordered by John, and after the creation of Magna Carta he was forced to forfeit his other High Shrievalties as well.
When hostilities began again John had Braybrooke's lands parcelled out to other landowners, but Braybrooke continued to support Prince Louis of France, defending Mountsorrel Castle against the royalists and participating in the Battle of Lincoln. After the Treaty of Lambeth Braybrooke submitted to John's young successor, Henry III, and had many of his lands restored. Although he never became a High Sheriff again, he served as a royal justice in Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, and was tasked from 10 June 1224 to hear an Assize of novel disseisin against Falkes de Breauté; he was perfectly suited, firstly because he was a vassal of William de Beauchamp, who had had Bedford Castle taken from him by de Breauté, and secondly because de Breauté now held the High Shrievalties of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, previous Braybrooke's. Braybrooke returned 16 counts of disseisins; enraged, William de Bréauté, Falkes' brother, seized him, and the allegedly brutal treatment he received led to a siege of Bedford Castle by royal forces. After the castle fell, Braybrooke and Walter of Pattishall were ordered to destroy it.
Braybrooke died by 1234; the precise date is not known. He was buried in Bushmead Priory, Bedfordshire, of which he was a benefactor.
Henry and Christiana had three children: their heir, Wischard Ledet, who was to die on crusade in the Holy Land in 1241 with Christiana's second husband (Gerard de Furnival); John of Braybrooke; and Margery, who was married to Simon of Pattishall, son and heir of Walter. [1]
Year 1224 (MCCXXIV) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar.
William de Forz, 3rd Earl of Albemarle was an English nobleman. He is described by William Stubbs as "a feudal adventurer of the worst type".
Geoffrey Fitz Peter, Earl of Essex was a prominent member of the government of England during the reigns of Richard I and John. The patronymic is sometimes rendered Fitz Piers, for he was the son of Piers de Lutegareshale, a forester of Ludgershall & Maud de Manderville.
Sir Thomas Tresham was a British politician, soldier and administrator. He was the son of Sir William Tresham and his wife Isabel de Vaux, daughter of Sir William Vaux of Harrowden. Thomas's early advancement was due to his father's influence. In 1443 he and his father were appointed as stewards to the Duchy of Lancaster's estates in Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire and Huntingdonshire, and by 1446 Thomas was serving as an esquire for Henry VI, being made an usher of the king's chamber in 1455. He was appointed a Justice of the Peace for Huntingdonshire in 1446, a position he held until 1459, and was returned to Parliament for Buckinghamshire in 1447 and Huntingdonshire in 1449. Despite the Tresham family's close links with the royal court they were also on good terms with Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and when he returned from Ireland in 1450 Tresham and his father went to greet him. Shortly after leaving home on 23 September they were attacked by a group of men involved in a property dispute with his father; William Tresham was killed, and Thomas was injured.
William d'Aubigny or D'Aubeney or d'Albini, Lord of Belvoir was a prominent member of the baronial rebellions against King John of England.
Sir Falkes de Bréauté was an Anglo-Norman soldier who earned high office by loyally serving first King John and later King Henry III in the First Barons' War. He played a key role in the Battle of Lincoln Fair in 1217. He attempted to rival Hubert de Burgh, and as a result fell from power in 1224. His "heraldic device" is now popularly said to have been a griffin, although his coat of arms as depicted by Matthew Paris in his Chronica Majora was Gules, a cinquefoil argent.
Bedford Castle was a large medieval castle in Bedford, England. Built after 1100 by Henry I, the castle played a prominent part in both the civil war of the Anarchy and the First Barons' War. The castle was significantly extended in stone, although the final plan of the castle remains uncertain. Henry III of England besieged the castle in 1224 following a disagreement with Falkes de Breauté; the siege lasted eight weeks and involved an army of as many as 2,700 soldiers with equipment drawn from across England. After the surrender of the castle, the king ordered its destruction.
Nicola de la Haie, of Swaton in Lincolnshire, was an English landowner and administrator who inherited from her father not only lands in both England and Normandy but also the post of hereditary constable of Lincoln Castle. On her own, she twice defended the castle against prolonged sieges. After the death of her second husband in 1214, she continued to hold the castle until she retired on grounds of old age in 1226.
Stephen de Segrave was a medieval Chief Justiciar of England.
Northampton Castle was one of the most famous Norman castles in England. The castle site was outside the western city gate, and defended on three sides by deep trenches. A branch of the River Nene provided a natural barrier on the western side. The castle had extensive grounds and a large keep. The gates were surrounded by bulwarks made of earth, used to mount artillery. The castle was "obliterated" by the arrival of a railway branch of what is now the West Coast Main Line in the 19th century, the station of which was built on the castle site and the construction of the original Northampton Castle railway station. All that remains of the castle today is the Postern Gate, near Northampton Railway Station.
Simon of Pattishall was an English judge and civil servant who is considered the first Chief Justice of the Common Pleas.
Walter of Pattishall was an English justice and administrator. He was the eldest son of Simon of Pattishall, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, and elder brother of Hugh of Pattishall, Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield. He inherited lands in Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire and elsewhere, and as a result of his marriage to Margery, daughter of Richard d'Argentan, he acquired lands in Bedfordshire. He followed his fathers footsteps and became a justice, although with less success. His first appointment is as an itinerant justice in the South Midlands between 1218 and 1219, followed by occasional service as a royal justice, sitting for the last time in June 1231.
William de Beauchamp (c.1186–1260) was a British judge and high sheriff.
Gerard de Canville, often written Camville, was an Anglo-Norman landowner and administrator who was a loyal supporter of King Henry II of England and of his son King John of England and through his wife obtained the posts of sheriff of Lincolnshire and constable of Lincoln Castle.
This is a list of Sheriffs of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire. One sheriff was appointed for both counties from 1125 until the end of 1575, after which separate sheriffs were appointed. See High Sheriff of Bedfordshire and High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire for dates before 1125 or after 1575.
Engelard de Cigogné was a 13th-century French-born administrator from Touraine who served King John of England.
William I de Cantilupe 1st feudal baron of Eaton (Bray) in Bedfordshire, England, was an Anglo-Norman royal administrator who served as steward of the household to King John and as Baron of the Exchequer.
Robert of Braybrooke or Robert le May (1168–1210) was a medieval landowner, justice and sheriff.
Hugh de Neville was the Chief Forester under the kings Richard I, John and Henry III of England; he was the sheriff for a number of counties. Related to a number of other royal officials as well as a bishop, Neville was a member of Prince Richard's household. After Richard became king in 1189, Neville continued in his service and accompanied him on the Third Crusade. Neville remained in the royal service following Richard's death in 1199 and the accession of King John to the throne, becoming one of the new king's favourites and often gambling with him. He was named in Magna Carta as one of John's principal advisers, and considered by a medieval chronicler to be one of King John's "evil counsellors". He deserted John after the French invasion of England in 1216 but returned to pledge his loyalty to John's son Henry III after the latter's accession to the throne later that year. Neville's royal service continued until his death in 1234, though by then he was a less significant figure than he had been at the height of his powers.
Peter de Maulay or Peter de Mauley was a nobleman and administrator who was one of King John of England's "evil counsellors". First appearing in the historical record in 1202, Maulay was in England by 1204 and serving as an official of John. During the rebellions of the end of John's reign, Maulay supported the king and was given custody of the king's younger son as well as important prisoners. Maulay continued to serve the new king after 1216 but ran into difficulties with the regents for the young King Henry III and was accused of treason in 1221. Although cleared of the treason accusation, Maulay retired to his lands in late 1221. In 1223 Maulay's lands at Upavon were confiscated by the king but were returned within a few months. Upavon was again confiscated in 1229 and given to another noble, but in 1233 King Henry regranted the manor to Maulay, an event which led to a revolt by Richard Marshal, the Earl of Pembroke, against the king. In 1241 Maulay went on crusade and died in late 1241, probably in the Holy Land while on crusade.