12th and 13th-century Anglo-Norman royal official and soldier
Robert of Thurnham (sometimes Thornham, Tornham, or Turnham) (died 1211) was an English soldier and administrator. The namesake of his landowner father, he was the younger brother of Stephen of Thurnham. Robert made his reputation in connection with the conquest of Cyprus in 1191 during the Third Crusade. On order of King Richard I, he led half the fleet in that battle. Subsequently, he was responsible for controlling the island when the Crusaders moved on, first jointly with Richard de Camville and then independently, when he defeated a group of Cypriot rebels.[1] After he left Cyprus, Robert became more closely identified with Richard I. As the king's familiaris, he carried Richard's equipment from the Holy Land to England. When Richard I was captured in 1192 in Vienna, among the terms of his release was the presentation of men to stand as "pledges" that the ransom would be paid.[2] Robert was among these hostages,[3] though evidently not for long, as he was back by the king's side in 1194 at Poitiers. Appointed Seneschal of Anjou,[4] he served in France with Richard I, primarily in Anjou and Normandy, throughout the rest of Richard's reign. At around the same time, he was also appointed High Sheriff of Surrey, but he did not return to England until after Richard's death. In 1196, he led troops at Richard's behest into Brittany on an unsuccessful attempt to capture the child Duke of BrittanyArthur, whose mother Constance was resistant to Richard's control.[5] In 1197, King Richard arranged for Robert to marry Isabella Fossard, daughter and heiress of the powerful Yorkshire baron William Fossard. The Fossard inheritance included the castle, honor, and lordship of Mulgrave with 34.5 attached knight's fees.
Robert was not with Richard at the siege of Château de Chalus-Chabrol in 1199, where Richard died, and after Richard's death became an important source of information about the activities of the king.[6] After Richard's death, Robert ceremonially transferred Chinon castle to the new king, Richard's brother John.[7] He traveled with John in Normandy and England for several years before he was appointed the Seneschal of Poitou and of Gascony in 1201. He was the first Englishman ever appointed to this function.[8] For the next several years he was troubled by conflict with the French and by rebellious barons in Poitou, which caused him to limit his efforts to his northern territories. In 1203, he made an effort to regain the city of Angers from the French, but though he partially destroyed the city he was unsuccessful and was captured. Ransomed in 1205, he continued to serve John, travelling with him during the Anjou campaign of 1206. From 1205 to 1207 he focused on his service as High Sheriff of Surrey before returning in 1207 to France, but not as Seneschal of Poitou, since Savary de Mauléon is still holding the office.[8] He died on 26 April 1211 with the Bishop of Winchester at his deathbed.
Robert's heir was his daughter Isabella, who married Peter de Maulay in 1214.[9]
↑ Sources do not agree on the date of this appointment. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, cited below, estimates this appointment ca. 1194. The Oxford Illustrated History of Medieval England states the appointment had been made by Henry II, who died in 1189, a view echoed by Sidney Painter in The Reign of King John.Saul, Nigel (15 May 1991). The Oxford Illustrated History of Medieval England. Oxford University Press. p.10. ISBN0-19-820502-3.; Painter, Saul (1979). The Reign of King John. Ayer Publishing. p.8. ISBN0-405-10575-4..
Tranchant Marie (2020). "Une stratégie au service de la réussite: Robert de Thurnham, un officier anglais en Aquitaine (1189-1211)". Annales de Bretagne et des pays de l'Ouest, 2020/4, 127–4, pp.35–51. doi: 10.4000/abpo.6461 .
John was King of England from 1199 until his death. He lost the Duchy of Normandy and most of his other French lands to King Philip II of France, resulting in the collapse of the Angevin Empire and contributing to the subsequent growth in power of the French Capetian dynasty during the 13th century. The baronial revolt at the end of John's reign led to the sealing of Magna Carta, a document considered an early step in the evolution of the constitution of the United Kingdom.
Richard I was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony; Lord of Cyprus; Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes; and was overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period. He was the third of five sons of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine and seemed unlikely to become king, but his two elder brothers predeceased their father. Richard is known as Richard Cœur de Lion or Richard the Lionheart because of his reputation as a great military leader and warrior. The troubadour Bertran de Born also called him Richard Oc-e-Non, possibly from a reputation for terseness.
Arthur I was 4th Earl of Richmond and Duke of Brittany between 1196 and 1203. He was the posthumous son of Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany, and Constance, Duchess of Brittany. His father, Geoffrey, was the son of Henry II, King of England.
The term Angevin Empire describes the possessions of the House of Plantagenet during the 12th and 13th centuries, when they ruled over an area covering roughly half of France, all of England, and parts of Ireland and Wales, and had further influence over much of the remaining British Isles. It may be described as an early example of a composite monarchy. The empire was established by Henry II of England, who succeeded his father Geoffrey Plantagenet as Duke of Normandy and Count of Anjou. Henry married Eleanor of Aquitaine in 1152, acquiring the Duchy of Aquitaine, and inherited his mother Empress Matilda's claim to the English throne, succeeding his rival Stephen in 1154. Although their title of highest rank came from the Kingdom of England, the Plantagenets held court primarily on the continent at Angers in Anjou, and at Chinon in Touraine.
The House of Plantagenet, or the Plantagenet Dynasty, was a royal house which originated from the lands of Anjou and Normandy in France. The family held the English throne from 1154 to 1485, when Richard III died in battle.
Philip of Poitou was Bishop of Durham from 1197 to 1208, and prior to this Archdeacon of Canterbury.
Savari de Mauléon was a French soldier, the son of Raoul de Mauléon, Viscount of Thouars and Lord of Mauléon.
Andre de Chauvigny (1150–1202) was a Poitevin knight in the service of Richard I of England. He was the second son of Pierre-Hélie of Chauvigny and Haois of Châtellerault. Haois was the great-aunt of King Richard making Andrew and Richard second cousins.
Philip of Cognac was an illegitimate son of King Richard I of England, by an unidentified mother.
William des Roches was a French knight and crusader who acted as Seneschal of Anjou, of Maine and of Touraine. After serving the Angevin kings of England, in 1202 he changed his loyalty to King Philip II of France and became a leading member of his government.
A seneschal was an officer of an aristocratic household assigned to manage the domestic affairs of the lord. During the course of the twelfth century, the seneschalship also became an office of military command.
Stephen of Thurnham was a British justice and administrator. He was the son of Robert of Thurnham, a Kentish landowner, and the older brother of Robert of Thurnham, and first came to official attention in 1170 when, along with his father, he acted as a benefactor to Combwell Priory. He served Henry II, and in 1188 was one of the agents tasked with ensuring the return of normal religious service in Canterbury after a dispute between the Archbishop and local monks, with Henry rewarding him for his work with lands in Artington, Surrey. After Henry died in 1189 Thurnham served his son and successor, Richard I, with the same loyalty and skill. In 1190 he accompanied Richard on the Third Crusade, visiting Jerusalem in 1192, and in 1193 he escorted Queen Berengaria, Joan of England and the Damsel of Cyprus on their journey from Palestine to Rome.
Mulgrave Castle refers to one of three structures on the same property in Lythe, near Whitby, North Yorkshire, England. One of these, known as the "old" or "ancient" castle, was by legend founded by Wada, a 6th-century ruler of Hälsingland. The second castle, caput of the feudal barony of Mulgrave, was of Norman construction and remained active until destroyed by order of Parliament in 1647. The third is a country house which was constructed by Lady Catherine Darnley and passed in 1718 by marriage into the Phipps family, when her daughter Lady Catherine Annesley married William Phipps. The Phipps family later held the titles of Baron Mulgrave, Earl of Mulgrave and Marquess of Normanby.
The Normandy Campaigns were wars in Normandy from 1202 to 1204. The Kingdom of England fought the Kingdom of France as well as fighting off rebellions from nobles. Philip II of France conquered the Anglo-Angevin territories in Normandy, resulting in the Siege of Château Gaillard. The Normandy Campaigns ended in a victory for France when the Anglo-Angevin territory was greatly diminished.
The Angevins were a royal house of Anglo-French origin that ruled England and in France in the 12th and early 13th centuries; its monarchs were Henry II, Richard I and John. Henry II won control of a vast assemblage of lands in western Europe that would last for 80 years and would retrospectively be referred to as the Angevin Empire. As a political entity this was structurally different from the preceding Norman and subsequent Plantagenet realms. Geoffrey of Anjou became Duke of Normandy in 1144 and died in 1151. In 1152, his heir, Henry, added Aquitaine by virtue of his marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine. Henry also inherited the claim of his mother, Empress Matilda, the daughter of King Henry I of England and Matilda of Scotland, to the English throne, to which Henry II succeeded in 1154 following the death of King Stephen.
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, Henry III, after 1216 but ran into difficulties with the young king's regents and was accused of treason in 1221. Maulay was cleared of the charges, but 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 late that year, probably in the Holy Land.
Philip of Oldcoates was an English nobleman and royal official.
John III Lestrange, of Knockin in Shropshire, landowner, administrator and soldier, was a marcher lord defending England along its border with Wales.
The Seneschal of Gascony was an officer carrying out and managing the domestic affairs of the lord of the Duchy of Gascony. During the course of the twelfth century, the seneschalship, also became an office of military command. After 1360, the officer was the Seneschal of Aquitaine. There was an office above the seneschalcy, the Lieutenancy of the Duchy of Aquitaine, but it was filled only intermittently.
The Seneschal of Poitou was an officer carrying out and managing the domestic affairs of the lord of the County of Poitou. During the course of the twelfth century, the seneschalship, also became an office of military command.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
