| Notes |
- of Beaudesert, Warwickshire.
- Peter de Montfort c.1205-1265
Name: Peter de Montfort
Dates: c.1205-1265
Active Date: 1245
Gender: Male
Field of Interest: Miscellaneous
Occupation: Magnate
Place of
Death: Evesham
Spouse: Alice, daughter of Henry de Audley
Sources: Chancery rolls; H. R. Luard (ed.), Annales Monastici...
Contributor: D. A. Carpenter
Article
Peter de Montfort c.1205-1265, magnate, a leading supporter of Simon of Montfort, Earl of Leicester (q.v.) (but no relation), was born around 1205, the son of Thurstin de Montfort III by his marriage to a daughter of William de Cantelupe, first Baron Cantelupe (q.v.), a steward of King John. Although technically not a Baron, for he held little directly from the king, Peter was a substantial magnate. His chief seat was at Beaudesert, a low hill above Henley-in-Arden in Warwickshire, where extensive earthworks of the family Castle still remain. Another important base was at Preston in Rutland.
In 1166 Peter"s great-grandfather, Thurstin de Montfort II, had held ten fees from the Earl of Warwick, making him the second greatest of his tenants. The connection with the earls of Warwick, however, played no discernible part in Peter"s career, partly because the earldom was held from 1242 until 1263, in right of his wife, by a Poitevin favourite of the king, John de Plessis (q.v.), who established few local roots. Much more important for Peter was the family of his grandfather, William de Cantelupe (died 1239), whose principal residence was at Aston Cantlow, only four miles from Beaudesert. His father having died in 1216, Peter spent many years as William"s ward, and became a lifelong friend of his son, Walter de Cantilupe (q.v.), Bishop of Worcester from 1238 to 1265. The fleurs-de-lys of the Cantilupe coat of arms were incorporated into Peter"s seal.
It was probably ties of neighbourhood which brought both Peter and Walter de Cantilupe into the circle of Simon of Montfort, for Beaudesert and Aston Cantlow are respectively nine and twelve miles distant from Kenilworth, after 1244 Simon"s great base in England. In 1248 Peter was in Simon"s retinue when the latter went out to Gascony as seneschal and thereafter there are numerous instances of the close connection between the two men. Peter attests many of Simon"s charters and was probably often in his company; in 1259 he was named as an executor of Simon"s will. His faithful service was rewarded with a grant of the manor of Ilmington in Warwickshire. Part of that service was doubtless to help Simon build up his following of midlands knights, for Peter was well connected locally/in 1260-2, six Warwickshire/Leicestershire knights acted as his pledges (Public Record Office, JUST 1/953, mm.1d,7; 954, m.23d).
From 1254 onwards, while remaining close to Simon, Peter"s career also developed independently. He was employed by King Henry III on diplomatic missions, was given an important command in the Welsh marches, and by 1257 was on the royal council. He was also closely connected with Edward, the king"s son (q.v.), whom he had accompanied to Spain for his marriage to Eleanor of Castile (q.v.) in 1254. Fear of being ousted from Edward"s entourage by the king"s Poitevin half-brothers perhaps gave him a personal interest in the political upheaval of 1258, which began with the half-brothers" expulsion from England. In that upheaval Peter played a leading part. He was one of the seven magnates whose confederation in April 1258 began the revolution; he was one of the Baronial twelve who were to draw up the plans of reform; and he was one of the council of fifteen set up by the Provisions of Oxford to govern England in the king"s name. In all these capacities Earl Simon was a colleague. Unlike Simon, however, (who withdrew to France) Peter accepted the king"s recovery of power in 1261, and next year served the King and Edward as custodian of Abergavenny, which he tried in vain to protect from the attacks of Llywelyn ab Gruffydd (q.v.). None the less, when Simon returned to England in April 1263 and raised once more the standard of the Provisions of Oxford, Peter joined him. This time he was to remain with him to the end. When the civil war commenced in March 1264, Peter was in command of the Montfortians in Northampton and was captured when the town fell to the King on 5 April. Released after Simon"s great victory at Lewes (14 May), Peter was one of the council of nine imposed on the King (June 1264) and thenceforth played a major part in the direction of central government. In September he was one of those appointed to negotiate with the King of France and the papal legate in the abortive hope of finding some political settlement. His rewards during this period of power included a grant from the King of the manor of Garthorpe in Leicestershire. Peter accompanied Simon throughout his final campaign and died with him at Evesham 4 August 1265. His eldest son, product of his marriage to Alice, daughter of Henry de Audley (q.v.), was wounded in the battle but survived to recover eventually the bulk of his father"s properties. The direct male line of the family died out in 1367.
The support Peter de Montfort gave Earl Simon was of the first importance. While a close personal friend and follower, he also enjoyed his own power base in the midlands and an independent career in the service of the King and his son Edward. He possessed considerable abilities as a soldier, diplomat, and councillor. It is highly significant that Simon retained the loyalty of such a man to the last.
Sources
Chancery rolls; H. R. Luard (ed.), Annales Monastici, 5 vols. (Rolls Series) 1864-9; R. F. Treharne and I. J. Sanders (eds.), Documents of the Period of Baronial Reform and Rebellion, 1973; information from Dr David Crouch; H. W. Ridgeway, "The Lord Edward and the Provisions of Oxford (1258)", in Thirteenth Century England I, ed. P. R. Cross and S. D. Lloyd, 1986.
Contributor: D. A. Carpenter
published 1993
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- 1265
: Address
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