Miles of Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford
Miles of Gloucester
Miles FitzWalter of Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford (died 24 December 1143) (alias Miles of Gloucester
He inherited vast landholdings in Wales from his wife
By his three daughters and eventual co-heiresses his barony was split between the families of
In 1136 he founded
Origins
He was the son and heir of Walter of Gloucester (d. 1129), hereditary Sheriff of Gloucestershire in 1097 and in 1105–1106,[6] and Castellan of Gloucester Castle. Walter was also seemingly Constable of England under King Henry I (1100-1135), as he is described in an annal of Llanthony Secunda Priory (transcribed by Dugdale[7]) as Constabularius, princeps militiae domus regiae, vir magnus et potens et inter primos regni praecipue honoratus ("Constable, chief of the royal military household, a great and powerful man and amongst the first of the kingdom especially honoured"). Some sources, however, suggest that Walter was merely the Constable of Gloucester Castle.[8] Walter's wife (and Miles's mother) was a certain Berta.[9] Walter was in favour with King Henry I (1100-1135), three of whose charters to him are extant.[10]
Walter's father was Roger de Pitres, Sheriff of Gloucestershire from about 1071, who at some time before 1083 was succeeded by his brother Durand of Gloucester (d. circa 1096), Sheriff of Gloucestershire at the time of the Domesday Book of 1086, who made Walter his heir.[6]
Career
Early in 1121 Miles married
Miles was (from 1128 at least) sheriff of Gloucestershire, a justice itinerant, and a justice of the forest,
On his accession, King
Meanwhile, Miles had married his son and heir, Roger, to Cecily, daughter of fitzJohn, who inherited the bulk of her father's possessions.
Two years later (1138) Miles received, in his official capacity, Stephen at Gloucester in May.[22] He has been said to have renounced his allegiance a few weeks later,[23] but he was with Stephen in August (1138) at the siege of Shrewsbury, and his defection did not take place till 1139.[24]
In February 1139 Stephen gave
Miles's first achievement on behalf of Matilda was to relieve
As "Earl Miles", he now accompanied her to Winchester,[39] and on the rout of her forces on 14 September 1141 he escaped to Gloucester, where he arrived "exhausted, alone, and with scarcely a rag to his back".[40] Towards the end of the year he was in Bristol making a grant to Llanthony Priory in the presence of the Empress Matilda and the Robert, Earl of Gloucester.[41] In 1142 he is proved by charters to have been with the Empress at Oxford and to have received her permission to hold Abergavenny Castle of Brian Fitz Count.[42] It is probably to the summer of this year that he made a formal deed of alliance with the Earl of Gloucester, and as a hostage, he gave the Earl his son Mahel.[24]
In 1143 Miles's pressing want of money to pay his troops led him to demand large sums from the church lands. Robert de Bethune, Bishop of Hereford, withstood his demands, and, on the Earl invading his lands, excommunicated him and his followers, and laid the diocese under interdict.[43] The Earl's kinsman, Gilbert Foliot (Abbot of Gloucester),[44] appealed to the legate on his behalf against the bishop's severity.[45]
Death and burial
On Christmas-eve of 1143 he was slain while hunting by a stray arrow shot at a deer.[46] A dispute at once arose for possession of his body between the canons of Llanthony Secunda, his own foundation, and the monks of Gloucester. The case was heard before the bishops of Worcester, Hereford, and St. David's, and was terminated by a compromise on 28 December. The Earl was then buried in the chapter house at Llanthony.[47]
Succession
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Miles was succeeded by his eldest son and heir,
Marriage and children
In 1121 he married Sibyl de Neufmarché, daughter and heiress of Bernard de Neufmarché (d.1125), Lord of Brecon, and Agnes or Nest, daughter of Osbern fitzRichard by his wife Nest, a daughter of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, King of Wales. By Sibyl he had issue including:[49]
Sons
- Roger Fitzmiles, 2nd Earl of Hereford (d.1155), eldest son and heir, hereditary Sheriff of Gloucestershire;
- Walter de Hereford (d.post-1159) heir to his elder brother Roger. He was hereditary Sheriff of Gloucestershire 1155–1157 and Sheriff of Herefordshire 1155–1159. He died after 1159 in the Holy Land.
- Henry of Hereford(d. 12 April 1165), who succeeded to the Lordship of Abergavenny in 1141/42.
- William de Hereford. He died before 1160 childless.
- Breconshire, Wales, mortally injured by a stone toppled from a tower during a fire. He died childless and was buried at Llanthony Secunda Priory.
Daughters and eventual co-heiresses
- Margaret of Hereford,[12] co-heiress of the last of her brothers, whose 1/3rd moiety share of her fraternal inheritance of the barony of Miles of Gloucester appears to have comprised the fiefdom of Durand of Gloucester (Miles's great-uncle), namely 14 1/2 knights-fees centred on Haresfield in Gloucestershire.[50] She also inherited the patronage of Llanthony Secunda Priory, her father's foundation where many of her Bohun descendants were buried.[51] She married Humphrey II de Bohun, 4th feudal baron of Trowbridge[52] in Wiltshire, by whom her grandson was Henry de Bohun, 1st Earl of Hereford (1176-1220), who in 1199 (following the extinction of the male line of Miles of Gloucester) was created by King John Earl of Hereford and Constable of England.
- Bertha of Hereford, co-heiress of the last of her brothers, whose share of her fraternal inheritance was the Lordships of Brecon and Abergavenny. At some time before 1150 married William de Braose, feudal baron of Bramber in Sussex, by whom she had issue.
- Blaen Llyfni and the Forest of Dean.[54] She married Herbert FitzHerbert, of Winchester, Lord Chamberlain, by whom she had issue Peter FitzHerbert. She was buried at Llanthony Priory.
Further reading
- George Roberts, Some Account of Llanthony Priory, Monmouthshire, London, 1847, pp. 63 et seq, Appendix, "Genealogy of the Founders"[4]
Notes
- ^ In some sources Miles's name is not translated from the Latin Milo
- ^ "[This is known] from two charters there tested, one of which was printed by Madox (History of the Exchequer, p. 135), by which Stephen confirms to Miles, 'sicut baroni et justiciario meo', the shrievalty of Gloucestershire, the constableship of Gloucester Castle, and the 'honour' of Brecknock" (Round 1890, p. 438).
- ^ a b Sanders, I.J. English Baronies: A Study of their Origin and Descent 1086-1327, Oxford, 1960, p.7
- ^ Sanders, I.J. English Baronies: A Study of their Origin and Descent 1086-1327, Oxford, 1960, p.7, note 1
- ^ Namely 14 1/2 knights-fees centred on Haresfield in Gloucestershire, (Sanders, I.J. English Baronies: A Study of their Origin and Descent 1086-1327, Oxford, 1960, p.7, & note 2)
- ^ George Roberts, Some account of Llanthony Priory, Monmouthshire, London, 1847, Appendix, pp.63 et seq [1]
- ^ Chisholm 1911, pp. 479.
- ^ a b Morris 1918, p. 154, n. 62.
- ^ Monasticon Anglicanum ... a History of the Abbies and Other Monasteries by William Dugdale [2]
- ^ Cokayne 1926, p. 451, note g.
- ^ Cokayne 1926, pp. 451–452.
- ^ a b Round 1890, p. 438 cites Duchy of Lancaster: Royal Charters.
- ^ Round 1890, p. 438 cites Rot. Pip.. 31 Hen. I.
- ^ a b c Walker 2012, "Gloucester, Miles of".
- ^ Round 1890, p. 438.
- ^ Round 1890, p. 438 cites Dugdale MSS.
- ^ a b Round 1890, p. 438 cites Gesta Stephani, p. 17.
- ^ Round 1890, p. 438 cites Rymer, Fœdera, 4th ed., i. 16.
- ^ Round 1890, p. 438 cites Rich. Hexham, p. 149.
- ^ Round 1890, p. 439 cites Gesta, p. 13.
- ^ Round 1890, p. 439 cites Duchy Charters.
- ^ Round 1890, p. 439 cites Mon. Angl. vi. (1), 127, 132.
- ^ Ward1995, p. 107.
- ^ Round 1890, p. 439 cites Cont. Flor. Wig. ii. 105.
- ^ Round 1890, p. 439; Norgate 1887, p. 295.
- ^ a b c d Round 1890, p. 439.
- ^ Round 1890, p. 439; Norgate 1887, pp. 493, 494.
- ^ Round 1890, p. 439; Norgate 1887, pp. 294, 295.
- ^ Round 1890, p. 439 cites Gesta, p. 59.
- ^ Round 1890, p. 439 cites Cont. Flor. Wig. p. 119.
- ^ a b Round 1890, p. 439 cites Gesta, p. 60.
- ^ Round 1890, p. 439 cites Cont. Flor. Wig. p. 121.
- ^ Round 1890, p. 439 cites Gesta, p. 69.
- ^ Round 1890, p. 439 cites Cont. Flor. Wig. p. 130; Will. Malm. p. 743.
- ^ Round 1890, p. 439 cites Add. Cart. pp. 19, 576.
- ^ Round 1890, p. 439 cites Duchy Charters, No. 16.
- ^ Round 1890, p. 439 cites Cont. Flor. Wig. p. 132.
- ^ Round 1890, p. 439 cites Fœdera, 4th ed., i. 14.
- OL 14012583Mp67
- ^ Round 1890, p. 439 cites Cont. Flor. Wig. p. 133.
- ^ Round 1890, p. 439 cites Gesta, p. 79
- ^ Round 1890, p. 439 cites Cont. Flor. Wig. p. 135.
- ^ Round 1890, p. 439 cites Mon. Angl. vi. 137.
- ^ Round 1890, p. 439 cites Duchy Charters, No. 17.
- ^ Round 1890, p. 439 cites Gesta, p. 102; Mon. Angl. vi. (1), 133.
- ^ Knowles, Brooke & London 1972, p. 52–53.
- ^ Round 1890, p. 439 cites Foliot, Letters, No. 3.
- ^ Round 1890, p. 439 cites Symeon of Durham ii. 315; Gervase, i. 126; Gesta, pp. 16, 95, 103.
- ^ Round 1890, p. 439 cites Gloucester Cartulary, i. lxxv; Foliot, Letters, No. 65.
- ^ Round 1890, p. 440.
- ^ Roderick 1968, p. 5.
- ^ Sanders, I.J. English Baronies: A Study of their Origin and Descent 1086-1327, Oxford, 1960, p.7, & note 2
- ^ George Roberts, Some account of Llanthony Priory, Monmouthshire, London, 1847, Appendix, p.64 [3]
- ^ Sanders, p.91, Trowbridge
- ^ Dugdale 1823, p. 615
- ^ George Roberts, Some account of Llanthony Priory, Monmouthshire, p.63
References
- Dugdale, William (1823), "Priory of Bergavenny or Abergavenny in Monmouthshire, Cartæ I", Monasticon Anglicanum, vol. 4 (Revised ed.), London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Browne, p. 615
- Cokayne, George Edward (1926), Gibbs, Vicary; Doubleday, H. A. (eds.), The Complete Peerage; or, a History of the House of Lords and all its members from the earliest times, vol. 5, London: The St. Catherine Press
- ISBN 0-521-08367-2
- Morris, W.A (April 1918), "The Office of Sheriff in the Early Norman Period", The English Historical Review, 33 (130): 145–175,
- Norgate, Kate (1887), England under the Angevin Kings, vol. 1, London: Macmillan
- Roderick, A. J. (June 1968), "Marriage and Politics in Wales, 1066–1282", The Welsh History Review, 4 (1): 1–20
- Ward, Jennifer C (1995), Women of the English nobility and gentry, 1066–1500, Manchester medieval sources series, Manchester: ISBN 0-7190-4115-5
- Walker, David (May 2012) [2004]. "Gloucester, Miles of, earl of Hereford (d. 1143)". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/10820. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- B Thorpe (ed.), Continuation of Florence of Worcester
- The Cartulary of Gloucester Abbey (Rolls series);
- Round, John Horace(1892), Geoffrey de Mandeville
- Domesday Book, (Record Commission);
- Rymer, Thomas, Fœdera, (Record Commission), vol. i (new ed.);
- Pipe Roll, 31 Hen. I (Record Commission);
- Cartulary of St. Peter's, Gloucester, (Rolls Ser.);
- Symeon of Durham, Regum Historia, (Rolls Ser.);
- "Gesta Stephani", Chronicles of the Reigns of Stephen, &c, (Rolls Ser.), vol. ii;
- Gervase of Canterbury, Chronica, (Rolls Ser.);
- Florence of Worcester (1848–1849), Thorpe, Benjamin (ed.), Florentii Wigorniensis monachi Chronicon ex chronicis (2 volumes ed.), English Historical Society
- William of Malmesbury, Chronicle of the Kings of England: From the Earliest Period to the Reign of King Stephen, English Historical Society;
- Dugdale, Sir William, Westrum Monasticum, Bodleian Library;
- Additional Charters, (British Museum);
- Duchy of Lancaster Charters, Public Record Office;
- Madox, Thomas, History of the Exchequer;
- Hearne, Thomas, ed. (1728), Liber Niger Scaccarii;
- Foliot, Gilbert, "Letters", in Giles, John Allen (ed.), Patres Ecclesiæ Anglicanæ;
- Crawley-Boevey, Arthur William, Cartulary of Flaxley Abbey;
- Ellis, A. S. (1879–1880). "On the Landholders of Gloucestershire named in Domesday Book". Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society. 4: 86–198.
- Walker, David (1958). "Miles of Gloucester, Earl of Hereford". Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society. 77: 66–84.
Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Round, John Horace (1890). "Gloucester, Miles de". In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 21. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 438–440.- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Milo of Gloucester". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 18 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 478, 479. Endnotes: Continuation of Florence of Worcester (ed. B. Thorpe, 1848–1849); the Cartulary of Gloucester Abbey (Rolls series); and J. H. Round's Geoffrey de Mandeville (1892).
