Geoffrey FitzGeoffrey de Mandeville
Geoffrey FitzGeoffrey de Mandeville is usually the de Mandeville that is refered to when Magna Carta
is dicussed. The history of Belchamp Walter is more concerned with his father
Geoffrey de Mandeville I.
Geoffrey de Mandeville I married Rohse de Vere and the region of Belchamp Walter was given to them
as a dowry
The Wikipedia page says:
"
Geoffrey de Mandeville, 2nd Earl of Essex and 4th Earl of Gloucester (c. 1191 – 23 February 1216)[1][2]
was an English peer.
He was an opponent of King John and one of the Magna Carta sureties.
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In the 12th century Waytemore Castle became a pawn in a hotly contested fight for the crown of England,
the beginings of which stemmed back to 1120 when Henry I’s only son drowned in a shipwreck.
His daughter, Maud (Matilda), was declared rightful heir to the throne but within weeks of Henry’s death in
1135, his nephew, Stephen, set out to usurp her. With no wish to be ruled by a Queen the barons strongly
supported him, as did the Church – albeit aided and abetted by Stephen’s brother Henry,
the Bishop of Winchester. In the event, Stephen was crowned King and Matilda was exiled in France.
The first two and a half years of Stephen’s reign was peaceful enough but when his closest ally,
Robert of Gloucester, decided to join Matilda’s cause, Stephen began to alienate many who were closest
to him. Matilda, confident in the knowledge she now had enough support from the Church to be made Queen,
returned from exile in 1139. But with two rival courts in England, civil war became inevitable.
To gain added support, Matilda promised the castle at Stortford to Geoffrey de Manderville II,
Sheriff of Essex, if he would assist her against Stephen. If he didn’t she said she would destroy the
castle. Manderville readily agreed. He already owned the manor of Thorley and the castle and town of
Saffron Walden, and knew that if Stortford remained in hostile hands, travelling and communication
between the two towns would become somewhat difficult.
The one disapproving voice in the equation was Robert de Sigillo the bishop of London, who not only
owned the castle but also supported Stephen. He refused to be persuaded to give up either the town of
Stortford or its castle for her cause, but in the quickly changing events of the time the castle became
less important and the threat of destruction was never carried out. Matilda finally gained charge of
England in 1141 after Stephen was captured at Lincoln, but she remained uncrowned for almost a year and
Stephen eventually regained the throne.
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