An overview of the History

An overview of the History of Belchamp Walter Pages

This is an update Sept/Oct 2022.

As I have far more researched information I now find that my pages are not easy to follow, even for myself. For example the Feudal Sytem in relation to the Honour of Clare and the Honour of Boulogne.

The Baronies of Clare, Hedingham and Bedford are all connected to the local history but the connection is not made clear.

While I am fully aware that there seems to be little interest in what I post, the fact that Queen Elizabeth II has just died and the ascension of Charles III to the throne, there is little chance that I will get any visits even if I update my timeline?

The Honour of Boulogne is mentioned numerous times by Thomas Wright, Belchamp Otten for example.

The useage of the term "Honour"

The following is from the Wikipedia page on English feudal barony.

" If the estate-in-land held by barony contained a significant castle as its caput baroniae[a] and if it was especially large – consisting of more than about 20 knight's fees (each loosely equivalent to a manor) – then it was termed an honour. The typical honour had properties scattered over several shires, intermingled with the properties of others. This was a specific policy of the Norman kings, to avoid establishing any one area under the control of a single lord. Usually, though, a more concentrated cluster existed somewhere. Here would lie the caput (head) of the honour, with a castle that gave its name to the honour and served as its administrative headquarters. The term honour is particularly useful for the eleventh and twelfth centuries, before the development of an extensive peerage hierarchy. "

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The Honour of Boulogne

While there is no Wikipedia page on the Honour of Boulogne, the page on Eustace II indicates that large grants of land were awarded to the companions of William the Conqueror. Unlike the Honour of Clare which was granted to Gilbert, Count of Brionne, the de Clare dynasty descended from him. The place of De Vere and the Barony of Hedingham is not so clear.

" Eustace II, (c.1015 – c.1087), also known as Eustace aux Grenons ("Eustace with long moustaches"),[1][2][3] was Count of Boulogne from 1049–1087. He fought on the Norman side at the Battle of Hastings, and afterwards received large grants of land forming an honour in England. He is one of the few proven companions of William the Conqueror. It has been suggested that Eustace was the patron of the Bayeux Tapestry. "

The significance of John de Botetourt

As time goes on and the more research I perform on Sir John it appears that he has somewhat been overlooked by historians. I can understand how the presence of the chantry chapel in Belchamp Walter could have been recognised as probably one of the most significant artifacts surviving from English history, up there with the Stone of Destiny (Stone of Scone), as it is hidden away in a church that not many are aware.

An overview of the History of Belchamp Walter Pages

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