Mandeville and Botetourt

In my attempt to work out what was going on in the 13th Century and the activities of the Norman Barons and the apparent unrest that led to the drafting of Magna Carta I started to perform some "back-research" into spme of the names that I had come across to that point.

I started off with Mandeville and added Botetourt, as at that time I had some background on Botetourt and knew that Mandeville was associated with Belchamp Walter. Reviewing this page I am not sure of what my direction was.

As usual with the reseach into the history of the region of Belchamp Walter things are "about face". Taking some names for various sources the back-story is slowly filling in.

The de Vere family were part of this research. The association between a family name and a modern place-name is problematic

Earls/Counts

I am not sure where or why I came with up with this list:

Hubert Walter
Walter de Gray
Henry de Loundres
Guillaume II
Amanieu de Genève
Centule I of Astarac
Gilbert de Clare, 5th Earl of Gloucester
Geoffrey Fitz Peter, 1st Earl of Essex
Aubrey de Vere, 2nd Earl of Oxford

Some of these are Magna Carter Barons (I need to cross-reference them back)

Feudal Barons and Barons by Writ Under the Crown

Wikipedia says:

During the 13th century England was partially ruled by Archbishops, Bishops, Earls (Counts), Barons, marcher Lords, and knights. All of these except for the knights would always hold most of their fiefs as tenant in chief. Although the kings maintained control of huge tracts of lands through judges, constables, castles, and sheriffs, the nobles of England were still powerful. This is a list of the various different nobles and magnates including both lords spiritual and lords secular. It also includes nobles who were vassals of the king but were not based in England (Welsh, Irish, French). Additionally nobles of lesser rank who appear to have been prominent in England at the time. The nobles are listed categorically by rank starting with the Archbishops and going down to the nobles who did not hold titles.

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Round on Geoff de Mandeville

Geoffrey de Mandeville was the grandson and heir of a follower of the conqueror of the same name. From Mandeville, a village, according to Mr. Stapleton, near Trevieres in the Bessin,^ the family took its name, which, being Latinized as "De Magnavilla," is often found as "De Magnaville." The elder Geoffrey appears in Domesday as a considerable tenant-in-chief, his estates lying in no less than eleven different counties.^ On the authority of the Monasticon he is said by Dugdale to have been made constable of the Tower

» Monasticon, iii. 433. He founds the priory "pro anima Athelais^ primas uxoris mese, matris filiorum meorum jam defunctce ; " and « Lecelina domina uxor mea " is a witness to the charter. * It is necessary to check by authentic charters and other trustworthy evidence the chronicles printed in the Monasticon under Walden Abbey. One of these was taken from a long and interesting MS., formerly in the possession of the Eoyal Society, but now among the Arundel MSS. in the British Museum. This, which is only partially printed, and which ought to be published in its entirety, has the commencement wanting, and is unfortunately, very inaccurate for the early period of which I treat. It is this narrative which makes the wild misstatements as to the circumstances of the foundation, which grossly misdates Geoffrey's death, etc., etc. All its statements are accepted by Dugdale. The other chronicle, which he printed from Cott. MS., Titus, D. 20, is far more accurate, gives Geoffrey's death correctly, and rightly assigns him as wife the sister (not the daughter) of the Earl of Oxford, thus correcting Dugdale's error. It is the latter chronicle which Dugdale has misquoted with reference to the charge of the Tower.

Mandeville and Botetourt

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