William Devereux (12191265) was an important Marcher Lord who held Lyonshall Castle controlling a strategically vital approach to the border of Wales. The castle's significance was heightened by the rebellion of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales. With strong family ties to the politically powerful families of Cantilupe and Giffard, his support was strongly sought after by Henry III and Simon de Montfort throughout the Second Barons' War.
Life Birth and Ancestry William Devereux was born in 1219,Morgan G. Watkins. Collections Towards the History and Antiquities of the County of Hereford in continuation of Duncumb’s History, Hundred of Radlow. (High Town [Hereford]: Jakeman & Carver, 1902). Page 42 to 49. Parish of Castle Frome, Genealogy contributed by Lord Hereford the son of Stephen Devereux and Isabel de Cantilupe.Evelyn Philip Shirley. Stemmata Shirleiana. (Westminster: Nichols and Sons, 1873). page 103 She was the daughter of William de Cantilupe (died 1239) and Mazilia Braci. His father had risen to be a powerful member of the inner circle of William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, which led to a prominent role during the regency of Henry III. The Devereux family had been prominent along the Welsh Marches since the conquest, and William was a descendant of the Domesday land holder, William Devereux. The coat of arms for Devereux portrayed on his mother's grant in 1242 was 'a fess and in chief three torteauxes.'John Gough Nichols (editor). Collectanea Topographica & Genealogica, Volume II. (London: John Bowyer Nichols and Son, 1835). Page 250 His coat of arms was described as "argent, fess and three roundels in chief gules" or "gules od un fesse d'argent ove turteaus d'argent en le chief."Thomas D. Tremlett, Hugh Stanford London, and Sir Anthony Wagner. Rolls of Arms, Henry III. (Oxford, The University Press, 1957). page 123
Early life At his father's death, William was only 8 years old,, Calendar of Close Rolls, Volume 2. HC Maxwell (editor). 1905. 9 November 1233 and came under the sway of his maternal relatives including William de Cantelupe (died 1254), Lord of Abergavenny; Walter de Cantilupe, Bishop of Worcester; and Thomas de Cantilupe, Bishop of Hereford. His interests on the Welsh Marches were further guarded by his paternal uncles: John Devereux of Bodenham and Decies and Nicholas Devereux of Chanston. The close relationship of the Cantelupe family with Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester would later influence Devereux's decisions during the Second Barons' War.
William Devereux's lands were taken into the King's hands on 17 March 1228Stephen Devereux's principal seat was at Lyonshall Castle in Hereford. His manors included Ballingham, Frome Halmond (Herbert), Stoke Lacy, Holme Lacy, La Fenne (Bodenham), and Whitchurch maund in Herefordshire; (Cheddrehole) in Somerset; Lower Hayton in Salop; and Wilby in Norfolk. Additional lands included Clehonger, and Staunton-on-Wye in Herefordshire; Crowle in the Royal Forest of Feckham, and Staunton in Worcester; Guiting and Oxenhall in Gloucestershire; and Trumpington in Cambridgeshire. (excluding the dower of his mother, Isabel)Rotuli Selecti ad Res Anglicas et Hibernicas Spectantes. Joseph hunter (editor). (London: 1834). Page 259Isabel de Cantelupe’s dower included Oxenhall, Trumpington, Frome Halmond and Whitchurch maund and initially placed under the control of Gilbert de Lacy, Lord of Weobley. De Lacy was summoned to mediate a dispute in 1229 over rent due the Prior of Leonard in Pyon (Wormsley) from the lands granted them by William's father, Stephen. When Gilbert de Lacy died about 1230, Devereux's estates were placed under the direct guardianship of Gilbert's father, Walter de Lacy, Lord of Meath.On 2 May 1234 (Reading, Close, 18 Hen III, membrane 25) indicates that as Walter de Lacy was on the King’s service in Ireland, the Sheriff of Hereford was commanded to respite till the Quizaine of Michaelmas the plaint in his county by the King’s writ between Walter de Baskerville, complainant, and the said Walter deforcient, touching the daughters of Stephen Devereux.
Gilbert de Lacy also was involved in an ongoing dispute that began in 1221 with the Abbot of Saint Peter's in Gloucester over the appointment of a priest for the Church of Stoke Lacy. Following his father's death, William Devereux became embroiled in this controversy, and ultimately yielded the right to the Abbots in 1261 (45 Henry III).William Henry Hart. Historia et Cartularium Monasterii Sancti Petri Gloucestriæ, Vol. 2. (London: Public Record Office, 1865). Pages 287-289. This would later be confirmed by his son, William Devereux, Baron Devereux of Lyonshall, after his death.
His lands at Lower Hayton were held from him by Giles de Clifford, and Giles was in the service of Richard Marshal, 3rd Earl of Pembroke.H C Maxwell Lyte (editor). Calendar of Close Rolls, Henry III: Volume 2, 1231-1234. (London, 1905), pp. 330-348 accessed 16 February 2016. Following Marshal's death at the Battle of the Curragh in 1234 the King had Lower Hayton seized by the sheriff of Salop, and it was not returned to William Devereux's control until he came of age in 1240.
Principal landholdings As William Devereux came of age he directed his efforts at re-establishing control over his father's estates and his position as a powerful Marcher Lord. The Testa de Nevill showed him holding at least four and a half fees in Herefordshire, and a half fee at Lower Hayton, county Shropshire.Liber Feodorum. The Book of Fees Commonly Called Testa de Nevill, Reformed From the Earliest Mss. By The Deputy Keeper of the Records. Part 1, AD 1198 -1242. (London: Public Record Office, 1920). Pages 631-2 The center of his lordship was his castle at Lyonshall in Herefordshire. He possessed the manors of Ballingham, Frome Haymond (Halmond), Holme Lacy, Luntley, Lawton, Stoke Lacy, La Fenne (Bodenham), and Whitchurch maund in Herefordshire; Oxenhall and Guleing in Gloucestershire; Cheddrehole in Somersetshire; Lower Hayton in Shropshire; and Trumpeton (Trumpington) in Cambridgeshire. He held additional lands at Cattelegh (Cattelee), Clehonger, Heregast (Hergest Ridge), and Staunton-on Wye in Herefordshire; and Stanton in Worcestershire.
In 1237 William Devereux released the wardship and marriage of Robert de Barewe to Alice de Mynors.Collections Towards the History and Antiquities of the County of Hereford in continuation of Duncumb’s History. Hundred of Grimsworth. By William Henry Cooke. London: John Murray, Albemarle Street. 1892, Page 48, Grimsworth Hundred A proclamation was made about 29 Sep 1244 following the death of Robert de la Berwe that any Jew who had claim to the estate needed to come forward before 28 Nov 1244. On that day the sheriff indicated claims only from Sampson, son of Moses, and Meyr le Petiti. They were instructed to appear on 29 Jan 1245 to account with William Devereux, guardian of Robert's lands.James MacMullen Rigg, Sir Hilary Enkinson (editors). Calendar of the Plea Rolls of the Exchequer of the Jews Preserved in the Public Record Office, Volume 1, Henry III, AD 1218-1272. (London: MacMillan & Company, 1905). 1244-5, Pleas of Michaelmas Term, 28 & 29 Henry III On 20 April 1248 Richard of Juveny, steward of Richard de la Bere, submitted to the king's court a request to recover the lands of Richard de la Bere which are in the kings hands following a default on a plea of warranty against William Devereux.H C Maxwell Lyte. Calendar of Close Rolls, Henry III: Volume 6, 1247-1251. (London, 1922), pages 111-113 accessed 17 February 2016.
William Devereux brought an assize de morte d’ancestor in 1238 against Walter de la Hide for back rent in Hyde (part of Putley), Hereford. He withdrew his claim following the gift of a sparrowhawk.
About 1240 William was mentioned in Walter de Lacy's charter describing the grant of L30 rent in Holme Lacy (Herefordshire) and the village of Hay (Ireland) to Simon de CliffordSon of Walter II de Clifford for the manor of Yarkhill (Herefordshire).Holden Brock. "Lords of the Central Marches: English Aristocracy and Frontier Society, 1087–1265." (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008). Pages 78 Devereux also witnessed the grant of Katherine, daughter of Walter Lacy of Land in Cofhamprobably Corsham, County Wiltshire, or Corsham, county Hampshire to Acornbury Priory.John Caley, Henry Ellis, and Bulkeley Bandinel (editors). Monasticon Anglicanum, A History of the Abbies and other Monasteries, Hospitals, Frieries, and Cathedral and Collegiate Churches, Volume 6, Part 1. (London: Thomas Davison, 1830). Page 490 During Easter 1244 Margery, widow of Walter de Lacy, sued William Devereux for one third of 2 mills in Hereford, which she claimed as part of her dower.Curia Regis Rolls, volume XVIII, 1243-1245. (London: Boydell Press, 1999). Entry 447Curia Regis Rolls, volume XVIII, 1243-1245. (London: Boydell Press, 1999). Easter Term, 28 henry III (1244), Entry 1518Douglas L. Biggs, Katherine L. French, Linda E. Mitchell (editors). The Ties That Bind: Essays in Medieval British History in Honor of Barbara Hanawalt. (Farnham, UK: Ashgate, 1988) Page 57: Janet Loengard. What is a Nice (Thirteenth-Century) English Woman Doing in the King’s Courts?