The De Bohun Dynasty: Power, Identity and Piety 1066-1399
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The de Bohun Dynasty: Power, Identity and Piety 1066-1399 Lucia Diaz Pascual Royal Holloway, University of London PHD 1 Declaration of Authorship I Lucia D. Pascual hereby declare that this thesis and the work presented in it is entirely my own. Where I have consulted the work of others, this is always clearly stated. Signed: ______________________ Date: ________________________ 2 Abstract This thesis uses the existing evidence relating to the de Bohun family, earls of Hereford and Essex, to examine the importance of family lineage and pious practices among the nobility of thirteenth and fourteenth century England. Primary sources relating to the family include several wills, inventories, marriage contracts, and fragments of accounts, as well as thousands of records relating to royal administration. The thesis analyses the existing evidence for the family over several generations, starting at the time the first Humphrey de Bohun arrived in England in 1066 with William the Conqueror and ending with the death of the family’s last co-heiress, Eleanor de Bohun, in 1399. First, it explores the royal service, marital alliances and extraneous, often fortuitous, circumstances that led to the de Bohuns’ accumulation of titles and lands over three and a half centuries. Second, it focuses on the development of the concept of lineage and family identity as a means of distinguishing the family as members of a magnate class and ensuring family memory. It examines the definition of family by analysing who family members were responsible for within the direct, patriarchal line, as well as the broader relationships with family members outside the main line. Third, the thesis analyses the use of heraldry in manuscripts and the names given to children to ensure family memory. Finally, the thesis examines the evidence of wills and religious and administrative records to gain insight into the piety exercised by members of the de Bohun family as a means of justifying their noble status and obtaining divine protection for themselves and their family in life and after their death. 3 Table of Contents Introduction 7 1. The Creation of a Dynasty: How the de Bohuns Achieved Magnate Status 24 A. The Rise to Power 26 a. 1066-1298 26 b. 1298-1399 39 B. Chivalric Symbols: The de Bohun Coat of Arms and the Swan 53 a. The de Bohun Coat of Arms 53 b. The Swan 59 2. The Definition of a Dynasty: Family and Identity 67 A. Relationships and Responsibility within the Family Unit 72 a. Land Grants and Will Bequests 72 b. Foundation Charters 87 c. Other Evidence of Family Relationships 92 B. Self-Image and Identity 101 a. Personal Identity: Seals 102 i. The Seals of the Principal Members of the de Bohun Family 102 ii. The Seals of Lateral Members of the de Bohun Family 123 b. Burials 125 c. Burial Monuments 126 C. The de Bohun Descendants: Pride of Lineage 134 a. Thomas of Woodstock 134 i. Thomas’ Seals 135 ii. Thomas’ Brass 140 b. Thomas and Eleanor’s Descendants 142 c. Mary’s Descendants 145 4 3. The Preservation of Dynastic Memory: Manuscripts and Names 150 A. The Manuscripts of the de Bohun Family 152 a. The Earlier Manuscripts 158 i. The Longleat Breviary 159 ii. The Vienna, Exeter and Egerton Psalters 161 b. The Later Manuscripts 166 i. The Fitzwilliam and Bodleian Psalters 173 ii. The Lichtenthal Psalter, the Pommersfelden fragment and the Copenhagen Manuscripts 178 c. Royal MS 20.D.iv 183 d. Thomas of Woodstock and the de Bohun Manuscripts 184 B. Names 186 4. Divine Intervention: the Piety of the de Bohun Family 192 A. Crusading, Pilgrimage and Religious Patronage 195 a. Crusading and Pilgrimage 195 b. Religious Patronage 198 i. Walden Abbey and Llanthony Priory 198 ii. The College of Pleshey 201 c. The de Bohuns and the Cult of the Trinity 204 B. The Personal Piety of Members of the de Bohun Family 207 a. Humphrey VII (d. 1322) 207 b. Humphrey VII’s Children 212 i. Humphrey VIII (d. 1361) 212 ii. Margaret de Bohun, countess of Devon (d. 1391) 227 c. Eleanor de Bohun (d. 1399) 234 Conclusion 246 Bibliography 247 Appendices 269 5 Appendices Appendix A The Family Tree of the de Bohun Family Appendix B Sword Hilt and Heraldic Device with de Bohun coat of arms Appendix C Will Bequests in the de Bohun Family Appendix D Seals of the de Bohun Family Appendix E Seal of Eleanor de Bohun, duchess of Gloucester Appendix F Burial Places of the de Bohun, Mandeville, and Gloucester families Appendix G Reproduction of Eleanor de Bohun’s Brass in Westminster Abbey Appendix H Seals of Thomas of Woodstock Appendix I Seals of Humphrey VII and Thomas of Woodstock Appendix J Reproduction of Thomas of Woodstock’s lost brass Appendix K Seals of Pleshey College Appendix L List of Existing de Bohun Manuscripts and their Heraldry 6 Introduction Ever since humans developed an objective understanding of themselves as mortal beings, they must have sought to establish a sense of identity and desired some form of immortal life. This need has been expressed in different ways throughout history, depending on such varied elements as social development, scientific discovery, race, nationality and culture. This thesis is an attempt to throw light on this aspect of human emotion among the members of the nobility in post- conquest medieval England. To do so, it analyses the existing evidence relating to one of the longest living magnate families of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries: the de Bohun family, earls of Hereford and Essex. The Norman invasion of England in 1066 marked the beginning of a new era for the English nobility. The Norman men who accompanied William across the sea brought with them a new concept of knighthood: a mobile group of full-time cavalrymen defined by their military skills and employed to defend their lords’ interests.1 Although at first they did not form a cohesive social group, during the course of the twelfth century knighthood came to be associated with nobility.2 This important development, accompanied by an increase in the level of literacy and symbolism, triggered a social transformation centering around a new consciousness of what it meant to be noble. Those members of the nobility who had considered themselves to be above knights, sought to distinguish themselves from them. They became more self-conscious of their noble identity.3 As a result, during the thirteenth century the concept of family lineage grew in importance 1 David Crouch, The English Aristocracy 1070-1272: A Social Transformation (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2011), pp. 3-5. 2 According to Crouch, in England this change was at least in part a result of the knight’s adoption of chivalry, an ethical code of conduct based on the previously existing ideals of noble conduct, and of England’s pre-Conquest division into shires, where knights became men of importance. The subject is discussed in Crouch, The English Aristocracy; and David Crouch, The Birth of Nobility: Constructing Aristocracy in England and France 900-1300 (London: Routledge, 2014), passim. 3 Crouch asserts that this change was not exclusive to England. It was a universal transition throughout north-western Europe. 7 and became one of the defining characteristics of what it meant to be noble. On a practical level, lineage provided a basis for legal claims of lands, titles and wealth. Yet it also brought honour and status, as blood became associated with the heroic deeds of ancestors. From here, it was only a small step to the mythologisation of a family’s origins, the development of heraldry, and the creation of funeral monuments and other physical representations of family memory. In this climate, it is not surprising to find that magnates placed great emphasis on the creation of strong family dynasties, often at the expense of individual desires or preferences. The preservation of the family name, as well as its lands and possessions, became of paramount importance. Each member of the family was expected to live up to the duties and responsibilities that came with noble blood, to protect other family members, and to contribute to the present and future glory of his or her family. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, this commitment to the family existed in two different forms. On one level the family existed in a patrilineal line, with duties of responsibility and the inheritance of lands and wealth flowing from father to children in a continuous vertical descent. However, there also existed ties of ‘kinship’ among family members, where lateral branches of the family supported each other and often obtained personal advancement in return. The commitment to the family also had a spiritual aspect. Most men and women believed in the Christian idea that God was an omnipotent presence that had created men in his image and ruled over them from his kingdom of heaven. Consequently, God could determine the outcome of their earthly lives, helping them or hindering them as it saw fit, and ultimately offering each deserving human the possibility of ascending to heaven. In this view of the world, piety was the currency through which men and women could gain spiritual favor for themselves and other members of their dynasty. God could protect them in times of turbulence, ensure fertility for the continuation of their line, and allow them to live in eternal comfort, but he exacted a price. Piety also provided a means by which noble magnates and their families could justify their privileges on earth. In a society that believed all men were created equal under the eyes of God, magnate 8 families needed to obtain validation for their special status.