John Knyvet (abt. 1358 - abt. 1418)

Born about 1358 in England

Ancestors

Husband of Joan (Botetourt) Knyvet — married before 1377 in England

Descendants

Died about 4 Dec 1418 at about age 60 in Mendlesham, Suffolk, England

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Biography

John Knyvet is Notable.

John Knyvet was born in England.

Birth and Parents

John Knyvet was the son of John Knyvet and Eleanor Basset. He was born in about 1358.^[1][2][3][4] His parents had lands in several counties ^[5][6] and his birth county is uncertain.

Marriage and Children

John married twice. His first wife was Joan Botetourt,^[3] daughter of John Botetourt and Katherine de Weyland.^[4][7] They wed before 1377.^[1][2] They had four children:

• John^[1][2][3][4]
• Margaret,^[4] who married Robert Teye, Thomas Marney and Thomas Echingham^[1][2][8]
• Katherine^[1][2]
• Elizabeth,^[4] who married John Radcliffe:^[2] she is not listed in the second edition of Douglas Richardson's Magna Carta Ancestry but is named in his later Royal Ancestry

Joan Botetourt died in about 1417.^[1][2]

John remarried, his second wife being also called Joan, but her family origins are not known.^[1][2][3]

Lands

John held lands in Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire, Northamptonshire and elsewhere. His first marriage brought him the manors of Hamerton, Huntingdonshire and Mendlesham, Suffolk,^[1][2] and Mendlesham became his main residence.^[3] In 1381, because of the difficulties caused by the Peasants' Revolt, Richard II allowed John to have possession of some of his father's lands before the normal processes were complete, but it was not until 1384 that John gained control of all these lands. In 1383 John and his brother Richard were ordered to be brought before the royal council for contempt. It is possible that this related to non-payment of monies demanded for the inheritance of his father's lands. The bulk of his inheritance came to him on the death of his mother in 1388.^[3]

In 1391 he and Sir John Aylesbury lodged a claim to the estates of a cousin, Ralph Basset of Weldon, Northamptonshire: it was found that Ralph had left a young son, Richard, who was a royal ward,^[1][2] and determination of the claim was postponed till Richard came of age.^[3][9] He and Sir John Aylesbury persisted in their case. In 1398 they claimed manors in Leicestershire and Staffordshire from Richard Basset, citing a fine of 1339,^{[1][2][10][11]} and petitioning king and parliament "a third time to do justice in the present term, as they have sued for two years and more on this."^[12] In the event, Richard Basset was murdered in 1400,^[13] and John then inherited the manor of Weldon, Northamptonshire,^[14] and several manors in Leicestershire.^[1][2]

In 1399-1400 Sir Hugh le Despenser granted John and Sir John Aylesbury manors in Buckinghamshire and Staffordshire.^[15]

Life

John's official positions included:

• Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk in 1391-2^{[1][2][3][16]}
• Sheriff of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire in 1392-3^[1][2]
• Justice of the Peace, Huntingdonshire, 1393-7^[3][17]
• Escheator for Norfolk and Suffolk, 1394-5^[3][18]
• Knight of the Shire for Huntingdonshire in 1397^[3]
• One of the collectors of taxes for Suffolk in various years in the first two decades of the 1400s: he successfully adjusted to the change of monarch from Richard II to Henry IV^[3]

In 1398 John and his first wife were granted permission to have a portable altar.^[1][2][19]

In 1402 John was sued by the executors of a priest called John Stacey for £85, suggesting that he was having some money difficulties.^[3]

Death

John died on 4 December 1418 at Mendlesham, Suffolk, where he was buried. His will was dated 4 December 1418^[1][2] and proved on 24 January 1418/9.^[20] His second wife survived him.^[1][2] A memorial of a knight in the church at Mendlesham is probably for him.^[21][22]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15} Douglas Richardson. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 4 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham, 2nd edition (Salt Lake City: the author, 2011), Vol. II, pp. 315-316, GURDON 8, Google Books
2. ↑ ^{2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16} Douglas Richardson. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), Vol. III, pp. 173-174, GURDON 13
3. ↑ ^{3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12} History of Parliament Online, entry for 'KNYVET, John (1358/9-1418), of Mendlesham, Suff.'
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4} Walter Rye (ed.). The Norfolk Antiquarian Miscellany, second series, part 3, Gibbs and waller (Norwich), 1908, 1651 Knyvett pedigree, pp. 83-85, Internet Archive
5. ↑ Douglas Richardson, Magna Carta Ancestry, Vol. II, pp.508-508. KNYVET 7, Google Books
6. ↑ Douglas Richardson, Royal Ancestry, Vol. III, p. 49, KNYVET 12
7. ↑ Francis Blomefield, 'Hundred of South Greenhoe: Oxburgh', in An Essay Towards A Topographical History of the County of Norfolk: Volume 6 (London, 1807), pp. 168-197, British History Online, accessed 25 November 2021
8. ↑ Benolte, Thomas; Philipot, John; & Owen, George. The Visitations of the County of Sussex: 1530 and 1633-4, Harleian Society, 1905. Vol LIII, p. 125, Internet Archive
9. ↑ 'Close Rolls, Richard II: July 1392', in Calendar of Close Rolls, Richard II: Volume 5, 1392-1396, ed. H C Maxwell Lyte (London, 1925), pp. 74-81, British History Online, accessed 25 November 2021
10. ↑ 'Close Rolls, Richard II: June-September 1398', in Calendar of Close Rolls, Richard II: Volume 6, 1396-1399, ed. A E Stamp (London, 1927), pp. 394-397, British History Online, accessed 25 November 2021
11. ↑ Extracts for the Plea Rolls of the Reigns of Richard II and Henry IV in 'Collections for a History of Staffordshire', Vol. XV, William Salt Archaeological Society, 1895, p. 73, Internet Archive
12. ↑ The National Archives, SC 8/88/4399, catalogue entry
13. ↑ soc. genealogy.medieval: 'C.P. Addition: Basset Family of Weldon: Murder in Whittlewood Forest', post by Douglas Richardson, 25 August 2005, web
14. ↑ G E Cokayne. Complete Peerage, new edition, Vol. II, St Catherine Press, 1912, pp. 12-13, Internet Archive
15. ↑ The National Archives, C 146/9900, catalogue entry
16. ↑ Calendar of the Patent Rolls, Henry IV, A.D. 1391-1396, HMSO, 1905, p. 19, Internet Archive
17. ↑ Calendar of the Patent Rolls, Henry IV, A.D. 1391-1396, p. 434, Internet Archive
18. ↑ 'Close Rolls, Richard II: October 1395', in Calendar of Close Rolls, Richard II: Volume 5, 1392-1396, ed. H C Maxwell Lyte (London, 1925), pp. 438-440, British History Online, accessed 25 November 2021
19. ↑ 'Lateran Regesta 58: 1397-1398', in Calendar of Papal Registers Relating To Great Britain and Ireland: Volume 5, 1398-1404, ed. W H Bliss and J A Twemlow (London, 1904), pp. 112-150, British History Online, accessed 25 November 2021
20. ↑ The National Archives, PROB 11/2B/191, catalogue entry
21. ↑ W A Copinger. The Manors of Suffolk, Vol. 3, privately printed, 1909, p. 279, Internet Archive
22. ↑ Notes on the early history of the Parish of Mendlesham, in 'Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History', Vol. V, Part 3, 1880, p. 260, PDF

See also:

• Wikipedia: John_Knyvet_(MP_for_Huntingdonshire)

• Wikidata: Item Q51861971, en:Wikipedia

Acknowledgements

Magna Carta Project

This profile was developed for the Magna Carta Project by Michael Cayley on 25 November 2021 and was reviewed 26 November 2021 by Thiessen-117.

John Knyvet is listed in Magna Carta Ancestry in a Richardson-documented trail from Gateway Ancestor Muriel Gurdon to Magna Carta Surety Baron William de Huntingfield (II:315-324 GURDON) that was badged by the Magna Carta Project on 26 November 2021. Profiles on the trail and their status can be seen in the Magna Carta Trails section of the Gateway's profile.

See Base Camp for more information about Magna Carta trails. See the project's glossary for project-specific terms, such as a "badged trail".