Hubert (Burgh) de Burgh (abt. 1169 - 1243)

Born about 1169 in Burgh-next-Aylsham, Norfolk, England

Husband of Isabella FitzWilliam — married about Oct 1217 in England

Husband of Margaret (Dunkeld) de Burgh Countess of Kent — married about Jun 1221 in York, Yorkshire, England

Descendants

Died 5 May 1243 at about age 74 in Banstead, Surrey, England

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Illustrious Men Hubert de Burgh was one of 16 Illustrious Men, counselors to King John, who were listed in the preamble to Magna Carta. Join: Magna Carta Project Discuss: magna_carta

Biography

Hubert was a Magna Carta Illustrious Man and Justiciar of England.

Birth, Parentage and Siblings

Hubert came from a family of minor landowners in East Anglia.^[1] His father is unknown (see Research Notes). His mother was called Alice, and was buried at Walsingham, Norfolk^[1]: in about 1230 he made a gift to the Prior of Walsingham "for the soul of my mother Alice who rests in the church at Walsingham."^[2][3] Hubert's birthdate is uncertain but may have been about 1170. Some of the lands he inherited lay in Norfolk^[1] and he may have been born in that county.

Hubert was the younger brother of William de Burgh who became Lord of Connacht and died in 1206.^[1] There were two other brothers younger than himself:

• Geoffrey, who became Archdeacon of Norwich and Bishop of Ely^[1]
• Thomas, who was castellan on Norwich in 1215/6^[1]

Marriages and Children

In 1200 Hubert sought to have a marriage with Joan De Vernon, youngest daughter of William de Vernon, Earl of Devon. The dowry would have been the Isle of Wight and Christchurch, Hampshire. But the agreement was cancelled after William de Vernon's wife bore a son.^[1]

In due course Hubert married three times. His first wife, whom he married in 1209, was Beatrice de Warenne, widow of Doun Bardolf. She had inherited the barony of Wormegay.^[1][4][5] They had at least one child:

• John^[1][6][7]

Beatrice died before 18 December 1214.^[1][4]

In 1217 Hubert married Isabella, Countess of Gloucester, divorced wife of King John and widow of Geoffrey de Mandeville, Earl of Essex.^[1][4] She died on 14 October 1217, within days of their wedding.^[1][4]

In 1221 Hubert married Margaret, sister of Alexander, King of Scotland, in York.^[1][4][8][9] They had at least one child:

• Megotta or Margaret^[7][10]

Royal Service

Hubert entered royal service by 1198, when he became Chamberlain to the future King John, a post he held until 1205.^[1][4] He was rewarded him with substantial grants of lands, wardships and offices.^[1][4] He became a major landowner: in 1212/3 Hubert was listed as holding 50 knights' fees across East Anglia and much of the southern half of England.^[1][4]

Among the offices he held in his lifetime were those of Constable of a number of major castles and being Sheriff of:

• Sheriff of Hereford, 1200-1203^[4]
• Sheriff of Somerset and Dorset, 1200-1203^[1][4]
• Sheriff of Cornwall, 1202^[1][4]
• Sheriff of Berkshire, 1202-1203^[1][4]
• Sheriff of Lincoln, 1208-1212^[4]
• Sheriff of Surrey, 1215^[4]
• Sheriff of Kent, 1215-1226^[4]
• Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk, 1215 and 1217-1225^[4]
• Sheriff of Westmorland, 1228-1234^[4]

In 1201 Hubert was appointed Warden of both the Cinque Ports and of the Welsh Marches.^[4]

In 1202 Hubert was sent on an Embassy to Portugal to try and negotiate a marriage between King John and the Portuguese king's daughter, but King John's marriage to Isabel of Angoulême meant that tis came to nothing.^[1][4]

In 1204 Hubert defended Chinon against the French, but after a year-long siege was wounded and captured when he attempted to break out.^[1][4] Whole he was a prisoner, most of his offices passed to others.^[1][4] He was ransomed in 1207, with royal coffers contributing to the cost.^[1]

From the summer of 1213 to January 1214/5 Hubert was Seneschal of Poitou.^[1][4] In 1214 he witnessed the truce agreed after the French victory in the Battle of Bouvines.^[1]

Justiciar and Illustrious Man

In 1215 he was appointed Justiciar of England, a post he held until 1232.^[1][4] He was one of the Illustrious Men who are listed as counsellors of King John in the preamble to the Magna Carta.^[1][4][11] He stayed loyal to King John during the subsequent baronial rebellion and invasion by Prince Louis of France, and, following John's death, he probably played a key role in the 1217 naval Battle of Sandwich in which the French were defeated.^[1][4] That year he was made Warden of the Royal Mint.^[4]

Two years later, in 1219, after the death of William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, he consolidated his hold on the government of England by seeing off an attempt by Peter des Roches and others to gain control of the main offices of state.^[4] He maintained his position against several other attempts to reduce his influence.^[4] On 19 February 1226/7 he was given the rank of Earl of Kent.^[4] In 1228 he was made Justiciar for life.^[4]

The next year there was temporary difficulty between Henry III and Hubert, following the failure to secure transport for an army intended for an expedition to Normandy.^[1][4] This was soon patched up, and Hubert was given the barony of Knaresborough in October 1229.^[4][12]

In June 1232 Hubert became Justiciar of Ireland and custodian for life of the Tower of London and other castles: but in the event this was only for a few weeks.^[1]

Fall from Power

On 29 July 1232 he was deprived of the Justiciarship, and the next month was ordered to surrender all his castles.^[1][4] Peter de Rivallis/Rivaux, a close relative of Hubert's enemy Peter des Roches, effectively succeeded him in the royal administration.^[1] Hubert fled but was seized from sanctuary in a chapel, and taken captive to the Tower of London.^[4] Under threat of excommunication by the Bishop of London, his captors returned him to sanctuary, only for him to surrender shortly after and be returned to the Tower.^[1][4] He was deprived of the Earldom of Kent, and in December 1232 his deposits at the Temple in London were seized, though he was allowed to keep some lands and provision was made for his third wife, Margaret, who had also sought sanctuary.^[4] (Hubert had, like many nobles, evidently used the Templars as his bankers - he appears also to have owed them money as in 1233 the Master of the Templars was allowed to discuss debts with him in the presence of guards.^[13]) Hubert was moved to the Caste of Devizes.^[1][4] He feared for his life and managed to escape to sanctuary, only to be forcibly seized. When he was again forcibly removed, the Bishop of Salisbury excommunicated his captors, and he was returned once more to sanctuary. Henry III gave orders that he be starved out.^[4] Gilbert Basset and others rescued him.^[1][4]

Final Years

In the spring of 1234 Peter de Rivallis fell from power and Hubert received a royal pardon.^[1][4] His lands and earldom were restored, but he took no significant part on government affairs for the rest of his life. Further difficulties with Henry III led to his having temporarily to give up four castles in 1239.^[4]

Lands

Hubert's first wife brought him the barony of Wormegay, Norfolk^[5] In 1215 he was granted the probable barony of Rayleigh, Essex, which he held until his 1232 fall from power.^[14] In 1217 he was granted "during royal pleasure" lands associated with the probable barony of Hastings, Sussex.^[15]

In 1229 Hubert was granted the castle and honour of Knaresborough, Yorkshire. This was restored to Brian de Insula in 1232.^[12]

In 1232 Hubert was recorded as having lands "of his heredity" at Burgh, Beeston and South Erpingham, Norfolk and Sotherton, Suffolk.^[1]

Death

Hubert died on 12 May 1243 at Banstead, Surrey, and was buried in the house of the Blackfriars, Westminster.^[1][4] His third wife survived him and died in 1259.^[1][4]

His son John did not become Earl of Kent as the inheritance of the Earldom was restricted to descendants of Hubert and his third wife, possibly because Henry III granted the title on account of Hubert marrying a Scottish princess.^[1][16][17]

Research Notes

Father

As stated above, Hubert's father is unknown. There is a discussion in the Complete Peerage.^[3] People who have been suggested as his father include:

• a brother of William fitz Aldhelm, steward of Henry II.^[1][3][18] This is incorrect^[1] and J H Round discussed the fanciful genealogies associated with fits Aldhelm in his book Feudal England.^[19] Round has shown that William fitz Aldhelm had lands in Yorkshire; Hubert de Burgh inherited lands in Norfolk and Suffolk.^[1][20]
• Walter, whose daughter Adelina and Adelina's son William are recorded in the Pipe Rolls as owing 40 marks in 1179/80: the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography described it as doubtful that Walter was Hubert's father.^[1]
• Reyner de Burgh, Hubert's mother being Joan daughter of William Ponchard: a suggestion made on Blomfield's An Essay towards a Topographical History of Norfolk.^[21] No evidence is given for this, and Hubert's mother is known to have been called Alice.^[2][3]
• William de Burgh, mentioned in an 1199 lawsuit about the church of Colby near Aylsham in Norfolk. S H F Johnston regards this as possible, but states that there is no clear evidence for the relationship.^[20]
• John de Burgh of Norfolk, who is said in a Boswell family history of 1906 to have married a daughter of William de Bosville and by her had a son Hubert de Burgh, who was King's Chamberlain, afterwards Earl of Kent.^[22] No evidence appears to be given to support this. A charter of about 1201 confirms the gift to Castle Acre of the church of Newton All Saints given by his "antecessor" William de Boseville. William may have been an ancestor of Hubert's wife rather than of Hubert himself.^[3]

In Royal Ancestry, Douglas Richardson gives Walter de Burgh of Burgh near Aylsham, Norfolk as his father, but marks this as uncertain.^[23]

Date of Third Marriage

Cokayne^[4] and the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography entry for Hubert^[1] give the date of his third marriage, to Margaret, Princess of Scotland, as June 1221. The ODNB's entry for Margaret herself gives a date of 3 October 1221.^[10]

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 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.24 1.25 1.26 1.27 1.28 1.29 1.30 1.31 1.32 1.33 1.34 1.35 1.36 1.37 1.38 1.39 1.40 1.41 1.42 1.43 1.44} F. J. West, ‘Burgh, Hubert de, earl of Kent (c.1170–1243)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, revised online 2008, available online via some libraries
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} BL, Cotton MS Nero E.vii, fol. 91, cited in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography entry for Hubert de Burgh
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4} G E Cokayne. Complete Peerage, revised edition, Vol. VII, St Catherine Press 1929, p. 133, footnote a
4. ↑ ^{4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 4.16 4.17 4.18 4.19 4.20 4.21 4.22 4.23 4.24 4.25 4.26 4.27 4.28 4.29 4.30 4.31 4.32 4.33 4.34 4.35 4.36 4.37 4.38 4.39 4.40 4.41 4.42 4.43} G E Cokayne. The Complete Peerage, revised edition, Vol. VII, pp.133-142
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} I J Sanders. English Baronies. A Study of their Origin and Descent 1086-1327, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1960, p. 101
6. ↑ 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, p. 576, Google Books. See also WikiTree's source page for ‘’Magna Carta Ancestry.’’
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} G E Cokayne. The Complete Peerage, revised edition, Vol. VII, p. 142, footnote a
8. ↑ Stevenson, J. (ed). Chronica de Mailros. Edinburgh: the Societatis Edinburgensis (1835), ["...Eodem anno tradita est domina Margareta, filia pie recordationis Willelmi regis Scotie, et soror domini Alexandre regis, domino Huberto de Burc, justiciario Anglie, scilicet et Scotie..."], p. 138.
9. ↑ Turnbull, William. Extracta e variis Cronicis Scocie. Edinburgh: Edinburgh Printing Co. (1842), ["Humbertus de Burgo, justiciarius Anglie, disponsauit Margaretam sororem regis Alexandri apud Londone, anno predicto."], p. 92.
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1} Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry for 'Margaret, countess of Kent (1187x95–1259)', print and online 2004, available online via some libraries
11. ↑ Douglas Richardson, Magna Carta Ancestry, Vol. I, p. x
12. ↑ ^{12.0 12.1} I J Sanders, English Baronies, p. 59
13. ↑ Eleanor Ferris. The Financial Relations of Knights Templars to English Crown, The American Historical Review, Oct. 1902, Vol. 8, No. 1, p. 14, Hathi Trust)
14. ↑ I J Sanders, English Baronies, p. 139
15. ↑ I J Sanders, English Baronies, p. 120
16. ↑ Susanna Annesley, "The Countess and the Constable: An exploration of the conflict that arose between Margaret de Burgh and Bertram de Criel", Henry III Fine Rolls Project, 2015: The National Archives and King's College London, http://www.finerollshenry3.org.uk/content/month/fm-07-2008.html, accessed 21 December 2015, citing (Calendar of Charter Rolls 1226-57, p. 13).
17. ↑ S H F Johnston. "The Lands of Hubert De Burgh" in The English Historical Review, Vol. 50 (No. 199), Oxford University Press, 1935, available via JSTOR through some libraries and other institutions, accessed 7 November 2019: p 430
18. ↑ Dugdale, William. Baronage of England (1675), i. 693, citing the authority of the herald Glover
19. ↑ J H Round, Feudal England, Swan, Schonnensein & Co, London, 1895, pp. 516-518, Internet Archive
20. ↑ ^{20.0 20.1} S H F Johnston. The Lands of Hubert De Burgh, p. 420
21. ↑ Blomfield. An Essay towards a Topographical History of Norfolk, Vol. X,London, 1809, p. 265
22. ↑ John Jasoer Boswell. The History and Genealogical Tables of the Boswells Pt 1, 1906, p. 23
23. ↑ Douglas Richardson. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), Vol. II, pp. 247-248, BARDOLF 8

• Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham. Salt Lake City: the author, 2013. See also WikiTree's source page for ‘’Royal Ancestry’’:
  • Vol. I p. 247-251
  • Vol. IV. page 584
• Cokayne, G E. The Complete Peerage, revised edition, Vol. VII, St Catherine Press 1929, pp.133-142
• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, entry for 'Burgh, Hubert de, earl of Kent (c. 1170–1243)', 2004, revised online 2008, available online via some libraries
• Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, entry for 'Burgh, Hubert de', Wikisource
• Johnston, S H F. "The Lands of Hubert De Burgh". The English Historical Review, Vol. 50 (No. 199), Oxford University Press, 1935, pp 418-32, available via JSTOR through some libraries and other institutions, accessed 7 November 2019
• Wikipedia: Hubert de Burgh, 1st Earl of Kent
• Our Royal, Titled, Noble and Commoner Ancestors & Cousins database online, compiled by Mr. Marlyn Lewis, Hubert de Burgh, Earl of Kent
• H. de Burgo, justiciario '1224, membranes 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1', in Calendar of Patent Rolls, Henry III: Volume 1, 1216-1225, ed. H C Maxwell Lyte (London, 1901), pp. 449-479. British History Online [1] [accessed 22 June 2020].
• For additional information about early baronies, see the top-level category page Early English Feudal Baronies. Individual category pages (links below) should include information specific to the category.