William (Bohun) de Bohun KG (1312 - 1360)

Born 1312 in Caldicot Castle, Monmouthshire, Wales

Ancestors

Husband of Elizabeth (Badlesmere) de Bohun — married about 1335 in England

Descendants

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Biography

William (Bohun) de Bohun KG is a member of the House of Bohun.

William de Bohun, K.G.^[1]

Birth

William de Bohun was born in about 1312, twin brother of Edward and son of Humphrey de Bohun and Elizabeth of England, daughter of Edward I,^[2] at Caldicot Castle, now in Monmouthshire, Wales.^[3]

Early career

William was closely associated with King Edward III from the early years of Edward's reign until his (William's) death. In 1330 he helped the king seize and arrest Roger Mortimer, Earl of March, who up till then had been de facto in control of government.^[4][5]

In the 1330s he fought in Scotland, and in 1336 was one of those commissioned to negotiate a truce between England and Scotland.^[4][5]

Marriage

In late 1335 - a papal dispensation, because of affinity^[6][7], was dated 13 November 1335 - he married Elizabeth de Badlesmere, widow of Edmund de Mortimer, daughter of Bartholomew de Badlesmere, Knt.^[1][8][5][9] They had two children^[1][9]:

• Humphrey, born 25 March 1341/2, married Joan Arundel^[2]
• Elizabeth,^[1] born about 1350^{[citation needed]}, married Richard de Arundel, K.G.^[10]

Subsequent career

On 16 March 1336/7 he was given the title of Earl of Northampton.^[1][4][5] He was granted annuities from customs revenues to supplement revenue from estates, in order to ensure his income was sufficient to maintain the status of an earl.^[4][5] In 1338 he became Constable of England for life.^[1][5]

He was involved in talks with the French in 1337, and subsequently with potential allies for war against France. He took part in fighting in the early part of the Hundred Years' War, taking a leading part in the English naval victory at Sluys in 1340 and campaigns in France that followed. In 1340 he was briefly held in Flanders as hostage for Edward III's debts, but managed to flee from Ghent to England with the king.^[4][5]

In 1341, when there were difficulties between Edward III and Archbishop John Stratford, who had been King Edward's Chancellor, he represented the king in discussions with the Archbishop and was one of the lords who heard charges against him.^[4]

In the 1340s he took part in fighting in Brittany, Scotland and France, including the Battle of Crécy in 1346 and the Siege of Calais.^[1][4][5]

He was made a Knight of the Garter in 1349, when a vacancy arose.^[4][5]

In 1351 he was appointed Warden of the Scottish Marches and Admiral of the North.^[1][4]

In 1359/60 he was back fighting in France, and he was a witness to the Treaty of Brétigny on 8 May 1360.^[4][5]

Death and burial

William died on 16 September 1360^[1], a date proven by an Inquisition Post Mortem.^[3] He was buried at Walden Abbey, Essex.^{[1][3][5][11]}

The Inquisition of William de Bohun Earl of Northampton took place in October 1360 through to January 1360/1361. He was seised of lands in Kent, Surrey, Nottinghamshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Essex, Suffolk, Rutland, Lincoln, Buckinghamshire and Shropshire. There was some variation regarding the date of his death, one of those dates being 16 Sep 1360. His heir was his son Humphrey de Bohun of age variously given as 18 to 20.^[12]

Research Notes

The 1846 revised edition of Monasticon Anglicanum, in its pages on the Abbey of Llanthony, incorrectly gives William's death date as 1450.^[9]

On 13 August 2014 Season 5 Episode 4 of the US version of the TV programme Who Do You Think You Are? discussed the descent of the actress Valerie Bertinelli from William de Bohun.^[13]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9} 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), volume I, pages 243-245 BOHUN 6.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Richardson, Magna Carta Ancestry, I:225-247 BOHUN.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} Brad Verity. The Children of Elizabeth, Countess of Hereford, Daughter-In-Law of Edward I of England, Foundations (Journal of the Foundation for Medieval Genealogy) vol. 6, 2006, p.8.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9} Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: Bohun, William de, first earl of Northampton, 2004, revised online 2008.
5. ↑ ^{5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10} G E Cokayne. Complete Peerage, revised and enlarged, Vol. IX, St Catherine Press 1936, pp. 664-667: BOHUN VI.
6. ↑ William de Bohun and Edmund de Mortimer (her first husband) "being related in the 4th degree of kindred" (Richardson, Magna Carta Ancestry, I:244 BOHUN 6).
7. ↑ 'Regesta 120: 1335', in Calendar of Papal Registers Relating To Great Britain and Ireland: Volume 2, 1305-1342, ed. W H Bliss (London, 1895), pp. 523-529. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-papal-registers/brit-ie/vol2/pp523-529 [accessed 5 September 2019].
8. ↑ Richardson, Magna Carta Ancestry, III:192 MORTIMER 7.
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1 9.2} William Dugdale. Monasticon Anglicanum, new and enlarged edition, Vol. VI, pub. James Bohn 1846, p.135, Internet Archive.
10. ↑ Richardson, Magna Carta Ancestry, II:190-191 FITZ ALAN 7.
11. ↑ Monasticon Anglicanum. By Sir William Dugdale, Knight. Vol. 4. London. New Edition 1846, p141. Walden Abbey. [1]
12. ↑ A. E. Stamp, E. Salisbury, E. G. Atkinson and J. J. O'Reilly, 'Inquisitions Post Mortem, Edward III, File 153', in Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem: Volume 10, Edward III (London, 1921), pp. 513-530. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/inquis-post-mortem/vol10/pp513-530 [accessed 31 August 2019]. Item 639.
13. ↑ Episode on youtube, accessed 21 April 2019.

• 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. Additional Royal Ancestry citations (originally from Lewis):
  • Vol. I, pp 424-5
  • Vol. IV, pp 172 and 188
• Richardson, Douglas. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 4 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham. 2nd edition. Salt Lake City: the author, 2011. See also WikiTree's source page for Magna Carta Ancestry.
• Cokayne, G E. Complete Peerage, revised and enlarged, Vol. IX, St Catherine Press 1936, pp. 664-667: BOHUN VI
• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: Bohun, William de, first earl of Northampton (published 2004, revised online 2008, available online via some libraries)
• Dugdale, William, Monasticon Anglicanum, new and enlarged edition, Vol. VI, pub. James Bohn 1846
• Wikipedia: William de Bohun, 1st Earl of Northampton
• Beltz, George. Memorials of the Order of the Garter (William Pickering, London, 1841) Page 101-3

See also:

• Lewis, Marlyn. Sir William de Bohun, 1st Earl Northampton, Constable of England, Admiral of the North, entry in "Our Royal, Titled, Noble, and Commoner Ancestors and Cousins" database (accessed 11 May 2019). Note: Listed under "Reliable Sources with Conditions" (see the Magna Carta Project's Reliable Sources page).

Acknowledgements

Magna Carta Project

William (Bohun) de Bohun KG is a descendant of Magna Carta Surety Baron Henry de Bohun, appearing in trails badged by the Magna Carta Project to the following Gateway Ancestors:

• Mary Bourchier (MCA I:277-291 BOURCHIER): badged 5 July 2019. See the trail HERE.
• Coytemore Gateways (Elizabeth and Thomas): badged in 2019. See the trails HERE.
• John Fisher: badged in 2015 and re-reviewed in April 2020. See the trail HERE.
• Thomas Lloyd: badged 31 December 2021. See the profiles HERE.
• Manwaring Gateways (Oliver and Mary): badged, re-reviewed in February 2024. See the trails HERE.
• Richard Palgrave: trails badged 19 March 2021. See them HERE.

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