Complete Peerage states, [1]
Ela (or Isabel), only da. and h.(ftn. e) [of William (of Salisbury, also syled FitzPatrick), Earl of Wiltshire, styled always Earl Of Salisbury], b. circa 1191, in 1196 was given by Richard I, with the Earldom of Salisbury, to his bastard br., William Longespee.(ftn. f) He [William Longespee] was with Richard I in Normandy 1196-98;(ftn. g) and was present at John's Coronation, 27 May 1199.(ftn. h) Sheriff of Wilts, Midsummer 1199-1202; 1203—1207; 1213 till his death. In 1202 he went on a diplomatic mission to France; in 1203 he was keeper of the castle of Avranches; in 1204, with the Earl Marshal, he escorted Llewelyn to the King at Worcester.(ftn. i) Keeper of the castle and honor of Eye, 1205;(ftn. j) in which year he led a small band of knights to Rochelle.(ftn. k) He was of the escort of William the Lion, King of Scots, to meet John at York, Nov. 1206.(ftn. l) In 1208, when the King anticipated the Interdict by several orders regarding monks and clergy who refused to celebrate divine service, those of the diocese of Ely were put under the direction of the Earl of Salisbury.(ftn. m)
(e) Rot. Lit. Claus., vol. i, pp. 105, 285.
(f) Hoveden, vol. iv, p. 13. The legend that he was s. of Henry II by Fair Rosamond is discussed by Hunt in the Dict. Nat. Biog. In the fiscal year 1196-97 he received the 3rd penny of Wilts by the King's writ.
(g) Cart, of Old Walden Abbey (Beds Hist. Rec. Soc), p. 327 ; Itin. Ric. I, passim.
(h) Hoveden, vol. iv, p. 90; during the reign, till Midsummer 121 6, he seems to have been constantly with the King (see Rot. Chartarum and Carta Antiqua, Pipe Roll Soc, for the charters issued in his presence) or occupied with the King's business.
(i) Rot. Lit. Rat., pp. 11, 30, 44.
(j) Idem, p. 50; and again in 121 3 (Idem, p. 105).
(k) The only men to go overseas of the great force collected by John for recovery of his lost continental dominions (Rot. Lit. Claus., vol. i, p. 37 ; Coggeshall, Chron., Rolls Ser., vol. ii, p. 154).
(l) Rot. Lit. Pat., p. 56.
(m) Idem, p. 80. Wendover includes the Earl among the King's evil counsellors during the Interdict (Flares Historiarum, Rolls Ser., vol. ii, p. 59).He headed an Embassy in Mar. 1209 to the prelates and princes of Germany, on behalf of the King's nephew Otto; in Dec. he was app. Keeper of the March of Wales.(ftn. a) He attended John on his expedition to Ireland, 1210.(ftn. b) From May 1212 to Mar. 1215/6 sheriff of Cambs and Hunts; sometime (certainly in 1212-13, when invasion from France threatened) Keeper of Dover Castle; in Aug. 1212, supervisor of the keeper of the Archbishopric of Canterbury.(ftn. c) He was one of the 4 Earls who, at Dover in May 1213, swore that John would observe the terms laid down by the Pope for satisfaction of the bishops, and witnessed his declaration of homage to the Papal see.(ftn. d) He was then preparing an expedition, of which he was joint commander, to help the Count of Flanders against France.(ftn. e) In June he went overseas again in the same cause, with a credit of over 20,000 marks.(ftn. f) In 1214, as Marshal of the King of England, he commanded combined forces which recovered almost all Flanders for the Count;(ftn. g) but on 27 July the Earl and the Counts of Flanders and Boulogne were captured at the battle of Bouvines.(ftn. h) In May 1215 he was one of the 3 Earls app. to visit and examine the state of the royal castles, and a messenger from the King to the City of London;(ftn. i) and he was at Runnymede in June, on the King's side.(ftn. j) Later in the year, with Falkes de Breaute, the Earl led a punitive expedition into the eastern counties.(ftn. k) He remained a zealous loyalist till after mid-June 1216;(ftn. l) but, presumably before the end of the month, when Louis
(a) Rot. Lit. Pat., pp. 91, 88.
(b) Rot. de Liberate &c., pp. 176 et seq.
(c) Rot. Lit. Pat., p. 92; Rot. Lit. Claus., vol. ii, p. 4; Cole's Documents, pp. 237, 238, 241, 247.
(d) Fadera, vol. i, pp. 1 1 1, 1 12; Walter of Coventry, Rolls Ser., vol. ii, p. 210. The homage was repeated at St. Paul's in Oct., the Earl again being a witness (Fadera, vol. i,p. 115).
(e) Rot. Lit. Pat., p. 99. They sailed to the port called Swine by M. Paris, vol. ii, p. 549, but Dam in the Hisioire de G. le Markhal, 1. 14620 et seq., where they found the harbour full of French ships, from which the troops had landed. They took prizes, fired the rest of the ships, and returned to England (Wendover, vol. ii, p. 78).
(f) Rot. Lit. Pat., p. loi ; Coggeshall, vol. ii, p. 168; Hist, des Dues de Normandie (Soc. de I'Hist. de France), p. 130 et seq.
(g) Wendover, vol. ii, p. 105; Coventry, vol. ii, p. 215.
(h) Hist, de G. le Markhal, 1. 1 469 1 et seq. ; Coggeshall (who says 20 July), vol. ii, p. 169; Coventry, vol. ii, p. 216; Wendover, pp. 106—09. The last relates that all three were thrown into prison in chains. His release was being negotiated in Feb. 12 14/5; he was exchanged for Robert, s. of Robert, Count of Dreux, and was in England in May (Walsingham, Ypodigma Neustria, Rolls Ser., p. 33; Rot. Lit. Pat., pp. 129, 135, 136, 140).
(i) Idem, pp. 135-37, 140, 156; Coggeshall, vol. ii, p. 171.
(j) Wendover, vol. ii, p. 119. He is named in Magna Carta as one of the Council by whose advice it was granted [Feedera, vol. i, p. 131).
(k) Coggeshall, vol. ii, pp. 177, 178; Wendover, vol. ii, pp. 161-63, 171, 172.
(l) When an order was made to receive the Countess and her children into Devizes Castle. On the 18th the King sent a message to the Earl about the prisoners (Rot. Lit. Pat., p. 187).had entered Winchester, the Earl surrendered Salisbury Castle to him.(ftn. a) He had returned to his allegiance before 7 Mar. 1216/7, when his lands were restored to him.(ftn. b) On 14 Mar. he had a grant of Sherborne Castle and the co. of Somerset, and under grants of Somerset and Devon, 14 and 17 Aug., he served as sheriff of both counties till Mich. 1217.(ftn. c) At Whitsuntide he marched with the Earl Marshal to the relief of Lincoln.(ftn. d) In Aug. he was with Hubert de Burgh in the victory over the French fleet off Thanet, and in Sep. he witnessed the treaty with Louis at Lambeth.(ftn. e) He was among the guarantors of the truce with France, Mar. 1219/20.(ftn. f) In 1220 he and his Countess laid the 4th and 5th stones at the founding of the new cathedral at New Sarum.(ftn. g) He was with the King, Oct. 1223, in the successful expedition against Llewellyn.(ftn. h) In 1224 Keeper of the Castles of Bridgnorth and Shrewsbury,(ftn. i) (1) accounting as sheriff of Salop and Staffs, Christmas 1223 to Mich. 1224. In 1225 he went with the young Earl of Cornwall, as supervisory commander, on a successful expedition to Gascony.(ftn. j) He d. 7 Mar. 1225/6 in Salisbury Castle, and was bur. in the Cathedral.(ftn. k)
(a) Coggeshall, vol. ii, p. 182; Coventry (who puts it later in the year), pp. 230, 231 ; M. Paris, vol. iii, pp. 13-14. His lands had been seized by 30 Aug. (Rot. Lit. C/aus., vol. i, p. 285).
(b) Idem, p. 299; Wendover, vol. ii, p. 206; Chron. de Mailros (Bannatyne
Club), p. 130. Letters of safe-conduct had been issued to him, 8 Dec. 121 6; so late as 22 Feb. 1 216/7 prisoners were being exchanged between the King and the Earl (Patent Rolls, 1216-25, PP- io> 33) 109). He did homage for his lands, 14 Aug. 1217 (Idem, p. 86).
(c) Idem, pp. 38, 86, 87.
(d) Wendover, p. 212. The Earl then had a grant, 24 May 1 2 1 7, of the city and county; with 6 months' interval he acted as sheriflF till 1221 (Patent Rolls, 1216-25, pp. 65, 117; Rot. Lit. Claus., vol. ii, p. 5).
(e) M. Paris, vol. iii, pp. 28, 29 (notes); Faedera, vol. i, p. 148.
(f) Idem, p. 158. His bond, with seal attached, remains in the Trisor des Chartes, no. 10194.
(g) Reg. S. Osmund, vol. ii, p. 1 3.
(h) Rot. Lit. Claus., vol. ii, p. 138; Patent Rolls, 1216-25, PP- 377? 407,411. In a redistribution of castles the Earl was directed to make over Salisbury Castle to the Bishop, and the Bishop of Winchester to transfer Hants, and the castles of Winchester, Porchester and Southampton, to the Bishop of Salisbury, and he to the Earl ; but the Earl does not appear to have acted as sheriff (Idem, pp. 419, 420).
(i) Rot. Lit. Claus., vol. ii, p. 5.
(j) Idem, pp. 17, 83; Faedera, vol. i, p. 177; Wendover, vol. ii, p. 284; M. Paris, vol. iii, p. 93. He had a difScult three months' voyage home, landing in Cornwall about Christmas 1225, and being received with great rejoicing in Jan. in the new cathedral (Wendover, vol. ii, pp. 288, 294-95, 297 ; Reg. S. Osmund, vol. ii, p. 48).
(k) Idem. There are several reproductions of his tomb and efSgy (e.g., Bowles, Lacock, pp. 14, 139; Archaologia, vol. Ixxiv, plate I, no. 2). His will (Rot. Lit. Claus., vol. ii, p. 71) is occupied almost wholly by bequests to religious houses and charities, chief among them being the Locus Dei, which he was founding at Hatherop, Glos., removed by his widow to Hinton, Somerset (Dugdale, Mon., vol. vi, p. 5). Bowles, op. cit., gives reproductions of his seals. His yr. sons were (2) Richard, described in the Founder's History of Lacock (Dugdale, Mon.^ vol. vi, p. 501) as canon of Sarum; but see Close Rolls., 1251-53, p. 169; 1259-61, p. 95; Kennett, Parochial Antiquities, 181 8 ed., vol. i, p. 357. (3) Stephen, sometime Seneschal of Gascony and Justiciary of Ireland (Cal. Patent Rolls, 1247-58, pp. 500, 653), who m. Emmeline, widow of Henry de Lacy, Earl of Ulster, and da. of Walter de Rydeleford (Close Rolls, 1242-47, p. 60; 1247-51, p. 197; Cal. Patent Rolls, iZ22-4.y, p. 4.2s). (4) Nicholas, Bishop of Salisbury, 1291—97, who, by his will, directed burial in the cathedral, at the foot of his father's tomb (Eng. Hist. Rev., 1900, p. 524). His daughters were: (i) Isabel, m. William de Vescy (Patent Rolls, 1216-25, PP- 146, 159; 1225-32, p. 34; Tate, Hist, of Alnwick, vol. i, pp. 73, 396, 400). (2) Ela, m., 1stly, Thomas (de Warwick), Earl of Warwick (d. 1242); 2ndly, Sir Philip Basset, Justiciar (d. 1271) (Patent Rolls, 1225-32, p. 255; Excerpta e Rot. Fin., vol. i, p. 386; Cat. Am. Deeds, vol. iii, no. C. 3589; Feet of Fines, Essex Arch. Soc, vol. i, p. 267; Cal. Inq. p.m., vol. i, no. 807). (3) Ida, said (Bowles, op. cit., ped., p. 149) to have m., 1stly, Walter FitzRobert; 2ndly, William de Beauchamp of Bedford; presumably the Walter FitzRobert whose wife was Ida in 1256-57 (Essex Fines, as above, p. 222). He was son of Robert FitzPhilip, and his fees extended into 6 counties (Book of Fees, p. 1459, 2.nd passim; Farrer, Honors and Knights' Fees, vol. i, p. 276). He d. 1258 (Cal. Patent Rolls, 1247-58, p. 622). In 1262 Ida, widow of William de Beauchamp of Bedford, made terms with her stepson about her dower (Beds Fines, Beds Hist. Rec. Soc, Ric. I-Hen. Ill, no. 641). (4) Pernelle, who d. unm.After his death, the Countess, who (according to the Lacock account) was b. 1187, did homage for her inheritance, 19 Mar. 1225/6;(ftn. a) on the 23rd she was required to surrender Salisbury Castle; the county of Wilts was committed to her during pleasure, 22 Jan. 1226/7.(ftn. b) She founded Lacock Abbey, 1229; took the veil there in 1238; was Abbess, 1240-57; d. 24 Aug. 1261, and was bur. there.(ftn. c)
(a) Rot. Lit. Claus., vol. ii, p. 103.
(b) Patent Rolls, 1225-32, pp. 25, 108. She held it till Mich. 1228, and again 16 Apr. 1 23 1 to 3 Jan. 1236/7, accounting in person at Mich. 1236.
(c) Dugdale, Mon., vol. vi, pp. 501-503; Reg. S. Osmund, vol. ii, pp. 118-120. Bowles, op. cit., gives her epitaph, and reproduces her seals.
Corrections: [2]
page 379.
note (f), line 3, after ‘writ’ add ‘Charles Evans argued (in The Genea/., vol. 3, 1982, pp. 265~6), that the Earl's mother was possibly Ida of Lorraine, mojure Countess of Boulogne.’
page 381,
note (k), line 15 (on page 382), after ‘FitzRobert’ add ‘,but actually Ralph de Somety, see vol. xii, part 1, p. 111,’
[1] George E. Cokayne and Geoffrey H White, ed., The Complete Peerage, rev., Vol. 11, Rickerton to Sisonby (London: St Catherine Press, 1949), 379-382, see volume 14 page 566 for corrections.
[2] George E. Cokayne, Peter W. Hammond, ed., The Complete Peerage, rev., Vol. 14 Addenda & Corrigenda (London: Sutton, 1998), 566-567, [FamilySearchBook], [FamilySearchCatalog].