The Battle Abbey Roll. Vol. II.
by
The Duchess of Cleveland.
Prepared by Michael A. Linton
-------*--------
Return to Index
Monchenesy : Hubert de Monte Canisi held a barony in Suffolk in 1086 (Domesd.) and bore Or three inescutcheons Vair. This Hubert was a benefactor of the monks of Eye, Thetford, and St. Albans; to the latter he granted the church of Edwardeston in Suffolk, "whereupon," says Dugdale, "it became a cell of that great Abbey." He must either have lived to be almost a centenarian, or have had a son of the same name who is confounded with him in the "Baronage," for Hubert de Montchensie is spoken of in 1140, seventy-four years after the Conquest. The next mentioned is Warine, who married Agnes, the daughter of Pain Fitz John, at that time one of the first barons of the realm, and left three sons: of whom the two elder, Ralph and William, were both knights, and Hubert, the youngest, a priest. Nothing further is said of Ralph; but William received from Henry II. a grant of the town of Winfarthing [1] in Norfolk; attended Coeur de Lion into Normandy in 1195, and in the following reign gave forty marks and a palfrey to be exempted from a similar expedition beyond sea. He died 6 John, leaving his son William a minor, "who lived," says Dugdale, "not long after; for 15 John Warine de Munchensi (his Uncle I suppose) gave a Fine of two thousand marks (a prodigious Sum for that Time) for Livery of his whole Inheritance, and to be quit of those debts which he owed the Jews." He seized and kept possession of Keymes Castle in Cardigan Bay, "won great renown" at the battle of Xaintonge, and died in 1255, "being then reputed one of the most Noble, Prudent, and Wealthy Men of all the Realm." By his wife Joan, one of the great Pembroke heiresses, he left one son, William, who it would appear chiefly resided at Winfarthing, where he had a park well stocked with deer, but also held lands in Essex, Kent, Gloucestershire, Northamptonshire, Herts, and Bucks; in all fourteen and a half knight's fees. He was among the discontented barons that rose in arms against Henry III.; one of the chief commanders at Lewes in 1264; and in the following year summoned to the parliament they called in the King's name. "But not long after this, being taken at Kenilworth in that notable surprise made by the Forces of Prince Edward, a little before the Battell of Evesham, his Lands were seised and given to William de Valence; who had married his Sister. Whereupon his Mother undertook to bring him in before the Feast of St. Hillary, to stand to the judgment of the King's Court in pursuance of the Decree called Dictum de Kenilworth; but being not able to perform it within the compass of that time, by reason of his sickness, she promised to bring him in upon that very day: where, and at which time he had such fair respect for his Sister's sake, that William Valence her Husband freely restored them to him again." This was only the prelude to the free pardon he received from Edward I., with the additional privilege "that he might keep Dogs to hunt, the Hare, Fox, and Wilde Cat in the King's Forests." He twice served with the King's army in Wales; and on the second of these occasions, in 1289, lost his life in attacking Rees ap Griffith's fastness at Drossellan; for, "endeavouring to demolish that Castle by undermining it, he was with divers others overwhelmed in the fall thereof." He had no son; and his brother-in-law, De Valence, "then claimed to possess himself for the third time of his estates; and tried, though in vain, to bastardize his only child, Dionysia. She married her guardian, Hugh de Vere."—Blaauw's Baron's War. But she left no children; and the long coveted inheritance reverted to her aunt, and thus to her aunt's husband, De Valence.
The manor of Boughton Monchensie, that once formed part of this great barony, retains its name in Kent.