General Notes

Esquire to John, Earl of Moreton, later King John.  Supposedly to have been the killer of Prince Arthur, nephew of John.  Amongst John's evil advisors.

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PIERS DE MAULEY (de Malo Lacu). His parentage is unknown. On 22 December 1202 the Constable of Loudun was ordered to give him land in his bailiwick in exchange for Moncontour. In 1203, with Geoffrey de Lucy, he had letters of protcction. In 1205 the sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk was ordered to give him land, formerly belonging to Guy de Laval, for which he would answer at the Exchequer at £20 yearly; and in 1206/7 the sheriff of co. Bedford was ordered to give him land in Wilden for his maintenance in the King's service. He is named among the King's evil advisers in 1211. On 8 July 1213 he was ordered to deliver to Henry de Vere 500 marks of the King's money in his custody for making payments to Flemish knights and serjeants who were at Southampton. In that year and in 1215 he was in the King's service at Corfe, and in November 1213 he was one of the King's envoys at the Court of Rome. In 1214 the King granted him the daughter and heir of Robert de Turnharn in marriage, with the whole inheritance falling to her (c). In the same year 40,000 marks, 15 gold cups and other treasure, including a gold crown, were committed to him and Reynold de Pons (de Pontibus) in custody. In 1215 his bailiffs of Doncaster were ordered to enclose that town for its defence. In the same year the care of Richard, the King's son, was committed to him, doubtless at Corfe Castle; and the sheriff of Surrey was ordered to give him seisin of his land of Gornshall and the chattels found therein. In 1216 the counties of Dorset and Somerset were committed to him during pleasure, and in August of that year he was ordered to be ready with the garrison of Corfe Castle to join Fulk de BreautÈ on the King's behalf. In 1217 he was summoned to Westminster to show why, within the truce between him and the Earl ol Salisbury, he took and threw down the castle of Hugh Peverel. In 1218 he was given respite of scutage due to the King, and in the following year he had letters of protection, and quittance of suits of county, hundred, and wapentake from all his lands. On 7 May 1220 he was ordered to London for the King's Coronation, bringing Richard, the King's brother, and the regalia which were in his possession at Corfe. On 18 May seisin of the King's forest of Dunster was ordered to be given to him, and on 13 October he and Isabel his wife received a quitclaim from Idoine Fossard, daughter of William Fossard and aunt of Isabel, of a moiety of the barony of Doncaster which Idoine had claimed as her reasonable share of her father's inheritance, saving to her the right to the barony in case Isabel should die without issue. In 1221 he was one of the supporters of William de Forz, Earl of Aumale, when he seized Bytham Castle; and probably in this year he wrote to Hubert de Burgh recommending Roger of Acaster, his friend, and tutor to the King's brother. On 4 June 1221 he delivered to the King the castle of Corfe with Eleanor, the King's kinswoman, and Isabel, sister of the King of the Scots, together with the jewels, &c., which King John had committed to his custody in the castle. On 21 November he was to be allowed by the barons of the Exchequer, for the work of Sherburn Castle, certain sums out of 6,561 marks 6s. 8d., which he received on account of the redemption of prisoners. In 1224 he was among those who, with the Earl of Chester, endeavoured to disturb the peace of the kingdom; but after Whitsuntide he joined the King's army, then engaged in rescuing Henry de Braibroc, one of the judges, who had been imprisoned in Bedford Castle by William de BreautÈ and his brother Fulk. On 3 February 1224/5 he and Isabel his wife granted in frankalmoign to the Abbot of St. Mary's, York, land in Bramham in exchange for a quitclaim of the advowson of Bainton. In the same month he was a witness to the confirmation of Magna Carta. On 19 August 1227 he was granted the custody of the land formerly belonging to Ralph de Kellingthorpe in co. York. On 20 April 1230 he had letters of protection going overseas in the King's service. On 12 October 1232 he was a witness to the King's charter, pledging himself to observe the provision made by the Barons and granted by the King with regard to Hubert de Burgh. On 24 May 1233 permission was granted for him and Isabel his wife to have their forest of Eskdale as Robert de Turnham, Isabel's father, had held it, and on 10 July he was granted the manor of Dartford for his maintenance, during pleasure. On 3 January 1233/4 he was granted the custody of the castle of Devizes, and on 25 May was ordered to send a knight to Portsmouth for service overseas with the Earl of Britanny. On 30 November 1234 he and Isabel warranted the right of the Master of St. Leonard's, York, to hold two mills in Wharram-le-Street of them in frankalmoign; and they were received into all the benefits of the house. On 2 January 1235/6 he was appointed to the custody of the co. of Northampton, during pleasure. In February 1236/7 he was with the King at Westminster when the Mayor and citizens of London were brought before him with respect to their use of illegal nets in the Thames and the Medway. In 1239 he was present at the baptism of Prince Edward, being among those who raised him from the font; and in January 1239/40 he was granted the marriage of Beatrice, widow of John de Basingeham, for the use of his kinsman Gerard de Sancto Flouer. In 1241 he went on a crusade to the Holy Land and had letters of protection without term. He was the builder of Mulgrave Castle, near Whitby.

He married, circa 1214, Isabel, daughter and heir of Robert DE TURNHAM. She died before 22 January 1237/8, and is said to have been buried in the chapter house at Meaux. He died before 22 December 1241.  [Complete Peerage VIII:554-8, (transcribed by Dave Utzinger)]

(c) Gilbert son of Reinfred, who held the lands in custody, was ordered to deliver them to Piers de Mauley.  For his marriage with Isabel de Turnham, Piers made a find with the King for 7,000 marks.  Although the payment had not been made by 1220, the assessment of so large a sum throws doubt on the statement of Walter de Hemingburgh that he acquired the marriage as a reward for having murdered Prince Arthur of Brittany in 1203.  Robert de Turnham, who was Steward of Anjou in 1199, and Steward of Poitou in 1204, had m. c 1194/97, Joan, daughter and heir of William Fossard.  Piers thus acquired in right of his wife the numerous lands comprising the Fossard fee in Yorkshire, which in 1166 had amounted to 33 1/2 knights' fees.