General Notes

John de Warenne, 8th and last Earl of Surrey of this family, said to have been b. 30 June 1286, d.s.p.m. legit. 29 June 1347.  [Ancestral Roots]

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EARLDOM OF SURREY (VIII)

JOHN (DE WARENNE), EARL OF SURREY, grandson and heir, being son of William DE WARENNE and Joan his wife; is said to have been born 30 June 1286. On 7 April 1306 he was granted seisin of the lands of which his grandfather was seised in demesne as of fee, although still a minor. On 25 May he married the King's granddaughter, having been knighted with Prince Edward on 22 May. In July 1307 he had not yet done homage; but he was summoned to Parliament by writ dated 26 August and constantly thereafter. On 2 December 1307 he with his party opposed Piers de Gavaston and his party at a tournament at Wallingford. In January 1307/8 he was going with the King to France and by writ dated 18 January 1307/8 he was summoned to attend the Coronation; and in June to perform service in person against the Scots, and frequently thereafter. In June 1309 he was ordered not to tourney or seek adventures in England. On 11 May 1310 he was present at the delivery of the Great Seal to the King, and in June had grants of manors and the castle of High Peak at farm; and in August was with the King to Scotland. In February 1310/1 with the Earl of Gloucester he rode, through the great forest of Selkirk, and received the foresters into the King's peace, and later opposed the proposed ordinances for the government of the realm. On 10 May 1312 Piers de Gavaston fled to Scarborough Castle, where he was besieged by the Earls of Surrey and Pembroke; and, although on 17 May the Earl was ordered to abandon the siege, Piers was compelled to surrender on 19 May on a formal promise that his life should be spared. When the Earl of Warwick seized and beheaded Piers in defiance of their pledge, the Earls joined the King. On 17 January 1312/3 he was forbidden to attend a tournament at Newmarket, and on 16 September at Brackley. In May the Bishop of Norwich was proposing to publish a sentence against him, but was requested by the King, who was abroad, to defer the matter until his return because of the Earl's responsibilities during the King's absence. In 1314 he refused to serve in the Bannockburn campaign. On 3 September 1314 he was ordered not to impede the attendance of the Archbishop of Canterbury at the Parliament to be held at York. In 1317 he was induced by the barons to take a large force to attack the Earl of Lancaster; his courage failed, but on 15 May he carried off the countess. On 3 November Lancaster had attacked his castles; but in Nov. 1318 their differences were conditionally composed. In July 1319 Surrey was summoned to a muster at Newcastle, and on 29 August entered Scotland with the King. During 1321 he joined the King in his march to the West, and assisted by his promises to bring Roger de Mortimer into the King's peace. On 20 August he was pardoned for anything done against the two Despenscrs between 1 March and 19 August. He took part in the siege of Leeds Castle, Kent, and in November was forbidden to attend the meeting of the "Good Peers" at Doncaster. In March 1321/2 he was one of the Council who advised the King that the Earl of Lancaster was a traitor, and on 11 March was appointed with Edmund, Earl of Kent, to arrest him. He marched with the King to Lichfield and on 29 March was present when Lancaster was condemned at Pontefract. In February 1322/3 he was going to the marches of Scotland on the King's service. In 1324 he was summoned by writ dated 4 August to be ready to serve in Aquitaine, and by writ dated 21 December to serve in Gascony. On 1 April 1325 he was appointed Captain and Leader of the expedition. On 10 May 1326 he was appointed Captain of arrays in the north. On 21 October he was on his way to join the King, but later was one of the envoys sent by the Council to Kenilworth to arrange for Prince Edward to succeed his father. On 26 January 1326/7 he was present at the Coronation of King Edward III. On 24 February he was going abroad with his wife, and on 23 April 1327 was going to the marches of Scotland on the King's service. At Martinmas 1328 he was employed in the King's service, and in March and September 1329 was rewarded for his stay with the King and good service. In 1332 Edward Balliol, King of Scotland, granted him the comitatus of Strathearn, after which he styled himself EARL OF SURREY AND STRATHEARN. On 4 March 1332/3 he was associated with Geoffrey le Scrope and the justices of the King's Bench to hear complaints. On 30 March 1333 he was summoned to be at Newcastle-on-Tyne with his men. On 5 June 1334 he was present when Edward Balliol did homage for Scotland, and on 12 July 1335 marched with him into Scotland. On 4 June 1336 he was ordered to cause the castle of Lewes to be securely guarded. In 1337 he was in a Commission to arrest suspected persons, and on 21 August was appointed with others to lay before the men of Surrey the decisions of the coming Council of Westminster. In July 1338 the King sailed for Flanders, leaving his son Edward, Duke of Cornwall, and the Earl of Surrey principal guardians of the realm. In the latter part of the year the Earl was overseer of array in Hants, Surrey, and other southern counties. In January 1338/9 he was, with others, appointed custodian of the maritime land in Hants, and in April 1339 in Sussex. In June he was in a Commission of array for Surrey and Sussex. In July 1339 he was sheriff of Surrey and Sussex. In April 1340 he successfully petitioned the King to remove his hand from the Priory of Lewes, on the ground that it was not an alien priory but founded by his ancestors. In November 1342 he was directed to furnish men-at-arms and archers for the King in Brittany, and was summoned to attend a conference at Westminster. In 1344 a Saracen physician is said to have visited him at Bromfield and to have discovered a vast treasure in a cave. On 1 July 1345 he was appointed a member of a commission to assist Lionel the King's son as Keeper of the realm and King's Lieutenant in the King's absence; and on 11 July he was summoned to come before the Council. He married, 25 May 1306, Joan, daughter of Henry, COUNT OF BAR, by Eleanor, daughter of EDWARD I. He died s.p.m., 29 June 1347. Joan died 31 August 1361 and was buried abroad. [k] [Complete Peerage XII/1:508-11, (transcribed by Dave Utzinger)]

[k] The Earl, who had formed an association with Maud de Nerford, wife of S. de Diriba, made many attempts to obtain a dissolution of his marriage, first on the ground of consanguinity, later on the ground that he had previously been contracted to Maud, and thirdly that before his marriage he had had carnal knowledge of Mary, sister of Eleanor, Joan's mother. He actually produced a Papal bull declaring the marriage to be invalid, but the English bishops ignored it; and in 1344 and 1345 the Vatican directed that he should be warned and compelled to treat with marital affection his wife, whom he married by dispensation of Clement V and issued a declaration of the validity of the marriage, absolving him in respect of his offence with his wife's aunt.  Watson's attempt, in "The House of Warren", vol ii, pp. 75-82, to prove that the Warrens of Poynton, Cheshire, were legitimately descended from an Earl of Surrey, was disposed of by Ormerod, "Hist. Cheshire".  Edward, the founder of the Poynton Warrens was a bastard son of the last Warrenne Earl of Surrey by Maud de Nerford, as is established by the fact that Maud's inheritance in Skeyton, Norfolk, remained in the family of the Warrens of Poynton for some generations.  Edward is mentioned in the Earl's will.  After Maud's death, the Earl bestowed his affections on Isabel de Holand.