General Notes

      William de Montecute, 3rd Baron Montecute, was the principal person concerned in seizing Roger Mortimer, Earl of March, at Nottingham Castle; and was a man of great power and large estates, and much in favor with Edward III, who created him Earl of Salisbury on March 16, in the 11th year of his reign, 1337. He founded the Abbey of Bisham in Berkshire and died 17th of Edward III, 1342. William de Montecute was still in his minority when his father died in 1320, but he obtained of the wardship of all his lands, and in the 16th of Edward II, 1322, making proof of his age and doing his homage, had livery thereof. In three years thereafter he was made a Knight of the Bath and had an allowance of robes for that solemnity as a banneret. In the 4th of Edward III, 1330, his lordship was deputed ambassador to the Pope, with Bartholemew de Berghersh, to return thanks to his holiness for confirming a bull of Pope Honorius IV, touching certain favours, by him granted to the monks of Westminster. It was at this time that a Parliament was held at Nottingham, and he was, as said above, one of those who apprehended Roger Mortimer, in the nighttime within the Queen's lodgings there, and sent him prisoner to London, where he was soon after executed for high treason. For this service, Lord Montacute had a grant in entail, to himself and his wife Catherine, of the Castle of Sherbourne, County Dorset, and several other manors in Hants, Berkshire, Bucks and Cambridgeshire, part of the possessions of the attainted Earl of March. He was summoned to Parliament from June 5, 1331, to Nov. 29, 1336. In the 8th of Edward III, 1334, his lordship was constituted Governor of the Isles of Guernsey, Jersey, Sark, Alderney and Seul, and the next year was made Constable of the Tower of London. About this time Lord Montacute acquired great distinction in the Scottish wars, but at the expense of one of his eyes, which he lost in the campaign. In the 10th of Edward III, he was appointed Admiral of the King's Fleet, westward from the mouth of the Thames, and on March 16, 1337, in consideration of his numerous gallant attainments, he was advanced by charter, in full Parliament held at London, to the title and dignity of Earl of Salisbury, to hold to him and his heirs. After other notable achievements, in Scotland and France, in 1342, having conquered the Isle of Man, he was crowned King thereof by his Royal Master. The Earl returned to England, after defeating the French Fleet, exercised himself so immoderately in Justs and tournaments, that he fell into a fever of which he died in the 43rd year of his age, Jan. 30, 1344, and was buried at the White Friars in London. He was possessed, at his death, of a vast estate, and bore the titles of Earl of Salisbury, King of Man, and Lord of Denbigh. William and Catherine de Montacute had 7 children, 3 sons and 4 daughters.