General Notes

Name Prefix:<NPFX> Prince
Note:
William Longespee became Earl of Salisbury in right of hi
s wife. In the beginning of King John's reign this noblema
n was sheriff of Wiltshire, he was afterwards warden of th
e marches of Wales, and then sheriff of the counties of Cam
bridge and Huntingdon. About this period (14th John ) [1213
], the baronial contest commencing, William Longespee at on
ce espoused the royal cause and maintained it so stoutly th
at he was included by the barons amongst the evil councillo
rs of the crown.
The next year he was again constituted sheriff of Wilts an
d he held the office from that time during the remainder o
f his life. He had also a grant of the honour of Eye, in Su
ffolk, and was the same year a witness to the agreement mad
e between
King John and the barons as guarantee for the former. He wa
s likewise a witness to the charter whereby John resigned h
is kingdom to the Pope. After this we find him a principa
l leader in the royal army until the very close of John's r
eign, when
he swerved in his loyalty and joined, for a short period, t
he ranks of Lewis of France. Upon the accession, however, o
f Henry III [1216], he did homage to that monarch, particul
arly for the county of Somerset, which the king then gave h
im; and joining with William Marshall. governor of the kin
g and kingdom, raised the siege of Lincoln when he was cons
tituted sheriff of Lincolnshire and governor of Lincoln Cas
tle, being invested at the same time with sheriff of the co
. of Somerset, and governorship of the castle of Shirburne
. His lordship soon afterwards accompanied the Earl of Ches
ter to the Holy Land, and was at the battle of Damieta, i
n which the crescent triumphed. He served subsequently in t
he Gascon wars, whence returning to England, Dugdale relate
s, "there arose so great a tempest at sea that, despairin
g of life, he threw his money and rich apparel overboard. B
ut when all hopes were passed, they discerned a mighty tape
r of wax burning bright at the prow of the ship and a beaut
iful woman standing by it who preserved it from wind and ra
in so that it gave a clear and bright lustre. Upon sight o
f which heavenly vision both himself and the mariners concl
uded of their future security, but everyone there being ign
orant what this vision might portend except the earl, he, h
owever, attributed it to the benignity of the blessed virgi
n by reason that, upon the day when he was honoured with th
e girdle of knighthood, he brought a taper to her altar t
o be lighted ever day at mass when the canonical hours use
d to be sung, and to the intent that, for this terrestria
l light, he might enjoy that which is eternal." A rumour, h
owever, reached England of the earls having been lost, an
d Hubert de Burgh, with the concurrence of the king, provid
ed a suitor for his supposed widow, but the lady, in the in
terim, having received letters from her husband, rejected t
he suit with indignation. The earl soon after came to the k
ing at Marlborough and, being received with great joy, he p
referred a strong complaint against Hubert de Burgh, addin
g that, unless the king would do him right therein, he shou
ld vindicate himself otherwise to the disturbance of the pu
blic peace.
Hubert, however, appeased his wrath with rich presents, an
d invited him to his table, where it is asserted that he wa
s poisoned, for he retired to his castle of Salisbury in ex
treme illness and died almost immediately after, anno 1226
. His
lordship left issue, four sons and five daus., viz., Willia
m, his successor; Richard, a canon of Salisbury; Stephen, J
usticiary of Ireland; Nicholas, bishop of Salisbury; Isabel
, m. to William de Vesci; Ela, m. 1st, to Thomas, Earl of W
arwick,
and 2ndly to Philip Basset, of Hedendon; Idonea, m. to Will
iam de Beauchamp, Baron of Bedford; Lora, a nun at Lacock
; and Ela, jun., m. to William de Odingsells. [Sir Bernar
d Burke, Dormant, A