Henry of Braybrooke (died 1234) was an English High Sheriff and justice.

Biography

He was the son of

Robert of Braybrooke Robert of Braybrooke or Robert le May (1168–1210) was a medieval landowner, justice and sheriff. Biography He was born at Braybrooke, Northamptonshire the son of justiciar Ingebald de Braybrooke and his wife Albreda de Neumarche. Le May accumu ...

, who had served as High Sheriff of

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

and

Rutland Rutland () is a ceremonial county and unitary authority in the East Midlands, England. The county is bounded to the west and north by Leicestershire, to the northeast by Lincolnshire and the southeast by Northamptonshire. Its greatest len ...

, as well as

Master of the Great Wardrobe The King's Wardrobe, together with the Chamber, made up the personal part of medieval English government known as the King's household. Originally the room where the king's clothes, armour, and treasure were stored, the term was expanded to descr ...

, and had accumulated large amounts of land in

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

, and

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, mainly by buying the mortgages of people who could not pay them back. One of the debts he paid off was that of Wischard Ledet, who owned

Chipping Warden Chipping Warden is a village in Northamptonshire, England about northeast of the Oxfordshire town of Banbury. The parish is bounded to the east and south by the River Cherwell, to the west by the boundary with Oxfordshire and to the north by f ...

, and as a result Ledet's daughter and heir Christina married Henry of Braybrooke. When Robert died in 1211, Henry followed his fathers path, succeeding him as High Sheriff of various counties and raising more money for the king from his shires;

Roger of Wendover Roger of Wendover (died 6 May 1236), probably a native of Wendover in Buckinghamshire, was an English chronicler of the 13th century. At an uncertain date he became a monk at St Albans Abbey; afterwards he was appointed prior of the cell of ...

named him one of

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

's "evil counsellors". In June 1213 John commissioned him to repair

Northampton Castle Northampton Castle at Northampton, was one of the most famous Norman castles in England. The castle site was outside the western city gate, and defended on three sides by deep trenches. A branch of the River Nene provided a natural barrier on the ...

, but in 1214 he was replaced as

High Sheriff of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire This is a list of Sheriffs of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire. One sheriff was appointed for both counties from 1125 until the end of 1575 (except for 1165–1166), after which separate sheriffs were appointed. See High Sheriff of Bedfordshire an ...

, and by 1215 he had defected to the baronial faction. By mid–1215 he was among those whose forfeiture was specifically ordered by John, and after the creation of

Magna Carta (Medieval Latin for "Great Charter of Freedoms"), commonly called (also ''Magna Charta''; "Great Charter"), is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by the ...

he was forced to forfeit his other High Shrievalties as well. When hostilities began again John had Braybrooke's lands parcelled out to other landowners, but Braybrooke continued to support Prince Louis of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, defending Mountsorrel Castle against the royalists and participating in the Battle of Lincoln. After the

Treaty of Lambeth The Treaty of Lambeth of 1217, also known as the Treaty of Kingston to distinguish it from the Treaty of Lambeth of 1212, was a peace treaty signed by Louis of France in September 1217 ending the campaign known as the First Barons' War to uphold ...

Braybrooke submitted to John's young successor, Henry III, and had many of his lands restored. Although he never became a High Sheriff again, he served as a royal justice in Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, and was tasked from 10 June 1224 to hear an

Assize of novel disseisin In English law, the assize of novel disseisin ("recent dispossession"; ) was an action to recover lands of which the plaintiff had been disseised, or dispossessed. It was one of the so-called "petty (possessory) assizes" established by Henry II i ...

against Falkes de Breauté; he was perfectly suited, firstly because he was a vassal of William de Beauchamp, who had had

Bedford Castle Bedford Castle was a large medieval castle in Bedford, England. Built after 1100 by Henry I, the castle played a prominent part in both the civil war of the Anarchy and the First Barons' War. The castle was significantly extended in stone, alt ...

taken from him by de Breauté, and secondly because de Breauté now held the High Shrievalties of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, previous Braybrooke's. Braybrooke returned 16 counts of disseisins; enraged, William de Bréauté, Falkes' brother, seized him, and the allegedly brutal treatment he received led to a siege of Bedford Castle by royal forces. After the castle fell, Braybrooke and

Walter of Pattishall Walter of Pattishall (died 1231/32) was an English justice and administrator. He was the eldest son of Simon of Pattishall, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, and elder brother of Hugh of Pattishall, Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield. He inherited ...

were ordered to destroy it. Braybrooke died by 1234; the precise date is not known. He was buried in

Bushmead Priory The Priory Church of Saint Mary, Bushmead, commonly called Bushmead Priory, was a monastic foundation for Augustinian Canons, located at Bushmead (a hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is ...

, Bedfordshire, of which he was a benefactor.

Family

Henry and Christiana had three children: their heir, Wischard Ledet, who was to die on crusade in the Holy Land in 1241 with Christiana's second husband (

Gerard de Furnival Gerard de Furnival (c.1175–1219) was a Norman knight and Lord of Hallamshire (now part of Sheffield, England) and Worksop. De Furnival's father was also called Gerard de Furnival, and had fought with Richard I at the Siege of Acre. De Furniv ...

); John of Braybrooke; and Margery, who was married to Simon of Pattishall, son and heir of Walter.

Notes

References

* {{authority control 12th-century births 13th-century deaths 12th-century English people 13th-century English people Anglo-Normans High Sheriffs of Buckinghamshire High Sheriffs of Bedfordshire High Sheriffs of Northamptonshire High Sheriffs of Rutland People temporarily excommunicated by the Catholic Church