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Sir John de Radynden (1274-1350) was the only child of Walter and Agatha (daughter of Simon de Mucegros). He inherited his father's estate of Radynden, as well as the properties of his mother and his aunt, Alice de Mucegros. He initially was in the service of
Hugh Despenser the Elder Hugh le Despenser (1 March 126127 October 1326), sometimes referred to as "the Elder Despenser", was for a time the chief adviser to King Edward II of England. He was created a baron in 1295 and Earl of Winchester in 1322. One day after being c ...
and later was a Member of Parliament for Sussex.


Family

In 1303, John is recorded as being in possession of his mother's holdings in Sussex and as he was her heir, it is probable that she had died by then. In 1304 his Aunt Alice died and left him land in Cambridgeshire, Essex and Northamptonshire. He was married to Joan and had three daughters: Alice, Maud and Agatha. His daughter Alice married Roger Dalyngrigge.


Manor of Radynden

Over the centuries various families held the Manor of Radynden, first as tenants of the Bishop, then later as tenants of the Crown, and finally as lords. The Manor of Preston, or Bishops Preston, was founded in the Saxon era and belonged to the
Bishop of Selsey The Bishop of Chichester is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the counties of East and West Sussex. The see is based in the City of Chichester where the bishop's seat ...
. Adjacent to the Manor of Preston was the Manor of Radynden. In 1086 the manor of Radynden was recorded in the Domesday Book as the
demesne A demesne ( ) or domain was all the land retained and managed by a lord of the manor under the feudal system for his own use, occupation, or support. This distinguished it from land sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants. The concept or ...
of 'Rateden', held by a certain Widard: By the 13th century, the tenancy was held by the Radynden family, with John inheriting from his father in 1318.


Arms of the county of Sussex

In the 17th century, the cartographer John Speed depicted the Saxon king Ælle holding a shield with a design representing Sussex. However, it seems that Speed was repeating an earlier association between the emblem and the county. It is probable that Speed was influenced by the arms of John de Radynden a few centuries before. John de Radynden took his name from that of the manor and it is his coat of arms with a silver (or 'argent')
martlet A martlet in English heraldry is a mythical bird without feet that never roosts from the moment of its drop-birth until its death fall; martlets are proposed to be continuously on the wing. It is a compelling allegory for continuous effort, expre ...
s on a blue (or 'azure') field that is the basis for the modern arms of the county of Sussex. There is some evidence to support this.
Bodiam Castle Bodiam Castle () is a 14th-century moated castle near Robertsbridge in East Sussex, England. It was built in 1385 by Sir Edward Dalyngrigge, a former knight of Edward III, with the permission of Richard II, ostensibly to defend the area agai ...
, built in the 14th century, has three coats of arms set into the wall of its gatehouse. The central one is that of
Edward Dalyngrigge Sir Edward Dalyngrigge, also Dallingridge or Dalyngridge ( 1346 – 1393/4), was a 14th-century knight and Member of Parliament who built Bodiam Castle in Sussex, England. Early life Edward Dalyngrigge was born in/around 1346, the son of Rog ...
, the builder of Bodiam Castle. His shield is flanked by that of Wardedieu on the left, for his wife Elizabeth, and de Radynden on the right, for his mother Alice (one of the three daughters of John de Radynden). In Brighton, at the entrance to Preston Park, is a plinth that marks the former boundary of the manors of Preston to the north and Radynden to the south. The plinth has PRESTON PARK on the front and a narrow and unobtrusive vertical plaque on the side. The plaque explains the Radyden Gate connection.


Career

John de Radynden was employed by
Hugh Despenser the Elder Hugh le Despenser (1 March 126127 October 1326), sometimes referred to as "the Elder Despenser", was for a time the chief adviser to King Edward II of England. He was created a baron in 1295 and Earl of Winchester in 1322. One day after being c ...
. This involved trips abroad, with his patron to perform various services of military and diplomatic nature on behalf of King
Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassal o ...
. In December 1296, Radynden was involved in an expedition to Flanders to help the
Count of Flanders The count of Flanders was the ruler or sub-ruler of the county of Flanders, beginning in the 9th century. Later, the title would be held for a time, by the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire and Spain. During the French Revolution, in 1790, the co ...
against the French. In 1305, Radynden went with Hugh le Despenser to
Pope Clement V Pope Clement V ( la, Clemens Quintus; c. 1264 – 20 April 1314), born Raymond Bertrand de Got (also occasionally spelled ''de Guoth'' and ''de Goth''), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 5 June 1305 to his de ...
to obtain a Papal bull. The reason for this expedition was due to the King being forced by the parliament of 1301 to order an assessment of the
royal forest A royal forest, occasionally known as a kingswood (), is an area of land with different definitions in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The term ''forest'' in the ordinary modern understanding refers to an area of wooded land; however, the ...
s. The papal bull freed the King from this concession. In 1307, Edward I died and was succeeded by his son
Edward II Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir apparent to t ...
. Between 1316 and 1317 Radynden served as
commissioner of array A commission of array was a commission given by English sovereigns to officers or gentry in a given territory to muster and array the inhabitants and to see them in a condition for war, or to put soldiers of a country in a condition for military ...
, with a remit to gather inhabitants of Sussex and ready them for military service. In February 1317, John de Radynden made a pilgrimage to the shrine of
St. James the Great James the Great, also known as James, son of Zebedee, Saint James the Great, Saint James the Greater, Saint James the Elder, or Saint Jacob (Aramaic ܝܥܩܘܒ ܒܪ ܙܒܕܝ, Arabic يعقوب, Hebrew בן זבדי , '' Yaʿăqōḇ'', Latin '' ...
in
Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city has its origin in the shrine of Saint James the Great, now the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, as the destination of the Way of St ...
,
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
. Two years later he again visited Spain, this time with Hugh le Despenser in the King's service, and then again in 1320. Hugh Despenser, Raynden's patron, became a leading adviser to Edward II. This relationship came to an abrupt end in 1326 when Roger Mortimer and the King's wife, Queen
Isabella Isabella may refer to: People and fictional characters * Isabella (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Isabella (surname), including a list of people Places United States * Isabella, Alabama, an unincorpor ...
, led a rebellion against Edward II. They captured Despenser and had him hanged and then beheaded. Radynden seems to have been unaffected by these events. Years earlier he had begun to take an active part in Sussex affairs. After his time as commissioner of array in 1316, he became
Knight of the shire Knight of the shire ( la, milites comitatus) was the formal title for a member of parliament (MP) representing a county constituency in the British House of Commons, from its origins in the medieval Parliament of England until the Redistributio ...
in 1319 for Sussex and was the MP in various parliaments until 1329. Then between 1337 and 1338 he was appointed one of the two Commissioners to levy
scutage Scutage is a medieval English tax levied on holders of a knight's fee under the feudal land tenure of knight-service. Under feudalism the king, through his vassals, provided land to knights for their support. The knights owed the king military s ...
, in Sussex. Records indicate that Raynden remained active in local politics until he was 70 years old. He died around 1350.


See also

*
Symbols of Sussex Symbols of Sussex are the objects, images or cultural expressions that are emblematic, representative or otherwise characteristic of Sussex or Sussex culture. As a rule, these symbols are cultural icons that have emerged from Sussex folklore and ...
*
Flag of Sussex The Flag of Sussex is the flag of the traditional and historic county of Sussex. The flag was registered by the Flag Institute on Friday 20 May 2011 as a 'traditional' county flag as a result of a campaign started in August 2010, by Sussex resi ...


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* * * * * * * * * * * * {{refend Sussex History of Sussex 1274 births 1350 deaths English MPs 1319