Sir Robert de Marny or Marney was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

who resided and died in Leyre-Marney,

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 ...

. In 1335

King Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring ro ...

accorded him confirmation of the de Marny family charter, dating back to 1266. De Marny was the son of Sir William de Marney and Catherine Venables. According to church registers (questionable as most registers didn't start until 1539) he married Alice le Lacer after 1362 and was succeeded by their son William, who subsequently became Sheriff of Essex. The date of marriage to Alice le Lacer is based on the death of her first husband, Sir William Bruyn d.1362, son of Maurice Bruyn according to his Inquisition Post Mortem. de Marny held several manors from the le Bruyn family via Alice le Lacer until his death when they reverted to William Bruyn's heir Ingram or Ingelram Bruyn. The Manors included Rownor, Fordingbridge, Beckenham and Southwokyndon (Hampshire, Kent and Essex) De Marny fought in the

Battle of Poitiers The Battle of Poitiers was fought on 19September 1356 between a French army commanded by King JohnII and an Anglo- Gascon force under Edward, the Black Prince, during the Hundred Years' War. It took place in western France, south of Poi ...

or Poictiers (1356) in which the English defeated the French. He is best remembered now from

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...

's fictional poem " The Haystack in the Floods," which imagines his death in a skirmish while attempting to reach English-held Gascony.

References

See also