William Bardolf (died before 5 January 1276), 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 ...

landowner, courtier, soldier and royal official.

Origins

Born in or before 1206, he was the son and heir of Doun Bardolf (died 1205), a landowner at Shelford in

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

and his wife Beatrice Warenne (died 1214), daughter and heiress of the justice William Warenne who held lands at

Wormegay Wormegay is a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is situated some south of King's Lynn and west of Norwich.Ordnance Survey (1999). ''OS Explorer Map 236 - King's Lynn, Downham Market & Swaffham''. . It covers an area o ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

. After his possibly posthumous birth, his widowed mother married a second husband named Ralph, whose last name is unknown and who died in about 1210. Her third husband was

Hubert de Burgh Hubert de Burgh, Earl of Kent (; ; ; c.1170 – before 5 May 1243) was an English nobleman who served as Justiciar, Chief Justiciar of England and Ireland during the reigns of King John, King of England, John and of his son and successor Kin ...

(died 1243), with whom she had two more sons.

Career

Although recognised as heir to his mother's lands in 1215, he was unable to gain control of them until 1243, when his stepfather died. After being in attendance on King Henry III when visiting France in 1230, he led the military expedition to the island of

Lundy Lundy is an English island in the Bristol Channel. It was a micronation from 1925–1969. It forms part of the district of Torridge in the county of Devon. About long and wide, Lundy has had a long and turbulent history, frequently chang ...

in 1242 which captured the pirate William de Marisco and his fellow outlaws. He was in the King's service in 1242 during campaigns in Wales and Scotland and in 1255 accompanied

Eleanor Eleanor () is a feminine given name, originally from an Old French adaptation of the Old Provençal name ''Aliénor''. It is the name of a number of women of royalty and nobility in western Europe during the High Middle Ages. The name was introd ...

, the queen consort, to France. These decades of service to the Crown brought him rewards in money and prestige, such as grants of free warren and the right to hold fairs and markets in his manors, together with favourable terms for settlement of debts to the king. In the political crisis of 1258, however, he switched to the baronial opposition, being chosen at the parliament of Oxford as one of the twelve baronial members of the council of twenty-four appointed to reform the realm, and under the

Provisions of Oxford The Provisions of Oxford were constitutional reforms developed during the Oxford Parliament of 1258 to resolve a dispute between King Henry III of England and his barons. The reforms were designed to ensure the king adhered to the rule of law and ...

was made

Constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...

Nottingham Castle Nottingham Castle is a Stuart Restoration-era ducal mansion in Nottingham, England, built on the site of a Norman castle built starting in 1068, and added to extensively through the medieval period, when it was an important royal fortress and o ...

, In 1259 he was elected to the parliamentary committee of twelve and in 1261 was using his local influence in Norfolk to obstruct the work of the king's sheriff. As one of the barons who accepted the arbitration of King

Louis IX Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), commonly known as Saint Louis or Louis the Saint, was King of France from 1226 to 1270, and the most illustrious of the Direct Capetians. He was crowned in Reims at the age of 12, following the d ...

of France in 1263, he was one of their

sureties In finance, a surety , surety bond or guaranty involves a promise by one party to assume responsibility for the debt obligation of a borrower if that borrower defaults. Usually, a surety bond or surety is a promise by a surety or guarantor to pay ...

for observing the resulting settlement, known as the

Mise of Amiens The Mise of Amiens was a settlement given by King Louis IX of France on 23 January 1264 in the conflict between King Henry III of England and his rebellious barons, led by Simon de Montfort. Louis' one-sided decision for King Henry led directly ...

, But when the

Second Barons' War The Second Barons' War (1264–1267) was a civil war in England between the forces of a number of barons led by Simon de Montfort against the royalist forces of King Henry III, led initially by the king himself and later by his son, the fut ...

broke out in 1264 and the rebel side lost the Battle of Northampton, he switched to the king's side and, fighting for him at the subsequent

Battle of Lewes The Battle of Lewes was one of two main battles of the conflict known as the Second Barons' War. It took place at Lewes in Sussex, on 14 May 1264. It marked the high point of the career of Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, and made h ...

, was captured by the baronial side that he had just deserted. After peace was agreed in 1267, he received few rewards from the victorious king. He died shortly before 5 January 1276, being succeeded by his son.

Family

By 1230 he was married to Nichola, whose last name is unknown, and their only known child had probably been born. This was his son William Bardolf (died 1289), who married Juliana Gournay and was father of Hugh Bardolf, created first

Baron Bardolf Baron Bardolf or Bardolph was a title in the Peerage of England. The title was created when Sir Hugh Bardolf of Wormegay in Norfolk received a writ of summons to Parliament on 6 February 1299. After his death, the barony passed from father to s ...

in 1299.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bardolf, William Year of birth missing 1200s births 1275 deaths 13th-century English people English feudal barons Barons' Wars