William la Zouche, 1st Baron Zouche (1276/86–1352),

lord of the manor Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seig ...

Harringworth Harringworth is a village and civil parish in North Northamptonshire, England. It is located close to the border with Rutland, on the southern bank of the River Welland, and around north of Corby. At the 2001 Census, the population of the pa ...

in Northamptonshire, was an English

baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...

and soldier who fought in the

Wars of Scottish Independence The Wars of Scottish Independence were a series of military campaigns fought between the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England in the late 13th and early 14th centuries. The First War (1296–1328) began with the English invasion of ...

. He is referred to in history as "of Harringworth" to distinguish him from his first cousin (of the senior line) Alan la Zouche, 1st Baron la Zouche (1267–1314) of

Ashby de la Zouch Ashby-de-la-Zouch, sometimes spelt Ashby de la Zouch () and shortened locally to Ashby, is a market town and civil parish in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, England. The town is near to the Derbyshire and Staffordshire ...

in Leicestershire.

Ancestry

William was the son of Eudo la Zouche (d. 1279) by his wife Millicent de Cantilupe (d. 1299), widow of John de Mohaut, daughter of

William III de Cantilupe William III de Cantilupe (died 25 September 1254) (anciently Cantelow, Cantelou, Canteloupe, Latinised to de Cantilupo) was the 3rd feudal baron of Eaton Bray in Bedfordshire, and ''jure uxoris'' (in right of his wife Eva de Braose, heiress of th ...

by his wife Eva de Braose, 3rd daughter and co-heiress of William de Braose,

Baron Bergavenny The title Baron Bergavenny (or Abergavenny) was created several times in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of Great Britain, all but the first being baronies created by error. Abergavenny is a market town in South East Wales with a ...

. Millicent de Cantilupe was a great heiress, being a co-heir to her brother

George de Cantilupe George de Cantilupe (1252–1273) (anciently ''Cantelow, Cantelou, Canteloupe, etc'', Latinised to ''de Cantilupo'') The spelling used by modern historians is "de Cantilupe", which is followed in this article was Lord of Abergavenny from the Mar ...

(d. 1273), Baron Bergavenny, feudal baron of Totnes in Devon (formerly held by de Braose), she was heiress of the

English feudal barony In the kingdom of England, a feudal barony or barony by tenure was the highest degree of feudal land tenure, namely ''per baroniam'' (Latin for "by barony"), under which the land-holder owed the service of being one of the king's barons. The ...

Eaton Bray Eaton Bray is a village and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England. It is situated about three miles south-west of the town of Dunstable and is part of a semi-rural area which extends into the parish of Edlesborough. In the 2011 United Kingdom c ...

(formerly held by Cantilupe) and of the manor of

, amongst many other lands. William's younger brother was Roger la Zouch, Lord of

Lubbesthorpe Lubbesthorpe is a hamlet and parish in the district of Blaby within Enderby on the outskirts of Leicester, on the west side of the M1 motorway and the River Soar.

(d. 1303), father of

Roger la Zouch Sir Roger la Zouch was the instigator of the murder of Roger de Beler and also MP for Leicestershire in 1324, 1331 and 1337 and Sheriff of Warwickshire and Leicestershire during the 1330s. Ancestry Roger was the son of Roger la Zouch, Lord of ...

the instigator of the murder of

Roger de Beler Roger Beler was a Baron of the Exchequer and right-hand man of Hugh le Despenser, 1st Earl of Winchester, Hugh le Despencer and King Edward II of England, Edward II. Beler was killed by the Folville gang in 1326. Ancestry Beler was the son of Wi ...

in 1326. William's sister, Eva la Zouch, was married to the rebel

Maurice de Berkeley, 2nd Baron Berkeley Maurice de Berkeley, 2nd Baron Berkeley (April 1271 – 31 May 1326), ''The Magnanimous'', feudal baron of Berkeley, of Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire, England, was a peer. He rebelled against King Edward II and the Despencers. His epit ...

who was imprisoned in

Wallingford Castle Wallingford Castle was a major medieval castle situated in Wallingford in the English county of Oxfordshire (historically Berkshire), adjacent to the River Thames. Established in the 11th century as a motte-and-bailey design within an Anglo-Sa ...

and died there also in 1326. Another sister, Lucy la Zouch, married Sir Thomas Greene of

Boughton, Northamptonshire Boughton is a village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England. It is situated approximately from Northampton town centre along the A508 road between Northampton and Market Harborough. The parish area straddles both sides of the r ...

: her grandson Sir Henry Green the younger was an intimate associate of King

Richard II Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, and Joan, Countess of Kent. Richard's father died ...

, and as such was executed by Henry IV as one of Richard's "evil councillors".

Career and life

William inherited the manor of

, including a park and wood, upon the death of his mother Millicent de Cantilupe in 1299. William was summoned to Parliament by writ as

Baron Zouche Baron Zouche is a title which has been created three times, all in the Peerage of England. Genealogy The la Zouche family descended from Alan la Zouche (d. 1190), lord of the manor of North Molton in North Devon, England, originally called ...

of Harringworth from 1308 to 1325 and to serve against the Scottish from 1314 (after the disastrous

Battle of Bannockburn The Battle of Bannockburn ( gd, Blàr Allt nam Bànag or ) fought on June 23–24, 1314, was a victory of the army of King of Scots Robert the Bruce over the army of King Edward II of England in the First War of Scottish Independence. It was ...

) to 1317. William was pardoned for his role in the death of

Piers Gaveston Piers Gaveston, Earl of Cornwall (c. 1284 – 19 June 1312) was an English nobleman of Gascon origin, and the favourite of Edward II of England. At a young age, Gaveston made a good impression on King Edward I, who assigned him to the househo ...

in October 1313 but made a Conservator of the Peace in

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 ...

from 1317 to 1321 and ordered to suppress illegal meetings. In February 1322, William was ordered to muster as many

men-at-arms A man-at-arms was a soldier of the High Medieval to Renaissance periods who was typically well-versed in the use of arms and served as a fully-armoured heavy cavalryman. A man-at-arms could be a knight, or other nobleman, a member of a knig ...

and foot soldiers as he could and to march to the King to aid in the suppression of the rebels of

Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster Thomas of Lancaster, 2nd Earl of Lancaster, 2nd Earl of Leicester, 2nd Earl of Derby, ''jure uxoris'' 4th Earl of Lincoln and ''jure uxoris'' 5th Earl of Salisbury (c. 1278 – 22 March 1322) was an English nobleman. A member of the House of Pl ...

. William declined and sent two men-at-arms in June, claiming ill health as his excuse. Later in 1322, William was summoned to serve against the Scots and against Lancaster's rebels. He was summoned to defend Aquitaine in 1324, which was lost under the poor leadership of

Hugh le Despenser, 1st Earl of Winchester 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 to go to Gascony in 1325. After Queen Isabella and

Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March Roger Mortimer, 3rd Baron Mortimer of Wigmore, 1st Earl of March (25 April 1287 – 29 November 1330), was an English nobleman and powerful Marcher Lord who gained many estates in the Welsh Marches and Ireland following his advantageous marri ...

's successful overthrow of her husband,

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 ...

, William was summoned to the Parliament held in January 1327 which decided it had lost confidence in the rule of Edward and forced his

abdication Abdication is the act of formally relinquishing monarchical authority. Abdications have played various roles in the succession procedures of monarchies. While some cultures have viewed abdication as an extreme abandonment of duty, in other societ ...

. William died on 10 March 1352.

Inquisition post mortem An Inquisition post mortem (abbreviated to Inq.p.m. or i.p.m., and formerly known as an escheat) (Latin, meaning "(inquisition) after death") is an English medieval or early modern record of the death, estate and heir of one of the king's tenants-in ...

s found he held land in Shropshire, Wiltshire, Norfolk, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Rutland, Warwickshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire and Worcestershire.

Family

William married Maud Lovel (d. 1346), daughter of

John Lovel, 1st Baron Lovel John Lovel (died 1310), Lord of Minster Lovel and Titchmarsh, was an English noble. John was the eldest son of John Lovel and Maud Sydenham. He was active in the wars in Gascony and Scotland. John received a licence to crenellate his manor o ...

of Titchmarsh.Cockayne ''Complete Peerage'', Vol. XII/2, p. 940 By her, William had at least ten children including: * Elizabeth la Zouche (c.1284–1311), m. Sir Oliver de Ingham * Eudo la Zouche (1297/8 – April 1326, Paris) m. Joan, daughter and heiress of

William Inge (judge) Sir William Inge (c. 1260 – May 1322) was an English lawyer, and Chief Justice of the King's Bench for a few months from 1316 to 1317. He was born in or near Dunstable, Bedfordshire, the son of Thomas Inge, a minor landowner and administrato ...

. Succeeded by his son William la Zouche, 2nd Baron Zouche. * William la Zouche * John la Zouche, elder * Roger la Zouche * Thomas la Zouche * John la Zouche, younger * Edmund la Zouche * Millicent la Zouche m. William Deyncourt * Isabel la Zouche * Thomasina la Zouche * Maude le Zouche (c.1290 – 31 May 1349), m. Sir Thomas Mallory, Knight (c.1287–1318) and had one child together: Sir Christopher Mallory, Lord of Hutton Conyers, York (c.1317–c.1378) who married Joan, (daughter of Robert Conveyers, of Hougton Convyers).

References

Bibliography

''Ancestors of Scott Wolter'' ~ Volume 2, Family Groups by Diana Jean Muir (2018) p. 234 – "Sir Thomas Mallory and Maud le Zouch, daughter of William Mortimer le Zouche and wife Maud Lovel. . . " * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zouche, William la Zouche, 1st Baron 1277 births 1352 deaths 13th-century English people 14th-century English nobility English MPs 1308–09 People from Leicestershire English MPs 1325 Barons Zouche People from North Northamptonshire English people of the Wars of Scottish Independence Lords of Glamorgan