St Andrew's Church, Greystoke - geograph

William Greystoke, 2nd Baron Greystoke, (6 January 1321 – 10 July 1359) of Greystoke in

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

, was an English peer and landowner.

Origins

Greystoke was the son of Ralph Greystoke, 1st Baron Greystoke, and his wife Alice, daughter of Hugh, Lord Audley.

Career

He was born at the family home in Grimthorpe (in

Great Givendale Great Givendale is a hamlet in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately north of Pocklington. Great Givendale forms part of the civil parish of Millington. The church, dedicated to Saint Ethelburgh, was designated ...

, near

Pocklington Pocklington is a market town and civil parish situated at the foot of the Yorkshire Wolds in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The 2011 Census recorded its population as 8,337. It is east of York and northwest of Hull. The town's sk ...

, in the

Yorkshire Wolds The Yorkshire Wolds are low hills in the counties of the East Riding of Yorkshire and North Yorkshire in north-eastern England. The name also applies to the district in which the hills lie. On the western edge, the Wolds rise to an escarpment wh ...

), on 6 January 1321. Greystoke's father died while he was still a child and he became a

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

of his mother's second husband,

Ralph Neville, 2nd Baron Neville de Raby Ralph Neville, 2nd Baron Neville of Raby (c. 1291 – 5 August 1367) was an English aristocrat, the son of Ralph Neville, 1st Baron Neville de Raby by Eupheme de Clavering. Neville led the English forces to victory against King David II of ...

, until he reached his majority in 1342. During the next ten years he was involved, on the English side, in the

Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French Crown, ...

between the

Kingdom of England The Kingdom of England (, ) was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from 12 July 927, when it emerged from various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until 1 May 1707, when it united with Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. On 1 ...

and the

Kingdom of France The Kingdom of France ( fro, Reaume de France; frm, Royaulme de France; french: link=yes, Royaume de France) is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the medieval and early modern period. ...

and was present at the Siege of Calais in 1346. He served under

Edward, the Black Prince Edward of Woodstock, known to history as the Black Prince (15 June 1330 – 8 June 1376), was the eldest son of King Edward III of England, and the heir apparent to the English throne. He died before his father and so his son, Richard II, su ...

, in

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 ...

. He participated in the

Northern Crusades The Northern Crusades or Baltic Crusades were Christianity and colonialism, Christian colonization and Christianization campaigns undertaken by Catholic Church, Catholic Christian Military order (society), military orders and kingdoms, primarily ...

Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster Henry of Grosmont, Duke of Lancaster (– 23 March 1361) was an English statesman, diplomat, soldier, and Christian writer. The owner of Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, Grosmont was a member of the House of Plantagenet, which was ruling o ...

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

in 1351–2. In the early 1350s he was involved in the negotiations to secure the release of King

David II of Scotland David II (5 March 1324 – 22 February 1371) was King of Scots from 1329 until his death in 1371. Upon the death of his father, Robert the Bruce, David succeeded to the throne at the age of five, and was crowned at Scone in November 1331, becom ...

, who had been taken prisoner at the

Battle of Neville's Cross The Battle of Neville's Cross took place during the Second War of Scottish Independence on 17 October 1346, half a mile (800 m) to the west of Durham, England. An invading Scottish army of 12,000 led by King David II was defeated with heavy loss ...

on 17 October 1346. Greystoke was made a captain of

Berwick-upon-Tweed Berwick-upon-Tweed (), sometimes known as Berwick-on-Tweed or simply Berwick, is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, and the northernmost town in England. The 2011 United Kingdom census recor ...

, but due to his service in

, he was not present when the town fell to the Scots in August 1355. In October 1353 Greystoke received a royal

licence to crenellate In medieval England, Wales and the Channel Islands a licence to crenellate (or licence to fortify) granted the holder permission to fortify his property. Such licences were granted by the king, and by the rulers of the counties palatine within the ...

"his dwelling place", later known as

Greystoke Castle Greystoke Castle is in the village of Greystoke west of Penrith in the county of Cumbria in northern England. (). Details In 1069, after the Norman conquest the English landlord Ligulf de Greystoke was re-granted his land and he built a woode ...

. He was also responsible for renovations on

Morpeth Castle Morpeth Castle is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and a Grade I listed building at Morpeth, Northumberland, in northeast England. It has been restored by the Landmark Trust and is now available as a holiday rental home. History The original mott ...

which he also owned.

Marriages and children

He married twice and had children by his second wife only: *Firstly to Lucy de Lucie, daughter of Thomas de Lucy, 2nd Baron Lucy (died 1365), but the marriage was childless, and they divorced. During this time, his stepfather, Ralph Neville, unsuccessfully proposed that Greystoke should name his half-brothers, Ralph, Robert, and William Neville, as his heirs. *Secondly he married Joane FitzHugh, daughter of

Baron Fitzhugh Baron FitzHugh, of Ravensworth in North Yorkshire, is an abeyant title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1321 for Sir Henry FitzHugh. The title passed through the male line until the death in 1513 of George FitzHugh, 7th Baron FitzH ...

, by whom he had four children: ** Ralph Greystoke, 3rd Baron Greystoke, eldest son and heir. **Robert Greystoke; **William Greystoke ''alias'' Adamson; **Alice Greystoke, the first wife of

Robert Harington, 3rd Baron Harington Robert Harington, 3rd Baron Harington (1356-1406)Cokayne, ''Complete Peerage'', new edition, Vol.6, p.316 of Gleaston Castle in the manor of Aldingham in Furness, Lancashire, was an English peer. Origins He was born at Gleaston Hall in the manor ...

(1356–1406)Cokayne, ''

The Complete Peerage ''The Complete Peerage'' (full title: ''The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom Extant, Extinct, or Dormant''; first edition by George Edward Cokayne, Clarenceux King of Arms; 2nd edition revis ...

'', new edition, Vol.6, p.316 of

Gleaston Castle Gleaston Castle is a medieval building in a valley about north-east of the village of Gleaston. The village lies between the towns of Ulverston and Barrow-in-Furness in the Furness peninsula, Cumbria, England. Gleaston Castle has a quadrilate ...

in the manor of

Aldingham Aldingham is a village and civil parish in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England. Historically in Lancashire, it is situated on the east coast of the Furness peninsula, facing into Morecambe Bay, and is about east of Barrow-in-Furness ...

Furness Furness ( ) is a peninsula and region of Cumbria in northwestern England. Together with the Cartmel Peninsula it forms North Lonsdale, historically an exclave of Lancashire. The Furness Peninsula, also known as Low Furness, is an area of vill ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

Death and burial

Greystoke died on 10 July 1359, at Brancepeth Castle, the seat of his step-father

, and was buried in the parish church of St. Andrew's in

Greystoke, Cumbria Greystoke is a village and civil parish on the edge of the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England, about west of Penrith. At the 2001 census the parish had a population of 642, increasing marginally to 654 at the 2011 Census. The vil ...

, with a mass conducted by Gilbert Welton,

Bishop of Carlisle The Bishop of Carlisle is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Carlisle in the Province of York. The diocese covers the county of Cumbria except for Alston Moor and the former Sedbergh Rural District. The see is in the city of Car ...

. His funeral took place with "great pomp and solemnity", and was attended by great personages including:

Roger Clifford, 5th Baron Clifford Roger de Clifford, 5th Baron de Clifford, ninth Lord Clifford, fifth Baron of Westmoreland (10 July 1333 – 13 July 1389), was the son of Robert de Clifford, 3rd Baron de Clifford (d. 20 May 1344), second son of Robert de Clifford, 1st Baron d ...

Henry Scrope, 1st Baron Scrope of Masham Henry le Scrope, 1st Baron Scrope of Masham ('' c.'' 1312 – 31 July 1392) was an English soldier and administrator. Biography Scrope was the eldest son of Geoffrey le Scrope and his first wife, Ivetta. He succeeded his father in 1341. In early ...

, Thomas, Baron Musgrave, the Abbot of

Holmcultram Abbey Holmcultram Abbey (alternatively Holm Cultram Abbey or Holme Cultram Abbey) was a Cistercian monastery in what is now the village of Abbeytown in Cumbria, United Kingdom. Founded in 1150, the abbey was suppressed in 1538 during the Dissolution ...

and the Abbot of

Shap Abbey Shap Abbey was a religious house of the Premonstratensian order of Canons regular situated on the western bank of the River Lowther in the civil parish of Shap Rural, around from the village of Shap, in the Eden District of Cumbria, England. Th ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greystoke, William, 2nd Baron Greystoke 1321 births 1359 deaths Barons Greystoke

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...