Gérard d'Athée (written in the 1215 issue of

Magna Carta (Medieval Latin for "Great Charter"), sometimes spelled Magna Charta, is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardin ...

as Gerardi de Athyes) was a principal military commander and lord from Athée-sur-Cher, near

Tours Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...

, today in France. He possessed his own castle, arms and badge of "A Lion contrapasssant qui retourne ca tete" of Guyenne, Aquitaine, and that as used by King

Richard I Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199), known as Richard the Lionheart or Richard Cœur de Lion () because of his reputation as a great military leader and warrior, was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ru ...

under whom he is first referenced. He later seamlessly transferred to King John from 1211 to 1215 following the death of Richard in 1199. He served King John in France as commander of

Loches Loches (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire, Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is situated southeast of Tours by road, on the left bank of the river Indre (river), Indre. History Loch ...

castle, one of the last castles to resist the French king Philip II in

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

. D'Athée was captured by the French and, being so highly valued by King John, ransomed back to England in return for 2,000

marks Marks may refer to: Business * Mark's, a Canadian retail chain * Marks & Spencer, a British retail chain * Collective trade marks A collective trademark, collective trade mark, or collective mark is a trademark owned by an organization (such ...

. He and his extended families and kinsmen were granted estates in England, and d'Athee was appointed High Sheriff of Gloucestershire and

Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...

(1208–1210) and

High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and the Royal Forests The Sheriff of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and the Royal Forests is a position established by the Normans in England. The sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in t ...

in 1209. His rapid rise in the English court caused resentment amongst the English barons. In 1215 his lands were confiscated and his family barred from any future land ownership by clause 50 of

References

BBC History
* ttp://etheses.dur.ac.uk/901/ 12th-century births Year of death unknown French mercenaries High sheriffs of Derbyshire High sheriffs of Gloucestershire High sheriffs of Herefordshire High sheriffs of Nottinghamshire {{France-mil-bio-stub