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Portrait of William de Montagu or Montacute, 2nd Earl of Salisbury, from the 'Bruges Garter Book'

William de Montagu, 2nd Earl of Salisbury (1328-1397)

WILLIAM DE MONTAGU, or MONTACUTE, second Earl of Salisbury (1328-1397), elder son of William de Montacute, first earl, by his countess Catharine, was born 25 June 1328, and succeeding to his father's honours while yet a minor in 1344, was a ward of John de Somerton and Thomas Waryn.

He accompanied the king [Edward III] in his expedition against France in 1346; on landing at La Hogue on 13 July he was knighted by the Prince of Wales [Edward, the Black Prince], and served in the ensuing campaign. A contract of marriage was made between him and Joan (1328-1385), the 'Fair Maid of Kent', daughter of Edmund of Woodstock, earl of Kent, but the lady was claimed by Sir Thomas Holland, first earl of Kent of the Holland family, and her contract with Salisbury was annulled by a papal bull, dated 13 Nov. 1349. In that year he obtained livery of his lands.

In 1350 he was one of the original knights of the order of the Garter, and in August shared in the king's victory over the Spaniards off Winchelsea. He did homage in 1353 for the lordship of Denbigh in North Wales, which he inherited from his father, and being the following year appointed constable of the king's army in France, he sailed for Bordeaux with the Prince of Wales on 30 June 1355, having received a protection for two years in respect of any debts for which he might be liable in Gascony. The rear-guard of the prince's army was under his command, and he bore his part in the ravage of the south of France.1

On 17 Sept. 1356 he held the command of the rear of the prince's army, with the Earl of Suffolk, at the battle of Poitiers, defending the gap in the hedge that covered the English position with dismounted men-at-arms and archers, and, fighting 'like a lion,' routed the attack of the marshal, Jean de Clermont. He served in France in 1357, in 1359, and again in 1360, in which last year he received a commission to treat with the enemy, and assisted to make the treaty of Bretigni.2

By the death of Joanna, dowager-countess of Surrey, in 1361, he came into possession of the castle of Trowbridge, Wiltshire, together with lands in that county and in Somerset and Dorset, of which his father had obtained the reversion from the crown.3 In 1364 he received commission to treat with the Count of Flanders for a marriage between the king's son Edmund, earl of Cambridge, and the count's daughter Margaret. He was at this time a member of the king's council, and as such joined in sending letters to the Prince of Wales in 1366 assenting to his expedition in aid of Pedro of Castile.

In August 1369 he served under the Duke of Lancaster in the north of France. On the defeat of the Earl of Pembroke in 1372 the king designed to send him to the relief of Rochelle, but the plan came to nought and Rochelle was lost [see Battle of La Rochelle]. He took part in the abortive attempt that the king made in September to relieve Thouars. On 16 Feb. 1373 he was appointed commander of an expedition to guard the coast, and contracted to serve himself for six months with twenty knights, 279 esquires, and as many bowmen. Being joined by the admirals of the western and northern fleets, he sailed from Cornwall in March, and burnt seven Spanish ships in the port of St. Malo.

He thence sailed to Brest, and having received reinforcements from England, cruised about off the coasts of Normandy and Brittany. He was called to the relief of Brest, the garrison having given hostages to Du Guesclin, and promised to surrender to him on a certain day unless they were relieved by a force sufficient to meet him in the field. Salisbury landed his troops and sent a message to Du Guesclin bidding him either meet him or give up the hostages. The constable would not accept his challenge, and after the day fixed for the surrender had passed without his doing so, Salisbury reinforced and revictualled the place, and left it to return to his work of guarding the coasts. At the opening of parliament in November, the chancellor, Sir John Knyvet, spoke in strong terms of the success of this expedition.4

In February 1375 Salisbury was appointed joint-ambassador to attend the congress at Bruges, and in the following September was a joint-commissioner to treat of peace with France. He was made admiral of the western fleet in July 1376, but was relieved of that office in November. In the course of that year he was sent by the king to summon the king of Navarre to a conference.5 A French invasion being expected, he was ordered in March 1377 to go down to his estate in the Isle of Wight with all his household and such force as he could muster for the defence of the island.6 In April he was appointed joint-commissioner to treat with France, crossed the Channel and entered into negotiations, but was unable to obtain more than a month's truce.7

He returned to England in June about the time of the king's death,8 and in July received charge of the defence of the coasts of Hampshire and Dorset, and bore a royal vestment at the coronation of Richard II. Having entered into an engagement to serve abroad, he embarked with the Earl of Arundel and having reconnoitred, persuaded the inhabitants of Cherbourg to place their town in the hands of the English king. He was lying with his ships at Plymouth in June waiting for a wind to go to the relief of Brest and Hennebon, when Lancaster took command. He sailed with the duke as admiral. The expedition did not accomplish anything.

Having been made captain of Calais in February 1379, an office which he held until the following January, he went thither and made forays, bringing much cattle into the town. In September he was appointed chief commissioner to treat with France. When the revolt of the villeins [Peasants' Revolt] broke out in June 1381, he was with the king in the Tower of London; he counselled Richard to speak gently to the insurgents, and accompaned him from the Wardrobe to Smithfield, where he is said, after the death of Wat Tyler, to have commended the king's resolution not to take instant vengeance upon the rebels.9 He was in July appointed captain against the rebels in Somerset and Dorset.

In common with other lords he tried to make peace between Lancaster and Northumberland, who quarrelled violently in the presence of the council at Berkhampstead. In December he met the king's bride, Anne of Bohemia, at Gravelines, and escorted her to Calais. In 1385 he was made captain of the Isle of Wight for life, accompanied the king in his invasion of Scotland, and was the next year also summoned to serve against the Scots. He shared in the anger with which the lords generally regarded the elevation of Robert de Vere as Duke of Ireland, and in their dissatisfaction with the king's misgovernment, and is said to have joined the king's uncles in their resistance to the duke.10 In 1389 and 1392 he was appointed commissioner to treat with France, and in 1390 was employed in the march of Calais.

Having no son living, he sold the lordship of Man to William le Scrope of Bolton, afterwards Earl of Wiltshire, in 1393, together with the crown thereof; for it was the right of the island that the chief lord of it should be called king and should be crowned with a gold crown.11 Nevertheless he retained the title of Lord of Man until his death, using it in his will, dated 20 April 1397, by which he bequeathed five hundred marks to complete the buildings of Bisham priory, where he desired to be buried, and to make a tomb there for his father and mother, and another for himself and his son.12 He died on 3 June following, and was succeeded by his nephew John, third earl of Salisbury.

He was an active, valiant, and prudent man, and was skilled in war from his youth. After the declaration of the nullity of his marriage with Joan of Kent, he married Elizabeth, daughter of John de Mohun, ninth lord Mohun of Dunster, who survived him, and had by her Sir William Montacute and two daughters. Sir William, who married Elizabeth, daughter of Richard, earl of Arundel, was killed at a tilting at Windsor in 1383, by, it is said, his father; he left no issue.



1. Avesbury's Chronicle.
2. Fœdera, III. i. 483, 493.
3. ib. p. 638.
4. Rolls of Parliament, ii. 316.
5. Continuatio Eulogii, iii. 840.
6. Fœdera, III. ii. 1073.
7. ib. p. 1076; Chronicon Angliæ, p. 140.
8. Froissart's Chronicle, i. 709.
9. Froissart, ii. 164-63.
10. ib. pp. 606, 609, 622.
11. Annales Ricardi II, p. 157.
12. Dugdale's Baronage.




      Source:

      Hunt, Rev. William. "Montacute or Montagu, William de."
      Dictionary of National Biography. Vol XXXVIII. Sidney Lee, Ed.
      New York: Macmillan and Co., 1894. 214-215.




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Edward II
Isabella of France, Queen of England
Piers Gaveston
Thomas of Brotherton, E. of Norfolk
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Hundred Years' War (1337-1453)

Edward III
Philippa of Hainault, Queen of England
Edward, Black Prince of Wales
John of Eltham, Earl of Cornwall
The Battle of Crécy, 1346
The Siege of Calais, 1346-7
The Battle of Poitiers, 1356
Lionel of Antwerp, Duke of Clarence
John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster
Edmund of Langley, Duke of York
Thomas of Woodstock, Gloucester
Richard of York, E. of Cambridge
Richard Fitzalan, 3. Earl of Arundel
Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March
The Good Parliament, 1376
Richard II
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Lords Appellant, 1388
Richard Fitzalan, 4. Earl of Arundel
Archbishop Thomas Arundel
Thomas de Beauchamp, E. Warwick
Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford
Ralph Neville, E. of Westmorland
Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk
Edmund Mortimer, 3. Earl of March
Roger Mortimer, 4. Earl of March
John Holland, Duke of Exeter
Michael de la Pole, E. Suffolk
Hugh de Stafford, 2. E. Stafford
Henry IV
Edward, Duke of York
Edmund Mortimer, 5. Earl of March
Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland
Sir Henry Percy, "Harry Hotspur"
Thomas Percy, Earl of Worcester
Owen Glendower
The Battle of Shrewsbury, 1403
Archbishop Richard Scrope
Thomas Mowbray, 3. E. Nottingham
John Mowbray, 2. Duke of Norfolk
Thomas Fitzalan, 5. Earl of Arundel
Henry V
Thomas, Duke of Clarence
John, Duke of Bedford
Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester
John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury
Richard, Earl of Cambridge
Henry, Baron Scrope of Masham
William de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk
Thomas Montacute, E. Salisbury
Richard Beauchamp, E. of Warwick
Henry Beauchamp, Duke of Warwick
Thomas Beaufort, Duke of Exeter
Cardinal Henry Beaufort
John Beaufort, Earl of Somerset
Sir John Fastolf
John Holland, 2. Duke of Exeter
Archbishop John Stafford
Archbishop John Kemp
Catherine of Valois
Owen Tudor
John Fitzalan, 7. Earl of Arundel
John, Lord Tiptoft

Charles VII, King of France
Joan of Arc
Louis XI, King of France
Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy
The Battle of Agincourt, 1415
The Battle of Castillon, 1453



The Wars of the Roses 1455-1485
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The Battle of Wakefield, 1460
The Battle of Mortimer's Cross, 1461
The 2nd Battle of St. Albans, 1461
The Battle of Towton, 1461
The Battle of Hedgeley Moor, 1464
The Battle of Hexham, 1464
The Battle of Edgecote, 1469
The Battle of Losecoat Field, 1470
The Battle of Barnet, 1471
The Battle of Tewkesbury, 1471
The Treaty of Pecquigny, 1475
The Battle of Bosworth Field, 1485
The Battle of Stoke Field, 1487

Henry VI
Margaret of Anjou
Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York
Edward IV
Elizabeth Woodville
Richard Woodville, 1. Earl Rivers
Anthony Woodville, 2. Earl Rivers
Jane Shore
Edward V
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Ralph Neville, 2. Earl of Westmorland
Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury
Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick
Edward Neville, Baron Bergavenny
William Neville, Lord Fauconberg
Robert Neville, Bishop of Salisbury
John Neville, Marquis of Montagu
George Neville, Archbishop of York
John Beaufort, 1. Duke Somerset
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Margaret Beaufort
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Henry Percy, 3. E. Northumberland
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William, Lord Hastings
Henry Holland, Duke of Exeter
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John Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester
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Jack Cade's Rebellion, 1450


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King Henry VII
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Lambert Simnel
Perkin Warbeck
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King Ferdinand II of Aragon
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Mary Tudor, Queen of France
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The Battle of the Spurs, 1513
Field of the Cloth of Gold, 1520
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
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The Siege of Boulogne, 1544

Cardinal Thomas Wolsey
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Thomas, Lord Audley
Thomas Wriothesley, E. Southampton
Sir Richard Rich

Edward Stafford, D. of Buckingham
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George Talbot, 4. E. Shrewsbury
Francis Talbot, 5. E. Shrewsbury
Henry Algernon Percy,
     5th Earl of Northumberland
Henry Algernon Percy,
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Ralph Neville, 4. E. Westmorland
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William Paulet, Marquis of Winchester
Sir Francis Bryan
Sir Nicholas Carew
John de Vere, 15th Earl of Oxford
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Thomas Seymour, Lord Admiral
Edward Seymour, Protector Somerset
Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury
Henry Pole, Lord Montague
Sir Geoffrey Pole
Thomas Manners, Earl of Rutland
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Henry Bourchier, 2. Earl of Essex
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Sir Anthony Browne
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Sir Richard Southwell
Thomas Fiennes, 9th Lord Dacre
Sir Francis Weston
Henry Norris
Lady Jane Grey
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Sir William Petre
Sir John Cheke
Walter Haddon, L.L.D
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John Taylor
Sir Thomas Wyatt, the Younger

Cardinal Lorenzo Campeggio
Cardinal Reginald Pole
Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester
Edmund Bonner, Bishop of London
Nicholas Ridley, Bishop of London
John Hooper, Bishop of Gloucester
John Aylmer, Bishop of London
Thomas Linacre
William Grocyn
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Richard Fox, Bishop of Winchester
Edward Fox, Bishop of Hereford

Pope Julius II
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Pope Pius V

Pico della Mirandola
Desiderius Erasmus
Martin Bucer
Richard Pace
Christopher Saint-German
Thomas Tallis
Elizabeth Barton, the Nun of Kent
Hans Holbein, the Younger
The Sweating Sickness

Dissolution of the Monasteries
Pilgrimage of Grace, 1536
Robert Aske
Anne Askew
Lord Thomas Darcy
Sir Robert Constable

Oath of Supremacy
The Act of Supremacy, 1534
The First Act of Succession, 1534
The Third Act of Succession, 1544
The Ten Articles, 1536
The Six Articles, 1539
The Second Statute of Repeal, 1555
The Act of Supremacy, 1559
Articles Touching Preachers, 1583

Queen Elizabeth I
William Cecil, Lord Burghley
Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury
Sir Francis Walsingham
Sir Nicholas Bacon
Sir Thomas Bromley

Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester
Ambrose Dudley, Earl of Warwick
Henry Carey, Lord Hunsdon
Sir Thomas Egerton, Viscount Brackley
Sir Francis Knollys
Katherine "Kat" Ashley
Lettice Knollys, Countess of Leicester
George Talbot, 6. E. of Shrewsbury
Elizabeth, Countess of Shrewsbury
Gilbert Talbot, 7. E. of Shrewsbury
Sir Henry Sidney
Sir Robert Sidney
Archbishop Matthew Parker
Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex
Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex
Penelope Devereux, Lady Rich
Sir Christopher Hatton
Edward Courtenay, E. Devonshire
Edward Manners, 3rd Earl of Rutland
Thomas Radcliffe, 3. Earl of Sussex
Henry Radcliffe, 4. Earl of Sussex
Robert Radcliffe, 5. Earl of Sussex
William Parr, Marquis of Northampton
Henry Wriothesley, 2. Southampton
Henry Wriothesley, 3. Southampton
Charles Neville, 6. E. Westmorland
Thomas Percy, 7. E. Northumberland
Henry Percy, 8. E. Northumberland
Henry Percy, 9. E. Nothumberland
William Herbert, 1. Earl of Pembroke
Charles, Lord Howard of Effingham
Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk
Henry Howard, 1. Earl of Northampton
Thomas Howard, 1. Earl of Suffolk
Henry Hastings, 3. E. of Huntingdon
Edward Manners, 3rd Earl of Rutland
Roger Manners, 5th Earl of Rutland
Francis Manners, 6th Earl of Rutland
Henry FitzAlan, 12. Earl of Arundel
Thomas, Earl Arundell of Wardour
Edward Somerset, E. of Worcester
William Davison
Sir Walter Mildmay
Sir Ralph Sadler
Sir Amyas Paulet
Gilbert Gifford
Anthony Browne, Viscount Montague
François, Duke of Alençon & Anjou

Mary, Queen of Scots
Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley
James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell
Anthony Babington and the Babington Plot
John Knox

Philip II of Spain
The Spanish Armada, 1588
Sir Francis Drake
Sir John Hawkins

William Camden
Archbishop Whitgift
Martin Marprelate Controversy
John Penry (Martin Marprelate)
Richard Bancroft, Archbishop of Canterbury
John Dee, Alchemist

Philip Henslowe
Edward Alleyn
The Blackfriars Theatre
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The Isle of Dogs, 1597

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Assize
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Livery and Maintenance
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Praemunire


The Stuarts

King James I of England
Anne of Denmark
Henry, Prince of Wales
The Gunpowder Plot, 1605
George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham
Robert Carr, Earl of Somerset
Arabella Stuart, Lady Lennox

William Alabaster
Bishop Hall
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Archbishop William Laud
John Selden
Lucy Harington, Countess of Bedford
Henry Lawes

King Charles I
Queen Henrietta Maria

Long Parliament
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Kentish Petition, 1642

Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford
John Digby, Earl of Bristol
George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol
Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax
Robert Devereux, 3rd E. of Essex
Robert Sidney, 2. E. of Leicester
Algernon Percy, E. of Northumberland
Henry Montagu, Earl of Manchester
Edward Montagu, 2. Earl of Manchester

The Restoration

King Charles II
King James II
Test Acts

Greenwich Palace
Hatfield House
Richmond Palace
Windsor Palace
Woodstock Manor

The Cinque Ports
Mermaid Tavern
Malmsey Wine
Great Fire of London, 1666
Merchant Taylors' School
Westminster School
The Sanctuary at Westminster
"Sanctuary"


Images:

Chart of the English Succession from William I through Henry VII

Medieval English Drama

London c1480, MS Royal 16
London, 1510, the earliest view in print
Map of England from Saxton's Descriptio Angliae, 1579
London in late 16th century
Location Map of Elizabethan London
Plan of the Bankside, Southwark, in Shakespeare's time
Detail of Norden's Map of the Bankside, 1593
Bull and Bear Baiting Rings from the Agas Map (1569-1590, pub. 1631)
Sketch of the Swan Theatre, c. 1596
Westminster in the Seventeenth Century, by Hollar
Visscher's View of London, 1616
Larger Visscher's View in Sections
c. 1690. View of London Churches, after the Great Fire
The Yard of the Tabard Inn from Thornbury, Old and New London




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