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| Coat of Arms of Argentein family |
It was difficult to trace the Rainey family from our 3rd great-grandfather James (b.1814 Pulaski Co., KY) back over the Appalachians to Tidewater Virginia, because few records survived the Civil War. But then our DNA matches with his wife's family convinced me that William Rainey (b.1750 Surry Co., VA) was our 5th great-grandfather. I have been researching the ancestry of William's mother, Mary Jackson (b.1724 Brunswick Co., VA), back past our 9th great-grandfather, William Clopton, the Immigrant (b.1655 County Essex, England), and his pedigree has proved too fascinating to ignore.
In my previous blog I gave our ascent to our 19th great-grandfather, Sir Nigel Loring, and wrote of his role in the Hundred Years' War. Now I'll take you back further. Sir Nigel's mother was Cassandra Perot/Pyrot (c.1300-1349), daughter of Reginald Perot/Pyrot (c1268-1325), whose mother was our 22nd great-grandmother, Cassandra de Argentein, born about 1240 at Great Wymondley, County Hertfordshire. Her father, Sir Giles de Argentein (c1210-1282), was the son of our subject, our 24th great-grandfather, Sir Richard de Argentein (c1180-1246), who went, not on one, but on two crusades, and rubbed shoulders with Saint Francis of Assisi in Egypt. I so enjoy finding our ancestors having encounters with unexpected historical figures.
Sir Richard's forebear, our 28th great-grandfather, David de Argentein (born c1045 Argentan, Orne, Basse-Normandie, France), appears in the Domesday Book of 1086, so he likely came to England from Normandy with William the Conqueror in 1066, but held only small estates, so might not have fought at the Battle of Hastings.
David's son, Reginald, was granted the manor of Great Wymondley, in Hertfordshire, by King William [I or II]. The land was held 'by serjeanty', namely, by acting as a cupbearer at the king's coronation. The Argenteins and their descendants continued to perform this service for more than 600 years and, as a result, they bore arms showing three silver covered cups on a red field.
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| County Hertfordshire, England |
It appears that during the anarchy of King Stephen's reign (1135-1154), Reginald's son John erected a stronghold of the 'motte and bailey' type, whose remains lie to the east of the churchyard in Great Wymondley.
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| Moat and bailey type castle for defense |
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| Site of remains of the Argentein family's 12th century moat and bailey stronghold |
It was this John's grandson, another Reginald de Argentein, who improved the family's fortunes, serving as sheriff in Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire in 1193, 1194 and 1195, and in Essex and Hertfordshire in 1197 (for half a year). More significantly, he was appointed a justice, and sat both at Westminster and in the provinces. With power comes wealth, but also the royal gaze. He died about 1203 during the reign of King John.
His son, Richard, began his long and successful life by marrying a Bedfordshire heiress, Emma, who died after producing a daughter. He married about 1204 his second wife, our ancestress Cassandra, daughter of Robert de Insula (or de Lisle), who brought into her marriage lands in County Suffolk.
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| County Suffolk, England |
King John, forced by the barons to sign the Magna Carta in 1215, died in 1216, and his nine-year-old son was crowned Henry III (1207-1272). Richard served this king for the rest of his knightly life. And what a life.
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| The crowned child king, Henry III |
Between 1216 and 1218, Richard founded the priory of Little Wymondley, a house of Austin Canons, and endowed it with property in Wymondley and elsewhere, including the church of St. Mary the Virgin of Little Wymondley.
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| Norman church, St. Mary the Virgin, Little Wymondley |
Richard took the cross and joined the 5th Crusade of 1218, expecting to be a knight of the army that would retake Jerusalem from the Muslims by first conquering Egypt, then traveling overland across Gaza.
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| Richard's armor and especially his helmet may have resembled this 13th century look. |
During the siege of the port of Damietta, Egypt, a deadly battle was fought in late August 1219. A few weeks later the future Saint Francis of Assisi crossed the battle lines to preach to the Sultan in an attempt to convert him, staying among the Muslims three days. The Sultan remained indifferent. Richard may have seen Francis, who already had some renown, but since the friar preached in Italian, he likely paid little attention.
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| "Capture of Damietta" by Dutch painter Cornelis Claesz van Wieringen (early 17th century) |
In November 1219 the Crusaders succeeded in capturing Damietta. A letter
Richard wrote from the occupied city in 1220 to his kinsman, the abbot of Bury St. Edmunds, gives a glimpse into medieval religious
attitudes, which seem rather familiar to this Catholic-reared writer. After its capture, the Crusaders were quick to
convert Damietta's mosques into churches. Richard founded a handsomely
adorned church, dedicated to the martyred king of East Anglia, St. Edmund, his patron saint (and that of England until Edward III replaced him with St. George), and established there three chaplains with clerks (educated priests).
He had a painted wooden statue of the saint erected inside (often depicted bound and shot with Danish arrows), which attracted the
hostile attention of a Flemish servant. As the Fleming left, hurling abuse at the martyred saint, a beam of
wood fell on his head, hurting him badly. It was a miracle, Richard
triumphantly related to the abbot. The siege of Damietta HERE
The Crusaders did not reach Jerusalem, and Richard returned to England by 1224, when Henry III, no doubt impressed by his crusading zeal, made him sheriff of
Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire, and also of Hertfordshire and Essex.
At the same time he was made constable of Hertford Castle, an office he held until August 1228.
He was in military action again at the siege of Bedford Castle in the summer of 1224, in support of Henry III against the rebellious baron, Falkes de Bréauté. HERE
The siege lasted for eight weeks, and those outside the castle suffered
heavy casualties. Richard himself was severely wounded, possibly by an arrow, 'in the stomach
below the navel', despite being in armor. He survived and about this time founded the hospital of St. John and St. James in Royston, Hertfordshire.
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| Bedford Castle and the execution of its garrison of 80 knights and Falk's brother William in 1224, (Matthew of Paris) |
Richard continued in royal favor. In February 1225 he was among the witnesses of Henry III's Great Charter (issued under pressure from the barons). He witnessed another royal charter at Windsor in June 1226. Then, as one of two royal stewards, between January and November 1227, he witnessed a string of charters. His star was fast rising, and he was given permission to build a chapel in his manor at Melbourn, Cambridgeshire, and to keep a chaplain there. Quite an honor.
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| County Cambridgeshire |
In April 1230 the king took Richard's lands under his protection, having sent Richard overseas in the king's service, accompanied by Giles de Wachesham, whose family were tenants of the Argenteins
in Huntingdonshire. In September that year, Richard's son, Giles de Argentein (our 23rd great-grandfather) was also overseas in the king's service. The Argenteins' journeys presumably were connected with the military
expedition which Henry undertook that summer in a failed attempt to regain French lands lost by his father, King John.
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| Henry III leading his army to France in 1330 (Matthew of Paris) |
In 1331 Richard's heir, Giles (our 23rd great-grandfather), age about 21, and a younger son were captured by the Welsh in an expedition against Prince Llewellyn, and were ransomed.
About this time Richard lost the king's favor when the noble under whose patronage Richard had achieved so much, Hubert de Burgh, Earl of Kent, fell from the king's grace.HERE Richard lost two manors the king had earlier granted him. Although he never regained those manors, by May 1234 he was back in royal favor, traveling with the king and witnessing a number of royal charters.
He made his son Giles his attorney in 1336 to handle his affairs. We know this because Giles had to defend against a suit brought by Richard's Jewish creditors, who were called to Westminster to give evidence regarding Richard's debts. A portion of any monies awarded to Jewish lenders was claimed by Henry III, who was already heavily taxing the Jews in order to fight his wars. They were the only group allowed to lend money, since popes had banned usury. A brief history of the Jews in England until their expulsion in 1290 HERE
Richard settled some manors on son Giles and went off on the Barons' Crusade, probably in the summer of 1240, serving under Richard of Cornwall, brother of King Henry. Although Cornwall departed Jerusalem for England in 1241, Richard de Argentein, in his sixties, remained. He is listed on Wikipedia as a Knight Templar from 1241 until his death in 1246. History of Knights Templar HERE
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| Knights Templar c.1240 |
According to the Dunstable Chronicle (written by monks who collected tales from travelers), when the Turks entered Jerusalem in July 1244, only Richard de Argentein with 20 knights in the Tower of David (the citadel) held out. On 23 August, under the influence of An-Nasir of Kerak, a Muslim ally of the Crusaders, the defenders were allowed to leave the city under a flag of truce, after which its Christian residents allegedly were massacred by the Khwarazmians, originally from northern Syria, and the city was destroyed. Richard may have been the last Crusader banished from Jerusalem. A short history of the Barons' Crusade HERE
Richard returned home the following year, 1245, and died in 1246. Matthew of Paris, the chronicler and artist, records his death among those of 'certain nobles in England', describing him as a 'an energetic knight who in the Holy Land had fought faithfully for God for a long time'.
In June 1242, while his father, Richard, was in Jerusalem, Giles was summoned by Henry III to fight in Poitou, France, in another failed attempt to regain lands lost to the French.
After his father's death, Giles became Justiciar of Normandy (a sort of prime minister) in 1247. His rise and subsequent fall from royal favor is complicated, involving the king's brother-in-law, Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester HERE, and the 2nd Baron's War. Below is Giles' biography found online in Outline of the history of the Argentein family: 11th to 13th centuries:
We first hear of Giles holding high office when, in May 1258, Henry III agreed to the establishment of a council of 24 to reform the realm. Giles was one of the 12 members of the committee nominated by the barons, and was also a member of another committee of 24 appointed to negotiate an aid for the king [citation omitted].
Soon afterwards, Giles de Argentein was appointed - as his father Richard had been - a royal steward. In this capacity his name appears in many documents between September 1258 and February 1260 [citation omitted]. The end of this period coincides with an open break with the reform movement, made by the king when he forbade the holding of a Parliament at Candlemas. Later in 1260, de Montfort enjoyed a temporary restoration to influence, and again we find Giles holding office. In November, he was appointed a member of two commissions to look into local difficulties at Dunwich and Cambridge [citation omitted]. and in December he was appointed a justice itinerant - as his grandfather Reginald had been - for the Midland counties [citation omitted].
In the following year, Henry III again asserted his authority against the barons, and we hear no more of Giles's official career until the Summer of 1263, when de Montfort gained control of south-eastern England. In August, Giles was made constable of Windsor [citation omitted], from which foreign mercenaries under the king's son, Prince Edward, had just been expelled. The barons' success was short-lived: on 16 October, Prince Edward seized Windsor Castle, and de Montfort's administration crumbled. (The following month, the Patent Roll [written royal record from which researchers retrieve all this information] euphemistically refers to Giles de Argentein's 'withdrawal' from the constableship.)
Open war broke out the following Spring between the royalists and the barons. Giles de Argentein was among those to whom Henry III on 11 May addressed a final appeal to return to fealty [citation omitted]. The appeal failed, and on 14 May at Lewes HERE, Simon de Montfort comprehensively defeated the royalists, and effectively captured the king and his son, Prince Edward. We do not know if Giles was personally present at the battle, but he immediately benefited from the outcome. In June he was made Guardian of the Peace for Cambridgeshire [citation omitted] and, more importantly, he was appointed one of the Council of Nine by which the country was to be governed [citation omitted].
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| Prince Edward at Battle of Lewes |
In the following months he remained with the captive king, as copious documentary evidence shows. We can trace the progress of de Montfort's party into the Welsh Marches, as their fortunes worsened, and to Hereford, where Prince Edward escaped from their custody on 28 May [citation omitted]. Finally Simon de Montfort and his supporters were trapped by the royalists at Evesham, and annihilated there on 4 August 1265.HERE Giles de Argentein is known to have fought at Evesham [citation omitted], and one contemporary source even includes him in the list of the leading Montfortians who were killed there [citation omitted]. Although he was not killed, the king's victory was - temporarily - disastrous for him and his family.
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| Death of Simon de Montfort at Battle of Eversham |
As a defeated rebel, Giles de Argentein immediately suffered the seizure of all his lands. In the Calendar of Inquisitions Miscellaneous are details of eleven of the estates which were confiscated - at Weston, Wymondley, Lilley and Willian in Hertfordshire, Flitcham and Wilton in Norfolk, Halesworth, Newmarket and Burton in Suffolk, Bumpstead in Essex and Pidley in Huntingdonshire. In addition, the manor of Melbourn had been seized by the royalist Warin de Bassingburn [citation omitted].
Few of the confiscated estates were lost permanently [although he had to pay heavy fines to retrieve them], except in cases where Giles had abused his influence during the period when the barons controlled the country. When Robert de Stuteville had been captured and imprisoned by Henry de Montfort, he had been forced to sell Giles the manor of Withersfield in Suffolk. This manor was now restored to its former owner [citation omitted]. Giles also seems to have taken the opportunity to seize the manors of Lilley and Willian in Hertfordshire, of which his father had been deprived in 1232, and which the family had tried unsuccessfully to recover through the courts [citation omitted].
Giles received the king's pardon in February 1266 [citation omitted] and subsequently recovered his principal estates at Wymondley, Halesworth, Melbourn and Newmarket [citation omitted]. Unsurprisingly - for he would now have been an elderly man - we hear little more of Giles, although he survived for another 16 years, dying shortly before 24 November 1282, when the sheriff of Hertford was notified of his death [citation omitted.]
It was his daughter Cassandra (born c. 1240), who became our 22nd great-grandmother after marrying Sir Ralph Perot/Pyrot.
A footnote about Sir Ralph Perot/Pyrot. In 1277 he claimed the right to present a leper to the hospital of St. Julian at St. Michael in Hertfordshire and, on the death of one, to present another. The agreement was witnessed in 1281 at Westminster in London. Leprosy was a terrible bacterial disease - thank goodness for the invention of antibiotics.
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